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F5 BIG-IQ vs vCenter Orchestrator comparison

F5 and VMware are both solutions in the Process Automation category. F5 is ranked #23 with an average rating of 8.7, while VMware is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.2. F5 holds a 0.2% mindshare in PA, compared to VMware’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of F5 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of VMware users who would recommend it.
F5 BIG-IQ
Read 14 F5 BIG-IQ reviews
  • 242 Views
  • 81 Comparison Views
80% willing to recommend
vCenter Orchestrator
Read 50 vCenter Orchestrator reviews
  • 146 Views
  • 115 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

vCenter Orchestrator and F5 BIG-IQ are part of the automation and management category, with vCenter Orchestrator thriving in VMware environments, whereas F5 BIG-IQ excels in managing F5 Networks appliances. F5 BIG-IQ is considered superior due to its comprehensive features, while vCenter Orchestrator stands out for its cost-effectiveness and support.

Features: vCenter Orchestrator offers workflow automation, scalable solutions, and seamless integration within VMware environments, with features like Distributed Resource Scheduler and efficient VM management. It simplifies management activities significantly. F5 BIG-IQ provides centralized management for F5 BIG-IP devices, notable for its load balancing capabilities, web application firewall (WAF), and streamlined operations management via a singular dashboard.

Room for Improvement: vCenter Orchestrator could enhance mobile administration, cross-platform compatibility, and workflow simplicity. Better integration with third-party systems and improved support response times are also recommended. F5 BIG-IQ users suggest enhancing integration with third-party products and easing interface complexity for those less versed in networking, alongside considering pricing adjustments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both solutions typically see on-premises deployments, with vCenter Orchestrator often utilized in hybrid settings. Users generally appreciate technical support for both products, but some note speed issues in response times for vCenter Orchestrator, with VMware support gaining higher regard overall while suggesting faster issue escalation.

Pricing and ROI: vCenter Orchestrator is often viewed as expensive but can offer significant ROI within larger VMware ecosystems due to its virtualization benefits. In contrast, F5 BIG-IQ is seen as more affordable, with its inclusive licensing offering all necessary features in a single fee, often resulting in good ROI for larger setups.

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To learn more, read our detailed F5 BIG-IQ vs. vCenter Orchestrator Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IQ vs. vCenter Orchestrator
April 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

F5 BIG-IQ
Ranking in Process Automation
23rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
vCenter Orchestrator
Ranking in Process Automation
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of F5 BIG-IQ is 0.2%, down from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCenter Orchestrator is 0.2%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Ravindra-Mali - PeerSpot reviewer
Key features like SSL uploading strengthen file handling
From the study material point of view, there are multiple certifications available. The challenge is there is hardly any study material available that can be referred to or used as a study material. Of course, from the knowledge perspective, multiple courses and details are available. However, from a hands-on experience perspective, more resources should be available on the Internet, like labs and lab preparations.
Read full review
David Villota - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides automatic monitoring capabilities that save time for users
In my company's IT environment, we use the tool to deploy production environments for products, including live manufacturing systems. The product improves my company's IT automation processes since we can use fewer resources currently. In my company, we need to spend less time considering that vCenter Orchestrator monitors everything. In general, we don't have to be present in our company to do active monitoring. Automatic monitoring is available for everything with vCenter Orchestrator, so we have proactive alerts in our company. The most valuable feature of the product in streamlining our company's workflow stems from the fact that we need to spend fewer resources and less time in general. Our company can spend time on more effective tasks like working with the plans to improve processes and so on, instead of taking care of the systems. The benefits of the product's integration capabilities were useful for HPE. My company has HPE infrastructure, and we are keen to integrate everything into the host, VMware ESXi. It is really important to have an easy integration method that allows for everything to be installed easily in a matter of minutes. I was not involved in the product's setup process. My colleague took care of the product's setup process. From what I know, I can say that the product's setup phase was straightforward. Some custom setups were to be done manually in the tool, but everything was well documented. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. One of the benefits of the product is that it is a low-cost and stable solution that offers a lot of resources. I rate the overall tool a nine out of ten.
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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

"We use this solution on a daily basis, and it is very stable."
"The backup, monitoring and logging are the best features."
"The customer service is great."
"Scalability: To move from larger boxes to smaller boxes, along with virtualization. So, we are not locked into a particular size."
"The best aspect of the solution is that we can have everything integrated with a rather large capacity in order to personalize and configure specific rules."
"The reporting feature is quite good."
"F5 BIG-IQ reduces the propensity for error."
"It is quite good in a large environment where I have multiple devices; it is easy to manage the devices."
More F5 BIG-IQ pros
"The most valuable feature is that this solution is complete, and you don't need any add-ons."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"vCenter Orchestrator is easy to use."
"The solution was easy to install."
"Snapshots and similar features were managed well."
"It has the best workflow feature."
"The most valuable feature is that it's simple and very ergonomic to use the product compared to other virtualizing product. Out of Microsoft, Red Hat, and IBM, we found VMware to be the best one."
"vCenter Orchestrator's best features are the workflows, integration with third-party applications, and the workflow library."
More vCenter Orchestrator pros
 

