Cisco UCS Manager vs FortiMonitor comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Cisco is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.8, while Fortinet is ranked #23 with an average rating of 8.8. Cisco holds a 1.3% mindshare in IM, compared to Fortinet’s 0.8% 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

2,065 Views
1,859 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

FortiMonitor

Read 15 FortiMonitor reviews

1,869 Views
991 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: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager vs. FortiMonitor

January 2026

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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 Manager

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

18th

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

23rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (22nd), IT Alerting and Incident Management (10th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS Manager is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Infrastructure Monitoring Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco UCS Manager	1.3%
FortiMonitor	0.8%
Other	97.9%

IT Infrastructure Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Rob-Croxford

Consultant at rcnss

A market leader with an enhanced user interface for seamless experience

There is room for improvement in terms of cost and complexity to set up. It doesn't work straight out of the UCS, so someone who knows what they're doing is needed immediately, and it can be quite confusing. Some settings are still fairly well hidden, even the basic ones. Companies don't really understand how long it takes to set up. Also, when changes are pushed, it can take their phone line off the system for twenty minutes to half an hour. Out-of-the-box functionality is an issue, too. I know that my company is different, however, the basics are always the same. You do your tap lines, zip lines, and stuff like that, then you get your internal phone line system. That can all be automated and scripted, and it's probably part of the automation process. However, I haven't really seen it.

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reviewer2677554

Network Engineer III at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Managing diverse networks with detailed alerts enhances device oversight

FortiManager is very helpful in managing our networks. We use it to manage 20 farms and various networks with hundreds of devices. The version we are using provides more detail than the older dashboard. We appreciate the alerting capabilities, which are integrated with SolarWinds to notify our team via SMS.

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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

"The most valuable features of Cisco UCS Manager include the visibility it provides and the ease of identifying issues within the Cisco environment."

"The hardware is very powerful and it is a stable solution."

"The management is one of the most valuable features of this solution."

"Cisco UCS Manager is recommended for its ease of deployment and management capabilities."

"For the blade architecture and ease of use, I consider Cisco UCS Manager the best option on the market at the moment."

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

"Ease of management is certainly the most valuable feature in this product."

"The flexibility and the ease in which the features can be expanded are the solution's most valuable aspects."

More Cisco UCS Manager pros

"FortiMonitor's dashboard is very informative and user-friendly."

"Overall, I would recommend FortiMonitor to others."

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

"The product's initial setup phase is easy."

"Fortinet's customer support is very good."

"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."

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

"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."

More FortiMonitor pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in terms of cost and complexity to set up. It doesn't work straight out of the UCS, so someone who knows what they're doing is needed immediately, and it can be quite confusing."

"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."

"Upgrading the firmware is a difficult procedure."

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

"In the next release, I would like to see improvements made to their security."

"Improving functionalities similar to InterSite within UCS Manager would be beneficial."

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

"There is room for improvement in the software part of Cisco UCS Manager. It should be more user-friendly, especially when creating policies."

More Cisco UCS Manager cons

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

"I think the current features are really good for me, nothing else comes to mind right now. Maybe some small improvements could be made in the customization and configuration part of the UI to make it easier or more intuitive. Customizable UI options, like we saw in the demo, could be helpful for everyone. But in our operational environment, having clear health status and system details is crucial for us system engineers. One feature I'd really like to see is a credential management system. It would help us keep track of who's logged in and how many times, which is important due to user restrictions. Sometimes, we need to manage logins more efficiently, like logging off other users to free up credentials. So having a feature like that would be really helpful."

"The solution's initial setup process is time-consuming."

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

"We use FortiToken, and it's a pain to use because you have to send things through your phone and then confirm by email. Only after this can you log in. It's dual-factor authentication. I wish that I could just log in or bring up a dashboard where I could log in from."

"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."

"Sometimes, during high CPU usage, we cannot access FortiMonitor and must refresh it."

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

More FortiMonitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

"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."

"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."

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	18

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	6

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 64% of the time

Nutanix Prism vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 5% of the time

HPE OneView vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 4% of the time

Splunk Observability Cloud vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 4% of the time

Datadog vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco UCS Manager Competitors

ThousandEyes vs FortiMonitor

Compared 20% of the time

SolarWinds Network Device Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 10% of the time

PRTG Network Monitor vs FortiMonitor

Compared 10% of the time

Zabbix vs FortiMonitor

Compared 9% of the time

Datadog vs FortiMonitor

Compared 8% of the time

More FortiMonitor Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager

January 2026

Download Cisco UCS Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

December 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

January 2026

Free Report: Cisco UCS Manager vs. FortiMonitor

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