Cisco Secure Workload vs VMware NSX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 26, 2023
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Workload
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
9th
Ranking in Microsegmentation Software
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (19th), Cisco Security Portfolio (11th)
VMware NSX
Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security
1st
Ranking in Microsegmentation Software
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Network Automation (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Workload is 13.1%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware NSX is 17.4%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud and Data Center Security
Unique Categories:
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
3.0%
Microsegmentation Software
10.9%
Network Virtualization
50.0%
Network Automation
7.4%
 

Featured Reviews

JM
Apr 24, 2023
A solution that provides good technical support but its high cost makes it challenging for users to adopt it
On the client side, Cisco Secure Workload orchestrates host firewalls for micro-segmentation, which is crucial for zero trust security for whitelisting in networking. Before speaking of areas for improvement, I would like to say that I have always been fond of Cisco Tetration Platform and Cisco Secure Workload. There was a controversy when Cisco reduced the amount of data they kept, and the solution became quite cost-intensive, which made its adoption challenging. Although they have modified it now, I preferred the previous version, and I wish all the functionality were back under the same product. Currently, it is integrated into Cisco SD-Access, but not all customers want access to this product.
ST
Jan 14, 2021
Stable, reasonable support, and it is priced well compared to some products
This is a product for network security, and network management.  We don't use it at the production level. I am conducting a PoC. We are using this in our testing data center and not in our live data center. This infrastructure contains many security devices from other vendors such as Palo Alto. We…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The product offers great visibility into the network so we can enforce security measures."
"The most valuable feature is micro-segmentation, which is the most important with respect to visibility."
"By using Tetration insight, we are able to get the latency on our level accounts and we can determine whatever the issue is with the application latency itself."
"The solution offers 100% telemetry coverage. The telemetry you collect is not sampled, it's not intermittent. It's complete. You see everything in it, including full visibility of all activities on your endpoints and in your network."
"A complete and powerful micro-segmentation solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that we don't have to do packet captures on the network."
"Scalability is its most valuable feature."
"Secure Workload's best feature is that it's an end-to-end offering from Cisco."
"It gives more security and micro-segmentation. It helps to set network configurations in an easy way."
"The organization of it is logical, useful, and intuitive."
"The micro-segmentation and the ability to create policy rules are valuable."
"Technically, VMware NSX is more advanced technology-wise when compared to others. We have been studying it and so far, so good. We know that the NSX product is superior when it comes to software virtualized networks. </p> <p>If you are looking to work with new and future technologies, then NSX is one of the best options. It costs less for power consumption since it will be a virtual network and not a pure physical network that consumes more energy."
"We secured our organisation with Micro-segmentation."
"The ability to scale from different clouds. At the moment, the scalability of the product is the number one thing that I saw."
"The solution is robust as it covers everything we want to do and is stable, so we're happy enough with it. We have had no problems so far. Everything is great."
"NSX extends Layer-2 scalability on Layer 3, covering the vRO and extending the capability on Layer 3 by decapsulating using a new mechanism. NSX-V was designed to use with VMware products and Success 360, providing more flexibility toward different levels of cloud, containers, and components. NSX-T gives you the ability to stretch your network across different view locations. If you have multiple sites, you can connect them using NSX-T."
 

Cons

"The integration could be better, especially with different types of solutions."
"It is highly scalable, but there is a limitation that it is only available on Cisco devices."
"The product must be integrated with the cloud."
"It has an uninviting interface."
"There is some overlap between Cisco Tetration and AppDynamics and I need to have a single pane of glass, rather than have to jump between different tools."
"I'd like to see better documentation for advanced features. The documentation is fairly basic. I would also like to see better integration with other applications."
"The emailed notifications are either hard to find or they are not available. Search capabilities can be improved."
"It is not so easy to use and configure. It needs a bunch of further resources to work, which is mainly the biggest downside of it. The deployment is huge."
"We've have had good and bad experiences with them. We don't always find them to be so impactful. Sometimes the support guy isn't so on top of resolving the issue and it can take a while to sort out."
"If there are other solutions already in place, it can be difficult to implement."
"There were some issues with finance and other accounting."
"We have done three installations and we have not had any critical issues. The time it took for the installation was approximately two days. However, they should provide better documentation."
"They could do more with cloud management."
"VMware NSX only supports some platforms like KVM."
"It could be cheaper!"
"Its licensing model could be VM based."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing depends on the scope of the application and the features. Larger installations save more."
"The cost for the hardware is around 300k."
"The price is outrageous. If you have money to throw at the product, then do it."
"The price is based on how many computers you're going to install it on."
"It is not cheap and pricing may limit scalability."
"The pricing is a bit higher than we anticipated."
"The implementation of VMware NSX can be cost-intensive, especially if an organization is looking for a comprehensive solution. The costs can vary based on factors like the level of conversation and discounts obtained during negotiations. Some government organizations, for instance, may find the prices relatively high, leading to concerns about budget hikes, especially when deploying the solution across the entire organization. Regarding maintenance and support, they are typically included in the standard licensing costs for enterprise-level businesses. While these costs can be significant, many companies opt for standard licensing to ensure they have access to necessary support and maintenance services."
"The licensing fees are expensive and we pay on a yearly basis."
"This solution requires a licence."
"The pricing is higher than other options from Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Cisco because it is sold in a bundle."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable."
"VMware has always been geared towards enterprise and their pricing options are a bit high. Their price is higher than other options in the market."
"The price could be better. We pay for the license every three years. The last time I checked, it cost around three million pesos in the Philipines. Most of the expense will go towards implementation and renovation."
"All the institutions have to pay monthly for the services in the cloud. They have to pay $30,000 every month for this service every three years."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
29%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
6%
Insurance Company
5%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode &amp; the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What do you like most about VMware NSX?
The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Tetration
VMware Nicira
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ADP, University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC)
City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Workload vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,817 professionals have used our research since 2012.