Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs FortiMonitor comparison

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. FortiMonitor

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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 Nexus Dashboard Fabri...

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

24th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

FortiMonitor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

37th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Infrastructure Monitoring (40th), IT Alerting and Incident Management (16th), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiMonitor is 0.7%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)	0.6%
FortiMonitor	0.7%
Other	98.7%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Jagdev Dhaliwal

Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Flow monitoring has improved planning for east-west traffic and real-time capacity decisions

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) helps to understand the flows and data plane capacities, which are the primary use cases. Usually, people struggle with east-west traffic flow when they need to decide on firewalls or products. People typically understand north-south traffic flows but usually miss the east-west traffic flows in data centers. I was focusing more on this so that people can accordingly plan, such as after F5, the number of servers, the number of sessions needed, and whether we need to plan the interface for groups from the line capacity perspective. This kind of information was valuable to us. The real-time telemetry feature was beneficial. When experiencing performance issues, I could determine if there were any issues related to flows or areas where bottlenecks were occurring.

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reviewer2677554

Network Engineer III at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Managing diverse networks with detailed alerts enhances device oversight

FortiManager is very helpful in managing our networks. We use it to manage 20 farms and various networks with hundreds of devices. The version we are using provides more detail than the older dashboard. We appreciate the alerting capabilities, which are integrated with SolarWinds to notify our team via SMS.

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

"For our purposes, excellent stability is the most valuable feature because we provide services for clients who need a dependable solution."

"The feature I find most valuable, is the stability of the solution."

"The product makes the management of our environment simpler."

"You can integrate all the networks into the software and file network data center."

"There are many valuable features in this solution: The automation of the ILS, the automation of the small changes, the lands updates, scheduling, integration - basically, the pushing of features that we used to do manually."

"I like that is easy to work on and straightforward."

"The solution is very stable and it has never crashed on us."

"It has a very nice dashboard so you can see what's currently happening in the network and the performance of the back story."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) pros

"Fortinet's customer support is very good."

"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is the overall ability to monitor the health of the environment."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is what the devices are used for. We have big backups for our Cradlepoint solutions, but FortiMonitor is a great routing device and we love working with them."

"The most valuable feature of FortiMonitor is user monitoring, as we are able to see if the user is following the policy or not from their system, and additionally the solution integrates well with Fortinet FortiGate and has centralized management."

"FortiMonitor has a very intuitive dashboard, which makes it particularly helpful for analyzing traffic, alerts, and other information."

"With FortiMonitor, you can get all the logs of the traffic information of the destination or the source."

"FortiMonitor is 100% stable."

"FortiMonitor's dashboard is very informative and user-friendly."

More FortiMonitor pros

Cons

"The tool should be more user-friendly and improve AI integration."

"The visibility of applications is not great, which is why we study upscalability."

"If the customer thinks about using additional solutions, Cisco should make sure they are not left out."

"The technical support is a gap for us as a company."

"In the next release, I would like to see it merged with Prime and I think that it should be more unified."

"We need better performance and reliability."

"The solution needs to improve reports."

"Could integrate better with VMware products."

More Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) cons

"FortiMonitor could improve by having compatibility with other operating systems, such as Linux."

"Sometimes, during high CPU usage, we cannot access FortiMonitor and must refresh it."

"Sometimes, we get corruption when upgrading from firmware to the new generation, causing a lot of issues."

"I think the current features are really good for me, nothing else comes to mind right now. Maybe some small improvements could be made in the customization and configuration part of the UI to make it easier or more intuitive. Customizable UI options, like we saw in the demo, could be helpful for everyone. But in our operational environment, having clear health status and system details is crucial for us system engineers. One feature I'd really like to see is a credential management system. It would help us keep track of who's logged in and how many times, which is important due to user restrictions. Sometimes, we need to manage logins more efficiently, like logging off other users to free up credentials. So having a feature like that would be really helpful."

"Additionally, there are no AI features in FortiMonitor, which might be an area for enhancement."

"There is room for improvement in the FortiMonitor report. It is not ideal for showcasing to tech customers or managers, especially when trying to display high CPU usage from logins within a specific range of months or the most recent month."

"FortiMonitor's monitoring could be much better. It should be like, in Palo Alto."

"FortiMonitor could be improved by making it more convenient for smaller workloads, such as when configuring a few branches."

More FortiMonitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Cisco Data Center Network Manager is expensive compared to other vendors on the market."

"The solution is very expensive."

"The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar platform across all domains."

"We usually opt for a yearly plan, commonly for three or five years upfront. Some customers may not utilize all the features included in the product, and this can lead to them paying for functionalities they don't need."

"When we purchase a Nexus box, the MDS CM license comes with it."

"On average, Data Center Network Manager's pricing isn't too costly unless you choose a premier license."

"The product is licensed with contracts that work on a yearly basis rather than a monthly model."

"I would say that the pricing offers great value for the money."

"The tool's pricing model in Vietnam is a bit high. I rate the product price as an eight out of ten."

