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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs ITRS Geneos 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
26th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ITRS Geneos
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
73rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (48th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (51st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, 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 ITRS Geneos is 0.6%, 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%
ITRS Geneos0.6%
Other98.8%
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.
Sanket - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Manager at a marketing services firm with 501-1,000 employees
With the help of the solution, we can predict and prevent failures
Currently, the most valuable thing for an individual is a mobile device. Since that is where people are currently tracking everything, we have multiple applications or apps that are for various products. I would like ITRS Geneos to develop an app, where instead of going to specific login terminals or logging into laptops or desktops to check alerts, we can have visibility in the app itself. Using the ITRS Geneos app, we could see the error message during our travels or wherever we are. I would like to see the capacity of messages for forecasting increased. Since the NSE is the number one derivative stock exchange in the work for three consecutive years, the number of messages is important. We use the capacity planner in ITRS to forecast our data needs for the next two months. The planner is important because the volume of data we produce is becoming more and more volatile compared to when we first started using ITRS Geneos in 2014.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The monitoring capability is the best in Cisco Data Center Network Manager. It helps me improve network management tasks and optimize processes."
"After installation, you almost forget that it is working."
"The product has excellent stability."
"You can integrate all the networks into the software and file network data center."
"I like running the scripts. With the help of a Python script, we deployed within the configuration and built up the code."
"The product makes the management of our environment simpler."
"There are many valuable features in this solution: The automation of the ILS, the automation of the small changes, the lands updates, scheduling, integration - basically, the pushing of features that we used to do manually."
"Customer service delivered by ITRS is to the highest standards from all points of view."
"Customizable Dashboard to display real time business flow monitoring is extremely useful to operations as well as business users, not only to monitor health but also capacity and performance at a glance, catering well to capital markets trading environments from on-exchange order latency to client RFQ type multi-stage tracking, with Geneos providing tools to capture data in near real-time and highly customizable ingestion of metrics that allow users to create tailored scripts and tools for their monitoring needs."
"The good thing is you get something out of it day one, you don't need years of training, and then you can build on that."
"As a company looking to onboard, its capacity to monitor just about anything from Unix log files and processes to database memory, and even run queries and provide results, means it can be used as a one stop shop for all your monitoring needs if you understand how to utilise it to its fullest extent."
"Tons of default modules which are available out of the box"
"I always appreciate Geneos's stability and ease of use."
"This solution has helped provide relief to existing Level 2 teams, allowing them to focus efforts on in-depth problem analysis."
"One of the most valuable features is that it can be configured by non-developers. It doesn't require development expertise to configure it."
 

Cons

"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."
"In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."
"The delivery Cisco Data Center Network Manager could improve if it was easier. Additionally, some feature improvement is needed."
"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."
"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."
"I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments."
"We need better performance and reliability."
"The technical support is a gap for us as a company."
"Their cloud monitoring solution needs to be improved. I have already given them the feedback that it's not capable of meeting the latest technology needs."
"For the solution to stay relevant in the cloud-based monitoring environment Geneos needs more plug-ins with more features. Instead of offering clients workarounds, the solution should have a cloud-based out-of-the-box version."
"Currently, it is difficult to monitor secure websites using SSL or with SSO enabled."
"It would be good if there were documentation on the ITRS website such as tutorials or plugins which are available to download."
"t needs to have better middleware integration for things such as application and Microsft SQL servers."
"I would rate technical support 7/10. It's self-explaining and the support is limited."
"The deployment method for upgrading is a bit tricky. It takes a little bit of manual effort."
"The deployment method for upgrading is a bit tricky. It takes a little bit of manual effort. If that could be a bit more automated, it would help us a lot."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is very expensive."
"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."
"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 pricing seems reasonable. We're happy enough with it."
"Pricing is the touchy subject, even here. Upper management always wants us to find a cheaper solution. But we have so much integrated with ITRS... It's expensive, but it does its job very well. And you set it and go."
"It is expensive. They have to look at the model around when we move to cloud and how that's going to work. The licensing cost does pay off because of the improvements in support to our business."
"You will get the best price if you get a single global deal."
"The organization is not just purchasing a license for the product, but also managing services and professional services from ITRS. Another factor is if the implementation is going to be in production, non-production, or both."
"The market tools are on par with this solution, but if the solution included more features, then it would be well within the range for the cost."
"Pricing and licensing is based on the requirements."
"When I first came in, their pricing was very high. ITRS had a high expectation of what their price should be based on perceived value. I think they have been realizing, more recently, that there are other competitors, so their pricing is a lot better. Licensing for on-premise is okay, however I feel there is quite some work to be done for cloud and containers. We're still working with them to try and work out what that pricing should look like."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
63%
Computer Software Company
5%
Construction Company
4%
Outsourcing Company
4%
 

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 Business6
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise39
 

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...
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Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
Geneos
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
ITRS Geneos is used by over 170 financial institutions, including JPMorgan, HSBC, RBS, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. Clients range from investment banks to exchanges and brokers.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. ITRS Geneos and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.