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John Okunade - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Support Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
A cloud-delivered security solution with a useful DNS layer security feature
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the DNS layer security."
  • "It would be better if there was a little bit of flexibility for organizations that don't have SD One in their environment. Because of the complexity of the environment, it's not easy to actually turn on the feature of the secure internet gateway for our users. We have not been able to explore that option yet."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Cisco Umbrella temporarily for DNS security, but we want to migrate to secure the internet gateway, which is what we are working on at the moment.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco Umbrella has improved our organization in the sense that we have more users working from home because of the pandemic. We have a lot of users working outside of the office. 

Cisco Umbrella helps secure our environment more because we've deployed some of our applications to the cloud. Our 365 team applications are running on the cloud. Cisco Umbrella helps protect us by guiding threats in external parameters. 

It's been helpful for us in the sense that we can see and guide what is coming into the enterprise using Cisco Umbrella in the cloud. This is good for users that are working outside of the office environment and working from other remote locations.

What is most valuable?

I like the DNS layer security.

What needs improvement?

It would be better if there was a little bit of flexibility for organizations that don't have SD One in their environment. Because of the complexity of the environment, it's not easy to actually turn on the feature of the secure internet gateway for our users. We have not been able to explore that option yet.

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Cisco Umbrella
August 2025
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For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Umbrella for almost six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For stability, I will give it 30%

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is okay. I think it has that functionality. Depending on the perspective of the environment, you can scale to any capacity you want because this is a cloud solution. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is okay. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We had issues with our traditional secure web gateway. Our environment is not entirely SD One supported yet. We had problems with the SWG device for dot com users. We got advice from Cisco that Cisco data can do the same functionality for that. So, we'll be using it.

We were using Broadcom as our secure web, but we had issues with the number of connections that it could handle. That's the setback, and that's why we're opting for the Cisco umbrella solution.

We have a partnership with a company here, and we have a partnership with Cisco. Most of our appliances in the environment are Cisco products, and we felt that going for a product from them would serve our data. We didn't look at other products.

How was the initial setup?

This solution was deployed across different locations for different users. 
We have six remote locations, and we have two data centers. It's deployed across all of those locations.

What other advice do I have?

I would encourage potential users to go for it.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Cisco Umbrella an eight.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
John Okunade - PeerSpot reviewer
John OkunadeNetwork Support Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User

The introduction of Cisco umbrella into our infrastructure was a tremendous change. It has helped to protect the infrastructure better. Because every traffic exiting to the internet is now being filtered. Also combined with Cisco WSA for web proxy, it is a good one.

Cyber Security Consultant at flydubai
Real User
A good cloud-based solution for DNS security, but its on-prem rollout is quite challenging
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a good cloud-based solution for DNS security."
  • "Its on-prem rollout is quite challenging. It needs better coordination with the Internet Service Provider. It is a cloud-based solution, and any endpoint that connects to it has to go through all the gateway ISPs, but some of the ISPs block HTTPS-based DNS. That's where the challenge occurs with Umbrella."

What is most valuable?

It is a good cloud-based solution for DNS security.

What needs improvement?

Its on-prem rollout is quite challenging. It needs better coordination with the Internet Service Provider. It is a cloud-based solution, and any endpoint that connects to it has to go through all the gateway ISPs, but some of the ISPs block HTTPS-based DNS. That's where the challenge occurs with Umbrella.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for almost two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is good.

How are customer service and support?

I have not interacted with them because it is done through the vendor.

What other advice do I have?

They need to engage the local service provider to do the technology improvements, such as for HTTPS-based DNS, which is a primary requirement for the customers.

I would rate it a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
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Cisco Umbrella
August 2025
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Director at seamlessinfotech.com
Real User
A cloud security service with valuable data and intelligence built-in
Pros and Cons
  • "I like that it integrates with the infrastructure. I also like the kind of data and intelligence that's built-in. It helps create innovative reports for security."
  • "It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration."

What is our primary use case?

We use Cisco Umbrella for monitoring and more.

What is most valuable?

I like that it integrates with the infrastructure. I also like the kind of data and intelligence that's built-in. It helps create innovative reports for security. 

What needs improvement?

It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been dealing with Cisco Umbrella for two and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Umbrella is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Umbrella is very scalable at the cloud level. All you have to do is increase the internet bandwidth and pay for the license. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is excellent.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. It was simple. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price depends on the use case, and it's a bit linear. But it depends on the customer's strategy and how Cisco plans to optimize the costs. 

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to potential users.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Cisco Umbrella a ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Solutions Architect at Quartet Service Inc.
Reseller
Effective site blocking, mature, and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the ability to block users from reaching places that they should not even try to reach has been a boon."
  • "One of the issues with Umbrella is as you get into endpoint detection and response, such as EDR point solutions, some of them will not integrate well with Umbrella. Sometimes when you want to use technology, such as Always On VPN, it will not work. There are some looming issues as one type of technology starts to crossover with Umbrella. That is the challenge and Umbrella should find a way to be more compatible with some of the endpoint response solutions that are coming out on the market."

