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Cisco Prime [EOL] vs Fortinet FortiManager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Prime [EOL]
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiManager
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

AR
Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
Has an easy implementation process, but the performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive
The project implementation was easy overall. Adapting Cisco's solutions to our specific environment required effort, as their documentation only covers some network scenarios. The deployment didn't happen all at once; it was staged and controlled to ensure a smooth transition. We started with a small test environment before gradually rolling it out to all campuses. This gradual approach helped mitigate the risk of any issues arising across multiple locations simultaneously, especially on a critical day like Monday morning. We have a team of three executives working on the process. Their job roles included network specialists and a manager. It requires maintenance, which is included in the annual cost. We receive updates and support as part of the renewal process.
Tushar Joshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. System Administration (Grindmaster Machines Pvt Ltd) at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Centralized policies have simplified firewall management and support consistent role-based control
I do not use Fortinet FortiManager automation features. I can provide my feedback about it. It is good, in my opinion. What I think about the reporting part is that it is good. As far as the user is concerned, I think Fortinet FortiManager is optimal now. I do not think any requirement is there. I do not see anything additional to add to Fortinet FortiManager. I purchased the license for Fortinet FortiManager through the partner. I gave this review a rating of eight.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our primary use case for this solution is Assurance; it helps us manage and monitor analytics and fix issues such as poor voice quality, with real-time alert generation for VoIP infrastructure so that, for example, if there is latency during calls, it can be immediately alerted to take immediate action before we investigate the deeper issue."
"Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
"We use Cisco Prime for network mapping and surveys."
"The customer service and support for this solution is good."
"The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management."
"The solution helps with the management and support of the enterprise network."
"As a large organization, it is difficult to individually monitor every device. Instead, we use Cisco Prime to keep an eye on the network and services. We do not use it as a node tool, as we have other tools for network operation centers. When services go down, it can cause issues, we rely on Cisco Prime to monitor and notify us of any service disruptions. We mainly use Cisco Prime Infrastructure for configuration-level tasks."
"The centralized management of policies and certificates, coupled with the capability to handle multi-site deployments effectively, provides streamlined operations."
"FortiManager enables us to set unified firewall policies from one centralized dashboard, reducing human error. If you do not have a central dashboard, there's a chance you might set a policy on one firewall and forget to do it for another."
"The initial setup of Fortinet FortiManager was easy."
"The most valuable feature is having one object on all networks, which allows for implementation only once."
"FortiManager's best feature is the integration of administrator users."
"In general, I have no serious concerns about this product so I have no problems recommending it."
"The solution is very stable."
"You can configure it at your ease."
 

Cons

"Cisco Prime is slow at times, we often have to restart the database to run reports or to gain access."
"I would rate the scalability of Cisco Prime a six out of ten. To scale up from a hundred to a thousand devices, the platform needs to be rebuilt logically. This process might require a downtime window and may involve changing the hardware or upgrading to a larger appliance."
"Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
"The solution is considered legacy and DNAC has overcome it because of centralized controls that allow a complete LAN network to be moved to centralized management."
"Cisco Prime could improve the notifications in the system. Having more details about what is happening would be useful, such as traffic numbers or who is connected. We can see them through the firewall controller, but it would be better if you can see them from one place."
"Cisco needs to improve Prime's monitoring tab. If any device goes down, there is a 15-second lapse before we know. It would be much better if we were alerted two or three minutes before a device is about to fail, so we can dispatch a field engineer and avoid network downtime. I would like to see a feature that allows you to access the devices directly from Prime's monitoring tab. That would make work easier for us."
"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."
"This is not a scalable solution."
"The solution has some bugs."
"In the next release, FortiManager should include more protection features."
"Wizards could be improved in pushing policies."
"Setting up FortiManager can be complex because it involves changes from other devices and a lot of configuration."
"The GUI is not ideal."
"The solution could improve by having better integration with other solutions other than Fortinet."
"Troubleshooting for Fortinet products is more difficult than competing products like Cisco and Palo Alto."
"FortiManager needs to handle different firewall versions more efficiently."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is quite high."
"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"We update the license every five years."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
"For the licensing fee, we paid around 10,000 to 15,000 euros."
"For us, it is a little bit expensive."
"Fortinet is a high-end product and the cost is high. They should consider reducing the price, especially for existing customers."
"Fortinet FortiManager is not expensive at all if you compare it with other vendors like Check Point and Cisco. Fortinet products are the least expensive on the market in the category of firewalls."
"FortiManager is reasonably priced - I pay around US$40,0000 per year, which covers fifty locations."
"On a scale from one to ten with one being the highest price and ten being the lowest price, I would rate FortiManager's price at three."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
"The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiManager?
I am satisfied with the licensing cost, and I would rate it an 8.5.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
I think Fortinet FortiManager can be improved as the web page loading is slightly slow.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiManager?
My main use case for Fortinet FortiManager is to manage multiple FortiGate devices. I can confirm that I use Fortinet FortiManager perfectly in my main use case.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Prime Infrastructure
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Skyline Communications and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: October 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.