Cisco UCS Director vs VMware Tanzu Platform comparison

Cisco and Broadcom are both solutions in the Cloud Management category. Cisco is ranked #20 with an average rating of 7.7, while Broadcom is ranked #22 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in CM, compared to Broadcom’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 73% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS Director

Read 15 Cisco UCS Director reviews

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572 Comparison Views

73% willing to recommend

VMware Tanzu Platform

Read 23 VMware Tanzu Platform reviews

6,728 Views
202 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS Director

VMware Tanzu Platform

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Cisco UCS Director and VMware Tanzu Platform are cloud management and application modernization solutions. VMware Tanzu Platform offers superior features that justify its higher cost compared to the budget-friendly Cisco UCS Director, noted for its cost-effectiveness and support.

Features: Cisco UCS Director provides orchestration of IT processes, unified infrastructure management, and resource provisioning with automation. VMware Tanzu Platform offers modern application support, container orchestration, and robust microservices capabilities for DevOps and continuous integration.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS Director could improve scalability, integration with non-Cisco systems, and user interface enhancements. VMware Tanzu Platform might benefit from simplified deployment processes, reduced resource requirements, and streamlined integrations with third-party systems.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS Director features a straightforward deployment process and reliable customer support, which suits IT teams of varying skill levels. VMware Tanzu Platform has a complex deployment due to its extensive features but provides extensive guidance and support for managing modern application stacks.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS Director is cost-effective with a quick ROI due to its lower setup costs and resource management capabilities. VMware Tanzu Platform requires a significant investment but is seen as worthwhile for its long-term benefits and application modernization capabilities that improve development speed and scalability.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS Director vs. VMware Tanzu Platform Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Director vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

September 2025

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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 UCS Director

Ranking in Cloud Management

20th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware Tanzu Platform

Ranking in Cloud Management

22nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (13th), PaaS Clouds (11th), Development Platforms (3rd), Container Management (3rd), Service Mesh (8th), Agile and DevOps Services (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Cloud Management category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS Director is 1.4%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Tanzu Platform is 1.1%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco UCS Director	1.4%
VMware Tanzu Platform	1.1%
Other	97.5%

Cloud Management

Featured Reviews

Sunny Nair

Solution Architect and Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies

Good multi-cloud management capability, but third-party and legacy integration needs improvement

Normally, UCS Director is used primarily for orchestration, but when we look at a non-Cisco data infrastructure components, the UCS Director needs a bit more improvement in terms of integration with third-party systems and with existing older systems. I feel that more development or a more integrated road map should be set up so that it becomes a common platform for any infrastructure. In the next release of this solution, I would like to see changes in the navigation controls of UCS Director. That would be helpful. Modifying the icons that are available for use, as well as virtualization aspects.

Read full review

DarshanChaudhari

Solutions Architect Hybrid Cloud Practice US/Europe at Tech Mahindra Limited

Empowers seamless connectivity and integration through APIs while offering robust auto-scaling

I am involved in IT services and we provide a solution to customers. We work with VMware, Nutanix, OpenShift, and Microsoft Hyper-V The Tanzu platform is highly available, scalable, and flexible. It offers native services for autoscaling and integrations through APIs, allowing seamless…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco's knowledge base is extensive."

"A product that really aids in systems management without complexity."

"Feature-wise, the solution helps one to add multiple environments in one place...It is a scalable product."

"An easy and strong configuration, along with its low cost, are some of the features of the solution."

"UCS director enables us to be more productive and more agile, and also more self-sufficient because we don't have to depend on anybody else."

"This is a user-friendly solution that is very good and easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the fabric sharing."

"The main feature of this solution is the integration with all the Cisco solutions and other vendors."

More Cisco UCS Director pros

"The most important feature of Tanzu Mission Control is its integration with the other products, especially with ESX and vSAN. This is a strong part of Tanzu Mission Control. In other solutions, such as OpenShift or Kubernetes, you can find similar features, but they don't have similar integration. With Tanzu Mission Control, you get a total solution with only one provider. You have the integration with the infrastructure, virtualization of networking, and virtualization of storage. You have a natural integration, and you don't have the problem of integrating it with different products or providers. Sometimes, different companies have good integration, but it is not always guaranteed. For example, many years ago, Cisco and VMware were good partners in networking, but when VMware started to sell ESX, the relationship was broken. This is the problem that you can face when you are using solutions from two different companies."

"The Day 2 operations support is the most vital feature"

"A feature we find valuable is that other products can also be integrated with Mission Control. This means that we can see the status of specific clusters, as well as view the monitoring application logs all from one point."

"The most popular feature of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is its graphical user interface for describing network policies on the Service Mesh, which is highly integrable with other tools commonly used in supply chains such as security."

"The initial setup is easy."

"We can build namespaces and provide application developers the platform to deploy their applications on pods within containerization, and we can easily manage, pull results, and create containers efficiently, making it a simple way to handle applications."

"Defining security metrics has proven beneficial for customers in maintaining a safe environment."

"I have multiple Kubernetes environments within my environment. TMC gives me a single pane view, which is good for managing everything."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pros

Cons

"I would like to see more integration with other solutions."

"Normally, UCS Director is used primarily for orchestration, but when we look at a non-Cisco data infrastructure components, the UCS Director needs a bit more improvement in terms of integration with third-party systems and with existing older systems."

"Currently, Cisco UCS Director is unable to integrate with another product or with a server from another brand."

"The product could allow more programmatic opportunities through better development of the API."

"It is not easy to add or expand the product."

"There could be an improvement with the integration with the newest solutions from other vendors' technologies."

