Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Cisco Secure Firewall

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
The Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers a network-based approach for adaptable, trusted access everywhere, based on context. It gives the user intelligent, integrated protection through intent-based policy and compliance solutions.N/A
Cisco Secure Firewall
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Secure Firewall delivers comprehensive threat protection for modern, distributed networks. Built to support hybrid workforces and multicloud environments, it enables Zero Trust access, application visibility, and secure remote connectivity. With integration across the Cisco Secure portfolio, including SecureX and Talos threat intelligence, the firewall powers organizations to detect and stop more sophisticated threats. Centralized management simplifies policy enforcement, orchestration,…N/A
Pricing
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)Cisco Secure Firewall
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)Cisco Secure Firewall
Free Trial
NoYes
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 Identity Services Engine (ISE)Cisco Secure Firewall
Considered Both Products
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
ISE has multiple cisco servers to provide redundancies to manage whenever a user logs into a cisco system. System administrators can conduct audits in the network to see who logged in and made what changes to the network. Users are granted different network privileges. which …
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
We use Cisco Identity Services Engine to complement the products in our security architecture.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Secure Network Analytics and Cisco Catalyst Center
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
In terms of ease of use, It's such a legacy application that it's pretty well known and well established and so in that sense it's easier to configure it.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
This question is not applicable as Cisco Identity Services Engine is the only product used or tested.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
More-robust device profiling, better TACACS support
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
I think all give some visibility of device monitoring and management, but Cisco Identity Services Engine gives a good way to manage more details about the device in a centralized way that gives a wider range of monitoring and control than the other softwares individually. I …
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Catalyst Center
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Portnox
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Meraki Dashboard
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Catalyst Center
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Catalyst Center, Cisco Catalyst Switches, Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller and Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Catalyst Switches, Cisco Secure Network Analytics, Cisco Meraki Dashboard, Cisco Umbrella and Visual ASA
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Nexus Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst Switches and Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
We really don't have similar product, but we used SolarWinds for some monitoring purpose but since Cisco Identity Services Engine got pretty good reporting/monitoring component. I personally use Cisco Identity Services Engine more often.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Works and integrates really well with the secure firewall for RAVPN user authentication
Cisco Secure Firewall
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
on par with other firewalls vendors I've used over the years
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
It has great features, and compared to competitors, the cost of deployment is manageable too.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
While Cisco Secure Firewall is pricey, it delivers and does not compromise on capabilities. It is the best for network protection. Worthy every dollar.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Cisco is more secure than FortiGate.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
The administraion interface of the Cisco secure firewall is a lot more easy to learn than the Palo Alto solution. Also, the dashboard panels offers by Cisco seems a lot more useful and details than the Palo Alto solution.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Having worked in the Fortinet and Sonicwall space, I have found that the Cisco Secure Firewall platform is the easiest to work with. The platform is easily customizable and overall very clean. Cisco has kept the platform feeling fresh with regular updates.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
We use it because it's the best firewall on the market now. And are the best protection and hardware.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Cisco has a more seamless integration with its firewall management center compared to palo alto's panorama which tends to become out of sync with their firewalls. This can cause config differences, duplicate rules, or just the inability to deploy polices due to inconsistencies. …
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Well FWs are branch security things and major things so really not much similar device at Cisco portfolio.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
They are peer competitors, with Palo Alto offering some advantages over the Cisco products in the way of licensing simplicity and costs. The Palo Alto also supports the abilty to do "to the box" filtering and policy enforcement where Cisco requires special rules that are …
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series and VMware SD-WAN
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
I personally didn't evaluate any other products. We were already working with Cisco, so just keep upgrading.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
I've used Ubiquiti products, SonicWall products, the various older Cisco and Meraki. Cisco is definitely more of an enterprise level and overall it has probably better overall options and integrations and functionality and we've continued to choose to use it because it works …
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
We utilize these two products together to provide enhanced user experience and security.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Cisco Secure Firewall works better with the Cisco ecosystem when we can utilize it and feels beefy enough when we utilize it in the data center. The Fortinet we have found are great, small cost boxes for remote offices with a better UI then Cisco Secure Firewalls. The feature …
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
Cisco Secure Firewall outperforms and the feature set are much better.
Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
I'm still evaluating new data center build out with Palo Alto, Cisco Secure Firewall or other.
Features
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)Cisco Secure Firewall
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
-
Ratings
Cisco Secure Firewall
7.9
Ratings
9% below category average
Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Visualization Tools00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Content Inspection00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Policy-based Controls00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Firewall Management Console00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Reporting and Logging00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
VPN00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
High Availability00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Stateful Inspection00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings6.80 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)Cisco Secure Firewall
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.0 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Meraki MX
Cisco Meraki MX
Score 9.1 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Meraki MX
Cisco Meraki MX
Score 9.1 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)Cisco Secure Firewall
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(0 ratings)
8.1
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(0 ratings)
7.2
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(0 ratings)
7.6
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.9
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)Cisco Secure Firewall
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco ISE integrates will with a Cisco solution such as firewalls, network switches and routers. It does an incredible job of granting access based on the role that an individual or groups have, and the ability to remove access to that individual or group is also east. In our environment ISE is used to authenticate external users that have access by vpn, and also to manage access to the large network infrastructure
