Azure CDN vs. Cisco Wide Area Application Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure CDN
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft offers a content delivery network, Azure CDN.N/A
Cisco WAAS
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco's Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) is a WAN optimization option.N/A
Pricing
Azure CDNCisco Wide Area Application Services
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure CDNCisco WAAS
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure CDNCisco Wide Area Application Services
Best Alternatives
Azure CDNCisco Wide Area Application Services
Small Businesses
Cloudflare
Cloudflare
Score 8.7 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Cloudflare
Cloudflare
Score 8.7 out of 10
Cisco Routers
Cisco Routers
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Amazon CloudFront
Amazon CloudFront
Score 7.3 out of 10
Cisco Routers
Cisco Routers
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure CDNCisco Wide Area Application Services
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(7 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure CDNCisco Wide Area Application Services
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Azure CDN has at hand an infinity of applications and tools to implement in your system and have better control of your data in a clean and secure platform on the web, we recommend this program since the percentage of solutions provided by this program is very high and find a way to make each user's job easier.
Read full review
Cisco
WAAS works best for cookie cutter and some unique network design implementations. is best suited for an all Cisco network infrastructure. however, a number of 3rd party network devices can be used and supported when using this product. it's easier with all Cisco. It is priced pretty high to get into and medium to enterprise organizations is best suited to implement this in
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • I found the CDN very easy to setup and configure within the Azure Portal.
  • Being Azure, there are plenty of free tools that allow you to manage the CDN from a UI that is not the portal. This was especially handy when I trained end users how to manage content within their specific realm.
Read full review
Cisco
  • Network file and application optimization
  • VOIP telephony optimization
  • Citrix application optimization
  • Standardized user experience for networking usage
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Tough learning curve--you have to be comfortable with the Azure Cloud logic and UI to use it easily
  • Special or uncommon use cases' pricing can be hard to forecast/follow
  • Can be expensive for simple use cases
Read full review
Cisco
  • Administrator GUI user interface is archaic and very dated
  • Admin GUI lacks a bunch of feature support options you have to do via CLI
  • Some endpoint functionality needs to be done at each site instead of from the central admin tool. so redundant effort and can cause site config drift
  • Admin GUI lacks some monitoring and reporting options that would be helpful for support and trouble resolution
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
I give it 9/10 rating because it solved my problem by Caching my website content on global servers to load faster.
Read full review
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
Great support from the team whenever we're stuck. Very proactive in resolving issues and also making changes as per the requirements of the organization.
Read full review
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
More user friendly and it’s so easy to learn, the prices may be close to each other, but the service is excellent.
Read full review
Cisco
We are already a Cisco organization for network and security products. Cisco provided us discounting competitors just couldn't get to. competitors required more hardware and more complex setup requirements over this product due to our network design. The end result when comparing WAAS to others were going to be the same speed, experience, and pretty much the same administration requirements from IT. The added cost savings won us over.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Azure CDN reduced origin instance load by removing the need to constantly serve large numbers of static files, meaning applications can be deployed with smaller/fewer instances.
  • Azure CDN reduces apparent load times to customers by serving cached files out of POPs in the local region of those clients, instead of requiring those clients to make multiple, lengthy requests through to the origin servers.
Read full review
Cisco
  • saves monthly internet service costs
  • seamless network experience for all users at all sites
  • ok troubleshooting admin portal so some IT skills are required to manage this
  • is costly to purchase
  • somewhat complex to set up but easy to administer once working
Read full review
ScreenShots