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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Score8.8 out of 10

248 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN?

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN is a software-defined wide area network solution designed to simplify and optimize enterprise network connectivity in complex digital landscapes. It enables organizations to connect any user to any application, whether on-premises, in data centers, or across multiple clouds, with integrated capabilities for multicloud support, security, predictive automation, and enhanced network visibility—all built on a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)-enabled architecture.

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Who Buys & Uses Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Reviews

What users are saying about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN.
View all Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN reviews

Pros

  • Centralized network management for standardized operations and efficient configuration.
  • Simplified and efficient deployments, particularly for WAN spokes.
  • Significant cost reductions by leveraging dual internet connections and reducing telecom expenses.

Cons

  • User Interface and configuration difficulties, including template management.
  • Challenges with system responsiveness.
  • Issues related to routing and failover handling, such as network transitions and route leaking.

Cisco SD-WAN - Clearly a Leader

Verified User
Contributor in Information Technology (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN to centralise configuration and to optimise specific applications across our WAN. It helps us roll out new sites with speed and agility and to perform hardware replacements easily.

Pros

  • Optimisation of applications
  • Centralised provisioning
  • Load balancing

Cons

  • VAnaytics is great but the interface lacks

Return on Investment

  • Measurable transport of data
  • Monitoring of transport interfaces
  • Configuration consistency

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN rv

Incentivized
Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN primarily for centralized management and to enforce standardized configurations across all sites. The solution helps address challenges with operational consistency, simplifies change management, and ensures that our global network can be managed efficiently from a single platform

Pros

  • Centralized Management & Policy Control
  • Security Integration

Cons

  • Complexity of Initial Setup and Design
  • Learning Curve for vManage

Return on Investment

  • Reduced operational costs
  • Improved application performance

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Catalyst Center

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Review

Incentivized
Robert Falconer
Network Architect in Information Technology at Littler (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Used for connectivity between all of our locations, branches, data centers and cloud environments.
We were able to remove expensive private line circuits, provide more bandwidth to our locations and reduce outages.
We use this product at 60 offices, 2 data centers and 4 cloud environments.

Pros

  • Reduces cost
  • Improve reliability
  • Ease of use
  • Increased flexibility

Cons

  • GUI slowness, failures, formatting
  • Licensing
  • Lack of CLI

Return on Investment

  • Over $1M saved anually
  • 50X increase in bandwidth
  • Fewer mistakes due to automation

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN

Other Software Used

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), Citrix Gateway, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN review

Incentivized
Jeff Garden
AVP Network Engineering in Engineering at Dollar Bank (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

we use Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN for branch connectivity. solves issues with multiple transports and load balancing, adds resiliency.

Pros

  • user experience
  • branch redundancy
  • ease of configuration

Return on Investment

  • reduced telecom costs

Usability

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN - Super-Networking!

Incentivized
Ian Lane
Network Architect in Information Technology at AXA (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Use globally to connect over 500 branch offices and multiple DCs. Provides connectivity for a user population in excess of 100k. All WAN solutions in the global network use Cisco Viptela

Pros

  • Intelligent re-routing of application traffic
  • Easy to use management platform
  • Quick integration of new locations and devices
  • Granular customisation options based on well understood hierarchical lists

Cons

  • Some applications are not recognized in the protocol packs, although this is dependent on the pack vendor rather than Cisco

Return on Investment

  • Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN has enabled huge cost savings when moving from a dual MPLS solution to full internet topology
  • Leveraging both links at the same time in Active. Active mode essentially doubles available bandwidth for peak periods, meaning a reduction in overall bandwidth costs is possible no matter the underlay
  • Central management has meant large savings on operational costs

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Meraki MX, Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points, Cisco 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 1000) and Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISR 4000)

Other Software Used

Cisco IOS, Cisco Nexus Series Switches, Cisco Meraki Dashboard

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Alternatives

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