Cisco Catalyst Center vs OpenText Network Node Manager comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Cisco and OpenText are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while OpenText is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 3.8% mindshare in NMA, compared to OpenText’s 5.4% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of OpenText users who would recommend it.

Cisco Catalyst Center

Read 32 Cisco Catalyst Center reviews

3,535 Views
3,500 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

OpenText Network Node Manager

Read 25 OpenText Network Node Manager reviews

4,025 Views
3,462 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst Center

OpenText Network Node Manager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

OpenText Network Node Manager and Cisco Catalyst Center compete in network management. Cisco Catalyst Center generally has the upper hand by offering advanced features and superior integration with Cisco technologies.

Features: OpenText Network Node Manager offers real-time network monitoring, automation, fault management, and a comprehensive network performance view. Cisco Catalyst Center provides AI-driven analytics, seamless integration with Cisco DNA, robust security, and dual functionality of observability and management, making it highly feature-rich.

Room for Improvement: OpenText Network Node Manager could enhance AI capabilities, improve security features, and expand integration options. Cisco Catalyst Center could improve ease of use for non-Cisco environments, offer clearer pricing models, and enhance user interfaces for better onboarding experiences.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenText offers straightforward deployment with responsive customer service, ideal for diverse environments. Cisco Catalyst Center provides a sophisticated deployment model with tailored support for Cisco-based environments, excelling in complex settings and hardware integration.

Pricing and ROI: OpenText Network Node Manager is cost-effective, with lower initial investment and attractive ROI, appealing to budget-conscious organizations. Cisco Catalyst Center is pricier but delivers high ROI via comprehensive capabilities and integration options, making it suitable for businesses valuing advanced features over cost.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Catalyst Center vs. OpenText Network Node Manager Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Center vs. OpenText Network Node Manager

November 2026

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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 Catalyst Center

Ranking in Network Management Applications

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

OpenText Network Node Manager

Ranking in Network Management Applications

5th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Center is 3.8%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Network Node Manager is 5.4%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Center	3.8%
OpenText Network Node Manager	5.4%
Other	90.8%

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

AadishBahati

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.

Read full review

Ahmed-Salman

Performanc Monitoring and Application Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Reliable network monitoring and proactive analytics enhance decision-making with areas for configuration improvement

NNMi is an OpenText product and serves as the OpenText Network Node Manager monitoring tool. OpenText Network Node Manager is used for network monitoring of switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, and all network devices. It can support any SNMP protocol. The advantages of OpenText Network Node Manager stand out because it can build the topology, Layer 2 topology, and Layer 3 automatically once devices are added, connecting them together, such as device one, for interface one, connected with interface one on another device. The integration capability of OpenText Network Node Manager is excellent because it integrates directly, and I can configure the integration to feed the CMDB, from where I can get all information from network monitoring into the CMDB, linking it with the infrastructure and correlating events. I use advanced fault monitoring and management features in OpenText Network Node Manager for topology and fault monitoring, as it can alert or generate an event if the value exceeds or falls below a predefined threshold for SNMP traps. The predictive analytics impact planning and optimization strategies because the product can be linked with another product for analytic analysis, allowing me to see the interface utilization trend and proactively take action if the utilization increases. The automated network discovery features and topology mapping in OpenText Network Node Manager have a positive impact. It supports a bundle with another product for NetFlow to monitor traffic, ports, protocols, and SLAs, and I can build compliance reports to address security vulnerabilities, such as identifying all devices using outdated protocols.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The customer service is very good. They are excellent and efficient."

"The best feature of Cisco is its industry-standard nature."

"The best feature is its availability, easy deployment, and the good support for the solution."

"Cisco performs well in the network space, especially in areas like switching, DNA Center, and wireless, where it is known for its stability."

"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."

"Our customers are very happy with Cisco technology and they suppose it is the best solution for them."

"The solution primarily focuses on visibility into Cisco products and day zero, day one, and day two operations, enabling plug-and-play features, device onboarding, hierarchy definition, and telemetry data collection to offer a comprehensive 360-degree view with basic automation and visibility assurance at its core."

