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Cisco ACI vs Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Networking (SDN) (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (9th)
Cisco Enterprise Network Fu...
Ranking in Network Virtualization
4th
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 2026, in the Network Virtualization category, the mindshare of Cisco ACI is 27.1%, down from 47.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization is 9.0%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Virtualization Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco ACI27.1%
Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization9.0%
Other63.9%
Network Virtualization
 

Featured Reviews

Sulaiman Olubiyi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Automation Engineer at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Network automation has simplified secure multi-site connectivity and reduced daily operational effort
I believe Cisco ACI could improve by incorporating something related to agentic AI, where it can execute tasks based on particular evaluations or loop engineering, enhancing fault identification or suggestions based on each tenant's configuration. Additionally, I think they should ensure that the documentation is comprehensive. I appreciate that Cisco provides documentation, and their support engineers are helpful in case of any issues. In terms of governance and security regarding Cisco ACI's AI capabilities, I think what we call evals or evaluations is important, whereby the engineer can evaluate the functionalities of the AI in Cisco ACI, preventing it from making deletions or modifications on its own. Therefore, there should be evaluations or guardrails incorporated into the development capabilities. Regarding accuracy and reliability of output for Cisco ACI's AI capabilities, it hasn't met my expectations. What we need is something called RAG, or retrieval-augmented generation. If Cisco can implement that to utilize customer-specific data instead of general knowledge, while ensuring data privacy under GDPR laws, I think that will result in very good, reliable output.
Majdi Sabbah - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant Sales Engineer at BT Al-Saudia
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

"Going from legacy data center stuff to Cisco ACI, I saw the value it could offer the company that I was working with."
"It decreases network provisioning time and application provisioning time, and it also takes fewer resources to manage it because you have a centralized system where one APIC controller can manage more than 200 leaf switches."
"The centralized management of the entire network data center, in this case with ACI, is the most valuable feature. By having access to some powerful APIs you can build your own tool to speak to the ACI controller, then with that, you can deploy things really fast. Having the option to build your own tools and then using the centralized management of the ACI to push the configuration to the network devices is very valuable."
"The basic functionality that is the most useful is creating a virtual network on a physical device."
"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."
"Automation features have been most beneficial for managing complex networks."
"Cisco ACI is designed to provide a unified fabric for physical and virtual networking, moving away from the management of individual physical switches."
"One of the most valuable features is centralized management. The other is the ability to create policies by routing."
"Overall, I feel that this is a good product and I recommend it."
"Cisco is in our portfolio, which is one of the reasons that we keep working with them."
"Network Security is one of the most valuable features of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization."
"Scalability is not a problem."
"It is easy to manage, easy to maintain, and stable, and if you set up everything alright, it will give years without any issues."
"Routing, switching, and wireless network security are the valuable features of Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization."
"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."
 

Cons

"They need more documentation. Because when we hit an issue and searched on Google, we didn't find a lot of documents about the issue."
"I would really appreciate it if Cisco came up with something centralized to monitor everything."
"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."
"If you don't have visibility and you want micro-segmentation and you don't want to pay, then ACI is not your solution."
"The initial setup was a bit complex."
"The ACI user interface is complex and Cisco should improve it."
"Compared to VMware, it needs more virtualization technologies."
"ACI is not simple by any stretch of the imagination, but the initial go-at-it is pretty straightforward, which is nice."
"There is room for improvement in enhancing compatibility with other solutions and vendors."
"It would be helpful if they offered modularized upgrades, such as additional memory or a faster processor."
"I would like to see the principle scan introduce more models, to help with scalability issues."
"The solution's orchestration part could be improved."
"This is a software solution, which is less stable than a hardware solution by definition."
"In terms of what could be improved, I would say the cost. The SDN hardware especially is much too expensive, specifically 799 and 9000, which act like a spine and those spines are connecting to the leaves."
"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

"It is quite expensive. It is not at all on the cheap or medium side."
"A big company can automate it themselves or spend a lot of money and buy it."
"The price could be improved. It is expensive, but then again, it is Cisco. The price is worth what you pay for."
"Price is always an issue."
"The pricing, including both hardware and licenses, is reasonable."
"It's expensive but the product is very good. I have never found another partner like Cisco with a solution like this and with great support."
"We have saved time on the provisioning and configuration."
"Cisco is much more expensive than other vendors, especially when it comes to the licensing."
"Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization is an expensive solution."
"There is a separate charge for support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise89
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco ACI?
Cost is one thing that could be improved, as it is heavy for an emerging market like ours.
Ask a question
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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: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.