"The price of FortiMonitor is approximately $200 annually for 225 users. The price is competitive."

"In terms of licensing, while it may not be the most expensive option on the market, it's relatively cost-effective. You can obtain licenses at a lower cost, with the calculation being straightforward. For example, if you onboard around 5,000 devices, you'll need approximately 5,000 licenses, as each device typically counts as one license."

"Compared to other solutions, FortiMonitor is a very expensive solution."

"FortiMonitor's price is very high."

"We have a large customer base for Fortinet, and the additional buying power got us really great discounts."

"On a scale from one to ten, I rate the pricing a nine since it is a good solution that is available at a cheap price."

"There are additional costs needed for certain functionality, such as scalability."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Construction Company

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

The tool is always expensive, but their service, product quality, and support are good. We're happy with it, but it's still an expensive solution. There are cheaper alternatives but no similar plat...

What needs improvement with Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

I do not believe it integrated well with different infrastructures for hybrid environments. I am uncertain because we have never attempted that in our environment, so they could perform better in t...

What is your primary use case for Cisco Data Center Network Manager?

The main use case for URL filtering with PAN-DB is that it performs quite well. Earlier, when I started in 2012, there was a Blue Coat product available during that period. I am not certain whether...

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have a clear bias because I work for Panopta. We aren't a fit for everyone, but I can confirm that Panopta is a lot less work to stand up and maintain. It's also a lot easier to use and onboard n...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiMonitor?

FortiMonitor does save time but not significantly on costs, as there are still expenses related to procurement, installation, and licensing.

What needs improvement with FortiMonitor?

There are areas for improvement that FortiManager is addressing. We have not yet upgraded to the latest software versions, being a full revision behind, but we plan to update soon since the current...

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Product Reports

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)

Download Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) product report

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) report

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)

Download FortiMonitor product report

Also Known As

Cisco Data Center Network Manager

Panopta

Overview

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller, formerly DCNM, provides a consolidated dashboard offering insights into network operations, real-time telemetry, and automation capabilities. Users noted enhanced data center management and seamless SD-WAN integration.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller integrates Python, Ansible, and Terraform for efficient traffic management. Comprehensive data center insight and stability highlight its utility across policy updates and network troubleshooting. With support for hybrid environments and enhanced network health data visibility, the platform suits complex, evolving infrastructures.

What are the Key Features?

Automation Capabilities: Simplifies network operations with automated workflows and scheduling.
Programming Support: Facilitates integration through Python, Ansible, and Terraform compatibility.
Comprehensive Dashboard: Provides a centralized view of network performance and health.
Real-Time Telemetry: Enhances decision-making with up-to-the-moment data.
SD-WAN Integration: Ensures seamless traffic flow across network borders.

What Benefits Should Users Look for?

Enhanced Network Monitoring: Allows precise tracking and troubleshooting of network issues.
Efficient Resource Management: Streamlines policy updates and component management.
Improved Security: Facilitates tighter control over Nexus switch configurations.
Centralized Management: Reduces complexity in maintaining data centers through a unified interface.

In data center operations, businesses leverage Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller for improved security, tackling tasks like VPN operations and private cloud development. It enhances storage management, providing robust support to manage Nexus switches for optimized component oversight and security protocols.

Cisco

FortiMonitor excels in user monitoring and network operations, with its central management and intuitive dashboard. Known for reducing administrative costs and enhancing security awareness, it also provides seamless integration with other devices.

FortiMonitor supports dual-factor authentication, alert systems, and system health monitoring, proving essential for technical teams managing infrastructures and FortiGate activities. Despite its benefits, there are areas like compatibility and pricing where improvements are sought. It offers high-level monitoring, customizable dashboards, and alert capabilities which are critical in busy environments, especially for detecting harmful activities and ensuring efficient CPU utilization.

What features enhance FortiMonitor's efficiency?

User Monitoring: Monitors end users and logs effectively.
Traffic Analysis: Offers comprehensive insights into network traffic.
Dual-factor Authentication: Enhances security with two-step verification.
Centralized Management: Streamlines operations with an intuitive dashboard.
Proactive Alerts: Provides redundancy and instant notifications for potential issues.
Seamless Integration: Easily integrates with other devices for continuity.

What benefits and ROI should be evaluated?

Cost Reduction: Lowers administrative costs significantly.
Security Awareness: Improves security management efficiency.
Data Continuity: Ensures continuous operations with automated vendor configuration.
Efficiency Gains: Adapts to new vendors and enhances CPU utilization.

FortiMonitor is widely implemented in industries for end-user monitoring, security tracking, and infrastructure management. It's crucial for environments needing high-level monitoring and identifying hardware problems, where proactive management and customizable dashboards are key to maintaining operations.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Banco de Guayaquil, Cox Communications, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Roper St. Francis, University of British Columbia

SONY, GoDaddy, HCL, ING, ARMOR, billboard

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs. FortiMonitor