Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs OP5 Monitor comparison

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. OP5 Monitor

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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

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

OP5 Monitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

42nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (43rd)

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 OP5 Monitor is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)	0.6%
OP5 Monitor	0.6%
Other	98.8%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Jagdev Dhaliwal

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.

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Sumanth Arshanapally

Senior Analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Monitoring ease and cost-saving benefits enhance operational efficiency

The monitoring in OP5 Monitor is very easy because we can directly use custom plugins. We can write custom scripts and use those scripts directly. It's very low cost, open, and the dashboards are easy to see. We can extract the reports easily, and this is very easy to compare. Real-time monitoring in OP5 Monitor provides data every one minute or every five minutes, enabling us to get live data from the last one minute or last five minutes. OP5 Monitor gave us proper server availability, so we can always check whether a server goes down or the server CPU and memory decreases. Before reaching a particular bottleneck situation, we identified and fixed the issue, which helped us from a cost-saving business perspective. It helped us avoid application downtime.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Data Center Network Manager is absolutely stable."

"The monitoring system in this product is valuable, providing a clear indication of what's going on in the network and the server processing, power, etc., and the user interface is also very good and very informative."

"After installation, you almost forget that it is working."

"The product makes the management of our environment simpler."

"We have had a good ROI from Data Center Network Manager, and there is also a facility on Cisco's website to calculate the ROI from adopting this solution."

"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."

"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."

"Cisco's support I would rate as a 10 compared to all other vendors."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) pros

"The monitoring in OP5 Monitor is very easy because we can directly use custom plugins; we can write custom scripts and use those scripts directly, it's very low cost, open, and the dashboards are easy to see."

"With limited hardware or a virtual machine, you can address a huge network, hundreds of thousands of elements that need to be monitored. Other commercial software is not on that level."

"The best feature is that it is very relatable, stable, and scalable. The logger is a part of the software, but it's not the most important point of it."

"Instead of checking the logs each Monday, or checking that applications are running, and checking your ticketing system for angry users, you put this system in place and it monitors and continuously tests everything that is of importance to you and your users."

"Especially with the API, where I can use the data with many other systems, it's great."

"The API makes it pretty easy to integrate with any system."

"We can also observe whatever we want, and there are no limitations."

"Its open-source environment is accessible to everyone."

More OP5 Monitor pros

Cons

"The product is good but quite expensive."

"I would like to see improved integration with other tools."

"In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."

"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."

"Automation for the RMA process can be added."

"Could integrate better with VMware products."

"API lacks robustness."

"The tool's pricing strategy could be improved to compete more effectively in the market, especially against competitors like Huawei, Aruba, and Juniper."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) cons

"OP5 lacks some visualization, a feature that makes some other products nice. Op5 is built for purpose, which is fine, but if you compare it with some new products, the visualization is not so appealing, especially for management... If you don't need fancy visualizations, OP5 is fine."

"We do not get performance reports properly, which needs improvement."

"OP5 Monitor could include application monitoring in addition to infrastructure monitoring. If application business transactions were monitored, it would be helpful."

"IT environments today are in constant flux. This is driven by the newer cloud technologies such as Kubernetes and Docker, etc. The whole Nagios-based monitoring system that OP5 is created on top of, is based on a host-service model. There is a need for a strategy on what to do with more dynamic environments. There is some cool stuff going on in that direction."

"The user interface is not what we are used to these days, and should be improved."

"They need to improve the dashboard interface."

"The solution is useful for tweaking. However, there have been some negative experiences, such as limited report capabilities. The only report available is in PDF format, making it difficult for teams managing multiple servers to extract data in Excel format. The speaker recommends that the team improve the report capabilities to better serve users."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."

"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."

"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."

"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."

"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."

"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 product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."

"The solution is very expensive."

"The cost of the license and support are separate. If you want platinum call support, it will cost more than a regular call. I did not opt for it, as it is an additional cost."

"It was not expensive. And because it's less demanding in terms of hardware, you don't have to pay for another SQL or other database license, and you can have a huge installation on one machine..."

"OP5 has a very low price as a solution, compared to many other solutions out there."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Large Enterprise	5

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...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OP5 Monitor?

The price for OP5 Monitor is fine, but we don't know the exact price because it was managed by us; the customer themselves bought it and gave it to us to monitor.

What needs improvement with OP5 Monitor?

OP5 Monitor could include application monitoring in addition to infrastructure monitoring. If application business transactions were monitored, it would be helpful. For application-related issues, ...

What is your primary use case for OP5 Monitor?

Our previous use case for OP5 Monitor was server monitoring.

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Product Reports

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Download Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) product report

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) report

OP5 Monitor

Download OP5 Monitor product report

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager

No data available

Overview

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller, formerly DCNM, provides a consolidated dashboard offering insights into network operations, real-time telemetry, and automation capabilities. Users noted enhanced data center management and seamless SD-WAN integration.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller integrates Python, Ansible, and Terraform for efficient traffic management. Comprehensive data center insight and stability highlight its utility across policy updates and network troubleshooting. With support for hybrid environments and enhanced network health data visibility, the platform suits complex, evolving infrastructures.

What are the Key Features?

Automation Capabilities: Simplifies network operations with automated workflows and scheduling.
Programming Support: Facilitates integration through Python, Ansible, and Terraform compatibility.
Comprehensive Dashboard: Provides a centralized view of network performance and health.
Real-Time Telemetry: Enhances decision-making with up-to-the-moment data.
SD-WAN Integration: Ensures seamless traffic flow across network borders.

What Benefits Should Users Look for?

Enhanced Network Monitoring: Allows precise tracking and troubleshooting of network issues.
Efficient Resource Management: Streamlines policy updates and component management.
Improved Security: Facilitates tighter control over Nexus switch configurations.
Centralized Management: Reduces complexity in maintaining data centers through a unified interface.

In data center operations, businesses leverage Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller for improved security, tackling tasks like VPN operations and private cloud development. It enhances storage management, providing robust support to manage Nexus switches for optimized component oversight and security protocols.

Cisco

OP5 Monitor delivers real-time IT infrastructure monitoring with extensive customization options through open-source plugins. Its intuitive interface and cost-effectiveness make it a preferred choice for efficient performance monitoring and task automation.

OP5 Monitor integrates seamlessly with systems, offering customizable dashboards and efficient performance tracking for networks, servers, applications, databases, and cloud environments. It supports LDAP and local user accounts, providing timely insights to prevent downtime. The documentation enhances integration ease, though its user interface could benefit from updates. Improved APIs, better report capabilities, and enhanced platform integration are needed. Effective in healthcare, maritime, and diverse sectors, it provides global deployments with tailored monitoring solutions.

What are the key features of OP5 Monitor?

Real-Time Monitoring: Tracks performance and alerts users immediately on anomalies.
Seamless Integration: Works effectively with existing systems and infrastructure.
Extensive Customization: Offers open-source plugins for personalized configurations.

What benefits or ROI should users consider in reviews for OP5 Monitor?

Cost-Effectiveness: Provides robust features at a competitive price.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies monitoring processes for administrators.
Efficiency in Performance Monitoring: Automates tasks and optimizes resource use.

In industries like healthcare, maritime, and others, OP5 Monitor automates tracking and alerts, easing manual checks to enhance quality. Its global deployments provide tailored monitoring for CPU, memory, and disk space, efficiently managing both on-premise and cloud environments for large-scale operations.

ITRS

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia

Svenska Spel, Carus, VGL, Tele2, Viking Line, Clas Ohlson, Vanderlande, Försäkringskassan

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. OP5 Monitor