Cons

"They could use YAML or JSON if they wanted to make it a little bit easier for us."
"From a hands-on experience perspective, more resources should be available on the Internet, like labs and lab preparations."
"The solution's rSeries has been made free, and iSeries should be made free as well."
"F5 BIG-IQ is a complex solution, and it cannot manage everything related to BIG-IPs."
"F5 BIG-IQ should improve by being a complete certificate management solution because currently, it is only for Venafi. Other automation platforms, should be added."
"Integration with VAS is something that they need to work on."
"The solution should improve pricing. It's expensive in comparison to other American solutions."
"The shell, kernel, or Linux has something like a delay, especially with the Virtual Edition, when you are trying to implement it in the cloud and you want to access it remotely with web management. It would be great if they could improve their kernel. It was difficult for me, especially when I got started with BIG-IP. I was struggling to find which commands work with it. If you want to work with it, you have to be a Linux guy."
More F5 BIG-IQ cons
"We would like more flexibility in sizing data storage and virtual machines, as the current options aren't very adaptable."
"I would like to see more automation added in the future."
"The product’s cost needs improvement."
"Many times, customers' licenses are not used because the client is not aware of the features and the product benefits. When somebody is buying a product, they just do a default configuration."
"As we work towards more stability on the solution, sometimes we'll try something and it breaks and it's easier to restart the service. That's the only drawback. We've experienced this with other applications as well."
"Using this solution requires a lot of experience."
"VMware tools would benefit from more automation. When installing our devices and servers, we often need to install the VMware tools manually. This process should be automated during the VM installation process."
"Its technical support team takes a long time to escalate the issues."
More vCenter Orchestrator cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Users have to pay an annual subscription fee for the solution's iSeries."
"I would like the product to be cheaper."
"There is only one licensing fee for F5 BIG-IQ and everything is included in the price."
"F5 BIG-IQ is a cheap solution."
"This solution is expensive and the licensing is more attractive for Haveri."
"My company needs to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product."
"We renew the solution's license every one or two years."
"We pay a yearly fee, based on our entries."
"I rate the product price a seven to eight out of ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"The price is reasonable, and one of the reasons that this product was selected."
"The licensing module is somewhat complex. Calculating the cost is complicated. Many of our clients are unclear about the billing system and the traffic metering."
"vCenter Orchestrator is a very expensive solution."
More vCenter Orchestrator pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IQ?
F5 BIG-IQ is a central management system for the BIG-IP.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IQ?
F5 BIG-IQ is a cheap solution.
See all answers
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IQ?
The product is really good with no significant downsides. However, better and simpler integration with ACI could improve the product.
See all answers
What do you like most about vCenter Orchestrator?
The stability of the product is very good.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vCenter Orchestrator?
We're running a low-profile budget. This is not our main focus on investment technology, so we're trying to reduce costs due to the change from perpetual to subscription licenses.
See all answers
What needs improvement with vCenter Orchestrator?
After the change from perpetual licensing to subscriptions, the cost model changed. We are considering alternatives since we lost the perpetual aspect, and support is changing.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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More vCenter Orchestrator Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IQ
May 2025
F5 BIG-IQ reportDownload F5 BIG-IQ product report
Buyer's Guide
vCenter Orchestrator
April 2025
vCenter Orchestrator reportDownload vCenter Orchestrator product report
 

Overview

F5® BIG-IQ® Centralized Management provides a unified point of visibility and control for the entire F5 portfolio, ensuring administrators remain aware on the pulse of F5 devices, modules, and licenses and enabling them to deliver optimal application availability, performance, and security.

BIG-IQ manages policies,licenses, SSL certificates, BIG-IP images, and configurations for F5 appliances and for the following BIG-IP moduals across hardware and virtual editions:

  • BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager™ (LTM)
  • F5 Advanced Web Application Firewall™ (WAF)
  • BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager™ (AFM)
  • F5 SSL Orchestrator®
  • F5 DDoS Hybrid Defender®
  • BIG-IP Access Policy Manager® (APM)
  • F5 Secure Web Gateway Services
  • BIG-IP DNS
F5
VMware vCenter Orchestrator simplifies the automation of complex IT tasks and integrates with VMware vCloud Suite components to adapt and extend service delivery and operational management, effectively working with existing infrastructure, tools and processes.
VMware
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Beiersdorf Shared Services
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IQ vs. vCenter Orchestrator
April 2025
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