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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs DX Unified Infrastructure Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabri...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
DX Unified Infrastructure M...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
73rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (22nd), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (50th), Cloud Monitoring Software (38th), AIOps (25th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of DX Unified Infrastructure Management is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)0.6%
DX Unified Infrastructure Management0.5%
Other98.9%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Upul Abhayasena - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust management tool with an easy setup and room for more features
DCNM is used by one of the airline customers in Qatar to manage many data centers and rack switches running on normal Nexus or NX-OS mode. They required a controller platform to manage these Nexus switches, and thus, they utilized DCNM as a Fabric controller. Given that ACI deployment is very low…
Mark Tukh - PeerSpot reviewer
Great scalability, versatility, infrastructure coverage and ease of implementation
I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten. The number of people needed for deployment depends on the customer, but we usually need at least one person and two to three at other times. The initial implementation takes about two months. The full implementation can be infinite because you may want to implement more. The product does not require a lot of maintenance. To increase the implementation, we push additional services in the first and second years to make it more robust and fully implemented. We usually sell to big enterprises. It can also be affordable for smaller enterprises, but we don't work with them a lot. We have from 2,000 to 10,000 workers. So the product itself can have five, ten or even 20 users.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The interface of this solution is easy to use overall."
"Data Center Network Manager is absolutely stable."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Data Center Network Manager are consistency and the core server. The teams have had a good experience."
"We use the product to manage access points."
"I like running the scripts. With the help of a Python script, we deployed within the configuration and built up the code."
"After installation, you almost forget that it is working."
"Fabric suite automation is a great feature."
"The product has excellent stability."
"We are able to go in and actually leverage the thick client for a nice easy drag and drop solution."
"It reduced cycles for a lot of quick out-of-the-box functionality. It also allowed us to get away from being stuck in SNMP, VTP V2, based off of agent deployment."
"Latest version of tool comes integrated with Jaspersoft reporting solution, giving excellent reports."
"It gives an alarm when there's something going on, not just when there's an expected spike that happens every night on a server."
"The monitoring of the applications to let our business know when things are performing and that they're up and available."
"It is reliable when it comes to monitoring."
"DX Unified Infrastructure Management offers visibility into network activities, integration capacity, and enhances monitoring at the core and application levels."
"Great out-of-the-box capability."
 

Cons

"The initial setup is challenging."
"In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."
"If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."
"The visibility of applications is not great."
"Automation for the RMA process can be added."
"We need better performance and reliability."
"The automation feature could be improved."
"It is not very easy to monitor or to browse."
"The biggest feature that I've been hoping they would enhance on is inventory management: things like adding/removing nodes."
"Currently lacks a mobile application which would be helpful."
"I would like to see auditability. We've built our own audit functionality to ensure that every CI has the desired model configuration applied to it. And we run that on a daily basis. If that became part of the product, I think it might be a little bit less intensive in terms of resource, because we're doing it with scripts."
"I'd also like to see more probes. More probes in the sense that we were coming across devices that we're expected to monitor and manage for which, out of the box, there isn't a nice, clean solution. There are probes that are dedicated for certain devices and certain device types, which is great. But then there are times we come across nuanced products that we have to develop our own solution for. There are probes that exist in there that allow us to make a customized solution, but it takes a lot more time."
"There is also room for improvement in the reporting. It is not really good enough, according to our customers. So what we now usually do is use Power BI to get them the kinds of reports they want."
"How we can get more native information from CA's solutions."
"We had to do some work to make what was more of a business class solution work at an enterprise level."
"The company has not kept pace with developments."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the features included in the product, and this can lead to them paying for functionalities they don't need."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."
"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."
"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."
"The solution is very expensive."
"The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar platform across all domains."
"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."
"CAD $400,000 annually."
"The license cost depends on the number of probes and robots."
"This product is expensive compared to other vendors (SolarWinds, ManageEngine)."
"Pricing for DX Unified Infrastructure Management isn't cheap at all. It's a complex tool, so you have to pay more. No one is happy with a large bill to pay, but if it's a complex product and you designed a complex solution to be monitored, it'll be your fault that you need to buy an expensive product, and that would be implicit in the design of DX Unified Infrastructure Management. Monitoring is just a small part of it. Sometimes you have to pay a significant amount of money for a complex yet very good solution."
"Reasonable setup cost and licensing prices."
"The product-price ratio is better than other brands such as Fortinet or SonicWall."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Performing Arts
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise80
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar plat...
What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
In a mixed architecture where Nexus switches are used as border devices and are connected to a Palo Alto firewall (e.g., version 9.1 or 10.1), you might encounter issues with BGP peering. For insta...
What is your primary use case for DX Infrastructure Manager?
We are an integrating company that offers DX Unified Infrastructure Management to customers. We help them set it up, do the integration, and provide support. Our end customers include financial ins...
What advice do you have for others considering DX Infrastructure Manager?
I would recommend DX Unified Infrastructure Management to others as it is a good and reliable solution. I would rate it nine out of ten due to its robust functionality and capability to support inf...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DX Infrastructure Manager?
The pricing of DX Unified Infrastructure Management is high and often a concern for customers. The cost is higher compared to other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), which is feedback we hav...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
DX Infrastructure Manager, DX Infrastructure Manager for Z Systems and CA UIM for zSystems, CA UIM (DX Infrastructure Manager), CA Nimsoft Monitor, CA UIM, DX Infrastructure Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
CBNCloud, IIJ Global Singapore, AT&S, AXSOS, Aozora Bank, HCL Technologies, IntelliNet, Securex
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. DX Unified Infrastructure Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.