Cisco DNA Center - network management device
Mfg # DN1-HW-APL
CDW # 4802054
Quick tech specs
- Includes the Cisco DNA Center appliance and user manual
- Syslog protocol for logging events
- Role-based access control for restricting network access
- The Cisco DNA Center appliance has the Flexible NetFlow technology for detailed network information
- Virtual Route Forwarding-Lite (VRF-Lite) feature for creating multiple VPN routes
Know your gear
Manage devices and users on your network with this Cisco DNA Center appliance. The Authorization and Accounting (AAA) framework enables effective control of network resources for seamless performance. With the LLDP support, the Cisco DNA Center appliance lets you discover neighboring devices for streamlined communication. Syslog protocol collects messages and events from the devices in your network for incident management and troubleshooting. Take advantage of the Virtual Route Forwarding-Lite (VRF-Lite) function, which enables network segmentation to support multiple VPN spots. This network management device features the Flexible NetFlow technology that provides detailed information about your network, and it supports role-based access control for restricting network access based on the roles of your users or employees.
Enhance your purchase
Cisco DNA Center - network management device is rated
4.20 out of
5 by
35.
Rated 5 out of
5 by
MostafaMohammad from
Good security and analytics, easy to manage, and scalable across buildings and campuses
What is our primary use case?
We are an educational environment that is similar to a university, but we only teach management and leadership. We have a variety of visitors every day, more than 2,000 of them, and they are unknown to us. This makes it very difficult to centrally manage using a traditional network.
We are currently in the second round of the implementation phase for this solution. We have two buildings with the solution implemented now, and we are working on other buildings. We are on the same campus but we are doing the work in four phases. Now that two are complete, we have two more that we are about to finish.
Everything is secure in our environment, so we are using the overlay of the DNA Center to separate the visitors and the employees and the trainers. We are using a multi-segmented network, so DNA was a very good solution for us to deal with this type of environment.
How has it helped my organization?
Prior to implementing DNA Center, it was very difficult for us to create a large number of VLANs for our switches. This has made it possible for us to meet the need of maintaining connections when people move between buildings on the campus or travel to another campus.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the DNA analytics, which is very good for us.
It is very important for everyone to be able to see everything that is happening in the network from one location. It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard.
We set up the identity service and it is amazing for us to have an identity for each user. All of the network policies are set according to one's identity.
The ability to trace attacks if they occur is very good in terms of security. The security is part of the network layer. Generally, security has been improving with Cisco solutions because it was not as good in the past.
If a device is lost then it is very easy to replace. I just drag and drop the configuration from the old device to the new one and after a few seconds, the new device is working with the same configuration that we had before. It does not have to be configured manually.
What needs improvement?
The network, data center, and SD-WAN are all being treated as different services, but I would like to have only one solution to manage all of them. Data is traveling from the inside to the outside layer, and I want to be able to fully control all of the data going in and out. It should not be set up as multi-service, but rather a single one.
If you have old Cisco hardware such as switches or access points, or they are from another vendor, then they will not work with this solution. The hardware will still function but you will not be able to control it with DNA.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Cisco DNA Center for two months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution has been stable since it was installed two months ago.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is one of the reasons that we chose Cisco DNA. We have ten buildings within the same campus and when we implemented the PoC, Cisco said that scalability is very important for us.
We have had about 3,000 people using this solution to this point, but we are not yet at full capacity. We expect to have more than 4,000 concurrent users.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not been in contact with technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to using Cisco DNA Center, we had a traditional network. We had switches and routers from Cisco, HP, and Dell. We switched because we are joining all of the buildings together and given their size, the number of visitors, and the scalability that we need, we had to switch to DNA.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward except for the issue that this solution is incompatible with switches or access points from other vendors. That is very bad.
It takes us about two weeks to deploy this solution in one of our buildings. This includes installing the hardware, software, access points, and everything.
What about the implementation team?
We have a technician from Cisco to do the implementation for us.
During deployment, there were eight people from our staff and five people from Cisco.
For maintenance, for each building, we have two or three technicians at various levels. We have other administrators as well, although they are responsible for different solutions such as SAP and ERP. The same person is responsible for multiple technologies.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our licensing agreement is for three years.
What other advice do I have?
The Cisco Digital Network Architecture is the first solution with these types of capabilities that I have used. It allows me to monitor everything in the network, including end-to-end packet travel and tracking the specific packets.
This solution is really stable and scalable.
My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to consider the size of the environment. If there are a very large number of switches or visitor access points then I recommend DNA. However, if there are a small number of switches and access points then I would recommend the Cisco Meraki because it is fine for small and medium-sized networks.
The biggest lesson that I have learned from working with this solution is that this technology is much easier now. I think it's a revolution in networking and wireless communication where it is becoming easier and nothing like traditional networking. It is now an overlay and an underlay network. All of the people working in this field have to be up to date with the technology. It is very new and there are many capabilities when it comes to network control, analytics, and security compliance. IT people have to adapt to new technologies.
I have not yet tested the IoT for our smart building because we don't use it in our current location.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2020-01-16T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Umar Hanafi from
Good monitoring, analytics, and technical support
What is our primary use case?
We are a solution provider and this is one of the products that we implement for our customers.
Our clients use this solution to manage their network, including their access points.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the integration with Cisco devices and infrastructure.
The Wi-Fi analytics are helpful.
The monitoring features are very useful for network engineers.
What needs improvement?
We have had a lot of problems with the Cisco switches and have needed to upgrade the operating systems, which means that we have to upgrade the DNA. When we upgrade the DNA it means that we have to upgrade the ISE, also. If it is a large cluster then this process is painful.
DNA Center has been on the market for a few years and they need to update it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with DNA Center for about two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
Cisco's technical support is good. We have had problems and still have an open case but this has been related to the switches. Cisco is good at helping both the partners and the customers, too.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco DNA Center is something that I recommend. We do not sell just the product, but rather, the entire DNA solution. We don't just upgrade a switch. Instead, we upgrade the entire network. DNA is definitely good for the customer.
Overall, this is a good solution but it has been a few years since it has been updated.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2020-04-02T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Nihar Kapadia from
Reliable and great automation, but should be easier to integrate
What is our primary use case?
The solution is mainly used for setting up SPN or intent-based networking for the customers.
How has it helped my organization?
In day-to-day operations, especially post-pandemic, the majority of our customers have to work from anywhere. It's not just work from home, it's work from anywhere. Due to this work from anywhere concept, the traditional silos of a network for the data center architecture, and managing everything from anywhere, and having that single integrated dashboard for each and every activity while being able to correlate those activities in line with a business objective, has been very well addressed by Cisco DNA.
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable aspect is its simplicity and the complete automation of the network workflow, which we can use that correlate with the business. It's not only limited to STXs or a data center. It completes everything, which really helps us.
If a user is comfortable with Cisco technology, the initial setup is pretty straightforward.
Cisco is extremely reliable.
The solution has the capability to scale.
Technical support is always excellent.
What needs improvement?
The architecture should not be limited only to the USXC as a platform. Let's say if I'm referring to the Catalyst 1000 Series or an MB Series of an SG or FX. Due to the fact that there are mid-market and commercial customers who are using such kinds of product lines apart from the Catalyst 9000 or Cisco UCS architecture, they should all come under a single pane of glass. Any new product should be added right from Cisco itself.
The network automation should not be limited only to Cisco, as there may be customers who are using Palo Alto firewalls, or they might be using Ruckus for wireless. There has to be some sort of integration with a third party.
The integration of Cisco DNA with a couple of leading CRMs or ticketing solutions would be ideal.
The solution can be quite pricey.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been dealing with the solution for three to four years or so.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is never an issue with Cisco. It's reliable. there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability isn't really an issue. However, it all depends on the version or the flavor that you are selecting. We don't see a challenge. All options are available to us.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support on offer from Cisco is always excellent. it would rate them at a ten out of ten. they are helpful and responsive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are using Cisco DNA as well as Ansible as a platform. We don't have that much experience working on other product lines. While Cisco is on the cloud, Ansible is on-premises.
How was the initial setup?
If the engineer is good enough to understand the Cisco terminology, and if they have past experience working with Cisco, I don't see a challenge working with Cisco DNA as a platform.
Deployment may take maybe five to seven working days. However, the real process is all about fine-tuning. It's a continuous improvement process as we need to align DNA with the business objectives. It's not that product where we actually talk to the customer on a technicality. It is more about how best we can ensure the business outcome via the automation tool. There is always lots of engagement that happens at the customer experience level. That's the reason it takes some more time to find units.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is quite expensive. It'd rate it at a two out of ten in terms of affordability.
