Auvik vs. Cisco Catalyst Center

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Auvik
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Auvik Network Management is a vendor-agnostic cloud-based network monitoring and management solution providing automated network discovery. Auvik requires no service hardware or disruptive maintenance cycles and provides onboarding and training for new and existing users. Auvik delivers visibility and automation to reduce friction for IT teams and allow them to give end users the freedom to work wherever and however they…N/A
Cisco Catalyst Center
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Catalyst Center provides an intent-based platform for managing enterprise networks across campus, branch, and edge environments. It combines automation, analytics, and assurance to streamline IT operations, improve security posture, and reduce manual tasks. With integratedAI/ML-driven insights, policy-based controls, and end-to-end visibility across wired and wireless infrastructures, Catalyst Center empowers IT teams toproactively detect issues, enforce compliance, and accelerate…N/A
Pricing
AuvikCisco Catalyst Center
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AuvikCisco Catalyst Center
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPricing is calculated per number of switches, routers, firewalls, and controllers. Everything else is monitored for free.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AuvikCisco Catalyst Center
Features
AuvikCisco Catalyst Center
Network Performance Monitoring
Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Product A and Product B
Auvik
7.9
Ratings
4% below category average
Cisco Catalyst Center
-
Ratings
Automated network device discovery9.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Network monitoring8.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Baseline threshold calculation7.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Alerts8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Network capacity planning7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Packet capture analysis7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Network mapping8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable reports5.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Wireless infrastructure monitoring7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Hardware health monitoring8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
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AuvikCisco Catalyst Center
Small Businesses
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Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
PingPlotter
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Score 9.3 out of 10
Intermapper
Intermapper
Score 8.4 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 9.3 out of 10
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Cisco Meraki Dashboard
Score 9.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
AuvikCisco Catalyst Center
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.3
(0 ratings)
7.9
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.7
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AuvikCisco Catalyst Center
Likelihood to Recommend
Auvik is fantastic for managing multi-site, multi-company networks - very well suited for MSP or consultative technology companies. Navigation is simple and easy between clients and their sites. Auvik is less well suited for managing single sites or single companies - it is really meant to be used at a larger scale.
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Security with identity-based access control and segmentation via integration with Cisco ISE, supporting zero-trust architectures. Centralized Management for a large campus environment with centralized management of wired and wireless equipment. Automation of tasks like: provisioning, configuration, and software upgrade, reducing manual effort of those tasks. It could be improved to Multi-Vendor Support.
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Pros
  • Maps out devices to switch ports.
  • Monitors, alerts, and reports on network device and port utilization.
  • Quickly created complete network diagrams.
  • Works well in a co-manage environment enabling teams full but restricted access to specific sites. Integrates well with site specific access in ConnectWise Automate.
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  • I really like the assurance. I like that I can go through and find problems on the network that could be a mismatch VLAN between two interfaces, port errors, like physical errors that we otherwise probably would need to wait for a customer to complain or we have that we can see that ahead of time and be proactive and say, Hey, I'm noticing that this port is having some errors on it. We might want to check that out ahead of time before it becomes an issue. So that's really useful. And then also being able to configure the network. I think that the programmability part of it, I think I have, I've been having some struggle with that initially, just having to apply. So I have my script, my template that I want to deploy, but in order to deploy it, I have to apply it to a template or a profile and then I have to assign that profile to a group of switches that I want to program. I think it gets a little bit messy and a little bit convoluted, but other than that, I mean it's really helpful. It does automate right now, I think it seems a little convoluted with the process.
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Cons
  • The map is not easy to quickly zoom in and out of or pan around. Usually requires a lot of filter toggling. Keyboard shortcuts for this would be nice.
  • Better global settings that can be pushed to multiple client organizations
  • Security groups/RBAC for user permissions across multiple clients
  • Ability to change the URL
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  • The one thing that we had to get used to was really breaking down our wireless. We integrated our 9800 controllers into it, and the breakdown of our tags being floor specific and not just being campus specific was a challenge for us. And so we had to create all new tags and it wasn't necessarily a problem, it just required a little bit redesign on our wireless. And so it would've been nice for us to be able to assign a tag to an entire campus versus a floor, but that's a small complaint.
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Likelihood to Renew
Because it's an amazing product.
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I think new products are often "half-baked" or over hyped when they release, as was the case with DNAC. We were well ahead of the curve in acquiring it. But as it has matured it is now a fantastic addition to our infrastructure. I think we are easing into a stage where it is hard to envision a large organization NOT having Catalyst Center in place. If for nothing outside of the mapping and troubleshooting aspects; using it as a "source of truth".
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Usability
The program can be a bit unwieldy at times, however the majority of information is displayed in a readable and friendly way. The maps and popup information box from the bottom can be harder to use on a smaller screen but on a 1080p+ display tends to work fine.
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Cisco DNA Center is going to help us in security, simplicity and ease of administration. Cisco DNA Center is complete management and control platform that simplifies and streamlines network operations. Cisco DNA Center offers a single dashboard for every core function in your network. With this platform, IT can become more nimble and respond to changes and challenges faster and more intelligently.
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Reliability and Availability
We have never had a major outage or impact that was noticeable.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Pages can be slow to load on larger sites but tends to be fine for most clients.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Fast response and knowledgeable. If the technician does not know, they will look for the information and get back to you.
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El soporte de CISCO DNA Center es muy bueno, responden a mis dudas pero no he tenido oportunidad de reportar un incidente o determinar un tiempo de respuesta critico. The support of CISCO DNA Center is very good, they answer my questions, but I have not had the opportunity to report an incident or determine a critical response time.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
It was informative, but the labs were not available long enough for us to get intimately familiar with CCNA before it was closed. The course instructor was well informed and got us as close to ready as she could.
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Alternatives Considered
Auvik's license structure is simple and affordable. Auvik's license is based on total network devices in your network. They charge only for total number of Switches, Routers, firewalls and Wireless controllers in your network. All other devices license would be free of charge
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We went with Cisco Catalyst Center, we evaluated, I think it was called Rainbow from Altel, Lucent Enterprise because we were an Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise customer. But since we seeded with Cisco DNA Center and SD Access back in 2019, we haven't been out to evaluate anything which is a direct competitor. There are tools which we are looking to purchase and implement to provide functionality which Cisco Catalyst Center can't, but they're more value add tools, not to necessarily directly drive the capability of our infrastructure.
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Scalability
Auvik has worked on sites with 15+ offices connected with VPN's and we have not encountered any issues with the monitoring. On larger sites the map can be a bit cumbersome to read however it can be cleaned up easily with device filters.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • We are at an initial stage of device onboarding and Auvik already provides quick network documentation without having to worry about updating; this is done dynamically.
  • Helpful for MSP in that it uses role-based access control to present customer-focused device management, and simplifying administration for monitoring and alerting, dashboards and reports, and billing.
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  • I have used it for upgrading devices, and it's does a great job at that, however out operations team for whatever reason has not adopted the feature.
  • Overall it feels like Cisco Catalyst Center has been huge waste of time. I feel like my time would be better spent on other projects and looking at other products and tools
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ScreenShots

