Appgate SDP vs Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) comparison

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We performed a comparison between Appgate SDP and Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, Cisco and others in ZTNA as a Service.
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765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The flexibility of the tool is valuable. It is very robust. It has a very robust configuration capability.""The simplicity of the SDP platform is a standout feature; instead of navigating through intricate details, users can seamlessly connect to the company's network or switch to the internet with minimal effort.""It is pretty stable.""It is a scalable solution...The support answers your questions very fast.""One of the most important features is stopping lateral movement across our network.""The interface is really friendly. It's simple to understand."

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"The TACACS and RADIUS have been the most valuable features so far.""The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall.""The most valuable features are authentication, we have more granular control on the access policies for the administrators. The solution is easy to use, has a center point administration, and has a good GUI.""The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the policy sets.""Our clients like Cisco ISE because they already use various Cisco solutions. It's easy for them to use this solution because they have an engineer with Cisco certifications.""After the product was installed, no one could access the secure connection network. In order for any laptop or any endpoint device to attach to my network, it needs to be authorized or be certified to be connected.""My team has gained a lot from Cisco ISE as it does also provide automation, which is a big asset in the eighth hour. After setting it up, it took a lot of the weight off in many ways. We have a co-worker, who we call the ISE Master because he's in charge of the ISE configurations. He's able to save a lot of time by being able to monitor everything from there. So it did take off a lot of time that we would waste by going individually to that different device and trying to figure out what was wrong.""Among the most valuable features is TACACS."

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Cons
"The user interface should be improved as it is not very easy to work with the updates.""One limitation is that it's harder to provide access to multiple applications in the company with Appgate, but that's probably because of poor management.""One thing that kind of sticks out to me is the ability to do a proper non-split tunnel. VPN tunnel-wise, it is not really a true unsplit tunnel, but I think that's just because of the way it's designed. A split VPN basically allows your system to talk to other systems without being forced down the tunnel. A VPN running in a non-split tunnel mode forces all the traffic down the tunnel to wherever you're VPNing to. It forces the traffic down so that the traffic is subject to the firewall and rules that you have in your corporate environment and such. It helps to prevent remote malicious folks that may be talking directly to that box from piggybacking into the corporate environment through it. They do it partially, but it would be nice to see more of an enterprise-level solution there.""On the cloud, when you make some changes, it may be difficult.""They could provide a single-box solution to manage tools for 4000 users. Additionally, they could add extra features to enhance remote micro connection.""It would be better to connect to an application portal from any device. Documentation and support could be better."

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"If you have someone taking care of it, it can be quite easy to manage the solution. Otherwise, if you don't look after it and take care of it day-to-day, then it will become more complex to run.""I believe that Cisco can improve the way its policies are built because it's a little complex.""Whenever we see the authentication logs, we can't see what device we're logging into... We can see who logged in, but we can't see the IP address of the device... I'm sure that's available. We just haven't figured out how to properly deploy it.""The knocks I have against the product are the number of bugs that we encounter, constantly, and the amount of upgrading that we have to do.""The tracking mechanism in Cisco ISE is relatively costly, especially its vendor-specific protocol.""Third-party integration is important, as well as the continuous adaptation feature which is the AIOps. It would be helpful to include the AIOps.""The compliance and posture don't always work. They should make it more stable. With each upgrade, we lose some functionality. We have to wait for another upgrade.""The initial setup process is complex since there are so many big components."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It is a pretty expensive tool. It is maybe about $20,000 per year for a hundred users or so."
  • "We pay $100 per user per month. One license for the site is around $17."
  • "The pricing is according to the market price. It is not a very cheap solution. They have some very aggressive promotions to sell the product in the market."
  • More Appgate SDP Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "There are three levels of pricing: basic, plus, and apex. Basic satisfied our needs."
  • "If you go directly with Cisco for the implementation it's very, very expensive."
  • "The SMARTnet technical support is available at an additional cost."
  • "For the Avast virus scan, we pay around USD $95 per machine for five years which includes all updates and technical support."
  • "The price for Cisco ISE is high."
  • "The price can be lower, especially for subscriptions. It should be a lot cheaper to have a wide range of customers. The price should be comparable to competitive products like Forescout or Fortinet FortiNAC. Forescout is cheaper for customers looking for a cloud solution."
  • "There are other cheaper options available."
  • "The price is okay."
  • More Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The simplicity of the SDP platform is a standout feature; instead of navigating through intricate details, users can seamlessly connect to the company's network or switch to the internet with minimal… more »
    Top Answer:The pricing is according to the market price. It is not a very cheap solution. They have some very aggressive promotions to sell the product in the market.
    Top Answer:They could provide a single-box solution to manage tools for 4000 users. Additionally, they could add extra features to enhance remote micro connection.
    Top Answer: Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely… more »
    Top Answer:OK, so Cisco ISE uses 802.1X to secure switchports against unauthorized access. The drawback of this is that ISE cannot secure the port if a device does not support 802.1x. Cameras, badge readers… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user… more »
    Ranking
    11th
    out of 34 in ZTNA as a Service
    Views
    1,936
    Comparisons
    1,264
    Reviews
    5
    Average Words per Review
    374
    Rating
    8.8
    Views
    24,825
    Comparisons
    16,525
    Reviews
    74
    Average Words per Review
    756
    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cisco ISE
    Learn More
    Overview

    Appgate SDP is a network access control tool for local and remote access, multifactor authentication, and micro-segmentation. It is a flexible, robust, and configurable tool with good documentation, interface improvements, and ease of deployment. 

