Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Cisco ACI Logo

Cisco ACI pros and cons

Vendor: Cisco
4.0 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.
Get the report

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Automation and programmability significantly enhance flexibility, reduce human error, and allow for faster deployment and changes.
Cisco ACI is highly stable and reliable, ensuring uninterrupted operations and high scalability.
Strong multi-tenancy features allow for improved management of complex networks and support a high volume of customers efficiently.
Cisco ACI offers excellent integration capabilities with other systems like VMware and Azure, enhancing overall network functionality and ease of deployment.
Technical support is rated highly effective, providing reliable assistance and timely updates.

CONS

Cisco ACI is complex and the initial setup is challenging, with a steep learning curve that requires significant effort to understand how it works and interacts with other technologies.
The integration capabilities of Cisco ACI need improvements, particularly in increasing compatibility with third-party vendors and cloud environments like Azure and AWS.
Technical support for Cisco ACI is often inadequate, with long response times and a lack of knowledgeable personnel to address complex issues effectively.
Cisco ACI requires the purchase of additional products for certain features like monitoring and security, which can be costly and inefficient for customers.
Cisco ACI's complexity in configuration, specifically regarding contracts and segmentation, makes troubleshooting and managing network environments cumbersome.
 

Cisco ACI Pros review quotes

it_user302127 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 31, 2015
The scalability is very good, as the controller automatically detects new additions and scales itself, and it's agile because it's a cloud-based network.
Platformbd19 - PeerSpot reviewer
Platform Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 29, 2019
With its programmability, you can do stuff to policies to make them more flexible, allowing you to connect devices in new ways.
GR
Information Security Architect at Progress Software Corporation
Jan 29, 2019
Automation is its most valuable feature.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco ACI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
NetworkE67f2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
It has saved me a couple of times, as just a backup feature. It can easily do a snapshot before you do any change, and if something goes wrong, you can just rollback.
NetworkE88af - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
It has made it much easier to deploy and make changes in the data center versus the previous infrastructure, which was NX-OS based.
PS
Network Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 29, 2019
Because of its automation feature, when you configure scripts for Cisco ACI, it reduces human error.
ITEvolutd7ab - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Evolution Manager at a aerospace/defense firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 5, 2019
Once we have it running, it should be easier for us to program our IT rather than going case-by-case, by switches and different elements, or program it by hand.
Stephane Deroch - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Architect at Air France
Jan 29, 2019
I have found the SDN features to be the most valuable.
NetworkE07e9 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a political organization with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
The initial setup was pretty straightforward. We just moved from one platform to another.
NetworkAc8df - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
The security component is its most valuable feature.
 

Cisco ACI Cons review quotes

it_user302127 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 31, 2015
It's very new, so there's lots of bugs, and it's only good for testing with PoC customers.
Platformbd19 - PeerSpot reviewer
Platform Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 29, 2019
I would like them to simplify the way you configure the Fabric. The process is quite complex. This can be a barrier to entry. For anything, where it should take two or three steps, you have ten steps
GR
Information Security Architect at Progress Software Corporation
Jan 29, 2019
The challenging thing about Cisco ACI was we had to put a lot of effort into providing the customer the full picture, new standards, and new technology that they had to use. This was more challenging than deploying the product.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco ACI. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
NetworkE67f2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
It is still not mature and has room to grow. As with any product out there, it requires time to develop.
NetworkE88af - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
We had issues in the first deployment when we tried to finish the migration from traditional networking to Cisco ACI.
PS
Network Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 29, 2019
Since it is a new technology, Cisco moved all the menus. This made it tricky to use.
ITEvolutd7ab - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Evolution Manager at a aerospace/defense firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 5, 2019
Biannually, there is a new design delivered by Cisco. Thus, you are always running behind the new design, and it never stops. With Cisco ACI, this has been a nightmare.
Stephane Deroch - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Architect at Air France
Jan 29, 2019
The product needs to be more visible on the Internet and have the ability to be integrated into more software developments.
NetworkE07e9 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a political organization with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
The way the objects are oriented on it are not as straightforward as they should be.
NetworkAc8df - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Jan 29, 2019
The initial setup was a bit complex. ACI was just out at that time, and there wasn't support at that time.