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Cisco Intersight vs. IBM Cloud Automation Manager

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Intersight

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ACisco Intersight is an operations platform that helps IT operations teams control and automate Cisco UCS, converged, and hyperconverged infrastructure. Intersight consolidates and automates infrastructure lifecycle management from data centers to the edge in one solution delivered as-a-service.N/A

    IBM Cloud Automation Manager

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/AIBM Cloud Automation Manager is a multi-cloud, self-service management platform running on IBM Cloud Private that empowers developers and administrators to meet business demands. This platform allows you to efficiently manage and deliver services through end-to-end automation while enabling developers to build applications aligned with enterprise policies.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco IntersightIBM Cloud Automation Manager
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco IntersightIBM Cloud Automation Manager
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco IntersightIBM Cloud Automation Manager
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    32 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    90%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    31 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    26 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    User Ratings
    Cisco IntersightIBM Cloud Automation Manager
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (33 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.8
    (32 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.3
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco IntersightIBM Cloud Automation Manager
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    It is highly suited for an organisation pushing for a standardised and centralised configuration of settings using policies, profiles and templates. It is highly suited for customers used to legacy UMM that need to refresh their environment, but instead of deploying them in UMM (which is still possible), to take the time and effort to learn Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service and IMM as well as familiarise themselves with the differences between UMM and IMM, and the issues in UMM which IMM addresses and improves upon. We deployed in UMM initially then transitioned to IMM with the transition too. I cannot think of a scenario where Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service would not be suited. Even for small-scale deployments, it provides significant benefits. Maybe if you come from another server vendor management environment, the learning curve may feel steep (e.g. many new concepts and constructs that one has to master).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Intersight can consolidate Infra management on a single dashboard such as UCS Server, Hyperflex, Fabric Interconnect, UCSM.
    • Device policy and configuration can be deployed from Intersight.
    • Firmware and software upgrade for all devices can be done from Intersight.
    • No impact to DC production if Intersight connection is interrupted.
    • Apps workload data is not passed through Intersight, only the control plane.
    • TAC can be opened via Intersight.
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Cons
    Cisco
    • It is difficult to spot an added or removed VLAN in an Ethernet Network Group Policy or VLAN Policy. The comparison widget will show you that something has changed, but if you have 100s of VLANs, the difference does not stand out. Workaround: we copy the data out and compare it in a text editor.
    • If you are transitioning from UMM to IMM, you lose some functionality like vNIC redundancy pairs.
    • It is not easy to map the UMM version 4.x server firmware version to the equivalent IMM version 5.x firmware version.
    • It is not possible to configure out-of-band management IP addresses on a per-domain basis. You have to configure these ranges via an IMC Access policy (which contains the IP address range/pool) on the server profile. This leads to "server profile template sprawl" where we have to maintain multiple server profile templates since our domains sit on different ranges, even though the servers are for the most part configured identically.
    • UCS domains in IMM only support one Ethernet Network Group Policy (VLAN group) per vNIC template.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Been using Cisco Software as a service (SaaS) platform in a production environment for a large medical and health professionals that has critical healthcare and patients care dependency.
    Support team is very helpful getting system updated as needed, and vendor support is fantastic. Also get a dedicated Cisco networking engine to review and advise system health and recommendations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    Usability of Cisco Intersight is highly dependent on the licensing purchased. The default (free) license level provides a lot of value for the minimal amount of effort to implement. The paid license levels provide additional features (detailed inventory, configuration management and deployment, etc.)
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    I have had servers TAC cases open for issues with Cisco Intersight. Some have yet to be resolved. One case that is still open is where the HCL status ( Hardware Compatibility List ) shows not validated when It should be. We have several servers that have the exact same hardware, OS, and the same firmware. One server will show the HCL is not validated but all others will
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    You really need a lab to get hands on but it was useful
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Very smooth process and we did it for 2 data centers
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    I personally think that Cisco Intersight Infrastructure Service is at the top of its class when it comes to managing data center hardware. The cloud-connected design feels very modern and easy to use. The mobile app is something I wouldn't expect to get in a server management tool. The way it can update, monitor, and manage our servers is very nice. Overall, we are very happy with it.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Cisco
    Contract terms is similar to other Cisco subscription model, option from 1 year till 5 years. Billing frequency can be monthly, quarterly, annual or prepaid. I think I would not suggest anything regarding contract terms
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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    Cisco
    We're not using professional service for Intersight
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • The negative thing is that we prefer to use the UCS Manager in our company because this bare metal is integrated into the FI and no extra appliance is required. SaaS is generally not viewed favorably in Germany.
    • Telling the user that they have to buy Intersight licenses even if they use UCS Manager annoys our customers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Intersight Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Intersight dashboard, which provides out-of-the box summaries of real-time health and performance data across data center and edge infrastructure. Users can customize the dashboard with a library of widgets to quickly see information that's most important to them.Screenshot of the security advisories and field notices that alert users about endpoint devices in their environment that are impacted along with recommended resolution.Screenshot of the Topology Views that let users quickly identify any UCS domain connectivity issues thorugh a visual representation.Screenshot of an example of the automated workflows that users can create, using Intersight's drag-and-drop workflow designer and library of tasks and workflows.Screenshot of an example of the aggregated and visualized metrics that are collected for fabric interconnects, chassis, and servers to monitor devices, optimize performance, identify bottlenecks, and proactively address any potential issues.