What is our primary use case?

We are using this solution for DNS filtering to try and make sure that users do not make ill-advised clicks and find themselves in harm's way. Once we started to implement it, we realized that just putting Cisco Umbrella appliances on the company's network was not good enough. The notebooks travel and the risk factor travels. We switched over and for some time now, we have deployed it predominantly on roaming clients.

How has it helped my organization?

In the current environment, it is a good thing we had deployed the Cisco Umbrella before people started to work from home because of COVID. The risk factors went up and the amount of thoughtfulness that people put into, "Is this a real message or is this phishing?" People became lax. If we did not have this solution, the number of clients that we would be dealing with attack issues would have mushroomed to a much higher level than we had to deal with. Umbrella has been a godsend for that.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the ability to block users from reaching places that they should not even try to reach has been a boon.

Once we were given a roaming client and we did not only have Umbrella servers filtering the traffic as it left the perimeter. They were giving us what we want and did not have to worry anymore, I was happy with the solution. I view it as a mature solution that delivers what we need.

What needs improvement?

One of the issues with Umbrella is as you get into endpoint detection and response, such as EDR point solutions, some of them will not integrate well with Umbrella. Sometimes when you want to use technology, such as Always On VPN, it will not work. There are some looming issues as one type of technology starts to crossover with Umbrella. That is the challenge and Umbrella should find a way to be more compatible with some of the endpoint response solutions that are coming out on the market.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for a long time since it was OpenDNA which was before Cisco bought it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are no scalability problems with this solution. They do a good job of having updated servers around the world and at all hours of day.

How are customer service and technical support?

One of the issues with Cisco technical support is that it is all linked to them having all of the maintenance contracts always running. If you work with a customer base where not everybody always renews their subscriptions and you need to get support but you did not sell the solution, it can make reaching the support a challenge. There is no problem with the quality of the support. However, sometimes Cisco's arcane rules regarding how they register and do tracking make it difficult for a managed service provider to get the support they need. 

We do not have a problem with getting support for Umbrella because we have a contract for that. It is trying to get support for all the various pieces of networking hardware that customers have not maintained properly difficult, Cisco is not easy to deal with in this regard. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

When talking about Cisco solutions in general there pricing model is horrible. For example, you can sell a Meraki-based solution, but if the customer starts shopping around, someone is going to have access to the pricing at a level that you cannot compete because they do not have uniform pricing. Not everybody gets fair pricing. Unless you are one of the real major corporations selling the solution your ability to compete is impossible. Cisco will acknowledge the situation and assure you next time it will be in your favor but it never becomes favorable for you. Cisco is not very good in this regard. However, Umbrella is good.

What other advice do I have?

If you are not using some form of DNS filtering to guard against threats, you are not doing a good job on security in the current climate anymore. 

I rate Cisco Umbrella a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
General Manager at Datasoft Comnet
Real User
Top 20
A stable cloud-delivered security solution with a useful DNS security feature
Pros and Cons
  • "We like Cisco Umbrella because of DNS security. It's one step ahead of whatever we are using for regular web filtering. In that way, it's more secure than other web filtering products."
  • "The price could be better. The price is definitely a bit high, but we have to pay a premium for Cisco products."

What is most valuable?

We like Cisco Umbrella because of DNS security. It's one step ahead of whatever we are using for regular web filtering. In that way, it's more secure than other web filtering products.

What needs improvement?

The price could be better. The price is definitely a bit high, but we have to pay a premium for Cisco products. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Umbrella for more than a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Umbrella is scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is helpful and provides quick and fast resolutions.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy. Even the integrations are very easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cisco Umbrella is expensive and could be cheaper.

What other advice do I have?

I will recommend this product to other users.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Cisco Umbrella a ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
it_user1563006 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
Can be used to provide more security when employees are working from home
Pros and Cons
  • "I think recently with many people working from home, Cisco Umbrella has been very useful. For example, we can manage the device and the network when the employee is not working on the local host. Cisco Umbrella is very valuable for this kind of infrastructure."
  • "I think it's a very basic solution, and because of that, Cisco Umbrella would not be a suitable solution for large companies."

What is our primary use case?

The customers that we provide this solution to are small businesses that have 10 to 25 employees.

Employees working from home normally don't have security, so through the cloud we can manage the devices, the endpoints, a mobile or notebook, etc. We can provide more security for these devices when the employee is not working on VPN, for example.

What is most valuable?

I think recently with many people working from home, Cisco Umbrella has been very useful. For example, we can manage the device and the network when the employee is not working on the local host. Cisco Umbrella is very valuable for this kind of infrastructure.

