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Cisco ACI vs Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 10, 2024

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

Cisco ACI
Ranking in Network Virtualization
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Networking (SDN) (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (6th)
Cisco Enterprise Network Fu...
Ranking in Network Virtualization
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Network Virtualization category, the mindshare of Cisco ACI is 47.7%, up from 46.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization is 3.6%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Virtualization
 

Featured Reviews

Rahul Khandelwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables streamlined data center management with automation and application-centric design
The main features of Cisco ACI that I really appreciate are the application-centric and network-centric designs, allowing you to create your network according to your application. That's helpful, and it's good for one-time implementation. The automation capabilities are really helpful. We deployed one data center using Terraform, and after deployment, many automation features are available, which can be very helpful. Based on my experience, Cisco ACI provides substantial capability; you can design your network accordingly and it's part of the SDN family, providing many benefits to the organization, especially when moving from traditional network infrastructure. Many organizations are actually using the old traditional Nexus infrastructure or some old data center devices. It gives you significant control and one-time implementation capabilities, and it also provides better performance and security. Functionality-wise, Cisco ACI provides integration using automation. We implemented it through Terraform, which was easy. Those features are available, so I don't think any new features are needed right now; something new could come up, but they have implemented many improvements over the years.
Majdi Sabbah - PeerSpot reviewer
Versatile, offering flexibility and scalability
I rely on Cisco Enterprise NFV for various sectors like government, campuses, and hospitality. It is a crucial foundational layer that is mandatory before delivering other services The most valuable feature is its user-friendly management dashboard. It is easy to use and covers everything in one…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability is quite good."
"Their technical support is very good. We had a problem and Cisco gave us the best engineer to resolve the issue."
"The routing of traffic is one of our main focuses when utilizing Cisco ACI."
"The integration with vCenter means that when I create something on the network, it only has to happen one time instead of many times for our many virtual hosts."
"Because we can use automation processes with this platform, we have been able to free up our IT department's time."
"Having a lot of racks and switches with a single point of configuration which can be done with automation on one platform using one API. This makes everything work faster."
"The most valuable feature is the unified fabric."
"With Cisco ACI, I can deploy things with a script, then run it in five minutes."
"Routing, switching, and wireless network security are the valuable features of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization."
"Network Security is one of the most valuable features of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization."
"Scalability is not a problem."
"The support system that they have in place is very good and they are easy to reach."
"The most valuable feature is its user-friendly management dashboard."
"It is easy to manage, easy to maintain, and stable. If you set up everything alright, it will give years without any issues."
 

Cons

"Cisco ACI would be improved by providing a cloud offering; otherwise, it risks becoming a niche product."
"They should make it easier for the network people to do automated solutions."
"It is still not mature and has room to grow. As with any product out there, it requires time to develop."
"Compared to VMware, it needs more virtualization technologies."
"The integration has room for improvement. There should be a drag-and-drop interface for configuring the integration where you connect some arrows to boxes, and the system takes care of the configuration. Right now, they have something similar, but it's limited. You have to take care of some things yourself. That is one area that the solution can work on. It's easy now, but it's much easier in other solutions."
"Quality Assurance could be better, and there are a lot of bugs in each release. We discover these bugs when we upgrade the ACI environment, sometimes resulting in downtime. In the next release, I would like to be able to manage hybrid cloud networking. So currently, if you have an ACI environment running on-premise or Epic in the cloud, we can handle it with the NexSys dashboard. But if Cisco can integrate SD WAN-related features, through which we can do multi-cloud networking, that will be an awesome feature. It should be more flexible."
"It is more about resolving bugs early on in the code. Otherwise, as the product gets more mature and those bugs get discovered sometimes by the customer, then Cisco will resolve them."
"If I lose the connection from one side to the core, I can't use the other side to go to the core. I hope in the future, this will be fixed."
"In terms of what could be improved, I would say the cost. The SDN hardware especially is much too expensive, specifically 799 and 9000."
"It would be helpful if they offered modularized upgrades, such as additional memory or a faster processor."
"This is a software solution, which is less stable than a hardware solution by definition."
"The solution's orchestration part could be improved."
"There is room for improvement in enhancing compatibility with other solutions and vendors."
"One of the things that can be improved is trimming all mobile numbers so that it aids in swiftly acquiring information for tablets or any necessary solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you compare the licensing and total cost of ACI, it's cheaper than NSX because of the licensing fees. If you are going for full NSX features it will be too expensive, especially the next-generation firewalling feature."
"It is quite expensive. It is not at all on the cheap or medium side."
"Cisco ACI costs depend on how many sites you have. One simple site with a simple installation, including two leaves, two spines, and some fibers, would cost $200,000 to $300,000 for the licenses. The solution is a bit expensive, but it's a good investment if you want your data centers to work without interruption."
"Yearly, we pay around one point two million for the solution."
"We have seen time improvement using the product."
"Cisco is much more expensive than other vendors, especially when it comes to the licensing."
"Cisco's pricing is very expensive."
"The price could be improved. It is expensive, but then again, it is Cisco. The price is worth what you pay for."
"There is a separate charge for support."
"Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization is an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What do you like most about Cisco ACI?
The flexibility of adding new components with minimal impact on existing services running in the data center is a key benefit of this ACI-based solution.
What do you like most about Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization?
The most valuable feature is its user-friendly management dashboard.
What needs improvement with Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization?
There is room for improvement in enhancing compatibility with other solutions and vendors. Better integration capabilities could provide more value, especially in scenarios where a mix of solutions...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco NFV
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco ACI vs. Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.