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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs Infraon IMS 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
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Infraon IMS
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
87th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (30th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (59th), Cloud Monitoring Software (46th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Infraon IMS is 0.2%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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…
Maharajan S - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides data accuracy for availability and policy harmonization
The reporting capabilities are a challenge and could be improved. We have been trying to connect to it from our help desk ticketing system, because the ticketing system manages asset tracking, which has been a bit challenging for us. Otherwise, they give some reports that are okay, but we do not use them much because we work in the dashboard. This solution is available in SaaS. The reason why we have not gone to SaaS is they do not have a country-specific separation of assets. There are GDPR and other requirements that might require country-specific sensitive information to be filtered as well as other things that need to be taken care of. Normally, if we need to do any compliance, like ISO27000 compliance, they don't have such a report within their system. This kind of report is missing from their SaaS. That is one of the reasons that we have gone to the on-prem version, where I am assured that my data is secure. I can take the report and show it to them from a compliance point of view. However, the moment we go to a SaaS model, I don't have control of the data and where the data is stored. I don't receive any complaints-based reports from the SaaS model.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of Cisco Data Center Network Manager are consistency and the core server. The teams have had a good experience."
"Fabric suite automation is a great feature."
"The product has excellent stability."
"The monitoring capability is the best in Cisco Data Center Network Manager. It helps me improve network management tasks and optimize processes."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."
"The interface of this solution is easy to use overall."
"It has a very nice dashboard so you can see what's currently happening in the network and the performance of the back story."
"You can integrate all the networks into the software."
"It is a stable product. After the initial configuration, you don't have to tweak it much. All systems of Everest IMS work perfectly."
"The role-based dashboards provide data points and charts and topology diagrams in a single window. It's like a spider web, where the application, connectivity, and everything is defined for each user of those applications."
"We use the solution to automatically trigger processes to help us resolve issues. The whole IT process has been automated, such as trying to map all the users and the escalation process. So, if any issue happens, we get an SMS and WhatsApp of the report. If there is a critical issue this has to be sorted out, like the entire data center being down, then there is an alarm."
"The backup, restore, and comparison features are all good."
"Their discovery is very quick and they have a CSV file upload mechanism that allows you to onboard five thousand devices a day."
"Our response time is within 30 minutes for any support. This solution provides alerts immediately, so we are within our SLA, giving efficiency to our support."
"The feature that I like the most and the best part is the customization."
"The most valuable feature is alerting. We get email alerts when a link is down that tell us which device is having a problem."
 

Cons

"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."
"Data Center Network Manager is a little complex because it includes a lot of hardware to be installed."
"The automation feature could be improved."
"If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."
"The tool's pricing strategy could be improved to compete more effectively in the market, especially against competitors like Huawei, Aruba, and Juniper."
"In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."
"The configuration is too complicated and you have to create templates and use a lot of menus."
"The initial setup is challenging."
"The GUI is in need of improvement. It is not drag-and-drop or easy to use."
"I would like to see an integrated view of Infraon IMS and Infraon Desk. It would be very helpful if that were integrated into the solution."
"We have enquired if there are any possibilities of monitoring non-IPBS devices."
"The graphical view of the topology does not show us all of the connectivity in our network, which is something that could be improved."
"I would like to have the option to add a new device or meet with the next release. Right now, it needs to be done from the backend which results in a heavy reliance on R&D."
"Email support is a bit slow. Once you drop an email, it takes time."
"There might be some features in other products that are currently not there in Everest IMS and can be included. I have not yet compared it with any other product."
"This solution is available in SaaS. The reason why we have not gone to SaaS is they do not have a country-specific separation of assets. There are GDPR and other requirements that might require country-specific sensitive information to be filtered as well as other things that need to be taken care of. Normally, if we need to do any compliance, like ISO27000 compliance, they don't have such a report within their system. This kind of report is missing from their SaaS. That is one of the reasons that we have gone to the on-prem version, where I am assured that my data is secure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."
"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."
"The cost model is within our budget. I have less than 180 critical assets, but the moment that I have 1,000 assets, then the license model is totally different. I don't know whether they are capable of handling that kind of a load. They could revisit the licensing model."
"We pay for a number of devices on the accounts and since it is on-premises, we pay the maintenance charges for the year."
"I think that the pricing for this solution is reasonable and varies by number of devices."
"If you are looking for the best product with the best price, Infraon is the best product. We evaluated five to six products and finally felt Infraon was better because of the pricing model, especially because it was more flexible."
"The pricing is reasonable, given the features that they provide."
"Licensing is calculated on a per-user basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Construction Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Real Estate/Law Firm
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
It actually depends on the exact purpose or requirements. Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better from a cloud monitoring or APM monitoring perspective. You can check...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
Everest IMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Airtel, BSNL, BlackBox Corporation, ACT, Geojit, Canara Bank, Federal Bank, Corporation Bank, Birla Corporation, CESC Limited, Mphasis, GAIL, Udaan, Cowrks, SEBI, PowerGrid, ION, Summit Communications, National Information Technology Center (Nepal), Bhutan National Bank, Servion T, Greenlam, Translab Technologies, CMSIT Services, Nelco, HPCL, Navitas Life Sciences etc. 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. Infraon IMS and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
862,077 professionals have used our research since 2012.