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Cisco Prime [EOL] vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Prime [EOL]
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiManager
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

AR
Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
Has an easy implementation process, but the performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive
The project implementation was easy overall. Adapting Cisco's solutions to our specific environment required effort, as their documentation only covers some network scenarios. The deployment didn't happen all at once; it was staged and controlled to ensure a smooth transition. We started with a small test environment before gradually rolling it out to all campuses. This gradual approach helped mitigate the risk of any issues arising across multiple locations simultaneously, especially on a critical day like Monday morning. We have a team of three executives working on the process. Their job roles included network specialists and a manager. It requires maintenance, which is included in the annual cost. We receive updates and support as part of the renewal process.
SudeepMaydeo - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Head of IT Infrastructure at EPL Americas
Ensures seamless integration and centralized visibility for network security operations
The version upgrade from a single dashboard for all the firewalls in one click is the beauty of Fortinet FortiManager as the most impactful feature in managing our network security. Fortinet FortiManager's policy management enhances our security protocols by enabling us and giving integrated centralized visibility, which has proven to be very healthy. Because of this, we have identified some of the vulnerabilities in our systems, and we mitigated them through Fortinet FortiManager. The central dashboards and the visibility are what appealed to us to go with Fortinet FortiManager. Fortinet FortiManager has adapted to changes in our network scale and complexity as we have geographically 18 international locations, all equipped with firewalls and some cybersecurity initiatives and IT infrastructure initiatives.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It gives you the ability to upgrade switches remotely, schedule the upgrade time, perform backups, and monitor the health of all networks."
"What I found most beneficial from Cisco Prime is that it gives you an insight into what your network does, even when you're not actively monitoring what's going on with your network."
"Cisco Prime is user-friendly, so we are comfortable using it."
"Cisco Prime can help customers fix their Wi-Fi issues with scientific and digital data."
"Cisco Prime allows us to manage all the wireless controllers and access points."
"I have found the solution to be scalable."
"We use the solution to control the physical service station that is part of the SCADA network. We connect and control them remotely."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager are the overall management it provides and its ease of use."
"The most valuable feature is the centralized management console."
"For the whole security fabric from Fortinet, with a simple click you can see if some workstations or services are affected by an attack. You can really easily quarantine it, check the solution, and fix it."
"This solution enables you to centralize the rules and the configuration of all the equipment."
"The centralized policy management helps with the creation of policies because it is easy to monitor and facilitates installation."
"Stability is good within the product."
"It is easy to manage a huge number of devices with FortiManager."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiManager is the ease of manageability and policy-pushing functionality."
 

Cons

"They could consider offering more flexible pricing options for their customers."
"The solution can be slow at times."
"Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
"The user interface of Cisco Prime could be more user-friendly and increase its performance."
"There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
"The reporting could be simplified and the information made clearer to the user."
"The solution has issues with real time monitoring of devices and NetFlow such as inadequate visualization for reports, sources, and destinations."
"The reporting feature of Cisco Prime should be improved."
"The graphical user interface could use improvement as it appears complex and not user-friendly."
"Performance issues should be improved. We have problems when we have more mobile connections than local devices. Most of us have two to three devices."
"There are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, for example, the ZTP."
"The solution should be more open to other products."
"When I started, it was a bit difficult, however, now it's okay. It can be a bit complex for basic users."
"The presence of Fortinet in our region (Nigeria) needs to be stronger."
"The deployment of Fortinet FortiManager is quite complex and should be easier. It requires improvement in vulnerability management and should integrate automated AI features to enhance its reliability."
"For the IPSEC tunnels, Fortimanager doesn't have all of the features that are available on Fortigate."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"We update the license every five years."
"The price of Cisco Prime was reasonable because we purchased it as part of a Cisco One package. The package was a bundle of Cisco solutions together, such as Cisco ISE and CMX. The price is reasonable com compared to other solutions."
"The cost is quite high."
"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"This is an affordable solution, and its licensing model is based on the number of devices."
"The price point is very good."
"Fortinet FortiManager is not expensive at all if you compare it with other vendors like Check Point and Cisco. Fortinet products are the least expensive on the market in the category of firewalls."
"The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users."
"Fortinet FortiManager can be expensive."
"Fortinet FortiManager operates on a licensing system that is dependent on the number of devices being managed. Yearly subscription renewal is necessary to continue using the service. Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves."
"The pricing is based on a licensing model by feature."
"FortiManager is reasonably priced - I pay around US$40,0000 per year, which covers fifty locations."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
16%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Prime?
The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management.
What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?
The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive.
What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?
We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
I am satisfied with the licensing cost, and I would rate it an 8.5.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
I do not use Fortinet FortiManager daily, but I can speak with my security team and ask them what areas need future improvement for Fortinet FortiManager. When I installed it, I found it somewhat d...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Prime Infrastructure
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.