Cisco DNA Center vs Junos Space Network Director comparison

Cisco and Juniper are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0, while Juniper is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0. Cisco holds a 25.1% mindshare in NMA, compared to Juniper’s 3.6% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

Cisco DNA Center

Read 41 Cisco DNA Center reviews

5,774 Views
3,631 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Junos Space Network Director

Read 4 Junos Space Network Director reviews

683 Views
474 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Center

Junos Space Network Director

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Junos Space Network Director and Cisco DNA Center compete in network management and automation. Cisco DNA Center holds a competitive edge due to its advanced features and integration capabilities, offering significant value for its price.

Features: Junos Space Network Director provides robust visibility and control, focusing on efficient network resource management and customization capabilities. Cisco DNA Center offers enhanced automation and analytics, featuring intent-based networking, holistic management, and policy-driven operations.

Room for Improvement: Junos Space Network Director could improve its integration features and offer more advanced analytics. Adding enhanced automation capabilities would also be beneficial. Expanding its security compliance features could further enhance its offering. Cisco DNA Center could streamline its deployment process and improve user-friendliness for less experienced users. Enhancing documentation and simplifying advanced configuration tasks would increase its appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Junos Space Network Director offers a straightforward deployment with reliable support. In contrast, Cisco DNA Center provides a more complex deployment but balances this with extensive support options and resources.

Pricing and ROI: Junos Space Network Director is known for cost-effective solutions, appealing to budget-conscious users. Cisco DNA Center, with a higher upfront cost, promises substantial ROI through advanced features and improved network efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco DNA Center vs. Junos Space Network Director Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. Junos Space Network Director

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 851,604 peers since 2012

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 DNA Center

Ranking in Network Management Applications

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (13th), Network Automation (2nd)

Junos Space Network Director

Ranking in Network Management Applications

12th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 25.1%, down from 29.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Junos Space Network Director is 3.6%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

AvrahamSonenthal

Senior Network Engineer at Inside Global

Efficiently manages our wireless network and provides valuable monitoring features

The platform's biggest benefit has been in managing our wireless network. Having a single pane of glass to control all wireless controllers and access points and to monitor activity has been a significant advantage. We're a small federal agency with around 300 network devices, so automation is a minor focus. It's more relevant for larger networks. The main benefits we've seen are in inventory management and the potential for configuration automation. However, I recommend using the DNA Centre only for larger networks with over a thousand devices; otherwise, it may not be cost-effective. Before proceeding, ensure that your devices are compatible with DNA Center, as not all Cisco devices are supported. Also, investing in proper training is different from plug-and-play. I rate it an eight.

Read full review

Ibrahim Reda

Network and Security Engineer at CITG - Continental Information and Telecom Group

High scalability network management with centralized control and an intuitive interface that provides efficient monitoring and configuration capabilities

A centralized platform is crucial for efficiently managing all of our switches, which were previously handled individually, leading to significant challenges. This unified dashboard simplifies tasks like simultaneous switch upgrades, streamlining the process. It enables us to create reports that monitor site statuses, including uptime and downtime, which helps us evaluate each site's monthly uptime and assess its revenue potential based on operational time.

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 product offers an intuitive and automated way to manage user networks. It gives me an insight into the network health."

"I like the visibility, instant build, network, policies, and the ability to control access. I also like that you can visualize your whole network."

"The solution has the capability to scale."

"What's most valuable in Cisco DNA Center is the ability to manage any Cisco infrastructure and device through it. Setup was straightforward."

"Has a good processing feature with a high level of accuracy."

"It is simple to manage and it is all done from a single dashboard."

"Cisco DNA Center is a user-friendly solution."

"The monitoring features are very useful for network engineers."

More Cisco DNA Center pros

"It allows me to do more of the basic firewall features, like traffic management and others, in a single pane of glass."

"The most valuable feature is the technical support, as it is better than others."

"The most valuable feature is the management from a single pane of glass."

"A centralized platform is crucial for efficiently managing all of our switches, which were previously handled individually, leading to significant challenges."

Cons

"It seems to be a little bit more centered toward wireless than wired. You've got more options you can do wirelessly than you can with the wired switches, but it works for what we need it to do. We would like to see a little bit more about the traffic, and we're looking at what's out there to see about that. We are looking at something that might give us a bit more insight into the actual traffic. If they had the full functionality on the wired side, as they do on the wireless side in terms of being able to view traffic and everything, it would be good."

"There should be an option for automation of template deployment by using the stored data. It is not easy to save configuration information for lots of devices without using other tools. There should be a tighter, better repository of information that can be merged with the templates."

"They can improve the network visibility. Licensing and its maintenance are also needed."

"The product doesn’t have good monitoring capabilities."

"The solution’s security side could be improved."

"An area for improvement in Cisco DNA Center is the latency in data correlation. For example, sometimes, when an issue happens, and I check the logs, I can't find the corresponding log. There's a delay in log replication, so this is what needs improvement in Cisco DNA Center. Reporting in Cisco DNA Center could also be improved because it only has a few templates, and you can't customize it based on your requirements. There aren't many options available in Cisco DNA Center regarding reporting, versus Cisco Prime, which has excellent features for different levels of detailed reports. I'd like to see real-time data replication in the next release of Cisco DNA Center, similar to what's done in Meraki. Data in Meraki is real-time with no delay, so data is immediately replicated in the cloud. Currently, there's a lag in Cisco DNA Center, and addressing that lag is the enhancement I'd like to see in Cisco DNA Center. The solution also needs to be more user-friendly."

"One area that needs improvement is the upgrade process."