"The product's pricing needs to improve."

"Simplifying the user interface would go a long way to making it more usable."

More Cisco UCS Director cons

"Addressing the high upfront costs could improve the product. Implementing a subscription-based model with tiered service options could make it more accessible to a broader range of customers."

"Customers have noticed a considerable price increase after VMware's acquisition by Broadcom."

"One potential area for expansion would be leveraging AI capabilities, which my customer might be interested in exploring as they grow."

"The network control and security policies must be improved."

"Customers have noticed a considerable price increase after VMware's acquisition by Broadcom."

"I would like to see additional support for things outside of Cloud Foundry."

"VMware Tanzu Service Mesh could add better integration with other cloud platforms, such as vRealize Automation or VMware vCloud Director for cloud providers."

"Tanzu could provide more granular control over whatever networking is being done on the containers. I would also like to see a slightly more detailed view of application-level tracing. I'm referring to the connections between different microservices. If they added a service-matching feature, that would be helpful for the customers to build or be more effective."

More VMware Tanzu Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco UCS Director is expensive...I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."

"I would rate the product's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The budget doesn’t work for the state and local governments."

"The cost of this solution is significant."

"I rate Cisco UCS Director's price a three out of ten. Cisco UCS Director is not an affordable product. With Cisco UCS Director, there is a need to pay an overall price, which consists of the product, software, and support."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing around five to six out of ten."

"The licensing cost is expensive."

"Since we were at a large data center, the price might not have been a concern for us."

"The license for VMware Tanzu Application Service is expensive. The license should be cheaper."

"I would recommend that businesses look into the full price for their requirements. The price is high, but there are some open-source add-ons that can be used for customization while keeping costs down, although these might not be suitable for everyone."

"There are different licenses available. You have to upgrade your license if you want to scale the solution more."

"The price of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is greater than that of Red Hat's competitor solution"

"VMware Tanzu Mission Control is cheaper than Red Hat OpenShift."

"Its pricing is very competitive. We get around 70% or 75%, sometimes even 80%, discount on the product. I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS Director?

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS Director?

While the pricing might be seen as expensive, it provides value for money due to reliable service and excellent technical support.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS Director?

It should be more of a cloud-based architecture for Cisco UCS Director, and it should be affordable to small customers as well because the pricing is a major challenge when we talk about Cisco UCS ...

See all answers

Which is better - OpenShift Container Platform or VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

Red Hat Openshift is ideal for organizations using microservices and cloud environments. I like that the platform is auto-scalable, which saves overhead time for developers. I think Openshift can b...

See all answers

What do you like most about VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

It definitely gives the end customer a good overview and perspective of running applications in terms of overall workload footprint. TMC provides a very detailed description of your cloud-native ap...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

The price of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is greater than that of Red Hat's competitor solution. I would rate the pricing of VMware Tanzu Mission Control as four out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Intersight vs Cisco UCS Director

Compared 35% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs Cisco UCS Director

Compared 28% of the time

Morpheus vs Cisco UCS Director

Compared 13% of the time

IBM Turbonomic vs Cisco UCS Director

Compared 12% of the time

OpenNebula vs Cisco UCS Director

Compared 11% of the time

More Cisco UCS Director Competitors

Rancher Labs vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 17% of the time

Kubernetes vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 9% of the time

Docker vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 5% of the time

More VMware Tanzu Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Director

October 2025

Download Cisco UCS Director product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Tanzu Platform

September 2025

Download VMware Tanzu Platform product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tanzu Application Catalog, Application Platform, Application Service, Hub, Mission Control, Service Mesh, Build Service, Concourse for VMware Tanzu

Overview

Cisco UCS Director enables automated delivery of physical and virtual data center resources, empowering data centers to move at the speed of business.

Cisco

VMware Tanzu Platform is designed for cloud-native development and management of Kubernetes, CI/CD processes, microservices, and containerized workloads. It supports deployments both on cloud and on-premises, providing centralized management via Mission Control.

VMware Tanzu Platform offers seamless integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN, supporting centralized cluster management and lifecycle management. The platform provides a GUI for monitoring CI/CD pipelines and network policies, enhancing multi-tenancy and Day 2 operations. Users can easily manage Kubernetes clusters, monitor applications, and integrate with tools such as GitHub, GitLab, Cloud Foundry, and Azure. It ensures compliance and security for service providers, financial institutions, and businesses.

What are the key features of VMware Tanzu Platform?

Integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN: Enhances compatibility and flexibility.
Seamless Cluster Management: Centralized control over Kubernetes clusters.
CI/CD Pipelines and Network Policies: Simplifies monitoring and management.
Multi-tenancy Support: Facilitates resource sharing among multiple users.
Comprehensive Lifecycle Management: Streamlines deployment and scalability.
Observability Platform: Provides enhanced visibility and control.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in VMware Tanzu Platform reviews?

Centralized Management: Simplifies operations and reduces manual effort.
Enhanced Compliance and Security: Meets regulatory requirements.
Flexibility in Deployment: Supports both cloud and on-premises options.
Seamless Integration: Works with multiple vendors and tools.
Developer-Friendly Environment: Improves productivity and innovation.

Industries such as financial institutions, service providers, and businesses requiring rigorous compliance and security deploy VMware Tanzu Platform. These entities benefit from centralized management, streamlined DevOps processes, and integrated tools, enhancing their capabilities in cloud-native developments and containerized workloads.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Entel, Data#3, Cegal, NESIC, LightEdge

Verizon, Cerner, Zipcar, Avarteq

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Director vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

September 2025

Free Report: Cisco UCS Director vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

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