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Cisco Prime [EOL] vs NetMaster Network Intelligence comparison

 

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
NetMaster Network Intelligence
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (21st)
 

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.
it_user558525 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Streamlines quick and effective drill-down into the network stack for better troubleshooting
I would like to see a web-based interface that mimics the ease of doing data traces, similar to something like a Wireshark which is a Windows-based network monitoring tool. Wireshark is fast. I'm an old Windows guy, it's what I know. I think the liability of NetMaster is having to do things through the panels. It's slow to generate traces, and when you're doing a real-time troubleshooting call - when you have to wait 30 seconds for a process to spawn and fire up in order to give data back - 30 seconds is a long time when there's an issue. The user interface is probably the biggest impediment to my success with it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In terms of reliability especially, Cisco is light years ahead."
"Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments because it saves time, prevents manual errors during deployment, and is easier to troubleshoot."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management."
"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."
"The VLAN mapping function has been most impactful in simplifying our network management tasks."
"The map overview of our campus environment shows the distribution of RF frequency channels and the distribution of a client, providing us with a great idea of where the busier areas are within our environment to allow us to tweak and tune."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat maps."
"I consider NetMaster to be the best-of-breed for network."
"Stability-wise, the whole product runs great, especially with the automation; that's where it really shines."
"The support has been excellent. It is far and away the best among the products that our team supports."
"Otherwise, I think it is one of the better network products out there."
"The most valuable features are SNA and IP monitoring, and it has been very easy to define many thresholds, including self-defining baselines."
 

Cons

"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"The reporting feature of Cisco Prime should be improved."
"If you think about a centralized monitoring system, Cisco Prime is not good because it does not support third-party vendors like Palo Alto or FortiGate."
"Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."
"We would like to see the inclusion of detailed alerts."
"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."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"The automation part could use improvement, but I do not do that much with it."
"I would like to see a web-based UI (major effort now in progress)."
"I think the liability of NetMaster is having to do things through the panels."
"I would like to see new release migrations made easier."
"I didn't think the SNMP function was easy to set up. That caused some problems with the address space."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"We update the license every five years."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"The cost is quite high."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise24
No data available
 

Also Known As

Cisco Prime Infrastructure
CA NetMaster Network Management. CA NetMaster, CA NetMaster Network Management for TCP/IP, CA NetMaster Network Management for SNA, CA NetMaster Network Management for TCP/IP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
Tieto
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.