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Azure Firewall Manager vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center comparison

Microsoft and Cisco are both solutions in the Firewall Security Management category. Microsoft is ranked #10 with an average rating of 9.3, while Cisco is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.9. Microsoft holds a 2.5% mindshare in Firewall Security Management, compared to Cisco’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of Cisco users who would recommend it.
Azure Firewall Manager
Read 9 Azure Firewall Manager reviews
  • 956 Views
  • 564 Comparison Views
85% willing to recommend
Cisco Secure Firewall Manag...
Read 28 Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center reviews
  • 709 Views
  • 709 Comparison Views
83% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Azure Firewall Manager and Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center are competing products in the network security landscape. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center emerges as the superior product due to its advanced features and comprehensive management capabilities, which users find worth the investment, despite Azure Firewall Manager showing competitive pricing and support satisfaction.

Features: Azure Firewall Manager provides seamless integration with Azure services, central management capabilities, and enhanced security policies. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center offers strong analytics, advanced threat protection, and extensive policy control, making it suitable for complex network environments.

Room for Improvement: Azure Firewall Manager could improve with more robust analytics, enhanced threat detection, and expanded policy control features. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center can benefit from more competitive pricing, simplified deployment options, and integration flexibility with non-Cisco products.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure Firewall Manager provides cloud-native deployment optimized for quick setup and effective management within Azure. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center offers an intricate on-premises or cloud-based deployment model with detailed documentation and robust customer service, beneficial for troubleshooting complex issues.

Pricing and ROI: Azure Firewall Manager is cost-effective with a flexible pricing model, offering good ROI through integration within Azure. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center involves a higher initial cost but justifies this with substantial long-term ROI due to its comprehensive features and robust security infrastructure.

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To learn more, read our detailed Azure Firewall Manager vs. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Report (Updated: March 2026).
Buyer's Guide
Azure Firewall Manager vs. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
March 2026
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Firewall Manager
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
4.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (26th)
Cisco Secure Firewall Manag...
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Firewall Security Management category, the mindshare of Azure Firewall Manager is 2.5%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is 1.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewall Security Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center1.9%
Azure Firewall Manager2.5%
Other95.6%
Firewall Security Management
 

Featured Reviews

Sikkander Batcha - PeerSpot reviewer
Sikkander Batcha
DevOps Engineer at CloudIQ
Has managed traffic effectively but lacks visibility and advanced control features
Azure Firewall is typically behind other vendor firewalls because we don't see what kind of traffic is traveling through it. That is one drawback. The main drawback is that we need log support from Azure Firewall, which can be quite costly. There is no login feature in Azure Firewall because only the IAM feature is available in the Azure site; we manage it only through the Azure portal, not through any other portal. Other vendors, such as Palo Alto, provide GUI or CLI interfaces to manage their firewalls, whereas we only manage Azure Firewall through the Azure portal. In the future, I would like to see additional features in Azure Firewall Manager to make it more competitive, such as technologies like App-ID and User-ID that Palo Alto has. Azure Firewall currently only allows traffic based on layer four and sometimes layer seven, so they need to improve in those areas compared to other vendors.
Read full review
reviewer2290770 - PeerSpot reviewer
reviewer2290770
Sr. Solutions Architect, Consulting Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Centralized firewall policies have strengthened security posture and simplified threat management
So far, I find that everything related to Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is adequate. The only thing that was missing in the portfolio was SD-WAN, which I would like to use similar to Fortinet. Now Cisco has published the 120 series and the 1100 series, which support SD-WAN features in the firewall. I have not tried it myself yet, but I intend to use it and configure it as an SD-WAN gateway. When I use it, I will be able to provide feedback on whether there is anything new or if everything is adequate, but I have not used it or configured it by my hand till now.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"From a traffic management perspective, it's a good firewall because it's automatically scalable based on the traffic availability."
"It has helped us in multiple ways; for example, we don't require different spaces to manage it, we can do a lot of automation integrations into the code, we could integrate it into the DevOps pipeline, and it has helped us with our time-to-market for a very specific product when we are actually deploying or upgrading."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Firewall Manager is the testing and configuration."
"I would definitely recommend the solution to my clients, especially if one is using Azure Cloud."
"From a traffic management perspective, it's a good firewall because it's automatically scalable based on the traffic availability."
"We are utilizing Azure Entra ID for group labeling, so Active Directory, or now it is Entra ID, securing our application for everyone who accesses it, and Azure Firewall Manager is definitely securing our projects and all its features are fine."
"Azure Firewall Manager centralizes network security management with a hub and spoke architecture."
"The solution has improved our organization with its firewall."
More Azure Firewall Manager pros
"Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is scalable."
"The solution is quite scalable."
"I like the dashboard since it gives me a lot of information."
"Scalability is not an issue as long as you are able to buy additional licenses. Ten percent of our customers use Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, and we have large accounts with 50% of their end users behind this firewall."
"The support is good, they are always good."
"Cisco's support and services are far superior to any other security product in Pakistan."
"The applied policy inside the firewall is good."
"I like its system management and filtering options as a layer seven firewall."
More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center pros
 