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The software offers advanced firewall solutions from Web threats management to behavioural analytics and comprehensive application security. Cisco Secure firewall software is incredibly easy to deploy and implement. Customer support services providers are concise and very responsive. Integration and customization of the software are exceptional. The product boasts impressive capabilities, enabling it to stop threats and manage all security flaws in real time.
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Pros
  • The most beneficial thing that I love about it, there are tons of things that I love about ISE and that it does well, but the most fascinating that I feel about is its integration with DNA center or Catalyst Center using PX Grid as the protocol wherein ISE acts as a policy server for the entire campus hand in hand with Catalyst Center to make sure that the policy policy follows the user and also in the background hand in hand with DNA Center or Catalyst Center makes sure microsegmentation is implemented so that east west traffic is blocked and takes care of the campus.
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  • It's good at segregating networks and ensuring that you only give the access that you need to give. Especially with medical devices, you want to only give the access that they need and keep them in their own separate areas so that they can't just communicate with the rest of the network. It's also good at the border for keeping attackers out of the network.
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Cons
  • I guess the user experience itself, it's sometimes a little bit slow, but this is also dependent on the platform and the scale of the deployment of course. But actually functionality-wise it's really, really good. But yeah, it could sometimes be a little quicker to react on the good front.
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  • I have one argument, failover scenario. It's not quite easy. Failover scenario of firewalls. It's sometimes not quite easy to know the issue. But if we open a tech case, a technical case to Cisco, Cisco will help us, it's a little bit con, but we are happy with this product.
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Likelihood to Renew
We are so very reliant on Cisco Identity Services Engine at this point that finding another solution would be a big hassle for us.
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It works really well. We can do most anything we want or need to with it, and you don’t have to have a doctorate or multiple certs to necessarily figure it out. The thing that would probably have to happen to make us switch would be if we just got priced out - Cisco’s more powerful and higher bandwidth models cost a pretty penny.
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Usability
For us the solution is very easily useable on its own. Perhaps that has to do because we started using ISE in the 1.2 days and have seen it grow during the years. Policy creation, etc. is all very visible and thus easy to use. Deployment of multiple nodes is also incredibly easy and flexible. You can easily add or remove nodes as you wish.
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The platform is powerful and feature-rich, especially when paired with tools like Firepower Management Center (FMC) and SecureX. The policy structure is logical, and the visibility into traffic flows, threat activity, and rule hits is quite strong once you're familiar with the interface
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Reliability and Availability
We do have to occasionally reboot the servers when they get low on memory, but we're also a few versions behind. Availability has generally been pretty good though with no major outages in the time that we've had it implemented.
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As for the availability, in general we did not experience any issues with it, neither in situations where there's only one physical device implemented nor when there's and High Availability pair. Failover works like a charm, no complaints here, it works as it should and so far it has been highly reliable.
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Performance
yes it does. depending on where you coming from. Logs are pretty busy same as report. it also depending on devices count and design.
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no slowing down, vpn is working fast
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Support Rating
Cisco support is second to none, both in terms of how you access support but also the knowledge of the individual support teams. If you focus on one technology and provide "manufacturer support" then you can rest assured that you are accessing Cisco's top individuals. I feel like this is a USP for Cisco support.
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Our experience with Cisco TAC support for Cisco Secure Firewall has been very good. The support engineers are knowledgeable about the product and have many tools available to them to work "under the hood" of the firewalls or management center. When we've had equipment failures, the RMA process has been simple and straightforward.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
very good
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Online Training
Training can only cover certain areas, there are a lot of areas training just can't cover. You have to learn by doing it.
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was a good training but questions was answered not so good. Training was "Fundamentals of Cisco Firewall Threat Defense and Intrusion Prevention (SFWIPF)".
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Implementation Rating
I did participate in the implementation of Cisco ISE and while there were times when it was confusing and we had a lot of trial and error, overall the experience was fine.
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Our initial implementation was aided by Cisco's professional services and was excellent. The engineer was very knowledgeable and helped us work through issues while building out our new internet security edge Part of this involved tools to migrate the firewall configuration from old to new.
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Alternatives Considered
I think all give some visibility of device monitoring and management, but Cisco Identity Services Engine gives a good way to manage more details about the device in a centralized way that gives a wider range of monitoring and control than the other softwares individually. I don't think Cisco Identity Services Engine eliminates the need for these other software as of now, but there is potential for Cisco Identity Services Engine to be able to take over more of these roles.
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Cisco Secure Firewall works better with the Cisco ecosystem when we can utilize it and feels beefy enough when we utilize it in the data center. The Fortinet we have found are great, small cost boxes for remote offices with a better UI then Cisco Secure Firewalls. The feature set included with the firewalls feels similar from a security point of view.
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Scalability
It's fully customised and comprehensive. only thing is you need to know what you want. Proper research and planning would save lots of time and effort .
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you can choose up to 50 devices i think thats enough for our organization
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Return on Investment
  • I don't know about negatives because we haven't seen it right now, but positive impact is one is the roadmap we have. And now since we are going ahead with doing the deployment of Cisco ISE, we see that we are getting closure to, so at the end of the day, we have to make sure that operationally we stay excellent. So that's where operational excellence comes in. Cisco ISE is basically addressing that for us. Right now we are in a situation if there is a WIFI issue or if there is an authentication issue, it gets really difficult to isolate the problem. But with Cisco ISE , this functionality is going to come in. So we believe that it would be a good ROI.
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  • Cisco Secure Firewall gives details on the possible intrusions attempts that are occurring on the network, which gives stakeholders confidence that the network is being protected.
  • Cisco's reputation as a longstanding network leader provides the trust that is needed in keeping networks secure.
  • The wide variety of tools and features that Cisco Secure Firewall provides allows business owners to plan for changes that can occur in the network as Cisco is able to adapt to the different needs.
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ScreenShots

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Screenshots

Screenshot of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Cisco Secure Firewall Screenshots

Screenshot of Cisco Secure 1200 Series Firewall FamilyScreenshot of Cisco Secure 4200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure 4200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 1200 Stack FamilyScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 200 Series