What needs improvement?

I think it's a very basic solution, and because of that, we provide it to the small business market. Cisco Umbrella would not be a suitable solution for large companies.

In the next release, integration or shoulder, for example, to a firewall on-premises using Cisco Umbrella to connect would be good. If possible, it would be good to take the weight off the shoulder of the solutions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Cisco Umbrella for around one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Our customers have not had any problems with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of Cisco Umbrella is very good.

How are customer service and technical support?

When we had problems, technical support was 100% helpful, so I think it is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple. We usually have one engineer per customer for deployment and maintenance.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to small businesses. Compared to the next-generation firewall, I think Cisco Umbrella is more basic than other solutions.

I would rate it at nine on a scale from one to ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1500837 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Consultant at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Consultant
One of the easiest ways to avoid phishing attacks
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco Umbrella is a totally different solution. They are the first to come up with this idea of security. It's a totally new concept of security for everybody, for every time, real time, perfectionism."
  • "I would like them to make some videos, practical videos, the kind with steps that people can use to learn and deploy"

What is our primary use case?

We have small, medium and enterprise customers.

What is most valuable?

Cisco Umbrella is a totally different solution. They are the first to come up with this idea of security. It's a totally new concept of security for everybody, for every time, real time, perfectionism. The browsing is great compared to other products. You will be protected by Cisco rather than other security solutions where you must first be rerouted and then they will start working on the domain rather than this. This couldn't be compared to any other solution.

What needs improvement?

I would like them to make some videos, practical videos, the kind with steps that people can use to learn and deploy.

For how long have I used the solution?

You could say maybe two years or three years that we have been working with Cisco Umbrella.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Umbrella is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Umbrella is very scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

Cisco technical support is always fine.

How was the initial setup?

A couple of clicks that we have had it up and running. Cisco requires more documentation regarding to the basic configurations. That is what I can say. I don't think I'm expecting it from Cisco's side.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You could say the price is a little bit high.

What other advice do I have?

If you start to talk about it, it's a really interesting new kind of security product rather than other places before it. There is a place to come on to find a solution. So this is one of the easiest ways to avoid phishing attacks. This is one of the strong products. I would rate Cisco Umbrella at a nine on a scale of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1515033 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer & Security Specialist at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Scalable with a straightforward setup but the pricing could be better
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is extremely stable. It has excellent performance."
  • "The pricing could always be a little bit better."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is similar to a web security appliance. However, it is like filtering on a cloud base, not on-premise. Basically, it is not fully mature, which means it's not yet ready to replace the WSA, however, over a period of time, it could to a certain extent. It's a cloud solution to protect against fake domain IDs. It can be your filtering solution and can also do a few other things with the other features on it.

What is most valuable?

I like that it's a cloud solution. 

The best part of Cisco is that Cisco has the second-largest security service cloud for security background checks. That is the big advantage of the Cisco security portfolio.

The solution is extremely stable. It has excellent performance.

The solution can scale if you need it to.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward.

The pricing is reasonable. You can negotiate contracts with Cisco.

Integration is very easy. It's not that complicated. Out of two clients, one had an easy integration, which was something new for me. That said, it did take time as it was the initial setup for me. 

What needs improvement?

There are always little items that can be fixed in any solution, however, I don't have any specific complaints.

The first time you set up the solution and have integrations, it may be a bit difficult, however, it gets easier.

The pricing could always be a little bit better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about two to three years at this point.

I have been working with Cisco in general since 2013 or 2012. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's been very good so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We only have two clients on this solution. There's no more than that. There may be 200 users in total. One client had 150 users and the other had around 100 users. 

The product has three visions, it depends on what license you want, or the requirement, to be more precise. Whether you're from an adaptation center, or enterprise center, or utility center, it has different flavors for different kinds of customers.

How are customer service and technical support?

Cisco's technical support has always been quite good. We're quite happy with the level of service they provide to clients.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

One of our clients did use a different solution. We ended up replacing it with Cisco Umbrella.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not complex at all. It's a very straightforward installation. In terms of the deployment, it hardly will take more than an hour to two. At that point, it is up and running. A company shouldn't have any trouble with the initial setup. 

That said, security is always an ongoing process. It's a security product and therefore there's always work to do with it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution has three types of licenses that cover a variety of different company types.

In terms of a commercial contract, it's about getting a discount, which you can arrange for the clients more often than not, so it's fine. It is not overly expensive.

That said, I have not pitched Cisco Umbrella for any clients for the last six to eight months. Due to COVID, I'm not getting a time or interest for doing any POC on this right now.

What other advice do I have?

We are partners with Cisco.

I haven't done any POCs with this solution in the last 10 months or so, and I only have two clients on the product.

I would recommend the solution. I'd rate it at a seven out of ten overall. We've been mostly happy with the product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Umbrella Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: August 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Umbrella Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.