We have customers who would like to deploy DN architecture, however, DN architecture requires a DNF appliance. For the mid-market customer who is investing hardly a few thousand dollars, if they have to deploy an appliance, it is very costly. Ideally, to address the need of SMB or mid-market customers, Cisco should offer something on a cloud basis where it could be more affordable.
My feedback to the Cisco product team is that technology is fantastic. There are no issues. The only thing is that they have to make the technology at an affordable price point, which should be affordable to SMBs and not just enterprises. Enterprises don't mind spending money. However, for mid-market and commercials, working out a pricing model which is more on an OPEX base rather than on a CAPEX base would be ideal.
What other advice do I have?
We are a system integrator and we are providing network automation solutions and services to our customers.
Overall, I would rate the solution at a six out of ten. It's quite good, however, it's not ideal for smaller organizations as it's cost-prohibitive.
This solution is best for customers who are end-to-end, Cisco customers. For the customers who have a heterogeneous environment where security comes from let's say CrowdStrike or Palo Alto or Ruckus we would suggest that a customer goes with Ansible. Cisco has limitations in terms of integration and automation when working with solutions outside the Cisco family. Some sort of API interface has to be available.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:partner
Date published: 2021-06-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1513455 from
Robust, zero-day configuration with wireless assurance and telemetry, with outstanding support
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for network assurance and automation, network segmentation with ISE integration, and LAN automation deploying new devices out into the switching estate.
This was for a TSA project that we were doing for a client.
How has it helped my organization?
It relieved some of the operational burdens on the IT staff. It makes troubleshooting a lot of issues much quicker from a central single pane of glass, whether it's a switch issue or authentication issue with ISE, or a wireless connectivity issue.
DNA center is very capable of being able to address well, identify the issue, suggest remediation steps, run remediation, run commands against a switch to check the proper connectivity for example, and also address all our remediation steps that the IT person could take.
Rather than having to log into the individual switch DNA center, you can basically run your commands, run your troubleshooting, all from DNA and attempt to remediate the problem.
What is most valuable?
I think that their LAN automation is a very good feature. It takes advantage of the plug-and-play capability from the catalyst switches.
We'll do a zero-day configuration, which is a good feature.
Also, wired and wireless assurance, client health, and network health are valuable, especially with the wireless sensors deployed. It can give you a good idea of what's going on in the RF environments.
The template feature is really good, you have free templates and then associate those templates to a tag, tag a device with a certain role, and just program devices that way rapidly.
It's pretty robust. The wireless assurance and telemetry, as well as the security and the segmentation capabilities, are outstanding.
They deploy rapidly. They are scalable throughout the entire organization. With just a few clicks, it really removes a lot of the human error that you would normally have with access control lists.
It takes a lot of the human element out of configuration.
You can create VRS and VNS and deploy those system-wide, application policies with a few clicks and segmentation with a few clicks.
What needs improvement?
With their provisioning status, if there's a failure in provisioning or in some type of task that DNA is trying to push out to a switch or whatever device, sometimes the task status errors or the provision errors are a little bit big.
I think they could provide a little more detail to someone when a task fails. It's an error code that tells you that this task has failed, but it doesn't get too deep into why it failed. The task failure reporting or provisioning failure reporting could be a little bit better in the UI, with more information given to the user.
From the CLI you can get much more information from MagLevs.
Also, the UI could use a little bit of improvement. I know that things have gotten a lot better in version 2, but I haven't worked with version 2 yet.
A feature that I would like to have seen is the true debt disaster recovery, which is now available in the 2.2.1 version.
More detailed information would be helpful, but you can get that information from the CLI but not everyone is comfortable working in the Linux shell.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for approximately two years.
The last version that I worked with was Version 1.3.3.6.
Currently, the latest is version 2.X.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable. I would rate the stability an 8.5 out of 10.
We had an issue with the DNA center database.
With the DNA center, you have to be a little patient.
We may have been trying to ask it to do too much at one time, and it created a problem with the database that escalated to the business unit to get cleaned up.
That was really not so much an issue with the DNA sensors, it was because we had spooled up a lot of tasks and you have to be a little patient with DNA.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My impression of the scalability is all positive.
It's highly scalable. DNA itself is deployed as either a single node or a three-node cluster.
We were deploying it in a single node state, but my impression of it is quite positive. I like it a lot.
DNAC itself is an orchestrator and its collecting audit assurance, and telemetry. The entire IT staff of the end organization will be using the DNA center. It's probably a staff of 15 to 20 people.
In terms of endpoint end-users, that DNA is collecting assurance and telemetry from several thousand. It's being fully utilized.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have had a fair amount of interaction with technical support. I would rate them outstanding. Their DNA team is solid.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I didn't use any other solution previously.
How was the initial setup?
Standing up the DNAC appliance itself is pretty straightforward.
The deployment was a phased approach. We did three DNAC appliances across three regions globally.
To stand up the appliance itself doesn't take long at all. It takes a few hours, but it was a phased migration strategy, one site at a time over a period of several months, we would do one or two site migrations a week.
There were an existing network infrastructure and a new network infrastructure that we were standing up in parallel to the old and then cutting it over on a weekend.
We have a handful of people who have access to the regional appliance made up of network admins and help desk personnel.
Once it's deployed and built out, it runs on its own. There is not much to with it unless you need to do a package or a software upgrade for the appliance itself.
There is no further deployment unless they are going to stand up a new site and integrate that into the DNA architecture. As it is now, everything is already up, which is what we did.
We did the deployment, the integration, and the site migration from start to finish. Then we do a low-level design and handover and workshops.
We have approximately 10 users that would have some type of operational role in DNA.
It's being highly utilized and leveraged in the organization.
What about the implementation team?
We did not use a consultant or an integrator. I completed it myself. We are Cisco Partners.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This is taken care of before I am involved. It's handled by our presales engineer, and I work on the project delivery.
I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down. But again, I don't really know the details of those promotions. I just hear about them and I know they're out there, but I don't have specifics on that.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco DNA does not have a Cloud solution. It's an on-premises appliance.
They may stand up if they bring in another heritage. They may have some heritage or legacy sites that they may bring over to the new network.
We are multi-national. Our organization is based in London, New York, and Sydney. Our clients are all multi-national global clients.
We do have some regional clients as well, but we are well-positioned to serve multi-nationals across three regions.
My advice is to read the release notes thoroughly. Understand how to deploy, in a single or three-node cluster. Most importantly be aware of release notes and read the documentation.
Do your homework, read the manual, it's there for a reason.
Be patient when standing up a new fabric site. Don't do too many tasks at one time.
The biggest lesson that I have learned is to be patient. When you have a series of tasks that you need to do, don't initiate too many at one time, initiate three or four, allow those to finish, and then continue on.
From when I first started working with DNA, it's come a very long way.
From a programmability standpoint, it really is quite solid. I really like the LAN automation capabilities.
In terms of software-defined networking, I think it's an outstanding product. I would rate Cisco DNA Center a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2021-03-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1797993 from
Excellent technical support, easy to install, but the price could be improved
What is our primary use case?
I am a solution architect. I design solutions using Cisco DNA Center.
We use Cisco DNA Center to provide network management.
What is most valuable?
It is very versatile in terms of analytics.
What needs improvement?
It would be helpful if it could be integrated with a variety of solutions, such as Meraki.
Cisco does not support other OEMs for analytics software integration.
Integration with analytic tools and API integrations would be ideal.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Cisco DNA Center for more than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco DNA Center is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable only on a Cisco portfolio.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is excellent.
We have pretty good technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It was not complex.
What about the implementation team?
We have an in-house team for the installation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is high, but it depends on the requirements.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Cisco DNA Center a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-03-08T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Mostafa Gouda from
Helpful provisioning, scalable, and helpful support
What is our primary use case?
We are using Cisco DNA Center for four key major areas. The first area we use it for is for setting the policy for multiple devices and from one single point of configuration.
The second use is for provisioning because we will have a lot of switches and access points. The provisioning has been very helpful for us.
The third use is the assurance module and the fourth use is automation.
We have not started the automation phase. We used it for policy, provision, design, and assurance.
How has it helped my organization?
Since using the solution three or four people can do what 10 people could previously. It has been a benefit to the organization.
What is most valuable?
We have many people from the team who manage a lot of devices. By using Cisco DNA Center, it has taken some of that burden away, we are impressed with it. We did the investment in CAPEX, but in the OPEX was very low.
