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Cisco is undeniably a powerhouse in the tech and networking space. A huge array of products and an aggressive acquisition strategy have combined to make this one company dominate its market.

However, that does not mean that companies looking for Cisco alternatives should give up on the search. In fact, there are numerous Cisco competitors offering best-in-class performance in specific sectors.

End users who don’t need Cisco’s broad selection of software and hardware solutions may very well opt for greater value working with a smaller, more narrowly dedicated company. These alternatives operate in networking, SD-WAN, security, and wireless LAN.

Cisco Alternatives for Enterprise Networking

• Juniper Networks
• Riverbed
• Polycom
• Aruba Networks

Cisco has long made a name for itself providing high-performance network solutions to enterprise organizations. However, two names that stick out in any discussion of Cisco competitors are Juniper Networks and Riverbed. Both of these companies offer services that are competitive with the tech giant’s networking products.

• Juniper Networks offers a wide range of products that include switching, routing, application management, and software-defined networking (SDN) solutions. Of these, its Contrail product is the most innovative and widely celebrated. Contrail is an intelligent SDN solution that offers automation-friendly network virtualization on a turnkey cloud management platform.
• Riverbed specializes in software-defined wide-are network (SD-WAN) technology. The company claims that its SD-WAN technology offers a 100-fold performance increase and a 10.7-fold increase in ROI. The company is known for taking a hands-on approach to its customer’s digital experience management protocols, offering more implementation assistance and guidance than many Cisco customers receive.
• Polycom is a leader in collaboration technology – the company is often at odds with Cisco when it comes to telepresence. Some of the benefits to working with Polycom include seamless integration with Microsoft systems, voice and content systems that improve remote workspace efficiency, and industry-leading face-to-face video conferencing technology.
• Aruba Networks is a Hewlett Packard company that specializes in wireless LAN technology. When it comes to outfitting businesses with secure Internet of Things (IoT) networking technology and world-class Ethernet connectivity, Aruba offers value that consistently beats that offered by Cisco.

Fortinet as a Cisco Alternative for Security

When it comes to cybersecurity, few Cisco competitors can truly assert dominance in their field the way Fortinet does. While Fortinet does not offer wireless LAN of SD-WAN technology solutions, it offers compatible security solutions for other companies’ networking systems.

In particular, Fortinet is making a name for itself in IoT security. Since IoT technologies are so new, many larger firms – Cisco included – have not yet positioned themselves to adequately provide complete protection against new threat vectors that IoT systems leave exposed. Fortinet, however, helps its customers define their IoT security requirements and then generates customized solutions that meet those needs to the letter.

Fortinet also carries the latest generation of firewalls, data center security solutions, endpoint security protocols, and more. The company typically works with small to mid-sized businesses, but is highly qualified to develop enterprise-level solutions as well.

Discover the corporate IT training options to suit your business needs. While we do offer a wide variety of Cisco training classes, Juniper training classes are listed on our Class Schedule and other training can be sourced by our network of training partners.