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ExtremeCloud IQ vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 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
6.8
ExtremeCloud IQ enhances productivity by simplifying management, stabilizing Wi-Fi, reducing costs, and offering quick deployment for business growth.
Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiManager offers cost-effective, unified management with long-term savings in time, money, and enhanced security visibility.
I managed to support and deploy ExtremeCloud IQ and handle network management without requiring external staffing, thus saving on external hiring costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
ExtremeCloud IQ offers efficient, responsive customer service with knowledgeable support, though some find documentation and resources lacking compared to competitors.
Sentiment score
7.0
Fortinet FortiManager support is generally good but needs faster responses and improved technical expertise for complex issues.
I experienced effective help mainly remotely, though for some issues, a technical person had to assist on-site.
I'd rate their support a nine out of ten.
Fortinet's support has proven to be reliable, particularly as we've been engaged with them since the project's initiation.
They are responsive and resolve issues quickly when I raise a ticket.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
ExtremeCloud IQ offers scalable, seamless network expansion with cloud-based architecture, supporting high-density and smaller-scale applications efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiManager offers scalable management for businesses, efficiently handling devices despite some hardware limitations, with high user ratings.
You can raise the capacity as you go, and there is no limit for hardware.
Effective policy management and centralized upgrades are critical for multi-location management.
If the company has many switches and access points and traffics with customization Fortinet FortiManager is not the correct solution.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
ExtremeCloud IQ is stable, with minor firmware issues; updates improve reliability, with newer bands performing well and occasional reboots needed.
Sentiment score
8.1
Fortinet FortiManager stability varies; some experience reboots and bugs, while others find improvements with newer versions and upgrades.
It requires some time to update, which affects real-time management.
I rate the solution's stability ten out of ten.
95% of the time, there are no problems interacting with other devices.
The solution is highly stable and has good performance.
 

Room For Improvement

ExtremeCloud IQ needs improvements in UI, stability, performance, security, support, and pricing to meet user and market expectations.
Fortinet FortiManager needs improvements in user-friendliness, documentation, integration, performance, technical support, and more straightforward pricing and configuration.
I needed deep details and more thorough resources.
FortiManager is a good tool, but there is a lack of really advanced documentation.
The product is not very stable.
In a future release, it would be beneficial if Fortinet FortiManager could improve by adding more devices able to be managed by the solution, including switching, routing, and wireless.
 

Setup Cost

ExtremeCloud IQ is competitively priced, offering flexible licensing and reasonable support costs, especially advantageous for educational institutions.
Fortinet FortiManager is cost-effective compared to competitors, though pricing varies based on device count and features.
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period.
Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves.
It isn't like other solutions where you need to pay for SD-WAN or additional bandwidth.
Fortinet has the best pricing currently on the market.
 

Valuable Features

ExtremeCloud IQ excels with centralized management, AI analytics, seamless scalability, and integration with planning tools for efficient networking.
Fortinet FortiManager centralizes management, enhances network performance, and improves efficiency with easy deployment, scalability, and robust features.
The automation and information provided by ExtremeCloud IQ, such as connection status and logs, were very beneficial.
I can automate the installation of configurations using different programming languages like Python or HPE, and it's a GUI solution, so it's pretty easy to use, even for basic users.
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiManager is the ease of manageability and policy-pushing functionality.
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager are the overall management it provides
 

Categories and Ranking

ExtremeCloud IQ
Ranking in Network Management Applications
10th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (10th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (18th)
Fortinet FortiManager
Ranking in Network Management Applications
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of ExtremeCloud IQ is 2.9%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiManager is 5.5%, up from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Sriman L - PeerSpot reviewer
One of the best cloud-based wireless solutions that helps manage multiple APs from a single dashboard across multiple locations
ExtremeCloud IQ’s user interface needs to be improved, and its current bugs need to be fixed. Sometimes, AP details, like the AP firmware and the AP hostname, are not updating properly because of a few bugs in the current version, which they might fix in the next version. Compared to the central and other cloud solutions, a couple of bugs still running on these portals need to be rectified. For ExtremeCloud IQ's next releases, I expect to get all the users and the events alerts. Also, if any AP goes down, I should be able to do some scheduled reports specific to the site because it is currently in beta. If any AP goes offline, that's an event. If you want to do the filter for a specific site event, we don't have that filter option. I expect specific site-level and category-level events and alert filters to get reports.
HamedWasel - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up with good integration capabilities but we've had troubles when moving devices
We've faced an issue when we need to move devices. Templates need to be recreated instead of having the policies, et cetera, cut and pasted over. Everything should just move over when we need to move devices instead of recreating everything from scratch. For the IPSEC tunnels, Fortimanager doesn't have all of the features that are available on Fortigate.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
What do you like most about ExtremeCloud IQ?
The Client 360 feature provides a comprehensive view of your clients and their activities, including the devices they use. Additionally, a feature called Network 360 offers a 360-degree view of the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeCloud IQ?
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period. The documentation and training courses were also costly, impacting how easily I c...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
The graphical user interface could use improvement as it appears complex and not user-friendly. Better integration of Fortinet ADC into FortiManager would be beneficial.
 

Also Known As

Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henry Ford Health System, Baltimore Ravens, Brandili, Federal University of Alagoas, CEDAE, Caxias do Sul, UNISC Concurrency, CenturyLink Field, Louisiana College, Cricket Tasmania Stadium, Moscow Internet Exchange
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about ExtremeCloud IQ vs. Fortinet FortiManager and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.