Auvik Screenshots

Screenshot of a display of the big network picture used to narrow down possible devices to investigate. Auvik pulls data from sources like CDP, LLDP, and forwarding tables to meticulously model the Layer 1 network diagram. Layers 2 and 3 are built from ARP tables, IP assignments, and VLAN associations to show what’s on the network, where it is, and how it’s connected.Screenshot of Auvik’s automated inventory, which uses network protocols to detect and capture full details for every device on the network including make and model, serial number, IP address, and the physical switchport the device is connected to. If the device is known but not its location, Auvik can find the device and every other device it’s connected to.Screenshot of lifecycle data, pulled from supported devices to show whether they’re on current or expired support contracts, whether there are more up-to-date software versions available, if devices are eligible to receive critical security updates, and if devices are still available for purchase.Screenshot of Auvik's over 50 pre-configured alerts tuned to industry best practices and ranging from informational to emergency. Its pre-configured alerts can be tweaked, added to, and the frequency of how often notifications are sent can be changed.Screenshot of Auvik TrafficInsights, which leverages machine learning and traffic classification to show which applications—like Dropbox, Netflix, or Slack—or protocols are using up the bulk of the network’s bandwidth.Screenshot of Auvik's centralized syslog for all network devices where they can be viewed directly from the device dashboard for more context, to more quickly troubleshoot network issues.

Cisco Catalyst Center Screenshots

Screenshot of AIOpsScreenshot of BaselinesScreenshot of PoliciesScreenshot of HealthScreenshot of Network HierarchyScreenshot of PoE