The unity of configuration is a benefit. Only one trainee was configuring all devices. It was very helpful for us because, if we have a lot of people configuring, it was confusing. We can unify the configuration through all devices and create a standardization for the organization. The automation is available but I have not started with it at this time.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for approximately two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is good, it is quite extendable.
How are customer service and support?
The support is close to us in proximity and very helpful. We have never had a problem working with them.
How was the initial setup?
Cisco DNA Center was a new technology for us, at the beginning, it was not easy to do, but Cisco did a lot of training with us to a level we could handle everything. The team is managing itself now without the assistance of Cisco.
After we received all the hardware, it took us around one month for the implementation and another month for training. The solution was up and running but we were training on that solution.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation of the Cisco DNA Center was done internally.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others is if you are a large enough company to have the Cisco DNA Center technology, you must try it. It may be useless for small enterprises, but for the large enterprise, for multi-site organization, it's impressive and it saves a lot of money and time.
I rate Cisco DNA Center a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-02-09T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Aymen FHOULA from
It's a scalable but costly tool for managing networks
What is our primary use case?
I use DNA Center for network administration. Four people in the IT department use this solution.
What needs improvement?
There are some software problems from version to version. It takes a long time for DNA Center to recognize the video and control access devices.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used Cisco DNA Center for about one year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
DNA Center is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
At the first level of Cisco support, no one can give you a solution, but the second level can help you.
What about the implementation team?
A third-party integrator installed DNA Center for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cisco's suite is expensive. The full solution, including DNA Center, costs more than a million US dollars for a five-year license.
What other advice do I have?
I rate DNA Center seven out of 10, but it's not accessible to all companies who would benefit from the solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-06-11T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Chandrasekhar Rao Gajarao from
The data centers are mainly on-premise enterprise environments
What is our primary use case?
I am a solution architect. I design for the data center and I also write technical presentations.
What is most valuable?
Cisco is a leading network company. Every organization uses networks and data centers. The data centers are mainly on-premise enterprise environments.
For how long have I used the solution?
Cisco has been used in our organization for 14 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
From the recent DNA point of view, there are some stability challenges with Cisco, but very minor.
How are customer service and support?
I have not worked with Cisco technical support for over three years. From my experience, Cisco support is available. They have their own SMEs in each area. There is a gap in between the information shared between Cisco and the technical teams. Cisco should provide a clear view of what has caused the problem when they do the RCA. By providing more information, we can be more proactive and do the upgrades if it is impacting security compliance.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
We have been using Cisco for so many years that setup is straightforward. The DNA solutions are there and SD-Access is in place. With these, we have come to zero touch provisioning. Deployment is easier than it was five or six years ago.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a large Cisco portfolio in our organization. We have a three-year license with them.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution a seven out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2022-06-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Vicente Manuel from
Tool for controlling and managing Cisco infrastructure, networks, and devices and the set up is straightforward
What is our primary use case?
We use Cisco DNA Center for management. You can configure any device, and if you put the device without configurations, you can start to configure it through Cisco DNA Center. For example: if you get a new Cisco switch, and you have other Cisco switches configured, you can plug in the new switch, copy the configuration, make the changes, and make the template, or you can use an existing template and just upload it to the device.
What is most valuable?
What I found most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any device through it, because the infrastructure is for Cisco, and we have Cisco routers and Cisco switches.
What needs improvement?
In terms of areas for improvement in Cisco DNA Center, we don't use the product on 80% to 100% of its capacity, because our infrastructure is a small one. For us, it's enough. We have report capabilities, and other capabilities that we need are configured on the solution. If there is an expansion for any Cisco solution, we can integrate it with Cisco DNA Center, for example: with ISE, so we're fine.
What could be improved is the licensing cost of Cisco DNA Center. It's a little bit expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Cisco DNA Center for the last six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of the stability of Cisco DNA Center, we had a few bugs, but we managed to overcome them. For example: there were times we needed to reboot the device because it was not connecting.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How scalable Cisco DNA Center is would depend on the license you get. If you need more devices, you can always buy more licenses, or expand your current license.
How are customer service and support?
There was no need for us to contact technical support, because we're not using Cisco DNA Center 100%. Our infrastructure is small, so we're just using the solution to reduce staff.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Cisco DNA Center was straightforward. On a scale between one and five where one is the worst and five is the best, I'm scoring the setup a four. Anyone could do it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing for Cisco DNA Center is a little bit expensive, just like any Cisco solution. Its cost could still be improved.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco DNA Center is deployed on-premises. There is a link for the cloud because you need to have internet connection, but the data stays on-premises.
The advice I would give to other people who want to use Cisco DNA Center is to go for it, particularly if they have Cisco infrastructure, though these days it's really hard to do that because integration could be an issue. If they have other Cisco products they use in their infrastructure, it'll be a plus, so they should use Cisco DNA Center.
I'm rating Cisco DNA Center eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2022-05-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Jack Manes from
Does a lot of things automatically, but it is very deep and a little bit more centered toward wireless than wired
What is most valuable?
It does a lot of things automatically, and that's the big thing with it. They're making the software so that you don't need to be as knowledgeable as me on the switching and routing side to get your work done. If you want, you can have DNA troubleshoot your problem for you and give you solutions or fix it itself, if it was something that's just a configuration issue. That's a plus, but it doesn't help new people learn switching well. If you're depending on all the software to do it, you won't be able to figure it out yourself.
What needs improvement?
It's a very hard software to learn. It's very deep, and when we first got it, there wasn't a whole lot of documentation on it. There's more now, but you really have to know what you're doing to use it to its full functionality.
It seems to be a little bit more centered toward wireless than wired. You've got more options you can do wirelessly than you can with the wired switches, but it works for what we need it to do. We would like to see a little bit more about the traffic, and we're looking at what's out there to see about that. We are looking at something that might give us a bit more insight into the actual traffic. If they had the full functionality on the wired side, as they do on the wireless side in terms of being able to view traffic and everything, it would be good.
The configuration jobs part could be better. Basically, it's very easy to make mistakes when you're writing the little config file that you need to push in. You've got to do it exactly right. It's not based on CLI commands or whatever. It's got its own little format syntax. It needs to be synced up NTP-wise and time-wise. Otherwise, it doesn't work. I've had other management software where the time could have been off on both of them, and it wouldn't have been a big deal.
I would like to see them make it like the old CiscoWorks did where when you wanted to run a command, you could just type in the command on your command line on the switch, instead of having to jump through the hoop to get the config pushed out to the new devices. I'd like Cisco to give more control to people who are using it and not keep it for themselves. It's one of those things where you've got to have the right image, and they all have to be on that image, or it doesn't work. NTP has to be synced up. There are a lot of little issues there to get it to work. When we first got it three years ago, there wasn't that much documentation, and we were sometimes just fumbling around in the dark. They've gotten better on the documentation, but they have a tendency to make it a little more complicated because they want you to have them do it, not do it yourself. It looks like that's where they're going with this software over the years. I've been doing this for 22 years, and it looks like they're trying to take the control away from the end-users and take it back for themselves. I've seen the younger generations coming out, and they don't seem to want to learn the switching and routing at the depth they need to in order to become a third-tier engineer. So, personally, I understand why they're doing it, but I'd like to have more control on my end. While I would like to have more control, there are people who work for me who I wouldn't want to have that control.
They don't have a good training plan. We had a guy who walked us through it and other things, but he was searching. We've had it since earlier on, and he was searching for stuff just like I would've been doing. He didn't know that well. So, they need a little bit better training plan or something on the initial buy to get people to realize exactly how everything works, how it's all tied together, and what you can do with it. I've learned a lot of stuff that this guy didn't show us. There are ways to do things, but he never showed those to us. He just showed us how to set it up and not how to monitor a bunch of stuff or push the configs out.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been pretty stable. We've had a few issues with it, but that's because the software guys didn't keep it updated. We've got them, and they're going to keep it updated now. It is a fairly stable piece of software. It is just very deep, and you've got to know it well to take full advantage of its functionality.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is based on the number of licenses you buy. That's expensive sometimes. It's just software. So, you just buy more licenses. At some point, if you had a big enough network, you might have an issue, but we haven't had any issues with roughly 350 networking devices and 7,000 end devices. It hasn't reached its own limit yet with us, but I could see where it might, and it's just a matter of buying more licensing to expand it.
How are customer service and support?
