Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Reviews

Name: Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Brand: Cisco
Rating: 4.0 (27 reviews)

Vendor: Cisco

4.0 out of 5

27 reviews
83% willing to recommend

What is Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?

The Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is the administrative nerve center for select Cisco security products running on multiple platforms. It provides unified management of Cisco Secure Firewalls with Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) software for port and protocol control, application control, IPS, URL filtering, and malware protection functions. Firewall Management Center is the centralized event and policy manager for:

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Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is the #7 ranked solution in top Firewall Security Management solutions. PeerSpot users give Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is most commonly compared to FireMon Security Manager: Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs FireMon Security Manager. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 74% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a government, accounting for 22% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

July 2025

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Featured Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center reviews

Yonas Abebe

Senior Network and Security Engineer at Symbol Technologies PLC

I like the dashboard since it gives me a lot of information. However, Cisco should improve the local unit Secure since it is not quite smooth to see real-time graphics compared to other devices. It provides full visibility of my devices, whether I have six or ten devices. When I want to check the stats of my devices and of the Internet connectivity, I love the dashboard of Cisco Pencil.

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Ajay Dand

Founder Director at Ninesec Integration Pvt. Ltd

The Cisco Management Center provides centralized management for a variety of Secure devices and policies. Typically, Cisco's centralized management is facilitated through the DNA Center platform, offering different flavors of DNA solutions. Although Cisco Prime has been utilized to some extent in the past, the predominant method for centralized management revolves around Cisco DNA. In our organization, we utilize Cisco Firewalls along with Fortinet for monitoring and analyzing work traffic. Cisco continues to maintain its position as one of the top leaders in the industry. With a strong lineup of products, Cisco's brand reputation in-network services and equipment is widely accepted and trusted. Selling Cisco products is generally easier due to their established name and reputation. The Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center offers numerous benefits, including the stability and quality of its products, which feature almost all the latest market-leading features. This ensures a long product life cycle, reducing the need for frequent tech refreshes. Cisco's robust lifecycle management and clear roadmaps enable customers to plan refreshes and replacements without unexpected downtime, contributing significantly to operational efficiency. Moreover, Cisco's exceptional support minimizes customer losses due to unplanned downtime, while ensuring smooth transitions and upgrades. Working with a single vendor significantly reduces the complexity of future security operations. This approach eliminates situations where products from different vendors fail to communicate effectively, leading to disjointed management and increased reliance on technical support for troubleshooting and break-fix tasks. Cisco Secure products, particularly the Cisco Secure Firewall, offer robust defense mechanisms against denial-of-service and distributed denial-of-service attacks. In many instances, despite the occurrence of such attacks targeting customer networks, the impact on operations was significantly minimized due to the presence of Cisco Secure Firewall at the perimeter. While these attacks were detected, their disruptive effects were mitigated effectively, highlighting the critical role of the Cisco Secure Firewall in safeguarding customer operations.

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Muhammad-Haris

Student at BCU

The product installation was easy since I had received proper documentation from Cisco to help me. The documentation did not have many tutorials like the ones available for Palo Alto or Fortinet on YouTube and the internet. Even on the Fortinet website, there are free tutorials available for users, which are very helpful when it comes to the area of management, such as how to use the dashboards and how to make rules. Cisco ASA ASDM is very easy to install. Compared to the other products that I deal with, I feel that Cisco products are easy to install. The solution can be deployed in two to three hours.

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Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center mindshare

As of July 2025, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center in the Firewall Security Management category stands at 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewall Security Management

PeerResearch reports based on Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	Firewall Security Management	Jul 29, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Jul 29, 2025	Download
Comparison	Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs AlgoSec	Jul 29, 2025	Download
Comparison	Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs Tufin Orchestration Suite	Jul 29, 2025	Download
Comparison	Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs FireMon Security Manager	Jul 29, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
FireMon Security Manager	4.1	17.5%	87%	56 interviews Add to research
Palo Alto Networks Panorama	4.2	7.1%	97%	90 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center offers crucial features like intrusion prevention, scalable management, and user-friendly interface. Its integration with Cisco products enhances efficiency in policy creation. Advanced functionalities include malware protection, VPN, ECL, and security intelligence. The centralized management allows monitoring multiple devices, providing application visibility and threat intelligence. Customization options and integration with Talos threat intelligence enhance security operations. Users highlight its powerful performance and seamless interoperability, benefiting large enterprises significantly.