Cons

"Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling deployment, and traffic management, which leads to higher costs."
"For Azure Firewall Manager, the learning curve for new people is a bit challenging, but the integration should be more straightforward for configuring a centralized system."
"Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling deployment, and traffic management, which leads to higher costs."
"The price is okay. This said, the solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."
"The price is okay. This said, the solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."
"The configuration and settings require substantial time for learning, particularly for new users. Improvements in ease of configuration would benefit users significantly."
"The solution can improve the integration with open-source tools."
"The tool's security features need to improve. It needs also to include a monitoring system for logs. It is also complicated to find a query on the Azure firewall."
More Azure Firewall Manager cons
"The interface is an area that could be improved."
"Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center's logging functionality could be improved."
"Areas for improvement include pricing points and the range of products available at any given time."
"It takes five to seven minutes to push one policy."
"Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center could improve by being less expensive."
"The initial setup is a bit complex."
"The product could be improved by simplifying its user interface and reducing complexity."
"The performance of the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center could be improved."
More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable but it is reasonable for the features."
"The solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."
"One of the advantages of Cisco is its range of flexible licensing options."
"The product pricing is reasonable and falls in the mid-range."
"The price of the solution is expensive. We do not have to pay more than the standard licensing fees."
"I use the free version of the product."
"Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center has the best price on the market."
"Technical support is an additional annual cost and is not included with the license."
"My license offers all the protection, like malware protection, VPN protection, IDS, IPS, and endpoint protection."
"It is rather expensive."
More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center pricing and cost advice
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885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
8%
Construction Company
6%
Marketing Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Firewall Manager?
The pricing for Azure Firewall Manager is expensive. In our project, we have used both Palo Alto Firewall and Azure Firewall. Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling dep...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Azure Firewall Manager?
Azure Firewall is typically behind other vendor firewalls because we don't see what kind of traffic is traveling through it. That is one drawback. The main drawback is that we need log support from...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Azure Firewall Manager?
My customers are using Azure Firewall Manager, so I'm learning from both documentation and practical knowledge. I usually recommend Azure Firewall Manager for projects such as an animal hospital pr...
See all answers
What do you like most about Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?
The platform has significantly enhanced our organization's operations by providing secure communication channels between different office locations.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?
I find the pricing for Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center to be very reasonable, as they offer the license for both virtual and hardware options. For the virtual option, they have minimum lice...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?
So far, I find that everything related to Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is adequate. The only thing that was missing in the portfolio was SD-WAN, which I would like to use similar to Fort...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) vs Azure Firewall Manager Logo
FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) vs Azure Firewall Manager
Compared 21% of the time
Azure Firewall vs Azure Firewall Manager Logo
Azure Firewall vs Azure Firewall Manager
Compared 16% of the time
AlgoSec vs Azure Firewall Manager Logo
AlgoSec vs Azure Firewall Manager
Compared 15% of the time
Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Azure Firewall Manager Logo
Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Azure Firewall Manager
Compared 10% of the time
FireMon Security Manager vs Azure Firewall Manager Logo
FireMon Security Manager vs Azure Firewall Manager
Compared 10% of the time
More Azure Firewall Manager Competitors
Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Logo
Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Compared 43% of the time
FireMon Security Manager vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Logo
FireMon Security Manager vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Compared 16% of the time
AWS Firewall Manager vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Logo
AWS Firewall Manager vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Compared 16% of the time
Tufin Orchestration Suite vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Logo
Tufin Orchestration Suite vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Compared 13% of the time
Cisco Security Cloud Control vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Logo
Cisco Security Cloud Control vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Compared 13% of the time
More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Azure Firewall Manager
March 2026
Azure Firewall Manager reportDownload Azure Firewall Manager product report
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
March 2026
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center reportDownload Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center product report
 

Overview

Azure Firewall Manager is a security management service that provides central security policy and route management for cloud-based security perimeters.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

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:

● Cisco Secure Firewall with the Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) OS

● Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services

● Cisco Secure IPS (Firepower Next-Gen IPS / NGIPS)

● Cisco FirePOWER Threat Defense for ISR

● Cisco Malware Defense (AMP)

Cisco
Buyer's Guide
Azure Firewall Manager vs. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
March 2026
Free Report: Azure Firewall Manager vs. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall Manager vs. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
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