We performed a comparison between Cisco Duo and Microsoft Active Directory based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Single Sign-On (SSO) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."It is a good solution for hybrid environments and VPN."
"The most valuable feature of Duo Security is the ability for the user to easily approve access. The application prompts the user, and they can see the location and the IP address. This makes it easy for the user to approve it and go through the process of logging in to the VPN."
"For me and my customers, the best feature is that it's very easy to integrate with the existing infrastructure. It takes a few minutes to configure it."
"The flexibility is the most valuable feature. We use it for the app on the phone. When we're at different locations, the phone is usually there, so we can use that. It has just been a very flexible option."
"It's easy to deploy. It's easy to manage. It's easy to integrate with other applications."
"The push notifications and the integrations they offer are valuable. Their mobile app is very useful. It is very easy to use."
"Multifactor authentication and secure two-factor authentication are the most valuable features. It's been around for a while, but now it's becoming an enforced behavior as opposed to something that you used to do as optional."
"It provides single-pane-of-glass management, which is pretty easy and straightforward. Because we manage multiple access tiers, it allows us to essentially manage everything from one viewpoint and not have many viewpoints for the same product. This is important because it is a time and resource saver. It also saves us money."
"The solution's technical support is good."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Active Directory is the group policies."
"The user-friendliness of Microsoft Active Directory is a valuable feature."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Active Directory are the management of user and group policies."
"One noteworthy aspect we discovered is the ability to exercise tight control over systems, specifically Windows PCs. This pertains to the management of policies, usage patterns, and user access on these devices, particularly within the framework of Active Directory which is extremely well thought. This actually works better with on-premises solutions. However, as the global trend shifts towards cloud and hybrid environments, Active Directory and its use is diminishing. Yet, it hasn't entirely lost its relevance and remains a presence that cannot be entirely disregarded."
"The solution is user-friendly, and I like using Microsoft products. I think there is no other choice for Active Directory. Microsoft Windows Server Active Directory is the best."
"The product is very stable and flexible. You can also integrate the solution with other products like mail solutions."
"Stability and performance are good. So far, we have not observed any major downtime or performance issues since we deployed it."
"The pain point for us at one point was the Duo Authentication Proxy since we're on-premises and not in the cloud. We had to have a proxy machine that's in our DMZ to talk to Duo for us. The configuration of that was a little complicated."
"We use Yubikey for pushing it to the phones. Yubikeys can get expensive because people tend to lose those for some reason. Fifty dollars a device is pretty high."
"While two-factor authentication with mobile devices provides a high level of security, it's still not foolproof, as someone could potentially steal your phone. It would be beneficial to have information about the authentication location."
"For the back-end, there could be a few more security features applied."
"I would like to see some features simplified, such as securing, configuring, and implementing Microsoft Remote Desktop. Other than that, the solution was rock solid throughout my time administering it."
"Duo was clearly purchased, and Cisco has a lot of other panels for their Firepower products, et cetera. They need to continue bringing it, Umbrella, and the endpoint pieces even more together and make the integration a little more seamless among all of them."
"The only challenge is finding the right person sometimes. From what I've seen, being a named account is a big deal."
"Duo Security could be improved with the addition of more applications."
"The cloud service of Microsoft Active Directory is an area with certain shortcomings that need improvement."
"The solution could be made more safe by using authentication mechanisms."
"I would like to see improvements in the solution’s security filtering feature. It can include machines and filter some users. There is no option to exclude a particular user or system."
"In the solution, assigning permissions is complex, making it difficult to grant them at a granular level or to multiple users without templates or alternative tools."
"It could be more stable."
"It could be more scalable. We still need another software solution to monitor the network in addition to Active Directory and OpManager, our domain controller. We use SolarWinds."
"UI is not very user-friendly."
"I did not have a good experience with the product's tech support. First-level support takes a lot of time since they ask many questions."
Cisco Duo is ranked 2nd in Single Sign-On (SSO) with 55 reviews while Microsoft Active Directory is ranked 6th in Single Sign-On (SSO) with 36 reviews. Cisco Duo is rated 8.8, while Microsoft Active Directory is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco Duo writes "Helps reduce the risk of a breach and is easy to deploy and onboard". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Active Directory writes "A solution that easily merges with cloud-based ADs and provides superior data security". Cisco Duo is most compared with Microsoft Entra ID, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, Fortinet FortiToken, Yubico YubiKey and UserLock, whereas Microsoft Active Directory is most compared with PingFederate, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, Microsoft Entra ID, ManageEngine ADManager Plus and Auth0. See our Cisco Duo vs. Microsoft Active Directory report.
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