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Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs LiveAction LiveNX 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
LiveAction LiveNX
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
29th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (29th)
 

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 LiveAction LiveNX is 0.7%, down from 1.0% 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%
LiveAction LiveNX0.7%
Other98.7%
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…
Ashwani Bansal - PeerSpot reviewer
Network management and diagnostics improved through effective monitoring and reporting capabilities
The solution is handy. I have not used that particular feature. Maintenance is required for the system. If you want to use something on the endpoints or end-user devices, then using LiveAction LiveNX in place of other tools would be quite beneficial. The solution impacts operational costs and resources. On a scale of 1-10, I rate LiveAction LiveNX a nine.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product has excellent stability."
"The interface of this solution is easy to use overall."
"Automation of the ILS."
"You can integrate all the networks into the software."
"The product makes the management of our environment simpler."
"Monitoring system provides a clear indication of what's going on in the network."
"It uses push technology, which pushes the changes to all relevant devices to ensure they are updated accordingly."
"The most valuable feature is the connectivity monitoring."
"The product has a very good graphical interface."
"We provide a tool for our customers to manage their reports. It's an extremely highly featured platform capable of producing a lot of data. We spent quite a long time working with customers and LiveAction to create template reports, and they're very good and configurable. You get a lot of data if you don't configure them."
"The intention and the idea of the filter is great."
"We don't have any complaints about the software. According to my team, it's a very good tool that's very intuitive."
"Its analytical capability is really good."
"One of the valuable features is the ability to create CLI scripts on the fly to fix any issues. We were using it for QoS modeling to ensure that we were properly modeling QoS, and it basically said here is what you need to fix to get this QoS done, whether it is ACL or something else. It would either push or recommend. If you have the right credentials, you could also push. It is very good if you are a Cisco shop. It gives you reporting, latency, and bandwidth utilization for your applications, so you can do good capacity management planning. There are a lot of pieces that LiveNX can give you. It is a total NPM solution for SD-WAN."
"On a scale of 1-10, I rate LiveAction LiveNX a nine."
"All in all, LiveAction LiveNX has become an indispensable tool for maintaining and improving our network's reliability and performance, ultimately supporting our organization's goal of providing timely and dependable delivery services."
 

Cons

"More integration features would be beneficial."
"It's very costly."
"It's a relatively expensive product for some clients."
"The solution needs to improve reports."
"The automation feature could be improved."
"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."
"We need better performance and reliability."
"Sometimes the product gives us problems that require support."
"Improved documentation and more responsive customer support can help in addressing issues faster."
"Sometimes the solution does not register devices properly and that is a bug."
"It is not as robust as other NPM solutions. For instance, there is a problem while labeling specific applications. It works well with well-known applications, but when you have to put in new applications that are not very known and set them up with names, ports, URLs, or some protocols, it is not as intuitive."
"Maintenance is required for the system."
"The customer service and technical support of LiveAction LiveNX are rated at 4 out of 10."
"They need to create a more simplified UI."
"This is a horrible solution and I think everything needs to be improved."
"The only downside to this software is the price."
 

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."
"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."
"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."
"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."
"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."
"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."
"It's very expensive."
"We use the free version."
"The solution is fairly expensive compared to other products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
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 Business1
Large Enterprise9
 

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 do you like most about LiveAction LiveNX?
The product has a very good graphical interface.
What needs improvement with LiveAction LiveNX?
The solution could be enhanced by implementing custom patterns for each customer.
What is your primary use case for LiveAction LiveNX?
The customers use LiveAction LiveNX for network monitoring and management purposes.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
LiveNX
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia
Tampa Electric, Digital First Media, Allscripts, Boxwood Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. LiveAction LiveNX and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.