I've contacted their support a couple of times. It depends on who you get. You get a good one, and you get one who is not really that good. I've had to ask to speak to somebody else on a few occasions because the person didn't know a whole lot, and you're told to do things that any normal person would do before they call tech support.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate it a seven out of ten because it is functional, and you can do a lot with it, but you really have to know it. So, I'm going to knock them down a few points because they don't have a good training plan.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-05-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
MunkhjinNyamtsogt from
The monitoring, maintenance, and configuration are all very valuable features
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for network architecture and data implementation. I was working on a project, designing a city. We used Cisco DNA Center as the software-defined solution for this city.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features were the monitoring, maintenance, and configuration. It was easy to work with and allowed a lot of engineers to connect. Before it, there were a lot of problems. However, when the problems were solved, it allowed full automation and easy monitoring and handling. Also, it makes patching and upgrading to the newest version easier.
What needs improvement?
They can improve the network visibility. Licensing and its maintenance are also needed.
We are trying to reduce the company's and employees' assets and give it extra features. We are also separating the wireless SSI test network and trying to manage all the company properties through it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Cisco DNA for the last year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easily scalable in Mastercard. We are designated in card distribution and access the claim assistance. I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
We didn't ask for any support from Cisco because our team had rich experience in working with Cisco's products. We already have experience with Cisco Prime before using DNA solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was easy. The catalytic switches are mostly related to the CNA and server management. It is mostly done in two parts. While we are implementing the solution, we just need to create the configuration template. While updating the solution, we need to change the business management and push the configuration to the wireless switches. We can also access the same by buying a console connection.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment took almost three months. But before it is implemented, the arching and design take almost six months.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is a little bit expensive but depends a lot on the customer's usage. If you use it in the right place, you can easily pay for it.
What other advice do I have?
My advice is to categorize before implementing the DNA cluster. If the architecture is not good enough, you might face some issues with the transceiver. It might not be compatible with other solutions.
I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:partner
Date published: 2023-08-09T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
LeighShepherd from
Scalable solution with good AI and machine learning features
What is our primary use case?
We are using the solution for network management.
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable features are AI and machine learning.
What needs improvement?
The solution's integration feature needs improvement. It could be integrated more and more into the traditional environments.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution. I rate its stability eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. I rate its scalability eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support team is very responsive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used Cisco Pro previously.
How was the initial setup?
Following the solution's deployment guide makes the setup process more accessible. It needs two or three engineers and takes around four hours to complete. Although, it is time-consuming to download the updates through ethernet.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is an expensive solution. The licensing cost depends on the environment.
What other advice do I have?
The solution works best in an API environment than in a traditional network. I rate it nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
Date published: 2023-05-21T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Selva Subramaniam from
Helps with management and orchestration but needs improvement in configuration management
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution as a management platform for campaign work.
What is most valuable?
The solution helps with the management and orchestration of campaigns. It helps with visibility and analytics. I also like its SDA configuration.
What needs improvement?
Cisco DNA Center should improve its configuration management. It is better to have a dev version before pushing it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for the last two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the tool's stability a six out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate Cisco DNA Center's scalability a five out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
Cisco DNA Center's installation is complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cisco DNA Center is too expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the product a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-08-30T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Aruna Udawatte from
A stable and user-friendly solution that is very easy to set up
What is our primary use case?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for almost two and a half years.
What is most valuable?
Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution. When it comes to configurations, they are normally expecting the current up-and-running ports.
What needs improvement?
The solution’s security side could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for almost two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco DNA Center is a stable solution. Compared to other software we have from a local vendor, Cisco DNA Center is very convenient and easy to handle.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco DNA Center has good scalability. For one customer, we deployed between 60 to 80 devices. So altogether, we have 160 to 180 devices or users using the solution. We have plans to increase the solution’s usage.
How are customer service and support?
We haven't requested any technical support from Cisco, but during the initial stage, we got some technical support from the local Cisco engineers.
How was the initial setup?
Cisco DNA Center is very easy to set up.
What about the implementation team?
Cisco DNA Center's deployment takes around 20 to 30 minutes. We get direct support from Cisco's local engineers to deploy the solution.
Normally, we get engineering support from Cisco. So when it comes to the solution's implementation and deployment, we get support from on-site Cisco engineers. We have with us a couple of engineers with Cisco certifications. We have downloaded the solution's demo. We get it tested inside our office before implementing it for the customer.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We get a yearly license at the time we buy the product. The solution's pricing depends on the discounts we get from the local CSCO.
What other advice do I have?
I am using the latest version of Cisco DNA Center.
We have two engineers for the solution's implementation. We have four dedicated engineers for monitoring Cisco DNA Center, going through the dashboard, and updating the customers.
Overall, I rate Cisco DNA Center a nine out of ten.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-08-21T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Saleh Alsalamah from
The product is scalable and provides excellent features, but it is not stable, and the initial setup is complex
What is our primary use case?
The solution is useful when an organization has a mature infrastructure with all Cisco devices.
What is most valuable?
Application Assurance works very well. The micro-segmentation and Multi-Cisco DNA Center features are also good.
What needs improvement?
The product has many features that do not work properly. We can’t work on basic DNA activities. The tool has very complex features. It's not stable, and it's not fully estimated.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for almost one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool is not stable and reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I don't think there is an issue with scalability. The main issue with the solution is that there is no way to integrate any other vendors with it. It is scalable, but we need Cisco devices.
How are customer service and support?
It's mandatory to have access to technical support because it's a very complicated product. We have SmartNet from Cisco.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very complex. We must have a mature Cisco environment and a well-defined built-in configuration on the devices. Not all the devices would work properly. We must have the latest devices. It's very complex to build it.
It takes at least two months to deploy seven switches on one site. On average, the deployment takes one to two months.
What about the implementation team?
We take help from Cisco partners for deployment. Our team does some of the implementations. It depends on the project and the budget. We need a manager, a technical team leader, and three engineers to deploy it.
We must upgrade all the devices to the optimal stable version to deploy the tool. Then, we must configure the initial IS-IS configuration. We need reachability between the devices for the product to work. Then, we must provision the devices in DNA one by one. Provisioning is the most complex process because the tool will check and verify every single command on the device.
Sometimes, the provisioning fails because of a conflict in configuration. It takes too much time to erase the configuration and redo the provisioning. After provisioning, we must configure the VLANs and the border routing from the overlay to the underlay.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is very costly. We must have a DNA license and upgrade it if we use it. Money is a major issue that we have with the solution.
What other advice do I have?
We did not have any user experience issues. I don't highly recommend the tool. Organizations with expert Cisco engineers can use the product. It's not suitable for organizations that don't have any expertise. Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-08-23T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer2303172 from
The product gives a consolidated view and is good for basic troubleshooting, but it doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities, and the data has a lot of inconsistencies
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution’s capabilities to the maximum.
What is most valuable?
The product gives a consolidated view. It has good tools for creating standard templates. It is good for basic troubleshooting.
What needs improvement?
The product doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities. It should be improved. The data has a lot of inconsistencies. We cannot trust it or rely on it. The solution has a lot of bugs in assurance and provisioning. Sometimes, in the inventory, the devices are out of sync. The AI features are very basic.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for three to four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is not stable. I rate the stability a five out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable. If we want to scale it, it will be expensive. There should be a good ratio between scalability and cost. Our clients are medium and large enterprises.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is not excellent, but it is good. If we seek information that is not in the public documentation, then we don't get answers from Cisco TAC. The support could be improved. If we are unsure about the behavior of a feature or application, we should get proper documentation from Cisco on how the feature should work.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The deployment is easy after we get the IOS image. However, when compared to cloud-hosted solutions, the process requires manual work. We have to deploy it manually. If everything is ready, it takes us a full day to deploy the tool. It takes one week to deploy it if we have to prepare the network and get the IOS image.
One engineer is enough to deploy the tool. Maintenance is not super easy. The upgrades are time-consuming. The features do not work as they're supposed to sometimes. If there are errors, we have to contact Cisco TAC.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is expensive. There is a recurring license fee that has to be paid annually. There is also a one-time cost for the appliance, which is also expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We are partners with Cisco. People wanting to use the product must compare it with other tools and choose accordingly. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2023-11-27T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Bharath _Kumar from
Offers ease in operations and good automation capabilities
What is our primary use case?
I use Cisco DNA Center mainly for greenfield, which is for bringing up the site, adding the devices, and doing day 0 and day 1. With the tool, the key important part handled is in terms of wireless assurance. The tool's Wireless Assurance version provides me with a good amount of data to help me understand how my wireless network functions within the network. The guided remediation helps with the tool's offerings in terms of AI and machine learning, especially if there are a lot of devices and there will be a lot of notifications. In my company, we can select the golden software image, and we can activate and distribute it in bulk. The SIEM compliance part and the integrations that it has in terms of Cisco ISE will form the segmentation in terms of SDN.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it gives some kind of ease in operations, especially since our company is moving from CLI to GUI-based configuration. You can design your network hierarchy and export the wireless heat maps. You can get the data that our company needs to understand how the network is behaving. You can visualize how your network is performing, look at the health course, and whatever it provides in terms of the user and client or from a network perspective.