"The overall product rating is eight out of ten."
"I like the dashboard since it gives me a lot of information."
"The technical support team is responsive and supportive."

Room for Improvement

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center needs improvement in performance, user interface, and pricing. Initial setup is complex. Features like encryption affect performance negatively. Licensing issues impact stability. Integration with AI and enhanced analytics are expected. Enhancements in deployment, event logging, user management, and number of ports are needed. Better tutorials and sandboxing are desired. Users find it difficult to manage policies and updates, leading to operational burdens. Support limitations due to sanctions affect some regions.

"I would go with a rating of three out of ten for the stability issues."
"I expect more integration with AI."
"I recommend they work on usability and ensure the solution is more user-friendly."

ROI

The return from Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center varies. Some indicate a moderate return, while others highlight its efficiency in reducing operational costs despite higher initial expenses. Several find the investment worthwhile, appreciating its protection and user-friendly policy management. Some express doubt about the return due to similar features available in less expensive alternatives, yet acknowledge the importance of deriving benefits, as Cisco offers a compelling brand reputation. The purchase is considered valuable in some cases.

Pricing

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is perceived as costly, with users noting various licensing options that offer flexibility. Many view the pricing as mid to high-range, with costs depending on features and licenses needed, such as malware and URL protection. Purchases often involve multi-year subscription models, with separate charges for support. Although some find the upfront costs expensive, there are permanent licenses that minimize recurring fees, allowing users to tailor the solution to specific needs.

"The product pricing is reasonable and falls in the mid-range."
"My license offers all the protection, like malware protection, VPN protection, IDS, IPS, and endpoint protection."
"As for pricing, the tool is expensive for us. I'd rate it eight out of ten on a scale where ten is the most expensive."

Popular Use Cases

Organizations primarily use Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center to protect servers, manage perimeter and data center firewalls, ensure network security, and configure firewall policies. It enables secure VPN connections, advanced malware detection, application visibility, intrusion prevention, and traffic exclusion between network zones. In manufacturing, it secures IT and OT networks. It serves as a control hub for managing multiple devices and provides insights through logging and reporting in diverse environments like hospitals and enterprises.

Service and Support

Many users find Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center's support very helpful, rating it an eight out of ten, although some note delays and varied engineer expertise. Organizations in certain regions face challenges due to sanctions. For others, technical assistance stands out for its knowledge base and promptness. Differing experiences show strong service but occasionally slow responses. Many rely on in-house or third-party support, finding Cisco's documentation helpful yet complex. Overall satisfaction varies.

Deployment

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center's initial setup varies in complexity. Some describe it as straightforward, particularly with experience, while others find it intricate. Deployment times range from a few hours to multiple weeks, reflecting different environments and resource availability. Teams generally need between two to five staff for deployment and maintenance. Documentation and Cisco's support contribute positively, though challenges arise with specific configurations or lack of familiarity. Integration with existing networks can also impact ease of setup.

Scalability

Users find Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center highly scalable, allowing easy scaling with additional licenses. Many organizations, both small and large, use it effectively. Most rate scalability between eight and ten out of ten. The platform accommodates growth, handling increased traffic and devices efficiently. Some users feel there's room for improvement in scalability, while others highlight its extensive flexibility. Various users have rated its scalability capabilities with high marks, demonstrating strong adaptability to different needs.

Stability

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is praised for its stability. Users rate it between seven and ten, but issues like high CPU load and bugs appear in older versions. Newer updates have improved performance. Occasional challenges arise from VDP updates and software bugs, requiring technical support. Pilot testing before deployment enhances stability. Clients rarely report issues, contributing to its reputation for reliability and ease of control. The stability is described as high by most users.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

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