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Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Barracuda Email Security Ga...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
DMARC Authentication Software (3rd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (5th)
Cisco Secure Email Threat D...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Barracuda Email Security Gateway is designed for Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and holds a mindshare of 6.6%, down 8.6% compared to last year.
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, on the other hand, focuses on Email Security, holds 1.1% mindshare, up 0.9% since last year.
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Barracuda Email Security Gateway6.6%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36527.5%
Proofpoint Email Protection21.0%
Other44.9%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense1.1%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36511.5%
Proofpoint Email Protection8.2%
Other79.2%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

WalidChowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust email protection with advanced features such as effective spam filtering, virus and malware defense, phishing protection and high scalability
Our customer faced a significant challenge with spam, leading to increased expenses. The complexity of their email infrastructure added to the issue, with some clients using Microsoft Exchange, others relying on different systems, and some operating on Linux platforms. To address this, we…
Enrique-Diaz Jolly - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides comprehensive threat protection with suggestions for modernizing controls
I use the email gateway as the core of the email exchange between the Internet and our domain. The email gateway serves as the email exchanger The product offers protection, email security, anti-spam, and antivirus. It includes threat intelligence with advanced malware protection and many…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Customer support is the solution's strongest point."
"It can scale."
"All features it provides on the cloud environment are very, very useful, including the antivirus that is enabled on it."
"The solution helps us to block some blacklisted emails."
"One advantage is its immediate deployment capability. So the fast speed to deploy is a big plus point."
"This solution has helped to significantly reduce the amount of junk email that we receive."
"The protection from Barracuda Email Security Gateway is essentially a sandboxing solution."
"It is a very stable solution."
"Regarding stability, Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is very stable."
"The ability to see east-west traffic is its most valuable feature. Traditionally, email defense focuses on north-south, inbound-outbound, egress-ingress traffic. With Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, it's able to quickly identify, track, tag, and categorize emails that are internal. That can typically give us visibility into if there's an internal compromised account (for example). Someone can then use that internal compromised account to email additional accounts with either malicious software or links, but internal within that Office tenant. Effectively, that email message never leaves the tenant. Any of the mail gateways really do not have any method or way of seeing this traffic since it's not leaving the environment."
"It has an efficient email filtering feature."
"The features and functionalities are much better than Microsoft's in-built Defender plan."
"The product offers protection, email security, anti-spam, and antivirus."
"The solution is stable."
"The advanced threat analytics and URL filtering in threat detection are good features that are working well."
"I highly recommend it as one of the best choices."
 

Cons

"Barracuda Email Security Gateway can improve email detection. We have some emails that are bypassing the threat scanning. There are some impersonation emails passing through."
"Sometimes there are false positive emails coming through, so they should improve further on detection technologies and techniques."
"I have noticed that it takes a little time to get familiar with after deploying and some tweaks need to be done as things come up."
"I am not aware of the licensing costs."
"There is room for improvement in the speed of the interface, specifically the cloud interface, is a bit slow."
"There are some times when legit emails are trapped on Barracuda and we are unable to get that information unless we actually log on to the network to find out."
"The UI could be a little cleaner and require less clicking around in different modules. They give the illusion of a single pane of glass, but as you click around to different products, you're actually being transferred into a different system."
"There are limited administration controls that should be improved."
"The tool gives false positives and it needs to be more accurate. I would like to see AI as a new feature."
"Cisco's multiple product lines and verticals made this just one of their many verticals, and we could see a shift in focus."
"The pricing could always be better."
"Customers will benefit greatly from monthly billing because the majority of customers today use the cloud, be it Office 365, or Google Cloud."
"The product's complexity at times results in redundant rule sets that are difficult to untangle, highlighting the need for streamlined management systems and a more user-centric approach to system configuration."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"There is still room for improvement in terms of integrations with other Cisco tools and non-Cisco tools. There is also some room for improvement needed in terms of the reporting."
"The learning curve shows that in the beginning, there are numerous false positives. For one month, we had to reclassify the false positives manually until the system learned."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is priced low. We have received a good price discount here in Sri Lanka. There are additional licenses we have to purchase a license for the ATP."
"There is an annual license required for this solution."
"We pay between $8 and $10 USD per user per month."
"For overall value and cost, Barracuda came in as most appropriate, price as well as services provided. In terms of price, it's average . It's not the most expensive, it's not the least expensive but it works well."
"e solution's pricing is exceedingly high, and it continues to increase."
"This is one of the major points for integrating this solution in any organization. Barracuda Email Security Gateway needs to make it a bit more tolerable for customers because it is increasing every year. They should create a plan for reducing the cost."
"We typically purchase a one or three-year license for Barracuda Email Security Gateway."
"The pricing for the product is fine."
"The feedback from vendors and customer is that it is expensive."
"The solution’s pricing is manageable."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox does not have any competition with Sophos, Trend Micro, or other vendors of the world. However, there is a pricing premium for the solution. One has to look at it from that angle that while they are buying Cisco, there will be a premium, and Cisco justifies that premium value. That's why they're charging a high price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
21%
Healthcare Company
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Barracuda Sentinel?
It not only tackles spam effectively but also incorporates advanced features like ATP and active features which ensures a comprehensive and adaptable email security solution tailored to their hete...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Sentinel?
I would suggest that pricing for Barracuda Email Security Gateway rates around seven. It is not too expensive, but it is a considerable cost. Compared with others, Barracuda Email Security Gateway ...
What needs improvement with Barracuda Sentinel?
Regarding real-time intelligent features of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway, some spam emails are still being released by the ESG to the end users, so the functionality is not working appropri...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Secure Email Threat Defense?
The pricing for Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is relatively high. For an organization that already has the legacy system, it makes sense to continue hosting it. However, new organizations might...
What needs improvement with Secure Email Threat Defense?
Modernization is an area that could be improved for Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense, as some features have lagged behind newer competitors, potentially offering more advanced analysis capabilitie...
What is your primary use case for Secure Email Threat Defense?
The main use case for Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense is as a gateway for email traffic into and out of the organization. It serves as the primary conduit for emails, providing content filtering,...
 

Also Known As

Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Barracuda Sentinel
Cisco Secure Email Cloud Mailbox, Cisco CMD, Cisco Cloud Mailbox Defense
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Evolution Recruitment Solutions, Evans Delivery Company, Osoyoos Credit Union, Synovis Life Technologies, Camden County Technical Schools, DEK, Evans Delivery Company, Colgate Rochester Crozer, Hemmera, South Carolina Heart Center, Ferma Corporation, Major League Baseball (MLB), Healy Brothers Automotive Group
Luiss University, Lone Star College, T-Systems, Magyar Telekom
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Email Security Gateway vs. Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.