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Cisco DNA Center vs NETSCOUT nGeniusONE comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Cisco DNA Center enhances efficiency by reducing configuration time, despite licensing costs, with positive but varied ROI evaluations.
Sentiment score
6.5
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE boosts efficiency by reducing troubleshooting time, enhancing visibility, and improving user satisfaction despite licensing challenges.
Although Cisco DNA Center is expensive, we have seen a return on investment in terms of time savings.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Cisco's DNA Center support is praised for responsiveness but criticized for slow responses and challenges with complex issues.
Sentiment score
6.2
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE support is valued for expertise but faces mixed feedback on response times and engineer availability.
Overall, Cisco DNA Center rates eight out of ten as a complete solution.
The distributor's support is rated an eight out of ten, indicating room for improvement in SLA handling.
They need to work on their response time and overall competence.
I am actually happy with technical support from NETSCOUT.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco DNA Center is highly scalable, effectively supports small to large networks, but licensing costs can be high.
Sentiment score
7.9
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE efficiently scales for growth with virtual technology, though hardware costs and configuration may affect expansion.
The solution is designed for large enterprise companies.
It is not similar to software solutions Datadog or Dynatrace where they can easily add agents without problems.
The solution is highly scalable and accommodates the growth needs effectively.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco DNA Center is generally stable, with some users reporting occasional bugs and needed updates affecting stability.
Sentiment score
8.0
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is reliable with rare downtime; minor issues occur, but support is responsive and stability is high.
I rate the stability of NETSCOUT nGeniusONE as ten out of ten since we have not experienced any escalations or downtime issues from the end user's side.
Datadog is more stable than NETSCOUT nGeniusONE, being a SaaS-based solution compared to on-prem solutions like NETSCOUT.
Customers are more sensitive about NETSCOUT nGeniusONE's upgrades because it has hardware.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco DNA Center needs better integration, user-friendliness, and support, with pricing, scalability, and compatibility issues impacting its effectiveness.
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE needs a user-friendly interface, improved integration, modular pricing, and enhanced cloud capabilities to address user challenges.
The AI-driven insights have contributed significantly to faster troubleshooting and predictive analytics.
It would be beneficial to see more AI capabilities included in nGeniusONE to further streamline processes.
Many big companies Samsung and Hyundai try to build their own monitoring solutions using open-source tools and their own engineers, though it has not been successful.
Customers want to have service assurance, including NPM and APM, from one vendor.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco DNA Center is costly, justified for enterprises, challenging for mid-market, with SaaS and promotions occasionally aiding affordability.
Enterprise users find NETSCOUT nGeniusONE reliable and valuable, but expensive, with complex pricing and crucial licensing considerations for upgrades.
The cost depends on the size of the customer, as sizing controls the pricing.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco DNA Center provides centralized management, security, AI-driven insights, and automation, enhancing network control and operational efficiency.
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE excels in real-time monitoring, traffic analysis, and data insights, favored by large finance and manufacturing companies.
The most valuable features include AI-driven insights which make troubleshooting much easier.
The capability of real-time traffic intelligence is also very useful because it allows for the comparison between real-time and historical packet levels.
NETSCOUT is focusing on network monitoring, specifically packet analysis, which sets them apart.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco DNA Center
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (1st), Network Automation (2nd)
NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
31st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco DNA Center is 1.4%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is 1.5%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmed  Helmy - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience unified visibility and monitoring for enterprise campus and significant time savings and enhanced troubleshooting with reliable support
We have been working with Cisco DNA Center for ten years. Our clients use Cisco DNA Center for unified visibility/monitoring across Enterprise Campus both LAN & WLAN along with Access and fast technical issues troubleshooting The solution provides fast troubleshooting capabilities and fast…
Ruslan Melnyk - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful for network performance monitoring
My manager can explain the use cases attached to the product. I am a unit leader in my company, and I don't sell the product directly to our partners or customers. In my company, I manage certain processes and a team while building, developing, and providing them with a direction for the market. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is a good solution for network performance monitoring since it is not cloud-based. My company sells NETSCOUT nGeniusONE in eight to ten countries. I think the solution is not good for capacity planning, but it is better to help find problems in applications because not every infrastructure is good at managing working applications. I think it is a solution meant for applications. The tool is useful for solving problems attached to applications. The tool's real-time network monitoring capability was used when the product was more reactive. In our company, if we use real-time monitoring, then we need to deal with raw traffic. In our company, if we don't see any problem in the real-time systems, we have the possibility to rely on the tool since it acts like a time machine for us, which can allow us to get back to the areas of problem and solve them. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. For many users, it can be a good monitoring system that can be scaled up in the future. I think it is a good product to start with when working systems in an environment. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE is another tool used to manage raw traffic, and I find it to integrate well into our customers' network. I am not using it actively on the system. I use the tool for network packet brokers. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
What needs improvement with Cisco DNA Center?
The system is working fine for me currently.
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
I would say if it’s an ISP that will build a scrubbing center, Netscout/Arbor is a good solution. In all other solutions, Imperva is a great choice.
What do you like most about NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?
The pricing is a bit high yet not overly expensive. The cost depends on the size of the customer, as sizing controls the pricing.
 

Also Known As

DNA Center
NETSCOUT nGenius, nGeniusONE
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Cerner Corporation
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco DNA Center vs. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.