What needs improvement?
In terms of the clustering part, there are some concerns. I feel like the clustering part is there because it is built on microservices architecture, so by default it is there in the tool. It is not complex to deploy, and it is easy, to be honest. The open APIs are there in the tool, which is fine.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for four to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool's stability is fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Similar to the options like XL and XXL that one gets when it comes to clothing sizes to choose from, Cisco DNA Center offers a few options to its users. Based on your network nodes, be it the number of wireless access points or wired endpoints, the tool is scalable, and that is not a problem. The scalability has no limits. If you have increased the scalability limit, you can have one more cluster of Cisco DNA Center, which can be deployed, after which those branches can be there. One need not worry about the scalability process. People also have an AWS option.
My company works with government companies, enterprise-sized businesses, and SMBs. When it comes to SMBs, my company does not prefer to offer Cisco DNA Center. Instead, my company offers SMBs Cisco Meraki.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is fine. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The product is easy to deploy.
The number of engineers or architects required for the deployment and maintenance of the tool depends on the size of the organization. Suppose you are catering to the needs of an organization where there are more than 40 or 50 sites are there with one DNS center, which is deployed in an HQ or a regional center, even if you roughly have a Cisco stack consisting of wired and wireless tools if you have Cisco DNA Center, even if it is based on a twenty-four hours and seven days a week shift, you can able to manage the entire network with around three to four engineers.
The time required to install the product depends on the scale at which you plan to deploy the tool. For just doing the basics related to the deployment part involving or utilizing enterprise port or cluster port, you just make it up and get it connected to the network and reach out to Cisco sites to download anything, which will take maybe one to two hours to just to make it up if every prerequisite is met and are in place.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The tool's licensing may not come across as something that may be friendly for users. Customers may not like the licensing part because if you want to have more features, then you need to go for Cisco DNA Center with SDA, or you will get only the minimum functionalities in the tool.
What other advice do I have?
The product's automation capabilities are fine, especially considering the tool's areas like day 0 and day 1.
The product does offer support in terms of compliance. Even though I have not worked with use cases relating to compliance, I know that it works well.
If you want to use a tool for your operations, and if you want to get visibility on your network, especially if you have Cisco products, and you want and then without having Cisco L3 Switches, if you want to support in terms of troubleshooting, Cisco DNA Center can be a good option.
I rate the tool an eight out of ten.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2024-05-02T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Jeroen Devroede from
Offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks
What is our primary use case?
Cisco DNA Center helps to manage user networks.
What is most valuable?
The product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health.
What needs improvement?
The tool's deployment is complex. It also needs to improve its GUI.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the product's stability a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. My company has 500 users.
How was the initial setup?
Cisco DNA Center's deployment takes three weeks to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cisco DNA Center is expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-12-14T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Joni Saputro from
Automates workflows and deployments across disparate systems in order to streamline operations across domains
What is our primary use case?
It can assess traditional networks.
What is most valuable?
The automation features are significant and reduce configuration time. This means outstanding functionality. By deploying the controller automatically, the rest becomes automated.
What needs improvement?
When it comes to deploying wireless fields, integrating defaults into the DNS interface can be challenging.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have experience with Cisco DNA Center.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In the dashboard, we observe that the integration with IT is functional. However, when inspecting the system, we encounter occasional errors in the desktop.I would rate it 8 out of 10.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate it 8 out of 10.
How was the initial setup?
Deployment is not difficult; it could take approximately a day to complete, assuming we have all the necessary information and the initial email from Cisco.
What about the implementation team?
Maintenance can be challenging because we're unsure about the number of applications utilized in the studio.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate it 7 in terms of pricing.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Integrator
Date published: 2023-12-27T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer2010738 from
Has a good processing feature with a high level of accuracy
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for real-time data transmission. I'm a senior manager and we are customers of Cisco.
What is most valuable?
I think the processing is a good feature and the product also has a high level of accuracy.
What needs improvement?
I'd like to see them focus more on the digital side of things.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've had some stability issues recently and that's something they could work on.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable, we have around 100 users.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is quite complex and requires some expertise.
What other advice do I have?
There is some room for improvement so I rate this solution eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-01-25T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
SyedImran from
A network controller with a useful hardware configuration feature, but tech support could be better
What is our primary use case?
I used Cisco DNA Center for LAN automation for the DnaC.
What is most valuable?
I like that we can easily configure any new hardware. It's also easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot.
What needs improvement?
Technical support could be better. The price could be better, and it could be more stable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used Cisco DNA Center for about a year while working with two organizations on a freelance basis.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco DNA Center could be more stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Cisco DNA Center is okay.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give scalability a seven.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is also struggling because it's a new product. They are not hundred percent sure about it. For example, it took them one week to fine-tune this appliance with the help of Cisco tech support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup isn't straightforward. It was a painful deployment. We have a couple of tickets with Cisco tags to be deployed because this is an unstable product. This is because it's tough to integrate with Cisco ISE which was running on the VM appliance, it was excruciating. Another common issue is that the end-use could not detect an IP address or authenticate it after we integrated it, on the branch side we are using Cisco Catalyst 9500/9300/9200 Series Switches.
The challenging part is that it has to be deployed on a standard load and integrated with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). I'm not sure why they have used Cisco ISE for authentication. It should be deployed and not integrated.
What about the implementation team?
I implemented this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price could be better. It's a very expensive tool.
What other advice do I have?
I would tell potential users not to buy Cisco DNA Center as it's a considerable expense that isn't worthwhile.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Cisco DNA Center a seven.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-02-15T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Syed Aathif Hussain from
Allows multiple switch port configurations and traffic segregation into multiple fabrics, but there's a delay in log replication, and reporting needs more customization options
What is our primary use case?
I used Cisco DNA Center for centralized management for the projects I worked on. My projects had different sites and fabric networks connected. A fabric module was created for every site, and Cisco DNA Center acts as a centralized manager, so you don't need to configure the switches. You need to integrate the device with Cisco DNA Center, and the configuration will be centralized.
What is most valuable?
What I found valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the Software-Defined Access Network, so the entire LAN network can be centralized and managed from a single dashboard.
Cisco DNA Center is suitable for centralized management and lets you deploy switches in a centralized fashion. You can also do multiple switch port configurations simultaneously and segregate your traffic into multiple fabrics.
Another valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is enhanced security through Scalable Group Tags. Cisco DNA Center can be integrated with your Cisco ISE to enhance the port securities, and this paves the way for Software-Defined Networking in the LAN segment, which is the main advantage of Cisco DNA Center.
I also like that you can use Cisco DNA Center for data assurance or correlation. The solution shows your network and client health parameters, which I find convenient for troubleshooting.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement in Cisco DNA Center is the latency in data correlation. For example, sometimes, when an issue happens, and I check the logs, I can't find the corresponding log. There's a delay in log replication, so this is what needs improvement in Cisco DNA Center.
Reporting in Cisco DNA Center could also be improved because it only has a few templates, and you can't customize it based on your requirements. There aren't many options available in Cisco DNA Center regarding reporting, versus Cisco Prime, which has excellent features for different levels of detailed reports.
I'd like to see real-time data replication in the next release of Cisco DNA Center, similar to what's done in Meraki. Data in Meraki is real-time with no delay, so data is immediately replicated in the cloud. Currently, there's a lag in Cisco DNA Center, and addressing that lag is the enhancement I'd like to see in Cisco DNA Center.
The solution also needs to be more user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Cisco DNA Center for the last three and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco DNA Center isn't as stable, particularly with the logs, because it doesn't replicate the exact logs. Configuration-wise, the solution is stable, but it isn't stable for log reproduction.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, Cisco DNA Center is very good.
How are customer service and support?
We've contacted Cisco DNA Center support a lot of times because sometimes we get errors that we usually can't troubleshoot, so we'd need assistance from Cisco techs. For example, because Cisco DNA Center is a centralized dashboard manager, if we make any mistake that'll impact the whole location, it's better to always refer to technical support as they have the expertise whenever we're doing any scheduled activity or whenever we're facing issues with Cisco DNA Center, rather than doing trial and error.
