Cisco UCS Manager vs FortiMonitor comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Cisco is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.7, while Fortinet is ranked #24 with an average rating of 8.3. Cisco holds a 1.4% mindshare in IM, compared to Fortinet’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS Manager

Read 27 Cisco UCS Manager reviews

1,680 Views
154 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

FortiMonitor

Read 15 FortiMonitor reviews

1,026 Views
99 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS Manager

FortiMonitor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Cisco UCS Manager and FortiMonitor compete in IT infrastructure optimization and monitoring capabilities. Cisco UCS Manager has the upper hand in comprehensive infrastructure management due to its tight integration with Cisco hardware, while FortiMonitor is preferred for advanced monitoring functionalities.

Features: Cisco UCS Manager offers unified management of computing, networking, and storage resources, including integration with Cisco hardware, centralized management capabilities, and advanced configuration options. FortiMonitor provides robust network performance monitoring, alerting capabilities, and diverse integrations, along with advanced analytics and a customizable dashboard.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS Manager could enhance its cloud integration, simplify the user interface, and improve multi-vendor support. FortiMonitor might improve its on-premises deployment options, expand integration with proprietary systems, and refine its user-centric customization capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FortiMonitor features a streamlined deployment process with flexible cloud options and is known for responsive customer service. Cisco UCS Manager requires on-premises setup, which may lengthen deployment times for those committed to Cisco hardware.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS Manager involves higher initial setup costs due to specialized hardware but offers strong ROI within Cisco environments. FortiMonitor is more competitively priced, offering scalable cloud-based plans and solid ROI, particularly beneficial for IT environments not reliant on Cisco hardware.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS Manager vs. FortiMonitor Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager vs. FortiMonitor

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 859,533 peers since 2012

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 Manager

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

16th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

FortiMonitor

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

24th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (22nd), IT Alerting and Incident Management (9th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS Manager is 1.4%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Edwin Mwosa

IT Infrastructure Manager at KTDA

Enhanced network oversight with rapid issue identification and good efficiency

We mainly use Cisco UCS Manager to integrate and manage our Cisco switches across the building. We also utilize it for network integration. It provides an integrated solution for our Cisco environment, streamlining our operations and managing multiple Cisco devices like switches and routers Cisco…

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JaimeVasquez

Commercial Manager at IT-Experience

Monitoring capabilities keep operations running smoothly and alerts enhance proactive system management

We use FortiMonitor to monitor the infrastructure of our customers. We check on what is happening with their operations, monitor bandwidth, ensure configurations are appropriate for the customer, and identify if anything is going wrong The most valuable features of FortiMonitor are its redundancy…

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 UCS has different layers of security, and you can do multiple installations of your LIAMs on top of the server and Blade. You can install VMware, Windows Server, Hyper-V, etc."

"From a usability and functionality perspective, Cisco UCS Manager is very good."

"I can quickly manage the provisioned servers."

"One of the valuable features is the user interface base."

"Technical support has been good so far. We haven't had any issues with them. We're satisfied with the level of service they provide our company."

"The most valuable features are flexibility and management."

"Cisco Infrastructure is one of the top vendors and no one can beat them in terms of switching and routing."

"Creating UCS service profiles for quickly deploying servers and replicating that configuration to another server makes it easier for deployment."

More Cisco UCS Manager pros

"FortiMonitor is really easy to use for monitoring the logs on FortiGate...It is a stable product."

"FortiMonitor offers comprehensive monitoring capabilities, allowing me to track network traffic in and out effectively."

"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is the overall ability to monitor the health of the environment."

"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."

"Overall, I would recommend FortiMonitor to others."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is what the devices are used for. We have big backups for our Cradlepoint solutions, but FortiMonitor is a great routing device and we love working with them."

"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."

"The tool continuously improves, adapting to support new vendors and technologies. Importantly, it automates the process, triggering alerts when devices require attention, and eliminating the need for manual intervention."

More FortiMonitor pros

Cons

"The solution's pricing is high and could be reduced."

"The primary challenge we face is identifying the correct version to deploy during firmware upgrades or compute updates."