    It helps organizations prevent lateral movement across networks and servers and provides a more granular access control structure than traditional VPNs. Appgate SDP's valuable features include the ability to hide servers, good support, stability, scalability, and stopping lateral movement. It is currently being used as the main VPN solution for many companies.

    Cisco ISE is an all-in-one solution that streamlines security policy management and reduces operating costs. Cisco ISE delivers visibility and access control over users and devices across wired, wireless, and VPN connections.

    Identity Services Engine enables enterprises to deliver secure network access to users and devices. It shares contextual data, such as threats and vulnerabilities, with integrated solutions from Cisco technology partners. You can see what is happening in your network, which applications are running, and more.

    Features of Cisco ISE

    • Centralized management helps administrators configure and manage user profile characteristics - a single pane of glass for integrated management services.
    • Contextual identity and business policy: The rule-based attribute is a driven policy model. The goal is to provide flexible access control policies.
    • Wide range of access control options, including Virtual LAN (VLAN) URL redirections, and access control lists.
    • Supplicant-less network access: You can roll out secure network access by deriving authentication from login information across application layers.
    • Guest lifecycle management streamlines the experience for implementing and customizing network access for guests.
    • Built-in AAA services: The platform uses standard RADIUS protocol for authentication, authorization, and accounting.
    • Device auditing, administration, and access control provide users with access on a need-to-know and need-to-act basis. It keeps audit trails for every change in the network.
    • Device profiling: ISE features predefined device templates for different types of endpoints.
    • Internal certificate authority: Qn easy-to-deploy single console to manage endpoints and certificates.

    Benefits of Cisco ISE

    Cisco’s holistic approach to network access security has several advantages:

    • Context-based access based on your company policies. ISE creates a complete contextual identity, including attributes such as user, time, location, threat, access type, and vulnerability. This contextual identity is used to enforce a secure access policy. Administrators can apply strict control over how and when endpoints are allowed in the network.
    • Better network visibility via an easy-to-use, simple console. In addition, visibility is improved by storing a detailed attribute history of all endpoints connected to the network.
    • Comprehensive policy enforcement. ISE sets easy and flexible access rules. These rules are controlled from a central console that enforces them across the network and security infrastructure. You can define policies that differentiate between registered users and guests. The system uses group tags that enable access control on business rules instead of IP addresses.
    • Self-service device onboarding enables the enterprise to implement a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy securely. Users can manage their devices according to the policies defined by IT administrators. (IT remains in charge of provisioning and posturing to comply with security policies.)
    • Consistent guest experiences: You can provide guests with different levels of access from different connections. You can customize guest portals via a cloud-delivered portal editor with dynamic visual tools.

    Support

    You can get ISE as a physical or virtual appliance. Both deployments can create ISE clusters that create scale, redundancy, and requirements.

    Licensing

    Cisco ISE has four primary licences. Evaluation for up to 100 endpoints with full platform functionality. The higher tiers are Partner, Advantage and Essential.

    Reviews from Real Users

    "The user experience of the solution is great. It's a very transparent system. according to a PeerSpot user in Cyber Security at a manufacturing company.

    Omar Z., Network & Security Engineer at an engineering company, feels that "The RADIUS Server holds the most value."

    “Whether I deploy in China, the US, South Africa, or wherever, I can get all the capabilities. It allows me to directly integrate with 365, and from a communications point of view, that is a good capability," says Rammohan M., Senior Consultant at a tech services company.

    Hassan A.,Technology Manager at Advanced Integrated Systems, says that "The most valuable feature is the integration with StealthWatch and DNA as one fabric."




    Sample Customers
    United States Air Force  FINRA Weight Watchers Rackspace  DataDog SageNet  Verdant Norwegian Cruise Line  VoiceBase  The Third Floor 
    Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Government11%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Computer Software Company11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise61%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise52%
    Buyer's Guide
    ZTNA as a Service
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, Cisco and others in ZTNA as a Service. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Appgate SDP is ranked 11th in ZTNA as a Service with 6 reviews while Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is ranked 1st in Network Access Control (NAC) with 135 reviews. Appgate SDP is rated 8.8, while Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Appgate SDP writes "Helps us manage traffic-related issues and streamlines access management for the network ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) writes "Gives us that extra ability to assist the end user and make sure that we are making them happy". Appgate SDP is most compared with Zscaler Internet Access, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler Private Access, Waverley Labs Open Source Software Defined Perimeter and Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, whereas Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is most compared with Aruba ClearPass, Fortinet FortiNAC, Forescout Platform, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and Fortinet FortiAuthenticator.

    See our list of best ZTNA as a Service vendors.

    We monitor all ZTNA as a Service reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.