Cisco UCS Manager vs Ixia Hawkeye comparison

Cisco and Keysight Technologies are both solutions in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category. Cisco is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.8, while Keysight Technologies is ranked #66. Cisco holds a 1.3% mindshare in IM, compared to Keysight Technologies’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Keysight Technologies users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS Manager

Read 27 Cisco UCS Manager reviews

2,456 Views
2,260 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Ixia Hawkeye

Read 4 Ixia Hawkeye reviews

1,227 Views
650 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS Manager

Ixia Hawkeye

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Cisco UCS Manager and Ixia Hawkeye compete in IT infrastructure management, each excelling in unique areas. Cisco UCS Manager stands out in hardware integration, while Ixia Hawkeye offers superior network monitoring capabilities, making it preferred for network performance assurance.

Features: Cisco UCS Manager offers centralized management of compute, network, and storage resources, integrated management of Cisco hardware, and streamlined data center operations. Ixia Hawkeye provides comprehensive network monitoring tools, high-level visibility for network status, and advanced testing capabilities ensuring optimal performance.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS Manager could enhance its network performance monitoring, provide better integration with non-Cisco hardware, and improve its adaptability to diverse environments. Ixia Hawkeye might benefit from more intuitive user interfaces, reducing initial setup costs, and offering better integration with existing server management systems.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS Manager is known for a straightforward setup within Cisco environments and strong support through various Cisco channels. Ixia Hawkeye features an agile deployment process aimed at swiftly delivering network insights, backed by responsive customer service for diverse network environments.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS Manager is cost-effective for existing Cisco users due to lower initial setup costs and long-term hardware management efficiencies. Ixia Hawkeye, requiring higher initial investment for its sophisticated tools, provides significant ROI by minimizing downtime and improving network performance.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS Manager vs. Ixia Hawkeye Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager vs. Ixia Hawkeye

March 2026

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Helped 885,667 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

18th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Ixia Hawkeye

Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring

66th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Unified Communications Monitoring (5th), Network Monitoring Software (85th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS Manager is 1.3%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ixia Hawkeye is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Infrastructure Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco UCS Manager	1.3%
Ixia Hawkeye	0.5%
Other	98.2%

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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José Enrique Cano Rodriguez

Assistant Consultant at Tata Consultancy

A valuable tool for optimizing network performance and security with comprehensive network monitoring capabilities, user-friendly interface, and flexibility for scripting

Distinguishing itself from network management systems like SolarWinds Orion and Dataminer, Hawkeye offers a distinctive feature. It empowers network administrators to access specialized and detailed views for specific tests, including video streaming and performance related to specific applications like video games. In contrast, SolarWinds and Dataminer typically offer a more general evaluation of network health. Hawkeye's unique capability enables a detailed analysis of network performance through specific tests, allowing administrators to identify areas in need of improvement and take precise actions to enhance network performance.

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

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

"The dashboard is awesome and you can easily get all of the information that you want."

"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."

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

"The solution is highly scalable, mainly because of the templates that make it easy for you to actually edit on the system."

"A main feature of Cisco UCS Manager is its reliability, as all of the computing blades are in cluster mode."

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

"I strongly recommend that you go with a Cisco UCS solution for a cloud business."

More Cisco UCS Manager pros

"So far, this product is doing exactly what it is promised to do."

"I would recommend Ixia Hawkeye because there are some KPIs that are very useful."

"The most valuable feature is the deployment because it's very easy to deploy real flow through the network."

"The ease of setup is the most valuable aspect of this solution. It's easy to set up and run tests."

"Our customer was happiest with the price of this product."

"It empowers network administrators to access specialized and detailed views for specific tests, including video streaming and performance related to specific applications like video games."

Cons

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

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

"The automation within the solution needs to be simplified."

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

"Its user interface can be improved. It can be more user-friendly."

"Cisco UCS Manager is not a scalable solution because once you have 160 blades, it cannot be expanded more."

"We have three data centers and if we could manage all three data centers using one interface, it would be great."

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

More Cisco UCS Manager cons

"The customization of tests and even the results can be improved."

"You can't delete more than one thing at a time. It would be great to be able to highlight three out of five things and delete them, whether it's a test or an actual report."

"The customization of tests and even the results can be improved."

"Improvements in network performance are essential."

"Ixia has one flaw, which is that they do not print the license code on the paper licenses that are shipped to the customers."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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 Manager’s annual licensing fee is expensive."

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

"In larger networks, the costs for licenses tend to be more reasonable, but for smaller networks, it appears relatively costly."

"It cost us approximately 25,000 for two years. This is cheaper than ThousandEyes."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Government

Construction Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

No data available

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.

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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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Comparisons

Cisco Intersight vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 57% 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

Datadog vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 3% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Cisco UCS Manager

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco UCS Manager Competitors

SolarWinds NPM vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 13% of the time

DX Unified Infrastructure Management vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 13% of the time

Aurea CX Monitor vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 12% of the time

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 11% of the time

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Ixia Hawkeye

Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager

March 2026

Download Cisco UCS Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Monitoring Software

March 2026

Download Ixia Hawkeye product report

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

Hawkeye quickly and effectively validates network performance, isolates problems, and proactively detects issues by running scheduled verification tests. Using a combination of hardware and software agents called Performance Endpoints, Hawkeye simulates application traffic and sends key performance metrics to a central console for fast action.

Keysight Technologies

Sample Customers

Management Science Associates, Peak 10, Virtual Consulting Professionals

EMA

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS Manager vs. Ixia Hawkeye

March 2026

Free Report: Cisco UCS Manager vs. Ixia Hawkeye

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