On a scale of one to five, we'd rate the support a three because of the delayed issue resolution from the Cisco engineers. We have to put a lot of effort into following up with them. The engineers handling Cisco DNA Center support aren't very good, and they take a lot of time getting back to us with solutions to our issues. Issues should be solved within one to two days or a maximum of one week, but that's not happening. In the past, Cisco support used to follow up with us daily, and we could schedule a WebEx with them, and they'll start troubleshooting. Nowadays, that's not the case.
For example, we wanted to integrate the Microsoft Outreach server with Cisco DNA Center to capture logs from Cisco DNA Center to Microsoft Outreach, but it took them three months to make it happen. Every time we followed up, they'll say that the engineer wasn't available for the week, so that issue would be assigned to another engineer, and that engineer would ask for the logs, and we'll tell him that we'd already checked the logs, and he'll say that he wants fresh logs. We'll then troubleshoot, and the engineer will check the logs. After he's back from his vacation, the previous engineer will come back to us; then, we'll continue based on where we left off. Following up with Cisco DNA Center support was very hectic.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Cisco DNA Center is the only product for Software-Defined Access in terms of LAN. You'll find a lot of competitors for SD-WAN, but for SDA technology, Cisco DNA Center is the only one currently, so this is the reason why my company is using the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Cisco DNA Center is a bit complex. Its set of configurations is a bit difficult. First, you need to install certificates for three cluster nodes. One cluster node has to be deployed first, followed by the second cluster node, after the completion of the services. For head node availability, you need to have three cluster nodes. All steps combined make setting up Cisco DNA Center a little complex.
The solution also requires a more complex configuration for the switch router, so you need a different design set to deploy and configure it. Compared to other Cisco solutions, the setup for Cisco DNA Center is complicated.
I didn't deploy Cisco DNA Center, but I've seen people deploying it. With a good, reliable internet connection, deployment takes around three to four hours. Configuring the three cluster nodes takes almost a day.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cisco DNA Center is a licensed product with multiple levels of licensing available such as basic, advanced, and essential. I don't have the exact figure, but Cisco DNA Center is costly. For example, the box has information about the essential license and costs a considerable amount of money. You need to pay extra to use advanced features in Cisco DNA Center.
My company sees Cisco DNA Center as a solution that's worth the money, which is why it invested in the solution. If you want centralized management for your network, especially when upgrading it, Cisco DNA Center is perfect, but it's more suitable for a large-scale rather than a small-scale network.
What other advice do I have?
I have hands-on experience with Cisco DNA Center.
I've worked on three projects using Cisco DNA Center, either a single standby or three-cluster node. Whenever there's a large-scale network, my company tries to go with Cisco DNA Center. As a whole, my company has between ten to fifteen projects utilizing Cisco DNA Center. Whoever wants a network upgrade would use Cisco DNA Center, but there'd be different setups for every region, such as APAC, EMEA, etc. Currently, my company has nine clusters or nine boxes. A single company can have multiple projects that use Cisco DNA Center. Because it's an evolving networking technology, people get accustomed to it and may want SD access, not just LAN.
My advice to others who may want to implement Cisco DNA Center is that before buying a product, you need to understand what it can do and how to handle it. A typical engineer working on a legacy network won't be able to work on Cisco DNA Center because it has a different protocol, technology, and configuration. It would be best if you learned how to handle Cisco DNA Center before going with it, so I suggest getting trained by Cisco first. Without the training, using Cisco DNA Center isn't going to be easy for you. You won't know how to integrate a switch with Cisco DNA Center unless you get the training. Through the training, you'll also learn the protocols. Before making the purchase, you need someone to explain Cisco DNA Center to you.
I would rate Cisco DNA Center as seven out of ten. It's a new technology with Software-Defined Access capability, which allows centralized LAN management, so I prefer Cisco DNA Center over other solutions. Cisco DNA Center still requires a lot of improvements, though, so I deducted three points out of ten.
I'm a customer of Cisco DNA Center.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-10-23T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Yafar Khan from
Helps monitor devices and get the required information, but the dashboard is complicated
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for location tracking. We have to monitor the traffic in our environment since we have more than 3000 visitors per day.
What is most valuable?
We can monitor all devices and get the required information using the product.
What needs improvement?
The solution needs to improve the dashboard. The dashboard is very difficult to understand for someone using it for the first time. We took around two months to connect our environment to Cisco.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for six months.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The network team uses the solution in our organization.
How are customer service and support?
When we struggled to connect our environment to the solution, we raised the issue thrice. However, the team was not able to resolve our issue. Finally, we figured out that we had to upgrade our wireless controller and install the proper certificate. I am not happy with the support.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco should invest some resources to educate the users about the product. Overall, I rate the solution a six and a half out of ten.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-05-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer2127081 from
Beneficial wireless assurance, useful visibility, but more deployment features needed
What is our primary use case?
We are using Cisco DNA Center for network management and wireless assurance.
How has it helped my organization?
Our business functions better by using Cisco DNA Center because we have better visibility of wireless and configuration deployment.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Cisco DNA Center are wireless assurance and visibility.
What needs improvement?
The features of Cisco DNA Center and Cisco Prime could have more parity.
In a future release, there should be more deployment features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is good.
I rate the stability of Cisco DNA Center an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The latency limits our scalability.
We have approximately 10 network engineers using the solution.
We might increase our daily usage of the solution.
I rate the scalability of Cisco DNA Center a seven out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used the support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Cisco Prime and witched because it was enterprise-grade.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is complex and involves clusters. The network address allocation is complicated just between the Cisco DNA Center hardware.#The first part of the implementation is setting up the hardware and then onboarding all of the hardware. It can take a lot of time.
I rate the initial setup of Cisco DNA Center a five out of ten.
What about the implementation team?
We did the deployment of the solution. We used two or three network engineers.
What was our ROI?
I rate the return on investment of Cisco DNA Center a four out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of the solution is expensive. The hardware is licensed on the device, but the hardware on the server is expensive.
I rate the price of Cisco DNA Center a two out of ten.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not evaluate other options before using Cisco DNA Center.
What other advice do I have?
We have one network engineer for the maintenance of the solution.
My advice to others is for them to make sure their building diagram are to scale
I rate Cisco DNA Center a seven out of ten.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.customer
Date published: 2023-05-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Shu Isaac Spens from
Practical implementation of VXLAN is good and provides centralized control
What is our primary use case?
Currently, we are working on building a small data center for a client. The goal is to connect all their branches and host various in-house developed services, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications.
We are utilizing Cisco DNA Center with at least 9000 series switches and a couple of SD-WAN solutions. With Cisco DNA Center's single interface, we can efficiently manage and deploy devices across all branches.
What is most valuable?
There are many valuable features, but one I would highlight is VXLAN. It's a protocol that has been around for some time, but the practical implementation and operational capability of Cisco DNA Center bring it to life. It enables seamless movement of machines from one location or branch to another with the same settings and parameters. So, there's no need for reconfiguration. This is just one example of the many features available in DNA Center.
Another feature I like is Access Control Lists. There are many other things. Same with DNA Center. You have SD-Access. So, SD-Access is also a powerful feature that Cisco claims to be a replacement for the LAN (Local Area Network) from their perspective.
What needs improvement?
For me, there is room for improvement in costs. Affordability is a problem because it's created for large enterprises only. So, some customers, even if their engineers want the solution, might have problems with budget limitations.
The user interface is quite user-friendly, but what I would like is to have a small information pointer available somewhere. It could be a plus feature that I want to implement. When I hover my mouse over the user interface, it should provide a brief explanation. It would be helpful to have it incorporated into the UI.
So, in summary, when I hover over the small "i," it should display relevant information about the feature or functionality I want to implement.
Currently, from a technological perspective, I don't have any limitations. However, I have my own limitations in terms of affordability and cost.
For how long have I used the solution?
Initially, when Cisco DNA Center was launched, we had to acquire the physical gear, such as switches that DNA Center runs on, in order to practice with it.
As engineers, we needed access to the physical devices. Cisco announced the 9000 series, and that's when we got involved. Also, as part of my enterprise infrastructure training, we were given lab access to work with Cisco DNA Center and gain experience on the implementation side. So, in terms of practical experience, I would say it's been around one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate stability a ten out of ten. Since we deployed the solution, we haven't encountered any issues related to stability. We haven't experienced any downsides from the solution or any problems with the running switches or installers. Our devices have been running smoothly without any stability concerns.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate them a nine out of ten. My impression of scalability is that the solution can scale to any size, whether it's just a few nodes, containers, or perimeter servers in your data center. The scale doesn't matter.
