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I am an IT system support person, and my use cases with Cisco Duo started out with helping clients at my firm and the firms my contracting agencies had by teaching them how to set up Cisco Duo and understand how to use it. Eventually, some of the systems I have access to on my own, usually the corporate systems and employee portals, were Cisco Duo-protected. It has been a split between using Cisco Duo and Microsoft Authenticator, depending on how the MFA has been set up. I started out as IT support, helping people install Cisco Duo on their Android and Apple devices, and I believe they actually had a computer client. Eventually, I had to use it in my own work to authenticate and gain access to the systems I support. Moreover, I have seen a lot of it used to access employee portals, either by end-user employees or my own employee portals.

My last access to Cisco Duo involved helping people either activate their Cisco Duo accounts on their individual Apple or Android devices, or if they were locked out, unlock their accounts or move them over to a new device.

The features I use in Cisco Duo include Duo Pushes to confirm my identity to the device, and eventually as MFA security was increased, I actually had to use exchange passcodes. Sometimes, I have to go into the site and get into Cisco Duo to retrieve the passcode, and many of them have been two-factor, where the sites send a passcode that I have to enter into Cisco Duo. It has been more of the latter.

I have not seen issues with lagging or crashing on Cisco Duo's end; it was usually on the client end, often because someone set up a bad upgrade or there were connection issues with the Cisco Duo cloud through the administrative site.

As support, I do not find it an issue with Cisco Duo product itself; it is more an issue of organization administration. Often, people do not receive expiration messages, and sometimes, for security reasons, accounts get disabled without notifying the end user, so they mistakenly think something has gone wrong when it really just needs to be re-enabled on the external system. It is primarily an issue on the administrative side of the firm I am working for.

I am familiar with Cisco Duo and have probably been using it since around 2020.

Cisco Duo seems very scalable. In my experience, I started with a small-medium business, and in my last contracting position, it was a large one for a major worldwide airline that had hundreds of thousands of devices that could use Cisco Duo, and it scaled very well. The administrative site was also very easy to navigate for locating people and devices. I also have a background in computer asset management, so I have the skill set to locate device records easily.

In terms of quality and speed of support for Cisco Duo, I find it just as fine as any other Cisco product. It is simpler at the endpoint; there is much less involved in calling technical support to resolve issues compared to other Cisco products. I have also dealt with firewalls and VPNs, and I can say that Cisco Duo administration is much less involved than other Cisco areas. I would rate support for Cisco Duo a 10, as I have never had a negative experience.

Positive

My experience with MFA is primarily Cisco Duo and Microsoft Authenticator, and I have used them both similarly, either as pushes for allow or deny or as stronger MFA requirements such as exchanging passcodes. From my experience, Cisco Duo seems a lot easier to install and operate. In helping add accounts to either my devices or to the devices of the people I am supporting, both systems work well. I can get passcodes or utilize QR codes. One thing I noticed about my current firm is their initial hesitation to consider QR code exchange secure, but eventually, it was re-enabled to reduce support times. As an administrator, I have done both, pushing activation to pre-installed devices already registered to a system or actually sending people a QR code to their email, and both methods worked fine with personal and corporate email.

The setup of Cisco Duo is easy. Most of the time, the setup took me walking the end user through the installation over the phone, but if they understood how to get to their App Store or Play Store, it takes probably under two minutes. Most of it depends on wide area network or internet speed; activating directly on a client device versus sending an activation email makes a difference. If it is all set up and requires only sending an activation code message, it is about a minute. Cisco Duo installs very quickly on Android and Apple devices, provided the Wi-Fi connection is good.

From what I was involved in with Cisco Duo, we actually conducted Cisco Duo pushes through the management systems, enabling that through MDMs, the Bomgar. I found it pretty easy to grab the latest version of the Cisco Duo installer to update the packages on our management systems. I do not remember having any problems; it is one of the easier applets to package or to already find packaged.

I am currently between jobs or contracts, but I believe for the MFA administrator, it would help if they set up the filters for gathering the data. Cisco Duo seems very scalable. In my experience, I started with a small-medium business, and in my last contracting position, it was a large one for a major worldwide airline that had hundreds of thousands of devices that could use Cisco Duo, and it scaled very well. The administrative site was also very easy to navigate for locating people and devices. I also have a background in computer asset management, so I have the skill set to locate device records easily. I have given this review an overall rating of 10.

My main use case for Google Authenticator is for saving my data protection. It can be needed if any hacker or attacker tries to access my email, so they need two-factor authentication. I need to activate this for reducing hacking from my email and for my data privacy.

A specific example of how I use Google Authenticator in my daily work is that because I used to work in cloud technology, I am also using Google Cloud and Google Workspace. I need this activated for authentication, which is primary for my security because a lot of data is collaborating in my Google Workspace. I need to activate this for authentication to reduce and block attackers from hacking my email and my workspace.

The other use is for other apps where I apply authentication to log in with Google. This is helpful to me.

In my opinion, the best feature Google Authenticator offers is that it makes your time more secure and your data more secure. The feature is good.

The security features of Google Authenticator have helped me greatly because when you do not activate this, you only have one protection with any Google account requiring OTP. Google Authenticator employs two-factor authentication, making you more secure than with just a single layer. This helps me sync and access GitHub, Microsoft, and any accounts using Google's authentication.

Regarding the features of Google Authenticator, I find it very easy and free, and there is no need for an internet connection when I generate the code. It is simple for me to implement, standard for TOTP, and compatible with many services. Primarily, it can reduce password leak issues significantly.

Google Authenticator has positively impacted my organization by improving security and productivity.

Regarding how security and productivity have improved, my team collaborates in the cloud and needs to spend time working there securely. With the feature in Google Cloud, Google Authenticator makes their lives easier. They do not need to be experts to use it. Many applications can be connected, which is excellent, and the primary security with two layers is very effective.

A potential improvement for Google Authenticator that I suggest is to add push notifications in the future. Currently, I think everything is good. Simply adding the feature for push notifications would be beneficial.

I have been using Google Authenticator for a long time. I cannot remember exactly, but I started using this for my first email approximately 15 years ago.

Google Authenticator is stable.

The scalability of Google Authenticator is adequate. It is an application authentication but related to supportive infrastructures. I think it is great for any platform and condition, quickly generating codes even without an internet connection.

My experience with customer support so far is good.

I previously used a different solution, which was Microsoft because it is needed from the application itself, implemented using Microsoft specifically in Azure. However, for most applications, I use Google applications.

I see a return on investment because spending costs are non-existent, and it significantly helps improve security with its free features, free downloads, free support, and easy understanding and learning. That is more than good enough.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that pricing is very free, which is good. The price is still free.

Before choosing Google Authenticator, I evaluated other options, specifically Microsoft Azure and Microsoft authentication.

The accuracy and reliability of Google Authenticator's output are solid because after generating the code, it can be implemented directly to the application on the server that uses Google authentication.

Google Authenticator is deployed in my organization using a hybrid cloud setup since it can handle authentication from Google applications.

My advice for others looking into using Google Authenticator is that if you need to improve your security, activating MFA or two-layer authentication will make your life easier and more secure, alleviating worries about hacking or cracking your applications or emails related to using Google Authenticator. I give this product a rating of 9.