"One of the most significant features of Cisco Catalyst Center that has improved our network performance is the wireless assurance, which helped us identify issues in the wireless; thanks to the help of Cisco Catalyst Center, we migrated from 2.4 to 5G as we understood where the maximum service interruptions were happening, leading to significant improvement in customer satisfaction, better connectivity, better strength, and better onboarding."

More Cisco Catalyst Center pros

"It is stable for fault and availability."

"The platform has good stability."

"The HPE suite is amazingly beautiful, has a fantastic user experience, and provides a high amount of simplification across transactions when adopting cloud technologies significantly."

"Our monitoring and network teams of less than 100 people use this solution, and the availability and fault monitoring are good."

"The most important benefit is to have one controller and to get all information to a single point."

"Overall, the tool helps maintain the health of the network."

"It's a good one."

"It gives us a good overview of what's happening in our networks and the devices in the networks."

More OpenText Network Node Manager pros

Cons

"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."

"Cisco Catalyst Center could improve its graphical user interface. Currently, it is CLI-based, which makes it challenging for those without Cisco training."

"I think Cisco Catalyst Center can be improved overall by making the sandbox setups and documentation more straightforward, as it was a little confusing because the DevNet page documentation, controller URL, and sandbox credentials were separate."

"Some features in terms of security should be there, especially in threat detection. Cisco Catalyst Center lacked intelligence in this area and required reliance on third-party appliances like firewalls or threat protection devices."

"My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing is that the hardware is probably a good price, but it feels like the license is always too expensive."

"Current pricing is too expensive for features that users may not be sure they will use, pricing the company out of the market."

"There is a disadvantage in Cisco Catalyst Center that I see, which is the same as Cisco's disadvantage, being a bug issue."

"To improve Cisco Catalyst Center, I think the dashboard and UI experience is inferior to what I used previously with Ubiquiti equipment."

More Cisco Catalyst Center cons

"We had some issues with some of the features, some modules are not meeting expectations."

"It needs better management for the routing protocol, which right now is really not very good."

"Technical support could be much better and work much faster. Typically, it is taking some time to solve tickets."

"Configuration was a bit cumbersome for SNMP traps on the routers and configuration of the SPIs was a little complicated."

"As the technologies evolve, also these solutions or the monitoring tools should evolve to cover the progress in technology, including capabilities related to monitoring of virtualized devices today, as the DNS is on the table in this way."

"Only to improve the GUI."

"The deployment architecture and installation part needs improvement."

"Customer service is not good compared to IBM or Zenoss support."

More OpenText Network Node Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The solution is quite expensive."

"It is more inexpensive than other products in the market."

"I wasn't involved in the pricing, but I think it's quite expensive."

"It's an expensive solution."

"The solution is priced mid-range compared to the competition."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Government

11%

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Construction Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	21

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Center?

We did not purchase Cisco Catalyst Center through the AWS Marketplace as we used the Cisco DevNet always-on sandbox which gave us temporary access to a hosted Catalyst Center environment for testin...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Center?

I think Cisco Catalyst Center can be improved overall by making the sandbox setups and documentation more straightforward, as it was a little confusing because the DevNet page documentation, contro...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Catalyst Center?

My main use case for Cisco Catalyst Center in the sandbox is to test APIs and integrate network data into the FloodGaurd project, where I tested device inventory, device health, network health, sit...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Micro Focus Network Node Manager?

The disadvantage of OpenText Network Node Manager is related to configuration, which is straightforward since it is agentless and solely relies on SNMP protocol, and although it requires some effor...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Network Node Manager?

I remember working with OpenText Network Node Manager at my previous company. I am now working at a different company focusing on data center migrations and DR preparation. In my current role, I ha...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Network Node Manager?

I would rate OpenText Network Node Manager an eight out of ten, as it is very good, and I appreciate its ability to link faults with network configuration management, allowing me to identify root c...