So it can accommodate any scale you need. The only potential limitation would be the license, but that can be upgraded by contacting Cisco. The license is not a problem, and upgrading it is always an option by reaching out to Cisco.
If we're talking about devices, we have more than 500 devices. And in terms of users, we have over 800. Our clients are mostly medium-sized businesses.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support were good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Cisco aims to ensure that all its solutions can coexist through the use of APIs. So if you want to, you can link them together and have the power and control as an administrator. From a technical perspective, I think they have done a lot.
How was the initial setup?
When it comes to the initial setup, I will rate it a six, where one is difficult and ten is easy. It wasn't as straightforward as just clicking buttons on a graphical interface. Understanding the concepts and design perspective was necessary before implementation.
The reason is that it involved transitioning from the command-line interface (CLI) to using the user interface (UI) and automation tools like Python scripts to configure devices.
It was a new technology for us, and we were accustomed to configuring devices through the CLI. Other companies, like Palo Alto with their firewalls, offer a graphical UI, but with Cisco, it was a different story. As someone who was more familiar with the CLI, getting used to the UI and other features took time.
It wasn't as simple as clicking here and there on the GUI. You needed to grasp the underlying concepts and design considerations before proceeding. So, onboarding wasn't easy.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment took us approximately three months. The planning phase was crucial, where we had to consider different aspects, such as top-level management buy-in, budgeting, and designing how the existing solutions would fit into the architecture. From a design perspective, it took some time before we could move on to implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate the pricing as ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price.
There are additional fees to the standard license. The licensing depends on the deployment. If you use Cisco DNA Center on the cloud as a SaaS, you may have an annual subscription fee. However, if you deploy it on-premise, you would only have the standard licensing fees.
What other advice do I have?
If a company is considering Cisco DNA Center, it's important to have competent engineers who understand the technology and have experience working with Cisco networking solutions. They should also be familiar with Cisco's vision and direction in piloting technology. However, companies that have engineers specializing in other solutions like Palo Alto Networks, Juniper Networks, or Aruba Networks may have a different approach and may find it challenging to implement Cisco DNA Center without additional study or external consultants, which can lead to extra costs.
Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. The reason I gave it a nine is because Cisco revised its certifications after 2018 when networking changed the way companies connect and design their networks. From a design perspective, everything changed with the evolution of SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) and software-defined access. So, bringing in a solution like Cisco DNA Center at the heart of an enterprise, especially at the data center, is significant. Our data center is essentially the same as an optical data center for this solution. So, running Cisco DNA Center at the data center and across the enterprise gives complete control because it works alongside Cisco I. It means the network engineer has the ability to implement and control all devices across the enterprise, whether it's a mobile user, desktop computer, server, router, switch, or any other device in any branch or location. Full control over these devices is possible. Furthermore, Cisco DNA Center, working alongside I, enhances security by providing user access to specific resources and offers a new approach to setting up and securing enterprise networks. It brings improvements in security, scalability, and performance.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:partner
Date published: 2023-05-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
SinaGhozati from
A scalable tool for configuration, monitoring, and security purposes
What is our primary use case?
My company uses the solution frequently for configuration, monitoring, and ZTP, which is Zero-touch provisioning. The solution is for configuration purposes, making it a centralized configuration tool.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are all of its security features.
What needs improvement?
Price is an area with certain shortcomings in the solution that needs improvement.
The technical support team of Cisco needs to improve the support they provide to users of their products.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for five years. My company is a platinum partner of Cisco. I work as an integrator. There is an update each time we work with the solution in our company, so we always use the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a highly stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight to nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a highly scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Around 30 to 40 percent of my company's clients use Cisco DNA Center, which may consist of more than a hundred users.
Most big companies opt for Cisco DNA Center. The smaller companies may find Cisco DNA Center to be costly.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is an area with which my company's clients have a problem. Cisco doesn't provide good technical support unless a user has a big account that Cisco wants to retain. I rate the technical support provided by Aruba, Huawei, or Extreme Networks to be way higher than what Cisco provides.
I rate the technical support of Cisco a four or five out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
I rate the initial setup phase of the product a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy. The initial configuration is not a problem, but working with Cisco DNA Center is hard, so there is a learning curve for all the clients.
It is really complex to speak on how Cisco DNA Center can be improved, but there are products equivalent to Cisco in the market, like Aruba Central, which is way easier to work with, including the dashboard and everything. Cisco offers a wide range of features in their management tool, making it hard for the client to work on it. It is hard to wrap your head around all the functionalities provided by Cisco, and you have to learn about the solution to get a hang of it.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.
The deployment time taken for the solution depends on the requirements of the company's clients. The time taken for deployment may range from a day to two weeks.
For Cisco DNA Center's deployment, there is a need for a server and an OVA file. There is also a process for configuring Cisco DNA Center by itself, and then there is another process for adding all your devices. At the end of the deployment phase, we get templates to push into the configuration part.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate the product's pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap, and ten is very expensive. The solution's price could be a problem for smaller businesses. There are a lot of customers who want Cisco products but are startled when they see Cisco's pricing model, which includes Cisco DNA Center. So Cisco forces its customers to purchase DNA Center with everything. If you don't buy Cisco DNA Center, then the product you purchase from Cisco won't work.
When customers see the prices of Cisco products, they change their minds and opt for other products like Aruba or Huawei.
There are no costs in addition to the licensing cost of the solution. Cisco offers a wide range of products, which is the problem with Cisco's portfolio of products since they offer different options like three years, five years, or seven years. Suppose you don't pay after three years to renew the license, then they provide you with a period of sixty days, after which the product won't work anymore, but this is not the case with products from other vendors like Aruba. If you don't have Aruba Central, you directly connect it to your suite and use it traditionally, but with Cisco, it's an obligation to have a license and renew it. Since Cisco is the leader in the market, it uses the power to force others with their terms, which is a normal strategy.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco DNA Center is pretty much a complete product.
I won't recommend Cisco DNA Center to anyone, and I would rather suggest that they use Aruba.
Cisco offers good products, and I believe they have the most solid products in the market.
I rate the overall solution somewhere between eight and nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:integrator
Date published: 2023-09-13T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Igor Bobrov from
A stable solution for deployming managed services with integration and centralized management
What is most valuable?
Cisco DNA Center offers managed services and integration. It also has centralization of management. Centralized management is crucial; additional tools are available for invoicing and endpoint certification. The platform offers various features, including new Wi-Fi capabilities and access points. There is no licensing for users.
What needs improvement?
Cisco DNA Center is costly for Ukrainian customers. The functionality and connections are excellent. If the price decreases, it should become more accessible.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is suited for large organizations.
How are customer service and support?
There are several compliance issues that they are unable to resolve. The response time is very slow, and we must change the agent frequently because the agents cannot address questions.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
What other advice do I have?
People should keep an eye on the Cisco DNA Center software, which is becoming more accessible. This software is not confined to a single device due to its large size and high cost. Some customers can utilize multiple sources or partner sources and can use virtual or software clients to install it on their network. This ensures certified features on the platform.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2023-10-20T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer2289510 from
A centralized network management and automation with significant room for enhancement of various features
What is our primary use case?
We use it for incorporating around four hundred wireless access points into our network infrastructure.
What is most valuable?
It enables monitoring of various components such as access points, switch cards, and other elements within the company's solutions.
What needs improvement?
We encountered issues with their response times, which had a big impact on our workflow.
For how long have I used the solution?
We started using it this year, so for a couple of months now.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate it seven out of ten.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2023-10-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer2273595 from
The solution can be used for monitoring and as a troubleshooting tool to investigate issues on the wireless infrastructure
What is our primary use case?
In my former company, we used Cisco DNA Center specifically for monitoring. I also used the solution as a troubleshooting tool to investigate issues on the wireless infrastructure.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the AI (Artificial Intelligence) that provides us with valuable information. Otherwise, we would have to spend a lot of time trying to understand what's going on. I really appreciate the reports provided by the solution's AI for the wireless.
For example, we had issues with the Cisco wireless controller and spent a lot of time troubleshooting it. In just a few minutes, Cisco DNA Center provided us with valuable information regarding the memory leaking in the controller. That helped us to fix the issue. For me, the most valuable feature of Cisco DNA Center is the intelligence inside the tool.
What needs improvement?
As a user, it would be good if I could plug in controllers, suites, and devices from other vendors to Cisco DNA Center. Users could use the intelligence in Cisco DNA Center for the entire environment.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for three or four years.
How are customer service and support?