"The tool's deployment is complex. It also needs to improve its GUI."

More Cisco DNA Center cons

"Its interface should be improved and enhanced to offer various functions, with flexible pricing"

"I would like to them include network real-time performance and come up with a dashboard report."

"I would like to see Space created to fully functional, where it's got multiple modules, particularly SD-WAN working on Corporate, or maybe become part of the Orchestrator portion."

"The upgrades are very time-consuming and difficult, and they often have to rebuild the product."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco DNA Center is too expensive."

"Cisco DNA Center is a licensed product with multiple levels of licensing available such as basic, advanced, and essential. I don't have the exact figure, but Cisco DNA Center is costly. For example, the box has information about the essential license and costs a considerable amount of money. You need to pay extra to use advanced features in Cisco DNA Center. My company sees Cisco DNA Center as a solution that's worth the money, which is why it invested in the solution. If you want centralized management for your network, especially when upgrading it, Cisco DNA Center is perfect, but it's more suitable for a large-scale rather than a small-scale network."

"The tool's licensing may not come across as something that may be friendly for users."

"We have a three-year license with them."

"I would rate the pricing a six out of ten, with ten being expensive."

"The solution is a little bit expensive but depends a lot on the customer's usage. If you use it in the right place, you can easily pay for it."

"The partnership price is notably high, but it ultimately depends on the chosen business model."

"I do know that Cisco does offer some really good promotions for DNA Center to bring the costs down."

More Cisco DNA Center pricing and cost advice

"This product is set at a good price point."

"Typically, Juniper is more expensive than Cisco in initial costs, but overall, the long-term licensing fees that you're going to pay for Juniper versus Cisco is going to be less."

"We would like the price to be reduced."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

22%

Government

University

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco DNA Center?

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it gives some kind of ease in operations, especially since our company is moving from CLI to GUI-based configuration.

See all answers

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

The cost is very high.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?

The system is working fine for me currently.

See all answers

What do you like most about Junos Space Network Director?

A centralized platform is crucial for efficiently managing all of our switches, which were previously handled individually, leading to significant challenges.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Junos Space Network Director?

Its interface should be improved and enhanced to offer various functions, with flexible pricing. It should provide the ability to modify interfaces, enabling actions like shutting them down, adding...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Junos Space Network Director?

It served as my main point of contact for banking and the central tool for managing a large network of switches across multiple locations. The network consisted of about 3,300 switches, with roughl...

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 11% of the time

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiManager vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 6% of the time

NetBrain vs Cisco DNA Center

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco DNA Center Competitors

Juniper Mist Wired Assurance vs Junos Space Network Director

Compared 69% of the time

More Junos Space Network Director Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center

May 2025

Download Cisco DNA Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Management Applications

May 2025

Download Junos Space Network Director product report

Also Known As

DNA Center

No data available

Overview

Cisco DNA Center offers a comprehensive platform for network automation and management, providing detailed analytics, enhanced security, and streamlined operations for both wired and wireless networks.

Cisco DNA Center integrates with Cisco infrastructure to deliver efficient network automation and management, helping organizations improve network visibility, security, and control. It supports AI-driven analytics and automated workflows to enhance operational efficiency and reduce errors. Challenges include compatibility with third-party systems, steep learning curve, and complex deployment. Its interface facilitates centralized control, vital for troubleshooting, policy management, and configuration management, with support for zero-touch provisioning and SD-Access.

What are the key features of Cisco DNA Center?

Robust Analytics: Provides detailed insights into network health with AI-driven analytics.
Centralized Security: Integrates with ISE for comprehensive security management.
Automated Device Management: Simplifies device provisioning and configuration transfers.
Wi-Fi Analytics: Offers deep insights into wireless network performance.
Zero-Touch Provisioning: Streamlines new device deployments with minimal human intervention.
Scalable Segmentation: Efficiently segments network traffic ensuring security and performance.

What benefits should users consider?

Operational Efficiency: Automation reduces potential errors and streamlines workflow.
Enhanced Security: Integration with Cisco ISE bolsters security capabilities.
Network Visibility: Comprehensive dashboards and analysis tools enhance monitoring.
Troubleshooting: Real-time monitoring aids in identifying and resolving issues swiftly.

In sectors such as healthcare, finance, and retail, Cisco DNA Center is utilized for its ability to enhance security and compliance, manage large-scale networks, and provide detailed analytics for better operational decision-making. Its support for location tracking and policy automation ensures efficient network management across diverse environments.

Cisco

Juniper Junos Space Network Director can support IT staff can manage their physical and virtual enterprise networks through a single pane of glass. Junos Space Network Director is a automated turnkey network management solution. Administrators can use it to visualize, analyze, and control their entire enterprise networks. In the data center, your IT staff can use the tool to manage and synchronize physical and virtual environments. In the campus, Network Director automates routine management tasks such as network provisioning and troubleshooting, dramatically improving operational efficiency and reliability. Network Director also integrates with VMware vCenter and vRealize Operations (vROps). The management tool offers sophisticated analytics for high-performance data centers, while open RESTful APIs support service orchestration integration with third-party platforms.

Juniper

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

St. Catherine's University, OneNet, University of New Haven, Frederick County Public Schools (Maryland), America's Test Kitchen

Buyer's Guide

Cisco DNA Center vs. Junos Space Network Director

April 2025

Free Report: Cisco DNA Center vs. Junos Space Network Director

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. Junos Space Network Director and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Cisco DNA Center vs. Junos Space Network Director report.

See our list of best Network Management Applications vendors.

We monitor all Network Management Applications reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.