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Cisco Catalyst Center

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs Cisco Catalyst Center

Compared 20% of the time

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Cisco Catalyst Center

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper vs Cisco Catalyst Center

Compared 6% of the time

Hamina Network Planner vs Cisco Catalyst Center

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Catalyst Center Competitors

DX Spectrum vs OpenText Network Node Manager

Compared 12% of the time

IBM Tivoli NetCool vs OpenText Network Node Manager

Compared 9% of the time

DataMiner vs OpenText Network Node Manager

Compared 8% of the time

NetMaster Network Intelligence vs OpenText Network Node Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs OpenText Network Node Manager

Compared 5% of the time

More OpenText Network Node Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Center

October 2026

Download Cisco Catalyst Center product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Network Node Manager

October 2026

Download OpenText Network Node Manager product report

Also Known As

No data available

Micro Focus Network Node Manager, Network Node Manager, HPE Network Node Manager

Overview

Cisco Catalyst Center offers a comprehensive platform for network management, providing scalable solutions and advanced analytics for enterprise-level operations.

Focusing on efficient network management, Cisco Catalyst Center effectively addresses dynamic enterprise environments, ensuring operational scalability and actionable insights through its robust feature set. It emphasizes seamless management with an intuitive interface tailored for professional use, facilitating enhanced network visibility and control among IT professionals and service providers.

What are the standout features of Cisco Catalyst Center?

Automated Provisioning: Simplifies and speeds up network configuration processes by automating repetitive tasks.
Advanced Analytics: Provides real-time insights and trends for network optimization and security enhancements.
Policy-Based Configuration: Ensures consistent network settings adherence with centralized policy management.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Offers in-depth visibility into network performance, facilitating quick identification of issues.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlined operations lead to reduced manual input and increased productivity.
Cost Savings: Automation and analytics reduce operational expenses and enhance ROI.
Enhanced Security: Policy enforcement and monitoring provide robust defense against vulnerabilities.
Scalability: Supports growing network infrastructures and evolving enterprise demands.

Cisco Catalyst Center is widely implemented across industries like finance, healthcare, and education due to its ability to handle complex network requirements. It addresses specific needs by offering tailored solutions designed to enhance operational efficiency and security, catering to professionals managing large-scale IT ecosystems.

Cisco

OpenText Network Node Manager centralizes network management, offering comprehensive topology mapping and monitoring across diverse environments. Its focus on enhancing visibility and providing detailed analytics makes it suitable for handling enterprise-level network complexities.

OpenText Network Node Manager is designed for managing networks by offering functionalities such as root cause analysis, fault management, and event handling. It accommodates both physical and virtual devices, and supports integration with enterprise-level hardware. Users benefit from its customizable integration capabilities and its capacity to generate insightful visualizations that facilitate decision making in network operations. Users also appreciate its efficient alerting systems and centralized information management that improve network visibility and generate comprehensive reports and metrics. Despite room for improvement in areas like routing protocol management and interface modernization, it remains vital for IT managers and admins in their network monitoring tasks. However, it should address scalability issues and enhance its technical support and integration with more server types, including NAC.

What Features Make OpenText Network Node Manager Stand Out?

Network Topology Mapping: Provides comprehensive network visualization.
Multi-Vendor Support: Ensures compatibility with multiple devices.
Root Cause Analysis: Identifies and resolves network issues swiftly.
Customizable Integration: Tailors to specific enterprise requirements.
Fault Management: Efficiently detects and manages faults.
Event Handling: Handles network events with precision.

Which Benefits and ROI Should Be Considered?

Centralized Information: Streamlines network data management.
Enhanced Visibility: Offers a clear view of network operations.
Detailed Analytics: Provides actionable insights into network performance.
Scalability: Supports growth with enterprise needs.
Insightful Visualization: Facilitates understanding through graphical representation.

In industries requiring robust network management solutions, OpenText Network Node Manager is implemented to handle expansive device counts and complex configurations. It is particularly effective for network operations teams managing regional infrastructures, supporting comprehensive monitoring and management across diverse network environments.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

IPC, Exelon, VivaCom,

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Center vs. OpenText Network Node Manager

November 2026

Free Report: Cisco Catalyst Center vs. OpenText Network Node Manager

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