--- title: Cisco Catalyst Center Overview description: Discover how Cisco Catalyst Center revolutionises network assurance and automation, providing insights from Cisco Prime for superior network management. image: https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20DNA%20Center%20Overview/Cisco%20DNA%20Center%20First%20Look%20(Ingragram).gif --- [![IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png?width=200&height=59&name=IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png "IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)")](https://iptel.com.au) - [Home](https://iptel.com.au/) - [Solutions](https://iptel.com.au/solutions) Technologies - [Cisco Access Manager](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-access-manager) - [Cisco Catalyst Centre](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-catalyst-center) - [Cisco Meraki](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-meraki) - [Cisco SDA Fabric](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-sda-fabric) - 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[Great Place to Work](https://greatplacetowork.com.au/companies/iptel-solutions/) - [Wi-Fi Doesn't have to be Unreliable](https://www.techpartner.news/feature/iptel-wi-fi-doesnt-have-to-be-unreliable-494069) Buying from IPTel - [Buying Panels](https://iptel.com.au/professional-supply-panels) - [IPTel Store](https://store.iptel.com.au) - [Request a Quote](https://iptel.com.au/request-a-quote) - [Managed Services](https://iptel.com.au/managed-services-enquiry) Case Studies - [DP World Video](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Case%20Studies/DP%20World_Case_Study.mp4) - [DP World](https://blog.iptel.com.au/dp-world-case-study) - [Backup Assure](https://blog.iptel.com.au/backup-assure-a-disaster-recovery-case-study) - Home [Get in Touch](https://iptel.com.au/contact-us) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ## Cisco Catalyst Center Overview Sept 5, 2025 Cisco's Catalyst Center is at the forefront of network [assurance and automation](https://blog.iptel.com.au/blog/cisco-dna-center-assurance) and is a key element of Cisco's SD Access eco system. Interested to get some first insights in to Catalyst Center? Here's our quick overview! ![Cisco DNA Center First Look](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20Catalyst%20Center%20Overview/Cisco%20DNA%20Center%20First%20Look.gif?width=1680&height=945&name=Cisco%20DNA%20Center%20First%20Look.gif) --- ## What is Cisco Catalyst Center? Cisco Catalyst Center allows network administrators to receive advanced insights into network performance. No more guesswork as to the root cause of slow downs, or issues - Catalyst provides analytics to troubleshoot as the network environment changes. The concept of a network Health Score allows Catalyst to provide a useful answer to alarm blight. When you get hit with thousands of alarms, it's almost impossible to determine a root cause. Catalyst does something different - it determines which issues actually impact the end user experience and reports on those. So, what it Catalyst Center? It is typically first deployed to monitor your network. You move to automation mode, where you can start to deploy configuration's and finally full SDA Fabric mode, where Catalyst Center is used to fully configure the network. ASSOCIATED BLOGS: - [Cisco Catalyst Center Assurance](https://blog.iptel.com.au/blog/cisco-dna-center-assurance) - [Cisco Catalyst Center](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-catalyst-center) - [5 Ways Catalyst Center Solves your Challenges](https://info.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna) - [Cisco Smart Licencing](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-smart-licensing) - [Wi-Fi Predictive Designs](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wifi-predictive-survey-wifi-heatmaps) - [The Top 8 Secrets to Great Wi-Fi ](https://blog.iptel.com.au/top-8-secrets-to-great-wi-fi) --- ## Cisco Catalyst Center - Deployment Models Cisco Catalyst Center is deployed with an odd number of nodes (eg 1, 3, 5, 7) in order that the system will take a majority vote for any issues that are seen. This allows the system to be geographically spread and if a link fails the remaining Catalyst Center appliances can continue to operate. [![DNAC Enablement](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/DNACenterConsiderations1.png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna-center-enablement)   At the time of writing this blog, Catalyst Center is recommended to run on version 1.2.6 - in order to run the new in-built hyperlocation series access points (Cisco 4800 series), the WLC code version required is version 8.8 Catalyst can run centralised, Flex or with Mobility Express image Access Points. There are three main areas to consider in Catalyst Center: Design: How the devices should look once they are configured Provision: How Catalyst will configure these devices Policy: What policy is applied in the configuration of devices     ASSOCIATED BLOGS: - [ThousandEyes vs Catalyst Center](https://blog.iptel.com.au/thousandeyes-vs-dna-center) - [Wi-Fi Design: Business Requirements](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wi-fi-design-business-requirements) - [Wi-Fi