I faced a few problems during the solution's upgrade process, and TAC took a few hours to fix it. I'm pretty comfortable with the solution's technical support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Cisco Prime and other monitoring tools.
How was the initial setup?
Cisco DNA Center's initial setup is pretty easy.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate Cisco DNA Center a nine out of ten.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-10-16T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Michael Küfner from
A central management platform for switches and access points
What is our primary use case?
The product is our central management tool for switches and access points.
What is most valuable?
The product's most valuable feature is the assurance feature, which provides transparency on the things going on the network.
What needs improvement?
Cisco DNA Center is expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for one and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco DNA Center is stable, and I rate it a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My company has 10-15 users for the product.
How was the initial setup?
Cisco DNA Center's deployment is straightforward. There is a wizard which helps you to click through the process. The deployment takes around two days to complete. You must properly plan your IP addresses and VM machines before deploying.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You need to pay for the hardware only one time.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-09-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer1136973 from
Centralized network management that offers efficiency and security
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for building and maintaining networks while adhering to security policies. It offers automation, security enforcement, analytics, and integration with other Cisco technologies, making it a key driver for efficient network operations and compliance with security protocols.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are its life cycle management and the security aspects it provides.
What needs improvement?
The weaknesses primarily involve pricing and the ongoing need for increased bandwidth and data throughput. These aspects are interconnected with the lifecycle management of the network. Security is also a concern, even though is somewhat implemented. There are no specific requirements except for user-friendly dashboards, but the definition of "user-friendly" can vary from person to person, making it challenging to define a universal standard.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used it for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has good stability capabilities.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It offers good scalability features.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model.
What other advice do I have?
The choice of the solution depends on the organization's size, network complexity, and whether they have its own maintenance or operational department. Organizations can opt to outsource to Cisco partners, but this decision relies on their specific needs. It's crucial to determine whether to keep network knowledge in-house or rely on external expertise. Skill versions and portfolio updates should be approached cautiously, considering customer requirements and the timing of upgrades to avoid disrupting operations. I would rate it eight out of ten.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2023-09-20T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer2178027 from
Stable product with essential security features
What is our primary use case?
The availability endpoint is in the Cisco DNA Center dashboard, which allows us to push configurations and address compliance issues to all devices on Cisco network from a single location.
What is most valuable?
Cisco DNA Center provides operational support, compliance support, security vulnerability detection, and automatic scheduling.
What needs improvement?
They should include UTM features in the product.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco DNA Center for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support services need improvement.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Negative
How was the initial setup?
Cisco DNA Center can be deployed as a server or an appliance. It is up to you to choose which one meets the requirements. DNA Center can manage various endpoints, automatically adding new devices to DNS and integrating them with other Cisco devices. To do this, the DNA Center must be able to access the Cisco website. Therefore, this box should have internet connectivity with support for the Cisco website. DNA Center will then fetch the 802.1x authentication and client deployment information from the website and automatically deploy it to the box. It will take at least one or two days to do with automated and manual. We need to check both sides so that it's covering entire devices. Its maintenance is easy as well.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco DNA Center is a good product. There could be more features added to the dashboard. Overall, I rate it a ten out of ten.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2023-09-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
SHERIF-HASSAN from
Impressive solution offering automation and segmentation capabilities
What is our primary use case?
I am a partner and I design Center and offer it to many customers. I'm familiar with convincing customers to buy this solution.
What is most valuable?
The features, like segmentation and network automation control solutions, are quite impressive. You can now segment by user identity. This new approach to segmentation by identity is a standout feature.
Automation is another key highlight. With automation, you can automate everything through a single port. This means you can control, monitor, and configure the solution all from one place, which is incredibly convenient.
Additionally, the solution offers robust capabilities to identify and address weak points in the server, helping you pinpoint potential problems quickly. It also includes data analytics, providing customers with enhanced visibility and enabling them to find solutions to various issues quickly.
What needs improvement?
An area that needs improvement is the integration with other vendors. I think this is a missing point. If we focus on improving integration, many new features could evolve from this solution. Integration with other network admission control devices and vendors beyond just Cisco would be particularly beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for the past five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. I rate it an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Our clients are medium-sized businesses. I'd rate the scalability of the product as nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
I rate the initial setup a six out of ten. The time it takes to set up depends on the solution and the size of the customer. But typically, if everything goes smoothly and we're dealing with just one building or three to four floors, it might take a maximum of one week to get everything settled.
What was our ROI?
I rate the return on investment as seven out of ten, with ten being visible ROI and one being no ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend the solution mainly because of its standout features like automation, which simplifies troubleshooting and configuration from a single pane of glass. The easy integration and advanced segmentation are also key benefits. These features make it an excellent choice for any IT organization.
Cisco DNA Center has been very supportive of our network security and compliance initiatives. I'd rate its support a nine out of ten. Moreover, the solution has significantly contributed to our AI-driven networking projects. I'd rate it a nine out of ten.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2024-06-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
AvrahamSonenthal from
Efficiently manages our wireless network and provides valuable monitoring features
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the platform for monitoring, especially within our wireless network. Additionally, we have started registering our 9300 and 9400 switches, although the primary focus remains on monitoring and alarming purposes.
How has it helped my organization?
One notable aspect of Cisco DNA Center is the code it injects into switches during enrollment—approximately 1,200 lines for telemetry and other configurations. Compared to other solutions, such as SolarWinds, which requires far less code to gather the necessary information, this seems excessive. They could improve this process by making it lighter and more efficient.
What is most valuable?
The product's most valuable feature is the visual representation of the switch's front panel. It provides a clear, at-a-glance view of each port's status, color-coded based on its status.
What needs improvement?
The solution's setup process needs enhancement.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Cisco DNA Center for five months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product stability has been good so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are working with a small network of about 300 devices. Thus, I can only briefly comment on scalability. For our requirements, the platform's capacity is more than sufficient.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup requires extensive training. Like many Cisco products, it is complex and cannot be learned without proper training.
What other advice do I have?
The platform's biggest benefit has been in managing our wireless network. Having a single pane of glass to control all wireless controllers and access points and to monitor activity has been a significant advantage.
We're a small federal agency with around 300 network devices, so automation is a minor focus. It's more relevant for larger networks.
The main benefits we've seen are in inventory management and the potential for configuration automation. However, I recommend using the DNA Centre only for larger networks with over a thousand devices; otherwise, it may not be cost-effective.
Before proceeding, ensure that your devices are compatible with DNA Center, as not all Cisco devices are supported. Also, investing in proper training is different from plug-and-play.
I rate it an eight.
Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.Customer
Date published: 2024-08-14T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
reviewer2535090 from
Helps in generating network performance reports and has valuable automation features
What is our primary use case?
Our customers use the solution to manage and centrally apply device policies. Many administrators are moving away from manual configuration, and DNA Center helps automate network management. Some use it purely for assurance, such as troubleshooting, monitoring, and generating network performance reports. The 360-degree view feature is widely used for monitoring networks, and many customers also leverage automation and access control features.
What is most valuable?
The platform's most valuable features are automation and assurance. Automation helps configure devices without manual intervention, enabling zero-touch provisioning. Devices like switches can seamlessly be added to the network, reducing time and effort. It also ensures policy compliance across the network. In addition, the assurance feature provides detailed insights into network health, which is essential for efficient management.
What needs improvement?
One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process. The time required for downloading and installing packages during upgrades is too long, often taking around ten hours. This is a significant issue for customers who cannot afford such long downtime. Improvements in reducing upgrade time would greatly enhance the user experience.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with Cisco DNA Center since its release.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate DNA Center's scalability as eight. It can manage large networks efficiently, and its ability to scale with the organization's growing network requirements makes it a robust solution.
How was the initial setup?
I rate the initial setup around seven to eight. While the physical setup, like rack-mounting, is straightforward, the complexity arises in gathering the prerequisites, such as management IP addresses and other configuration details from the customer. With proper planning, the setup can be completed in about 30 minutes. However, the lengthy upgrade process remains a challenge.
It is mostly deployed on-premises. It comes with UCS appliances, and most customers prefer the on-premise deployment for security and performance reasons. Although cloud deployment options may be available, most of our deployments are on-prem.
The deployment time depends on the size of the customer's network. Smaller setups can take a few days if all prerequisites are in place. However, larger networks, especially those requiring fabric-enabled switches or firewall integration, can take longer. The DNA Center's configuration is relatively simple, but preparing the network infrastructure can extend the timeline.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate Cisco DNA Center a nine out of ten.
Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:partner
Date published: 2024-09-25T00:00:00-04:00