No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs Entuity 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
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Entuity
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
67th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Entuity is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)0.6%
Entuity0.7%
Other98.7%
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Jagdev Dhaliwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Flow monitoring has improved planning for east-west traffic and real-time capacity decisions
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) helps to understand the flows and data plane capacities, which are the primary use cases. Usually, people struggle with east-west traffic flow when they need to decide on firewalls or products. People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers. I was focusing more on this so that people can accordingly plan, such as after F5, the number of servers, the number of sessions needed, and whether we need to plan the interface for groups from the line capacity perspective. This kind of information was valuable to us. The real-time telemetry feature was beneficial. When experiencing performance issues, I could determine if there were any issues related to flows or areas where bottlenecks were occurring.
Ahmed Salman - PeerSpot reviewer
Performance & Monitoring Supervisor at Saudi Telecom Company
A good solution for network monitoring and support management, but there is no centralized database
There is no centralized database. It is an issue if you use a local database and have multiple borders. However, if you have an external database, you can keep the same old data from an old border up to 100 borders. In addition, if we want to create an ABI or use an ABI to connect data, there is no competition when we ask for support. If we want to modify the calculation matrix or equation, we have to raise a professional service. Other competitors like Micro Focus, a network management system, have a new supportability matrix in the market every quarter.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fabric suite automation is a great feature."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."
"Monitoring system provides a clear indication of what's going on in the network."
"Stability is not an issue."
"More than good enough as we have new clients everyday connected using this product"
"The product has excellent stability."
"The automation capability is more than enough. It depends on how we consider and integrate the automation engine. We need to ensure the automation engine and then how to perform it. It depends on the policy making, API integration, and other integrations."
"After installation, you almost forget that it is working."
"Entuity's best feature is its ability to monitor a large number of devices."
"I would encourage others to use Entuity, as it's powerful and user-friendly."
"This is a very user friendly solution, that is good for user access, allowing deep dives into devices, system performance and more."
"My clients have received a good return on investment."
"This is a product that is easy to deploy and maintain with a positive end-user experience."
"The most valuable feature of Entuity is network mapping and information. When clicking on a particular location it can automatically survey the connectivity diagram for us. We can arrange this icon in any kind of formats, such as ring or mesh. The networking mapping can show the components and interconnectivity with the help of IP addresses and NetFlow."
"I particularly like the theme and the dashboard that they have brought in this version. In the previous version, there was only a simple screen. There wasn't any dashboard. It was a simple view, but now, they have brought in a dashboard that gives the fields for the ops as well. They can get the data they want to see in a single place."
"One of the most valuable features of Entuity is the user interface."
 

Cons

"The product is good but quite expensive."
"If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."
"Data Center Network Manager is a little complex because it includes a lot of hardware to be installed, so making this simpler would be an improvement."
"One of the biggest challenges is that we aren't always able to push the configuration onto the target device. Whenever this happens, we have to do a factory reset, put on the script, and then reconfigure it again. In the next release, I would like to have a troubleshooting feature."
"API lacks robustness."
"Could integrate better with VMware products."
"The tool's pricing strategy could be improved to compete more effectively in the market, especially against competitors like Huawei, Aruba, and Juniper."
"I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments."
"The configuration of the logging could be improved because if someone deleted any note or inventory, or some change to the inventory, we are not able to identify which user or which administrator modifies these details. For example, there should be read-only locks on maps to prevent their deletion. This way people can only read and cannot delete that particular map."
"If we want to modify the calculation matrix or equation, we have to raise a professional service."
"Entuity currently has APIs, but they are not straightforward. They are not flexible if an external system wants to communicate with Entuity or create an integration that is not available out of the box. Its APIs can be flexible so that they can be utilized for external integrations that are not available out of the box."
"What might be improved for the user may be the depth of insight into the events that do happen and the ease of integration."
"Entuity can improve the fetching of device configuration. The solution uses scripts and I could not understand them or find any recourses on the internet to learn about the language that is used in the script. It could be more user-friendly and the device configuration management could be enhanced."
"We would like the backup element of this solution to be improved as, at present, it is very limited and does not have much scope for customization."
"Entuity currently has APIs, but they are not straightforward."
"In the most recent versions, Entuity has removed the Explorer navigation feature. This was very useful, and Entuity would be improved by restoring it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The solution is very expensive."
"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."
"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"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."
"It can be comparatively expensive but that is because it is comprehensive."
"It varies and depends on the quantity. It's worth the cost."
"Entuity is not an expensive solution."
"We have 400 licenses and we are only using 150 licenses."
"Entuity's licensing is very highly-priced."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Monitoring Software solutions are best for your needs.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

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?
I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments. I am uncertain because we have never attempted that in our environment, so they could perform better in t...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?
The main use case for URL filtering with PAN-DB is that it performs quite well. Earlier, when I started in 2012, there was a Blue Coat product available during that period. I am not certain whether...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Tait Communications, Vattenfall, Discovery, University of Minnesota, Pernod Ricard, Electric Car
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. Entuity and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.