Design: Technical Requirements](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wi-fi-design-technical-requirements) --- ## Cisco Catalyst and Cisco Prime Prime and Catalyst will not achieve feature parity, simply because they don't need to - Catalyst works in a fundamentally different way from Prime. For the next twelve months or so, until around end 2019, Catalyst will be in Assurance Mode, gradually transitioning to Automation mode, at which stage the full Intent Based Networking methodology will be available. Features are being added to Catalyst and it takes time until it is complete enough to fully take over from Prime. In the next 12 months or so, we are likely to see a dual mode, where both Prime and Catalyst co-exist and customers begin the migration. ASSOCIATED BLOG: - [Cisco Catalyst Center Beginners Guide](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna-center) - [Troubleshooting with Catalyst Center](https://blog.iptel.com.au/troubleshooting-with-cisco-dna-center) --- ## Cisco Catalyst Migration  For the migration, the maps in Prime will be exported to Catalyst Center and the current Prime templates converted to intent based networking templates on Catalyst Center. [![DNA Center Beginners Guide](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/DNAMigration.png?width=126&name=DNAMigration.png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna-center) Catalyst migration will operate with the following three steps: Convert Config to Intent: The configuration will be learnt from the devices being managed, and will be added to Catalyst Center in order to be able to automate future deployments Import Maps and AP Location: Simplified import of Prime maps and AP locations to Catalyst Services Migration: Migrate the services surrounding Prime to Catalyst - including CMX and Cisco ISE Cisco ISE integrates quite tightly with Cisco Catalyst Center - so you can pull information from ISE to show why and how a client has failed to authenticate (no more fishing around through AAA logs - Catalyst Center does all the hard work and correlates this for you). Once you've migrated you can start to get to grips with things like [Catalyst Assurance (this is the 'monitoring' mode)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/blog/cisco-dna-center-assurance) and advanced topics, such as [network machine learning and AI.](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-ai-analytics-in-operation) ASSOCIATED BLOGS: - [Cisco AI Analytics in operation](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-ai-analytics-in-operation) - [Cisco Machine Learning and AI](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-machine-learning-and-ai) --- ## Cisco Catalyst Center Overview: Summary ![Cisco DNA Center 5 Ways Banner-1](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Campaigns/Cisco%20DNA%20Center/Cisco%20DNA%20Center%205%20Ways%20Banner-1.jpeg?width=147&name=Cisco%20DNA%20Center%205%20Ways%20Banner-1.jpeg)Catalyst Center is the future of managing your Cisco network. CatalystC is the direct replacement for Cisco Prime, which a large number of customers have installed - the migration is going to take a little while. In this overview, we've given a few first impressions of what CatalystC is, how it compares to Prime and how you can migrate. The whole point of that migration though is to improve the way in which you manage, maintain - and deploy - your network.   ASSOCIATED BLOGS:  - [Cisco Catalyst Center Assurance](https://blog.iptel.com.au/blog/cisco-dna-center-assurance) - [Catalyst Center Enablement ](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna-center-enablement) - [5 ways Catalyst Center solves your challenges](https://info.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna) - [Cisco Catalyst Spaces Introduction](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisc-dna-spaces) - [Zero Trust Architecture](https://blog.iptel.com.au/zero-trust-architecture) - [Deploying Zero Trust Architecture](https://info.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna) #### Related Articles ###### [Cisco Secure Network Analytics](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-secure-network-analytics) Oct 10, 2025 ###### [Cisco Meraki Dashboard](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-meraki-dashboard) Sept 25, 2025 ###### [Enhancing Network Security: Cisco Umbrella](https://blog.iptel.com.au/enhancing-network-security-cisco-umbrella) July 24, 2026 ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "IPTel Solutions", "url" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/author/iptel-solutions" }, "dateModified" : "2026-05-12T08:53:12.115Z", "datePublished" : "2025-09-05T04:34:01.000Z", "headline" : "Cisco Catalyst Center Overview", "image" : [ "https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20DNA%20Center%20Overview/Cisco%20DNA%20Center%20First%20Look%20(Ingragram).gif" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-catalyst-center-overview", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/IPTel_Solutions_February2020%20-%20Header%20SiteMap/Images/IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2.png" }, "name" : "IPTel Solutions Pty Ltd" } } ```