Cisco Secure Firewall Reviews

The pricing and licensing of Cisco Secure Firewall are generally viewed as fair, but there are some complaints about the complexity of the licensing process and the high cost. The bundling of licensing options has been seen as an improvement, and the enterprise agreement can help with pricing. While some consider the pricing competitive, others feel it could be lower. The focus is on the value received for the price paid. Overall, the licensing is seen as straightforward and easy to understand, with fewer SKUs than some competitors. However, there are some concerns about the Smart Licensing system, which some find confusing.

Cisco Secure Firewall is used for a variety of purposes, including VPN concentrator, traditional firewall uses, remote VPN, securing client networks, data center core segmentation, perimeter firewall, network access control, filtering, site-to-site VPN, edge security, OT network protection, SSL traffic encryption/decryption, and content filtering for compliance. It is used by organizations of different sizes and industries, including government, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, energy, and consulting. Cisco Secure Firewall is often integrated with other Cisco security products, and its automation features make it easier for cross-common security teams to manage and protect their networks.

The most valuable features of Cisco Secure Firewall are its ease of configuration, scalability for firewalls and VPNs, robustness, reliability, and security. The VPN feature is widely used, especially in remote working situations due to COVID. The FMC provides excellent visibility for the administrator to see what the firewall is seeing, stopping, and letting through. The IPS feature is valuable for tackling current attacks, and the URL filtering helps protect networks. The reporting and analytics feature is a standout, providing insights into network activity and identifying threats. The ability to integrate with other Cisco products, such as ISE and SecureX, is also valuable. 

Users have suggested areas of improvement for Cisco Secure Firewall, including better integration with cloud providers, improved customer support, more user-friendly policies module, scalability for diverse deployments, faster delivery time, better stability and software quality, more configurable feature parity with Cisco ASA, better API and automation tools, improved user experience, more integration with Microsoft Identity, and better inspection visibility. Additionally, some users have reported difficulties with the GUI and management of firewalls, bugs related to high availability, and outdated solutions like ASDM. There is also a desire for more seamless integration with other vendors' products, more manageable firewalls, and a clearer graphical representation for setting firewall network rules. Finally, users would like to see better performance, more bandwidth, and better interface speed.

The initial setup of Cisco Secure Firewall is generally straightforward, with the average deployment time being short. There is a wizard available to assist with the setup, and online documentation is also helpful. However, some users have encountered difficulties with deployment on certain platforms. The complexity of the installation depends on the level of features being used, but experienced users find it easy. The deployment model varies depending on the customer's environment and needs, with on-premises and hybrid cloud models being common. The firewall migration tool is useful for migrating from previous firewall configurations. Maintenance is required for patching, but it is not a major issue.

Cisco Secure Firewall is a highly scalable solution with no limitations in terms of scalability. It is able to handle a range of throughput devices, from small branches to data centers and cloud environments. Cisco provides a way of mixing and clustering firewalls to enhance scalability as clients grow. The management platform allows for easy addition of multiple regions, locations, and types of firewalls. While some users have encountered issues with scalability, such as hitting limitations or finding it expensive to scale out, overall the solution has met scalability requirements for traffic and management. It is a popular choice for mid to large-sized businesses and can be deployed virtually. There are different sizes of firewalls for different scales, from small businesses to those with thousands of employees. The solution is easy to scale up and extend to other operations, and can handle at least 1,000 connections simultaneously. However, some users have noted that scalability depends on the model and license, and may require adjustments or new appliances to handle increased traffic.

Cisco Secure Firewall's customer service and technical support receives mixed reviews from users. Some users find their technical support to be excellent, reliable, responsive, and knowledgeable, with prompt and satisfactory responses. However, others find it challenging to get someone who knows what they're doing on the line, and the process of having to deal with licensing and open a TAT case based on serial numbers is difficult. Some users also report long waiting times and delays in resolving issues. Nevertheless, many users rate their support at ten out of ten, and they appreciate the efforts of Cisco's technical support team in providing urgent assistance and solving critical issues.

The consensus among reviewers is that Cisco Secure Firewall is a highly stable solution. Many reviewers have not encountered any stability issues, and some have deployed multiple devices without any callbacks or problems. Some reviewers have even used the solution for several years without any failures or downtime. However, some reviewers note that there is room for improvement in terms of stability, and a few have experienced bugs or issues that required reloading or maintenance.