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Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass vs Cisco Catalyst Center comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass
Ranking in Network Management Applications
24th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Catalyst Center
Ranking in Network Management Applications
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass is 1.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Center is 4.2%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Center4.2%
Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass1.7%
Other94.1%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Karthikeyan Ravi - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President of Technology at Netcon Technologies India Private Limited
Has an automated feature for user onboarding and supports heterogeneous devices
We use the product for the automated onboarding of corporate users with secure network access. It helps secure IoT endpoints for specific networks. It allows us to control the devices, including posture, endpoint verification, validation, latest patching, and signatures The product’s most…
AadishBahati - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Solution Architect at EchoStor
Unified automation has transformed network operations and simplifies multi‑site management
The learning curve is better with Cisco compared to other products. Everyone has a learning curve because everyone is bringing new technologies, new interfaces, and new ways of doing things. The other products have a steeper learning curve. When comparing Cisco with VMware, I am not comparing Cisco with Arista, Juniper, or HP because those are companies which are doing a very basic level of automation. Cisco is doing way more advanced things. In terms of advanced handling and the advanced orchestration and advanced management plane control that Cisco is delivering, the only competitiveness in advancement is VMware NSX. However, it is really complex. Cisco's platforms are much easier to understand and learn compared to VMware.The only disadvantage with Cisco would be their services and licensing, which is a bit complex and a bit too expensive. Because their services are so expensive, companies end up buying Cisco, but they end up not buying Cisco services to do it. When they turn to external partners, not many people outside know the technology as well as Cisco does. People deploy it, but they do not get the right resources to deploy it.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I think the best features are the user profiling and the BYOD facilities."
"It helps secure IoT endpoints for specific networks."
"The features I appreciate most about Cisco Catalyst Center are user accessibility."
"Cisco Catalyst Center has the feature where you can configure different ports as a VLAN, and you can configure a secondary IP address, which other OEMs generally do not provide."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Catalyst Center is automation."
"There is a lot of documentation for the platform, which is an advantage."
"Cisco Catalyst Center has significantly reduced travel time for our organization, which has approximately 60 locations across our state."
"Storing the configs with Cisco Catalyst Center benefits my organization because if there is a failure, I can restore directly from it."
"The integration of Cisco Catalyst Center is fine"
"The best feature of Cisco is its industry-standard nature."
 

Cons

"There could be in-built end-to-end map integration features for IoT devices instead of using third-party tools."
"I think the solution would be greatly improved by adding application level visibility on the dashboard."
"I evaluate customer service and tech support as sometimes being questionable; if it is not labeled as a high priority, it is not treated as such, so if it does not require a very fast response, I can go weeks without hearing anything on a ticket, and I sometimes have to put things in as higher priority to get an initial response, but it always gets changed down to a lower priority."
"The integration of Cisco Catalyst Center is fine, but the deployment process can be pretty complex, involving some irrelevant or uncertain information during setup."
"The retention period of data could be improved from seven days to 30 days. This change would help in cases where users are on leave for extended periods."
"The only disadvantage with Cisco would be their services and licensing, which is a bit complex and a bit too expensive."
"My customers often complain about numerous software bugs requiring frequent software patches and updates to resolve these issues."
"If they can add a layer of portable hotspots with some licensing flexibility for 20 to 50 users, it would be a great feature."
"The initial setup of Cisco Catalyst Center is complex."
"The area for improvement in Cisco Catalyst Center is the spectrum analyzer, as I find it difficult to identify which type of device is causing a problem."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass is an expensive product compared to other vendors."
Information not available
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913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
14%
Government
11%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Center?
Cisco is always expensive. Cisco Catalyst Center's price rating is eight.
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Center?
There are areas for improvement with Cisco Catalyst Center, and I can discuss what could be improved. Additional features could be added to Cisco Catalyst Center in the future, and it is unclear wh...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Catalyst Center?
As a customer, the major use case for Cisco Catalyst Center is that it is easy to configure and troubleshoot, which are definitely the advantages of the product. If there are any specific challenge...
 

Also Known As

Alcatel Lucent ClearPass, ClearPass Policy Management System, ClearPass
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Blickle and Scherer, Loughborough University, CSF Inox, Caritas Speyer
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Alcatel-Lucent ClearPass vs. Cisco Catalyst Center and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.