Kentik and Meraki Dashboard compete in the network monitoring and management category. Kentik seems to have the upper hand in network analysis through real-time visibility and cost-effective solutions, while Meraki Dashboard stands out in ease of management for smaller to medium-sized businesses.
Features: Kentik provides comprehensive SaaS-based network monitoring with robust NetFlow visualization, DDoS alerting, and a flexible data explorer for traffic analysis. It offers detailed insights optimizing metrics for cost-efficiency and real-time visibility beneficial for planning and security. Meraki Dashboard offers a cloud management solution focusing on ease of use, with features like integrated VPN connectivity, presence analytics, and single-pane-of-glass management, suited for SMBs.
Room for Improvement: Kentik could enhance its user and security rights management and improve tagging and dimensions configuration. There is a demand for actionable insights and improved anomaly detection. Meraki Dashboard could improve its VPN solutions by providing a client option similar to AnyConnect, enhance user guidance, and address pricing concerns with its subscription model.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Kentik's SaaS-focused deployment ensures easy management of updates and maintenance. Its customer support is appreciated for proactive problem-solving and responsiveness. Meraki Dashboard's cloud-based deployment is versatile across different environments, although its technical support could improve by integrating feedback into user guides within the dashboard.
Pricing and ROI: Kentik offers competitive pricing with a focus on operational efficiencies and significant ROI in high transit environments. Its device-based cost structure positively impacts ROI in traffic-heavy networks. Meraki Dashboard's pricing includes various licensing tiers per device, which can be costly, but its simplicity and comprehensive features justify the investment for many users.
In production environments, especially for service providers on IP networks and data centers, Kentik helps in reducing the time to identify and resolve issues.
I have mostly used forums for any support needed because the setup is straightforward and the documentation is quite good.
They have monthly calls and discuss the product roadmap with us to determine what is needed.
The support response time can be slow, sometimes taking up to fifteen hours.
I evaluate customer service and technical support as helpful when we need it; you call them, and they help you through everything.
When I do have to use them, they are excellent.
Kentik's integration with Kubernetes makes scaling easier.
You can scale as many devices and tests as you want, but you should have a good number of credits in your accounts.
Sometimes the new features do not clearly indicate whether there is an additional cost associated with my licensing level.
In production, however, dimensioning of the underlying platforms is something to be mindful of.
Based on stability, I would give Kentik a nine.
We have not encountered any downtime related to the Meraki cloud feature in the last five years.
I would say that Meraki Dashboard is very reliable.
I have never experienced downtime, crashes, or performance issues with the stability and reliability of Meraki Dashboard.
More work is required to integrate AI for troubleshooting, simplifying root cause analysis, and providing suggested solutions for network issues.
A backup feature for devices in Meraki, including a way to back up and export backups of devices from the portal.
There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high.
The cameras are not connected through Meraki, but all other devices are on Meraki networks.
The pricing is good and aligns with the market target.
Kentik’s pricing is competitive in the marketplace.
The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.
If we involve a third-party vendor, the price will definitely go up.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is very expensive.
The most important feature is cybersecurity.
One of the most valuable features of Kentik, especially for service providers, is its ability to visualize all the BGP peering and the status of the BGP peering platform.
Kentik is easy to use and set up.
Meraki Dashboard positively impacts my organization by enabling live monitoring. If someone unplugs the power cable, if the switches are down, if there is an outage, or if there is any misconfiguration, we get an alert from Cisco in our mailbox.
Meraki Dashboard offers an exceptional centralized management solution that allows easy updates and monitoring of various network features, including bandwidth usage and content filtering.
The most valuable feature for me is the cloud dashboard.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Meraki Dashboard | 0.7% |
| Kentik | 1.8% |
| Other | 97.5% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 4 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 8 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 23 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 14 |
| Large Enterprise | 29 |
Kentik provides real-time visibility into network infrastructure, focusing on monitoring, data visualization, and flow analysis to manage traffic patterns efficiently.
With robust analytics capabilities, Kentik offers insights into BGP peering status, aids in DDoS detection, and allows for detailed telemetry through its intuitive interface. The platform's SaaS nature simplifies operations by eliminating server maintenance concerns. Multi-vendor support and synthetic testing enhance network security and performance by simulating customer scenarios, while its API offers automation for querying and reporting tasks.
What are the key features of Kentik?Industries implement Kentik for network monitoring, traffic management, and flow data analysis across both on-prem and cloud setups. It proves valuable for detecting DDoS events, managing peering relationships, and optimizing costs, besides managing CDN configurations and performing synthetic tests in diverse environments.
Meraki Dashboard offers intuitive, cloud-based network management, simplifying tasks with centralized control, real-time monitoring, and comprehensive security.
Offering ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass view, Meraki Dashboard enhances network management through centralized monitoring and configuration. Its intuitive interface allows remote device management, policy configuration, and real-time alerts. Cloud-based access provides scalability and automatic updates, while detailed analytics and security measures ensure robust control over networks. Though some users mention complexity in certain configurations and third-party integration gaps, its continuous improvement and network management efficiency accommodate extensive business requirements.
What are the Key Features of Meraki Dashboard?Enterprises deploy Meraki Dashboard for diverse network management purposes, including monitoring, access point deployment, security configuration, and VLAN and LAN management. In education, it provides centralized Wi-Fi management and ensures secure student access. Retail businesses utilize it for seamless device integration and analytics, while healthcare facilities employ its robust security and real-time monitoring to safeguard patient data and maintain network efficiency. Its cloud-based interface enhances control and visibility across numerous sites, simplifying management and configurations.
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