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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Qualys VMDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 30, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reduces WAN costs significantly, offering savings up to 80% with enhanced reliability and operational efficiencies.
Sentiment score
7.2
Qualys VMDR enhances security, risk reduction, and compliance, improving asset management and operational efficiency with substantial benefits.
We saw a return on investment through significant savings in time, money, and resources.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN support is generally rated highly, though some users note delays and varying expertise levels.
Sentiment score
6.7
Qualys VMDR's customer service is praised for expertise but faces occasional delays and generic responses, needing faster resolutions.
The principal third-level support is very good.
The technical team is very competent.
Cisco's ongoing reorganizations have affected the quality of technical support, which varies depending on the engineer handling cases.
We usually get on calls with tech support, and they are very helpful.
The response time takes a while.
When reaching out via email, they reply quickly.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is praised for its scalability, supporting enterprises across various sectors with seamless growth and integration.
Sentiment score
8.0
Qualys VMDR offers high scalability for large networks, efficiently managing resources and adapting to diverse requirements seamlessly.
The ease of configuration and features like zero-touch provisioning enhance the scalability of Cisco SD-WAN, especially in disaster recovery situations.
Cisco SD-WAN is highly scalable and can be expanded to more than 10,000 sites.
Scalability depends on the license and the number of assets being monitored.
Qualys VMDR can handle scalability, although increasing the inventory can raise the licensing costs.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is reliable with few bugs, but complex setups and early releases may introduce issues.
Sentiment score
8.0
Qualys VMDR is praised for its stability, with users rating it highly, despite minor bugs and occasional connectivity issues.
While some software-related issues and bugs were encountered, they did not cause the whole environment to crash.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN struggles with high costs, complexity, and lacks unified interface and advanced security features, needing enhancements.
Qualys VMDR needs better reporting, UI, integration, and support to improve usability, manage vulnerabilities, and reduce costs.
Now, they change frequently, making it difficult to obtain long-term support.
Including more features like integrating with Splunk for monitoring vulnerabilities would help eliminate the need for other SOC solutions.
It does not automate patching unless the patch management module is purchased separately.
If AI features were integrated, it could enhance the capabilities significantly.
They can tweak their UI since the new version seems a bit jumbled up.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is costly due to complex licensing but offers value in robust performance, with adaptable cost management.
Qualys VMDR offers competitive pricing and comprehensive features, justifying its cost for medium to large enterprises with flexible options.
The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.
It is also relatively cost-effective for smaller businesses when using the Meraki version.
Its pricing is justifiable due to the comprehensive solution it offers.
I would rate the pricing between seven to eight out of ten.
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
I have a notion that Qualys might be more expensive than Rapid7.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN offers centralized management, automation, security, cloud integration, and flexibility, enhancing network efficiency and scalability.
Qualys VMDR offers comprehensive vulnerability management with strong cloud capabilities, automated detection, and user-friendly dashboards for efficient threat remediation.
It also provides robust security features, including port security, analysis, mirroring, and multiple other security solutions.
Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations.
Integration with Cisco ISE, Cisco Firewalls, and other Cisco solutions is beneficial.
The prioritization of vulnerabilities has improved our remediation efforts by around thirty to thirty-five percent.
We use it daily to fix vulnerabilities by connecting with infrastructure to remediate.
Qualys VMDR offers a one-stop solution for monitoring and reporting.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (6th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd), WAN Edge (2nd)
Qualys VMDR
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (5th), Vulnerability Management (2nd), Configuration Management Databases (2nd), Container Security (12th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Igor Van Den Ouden - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure and flexible branch connectivity with application-aware routing
The valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN include its security policies and zone-based firewall that are applied to every site, as well as application-aware routing. Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations. Application-aware routing offers flexibility in using different lines for traffic, depending on the policy implemented.
Harold Jensen - PeerSpot reviewer
Good visibility but expensive and needs better support
Support: It's often overseas and often following a script, basically asking us to redo what we opened the case with. Multiple APIs: There seems to be a lack of easy onboarding into Qualys. We had to use manual inputs and some API calls to get items in place. Dashboard: It is very rudimentary with very little customization. The Qualys Scripting Language (QSL) works differently in different Qualys modules, so when you get it working in one area you have to modify the syntax in others. User account management: We often have to give users more rights than needed just to give them what they need. Integration with the various Qualys Modules: You can tell the UI is different based on of the different teams that created them. QSL syntax same in all modules Responsiveness of some of the components: They time out, you get a blank screen, etc. Backend updates between the various modules: You update connectors and information takes a few minutes to show in VMDR or Global Asset View Connectors: Connectors have a throttling issue with AWS which causes them to frequently fail unless you manually run them again.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
43%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
31%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?
When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significantly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?
The pricing of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is rated between eight and nine out of ten, where ten is the most expensive.
What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?
The durability of the switches could be improved. In the past, Cisco devices had a longer lifespan. Now, they change frequently, making it difficult to obtain long-term support.
What do you like most about Qualys VMDR?
I like that we have many scanners and channels that don't overload. It helps us scan and track easily. Also, the tagging system is good for tagging. We can still use QualysAgent task ID tools even ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
They can tweak their UI since the new version seems a bit jumbled up, and the old UI was more user-friendly.
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: April 2025.
850,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.