"I would like to see Cisco UCS optionally work as a hyper-converged system because right now, it only operates as a converged system."

"The pricing can be better."

"The integration with other solutions could be better. I think Cisco can only integrate using Intersight. There is a second interface available as a SaaS platform, in the cloud, or on-premise. It's based on the Redfish protocol, which is standard for all the B-series servers in the market. We can integrate other solutions using API."

"I found it a bit of a challenge to get training on UCSM. I've been trying to get that for some time now. I feel like I have to figure it out a lot of things myself. For years I've to log calls with support whenever I've got challenges that I cannot resolve. If I had some training or more manuals, I'd be better able to handle more things on my own."

"The pricing aspect should be addressed."

"Cisco UCS Manager should have a simplified deployment in the sense of not having multiple machines, demilitarized zones, and on-premise options."

More Cisco UCS Manager cons

"There is room for improvement in the FortiMonitor report. It is not ideal for showcasing to tech customers or managers, especially when trying to display high CPU usage from logins within a specific range of months or the most recent month."

"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

"FortiMonitor could improve by having compatibility with other operating systems, such as Linux."

"There are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

"Sometimes, we get corruption when upgrading from firmware to the new generation, causing a lot of issues."

". Enhancements in the dashboard, such as clearer alerting, maintenance window management, software version tracking, and better visualization, would be beneficial."

"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."

"FortiMonitor's monitoring could be much better. It should be like, in Palo Alto."

More FortiMonitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You buy the hardware and then you get Cisco UCS Manager for free."

"Cisco UCS is more expensive than Dell and HP, but it is more reliable. I see less issues and it's quite stable."

"With product discounts which can be negotiated, the product is a great value."

"We need to take a license for each port, which amounts to a big sum."

"Cisco UCS Manager’s annual licensing fee is expensive."

"The pricing for Cisco UCS Manager is okay for its market, so it's a four out of five for me."

"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."

"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."

"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."

"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."

"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."

"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."

"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

24%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

27%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS Manager?

When one server fails, we can attach the service profile to a new server, which saves a lot of time.

See all answers

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

My experience with the pricing of Cisco UCS Manager ( /products/cisco-ucs-manager-reviews ) is that it is reasonable. Recently, we acquired an excellent bundle with significant discounts, with offe...

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What needs improvement with Cisco UCS Manager?

For improvements, while the current graphical user interface is satisfactory, it could be further simplified for different tasks. While it has been improved from using Java to HTML, simplifying the...

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What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...

See all answers

What do you like most about FortiMonitor?

In FortiMonitor, we're linked up with our Netgear, CactusServer, and NOC. It's really valuable because everything's migrating to one dashboard for us system engineers. We can keep an eye on traffic...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?

FortiMonitor does save time but not significantly on costs, as there are still expenses related to procurement, installation, and licensing.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Intersight vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 83% of the time

Nutanix Prism vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 9% of the time

HPE OneView vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 5% of the time

Zabbix vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco UCS Manager Competitors

ThousandEyes vs FortiMonitor

Compared 24% of the time

Datadog vs FortiMonitor

Compared 17% of the time

Zabbix vs FortiMonitor

Compared 16% of the time

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 13% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 11% of the time

More FortiMonitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager

June 2025

Download Cisco UCS Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

May 2025

Download FortiMonitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

Panopta

Overview

Cisco UCS Manager helps significantly reduce management and administration expenses by automating routine tasks to increase operational agility. Customers can extend the benefits of Cisco UCS Manager globally across an enterprise to thousands of servers in multiple domains with Cisco UCS Central Software.

Cisco

FortiMonitor is a comprehensive, SaaS-based digital experience monitoring (DEM) platform that helps organizations modernize their performance-monitoring tools. It provides visibility into endpoint application performance and digital experience—no matter where the user resides or where the application is hosted.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Management Science Associates, Peak 10, Virtual Consulting Professionals

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager vs. FortiMonitor

June 2025

Free Report: Cisco UCS Manager vs. FortiMonitor

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