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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence comparison

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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

Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
144
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
IBM Security Identity Gover...
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (15th), Identity Management (IM) (32nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 18.4%, down 24.5% compared to last year.
IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence, on the other hand, focuses on User Provisioning Software, holds 3.1% mindshare, up 2.2% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)18.4%
Aruba ClearPass17.5%
Fortinet FortiNAC11.9%
Other52.2%
Network Access Control (NAC)
User Provisioning Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Security Identity Governance and Intelligence3.1%
SailPoint Identity Security Cloud18.2%
Identity Manager by One Identity9.0%
Other69.7%
User Provisioning Software
 

Featured Reviews

NF
IT Network Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Has improved authentication management and simplified visitor network access
The log capacity in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced because today natively on the ISE can only have a look at the logs from the day before. You cannot search into the oldest logs; you have to use another tool for that. This can be blocking if you don't have any log consolidation solution. To do a search for an issue or something that happened two days ago, you cannot search directly in there. The capacity of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced. Something between one week and one month for the log capacity would be nice.
reviewer1830612 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head, Cybersecurity at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We use the solution to ensure organizations conform to industry base certifications and best practices
We use the product to ensure organizations conform to industry base certifications and best practices and do not contradict their security policies within the base points they specify in the system, which are used to match everything against their governance use cases I think the product's most…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From my assessments so far, however, ISE still wins the show and it's likely that the partner that was doing the deployment originally on behalf of Cisco probably missed out on a number of things."
"They provide you multiple ways to achieve security, not only on-prem, but also when you have remote and guest workers. Especially post-pandemic, a lot of our customers have remote workers. So, it has been really helpful."
"We were originally a Cisco shop and Cisco ISE integrated well with our other Cisco switches and networks."
"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."
"The way the ISE works is you can get into defining. Let's say, in my case, I've got a Windows laptop and I've got an Apple product and those have unique identifiers, unique back addresses. It would say that this in my profile so I could get to those apps with either device, 24/seven. That's how granular the ISE or these NAC Solutions can get."
"The profiling model included is the most valuable feature."
"Without Cisco ISE, we couldn't authorize our users, contractors, and everyone else."
"Cisco has implemented a special ATC partner program to help partners and customers to have a smooth deployment."
"I would rate the price eight out of 10, with 10 as the best value for money."
"Lifecycle management, governance and documentation."
"This solution has a very good dashboard and the documentation is also very good, and life cycle management and governance are also good features in this solution."
"We use the product to ensure organizations conform to industry base certifications and best practices and do not contradict their security policies within the base points they specify in the system, which are used to match everything against their governance use cases."
 

Cons

"If Cisco could grant more control, the features could be more focused on network and security administration, reducing the need for integration with other components."
"The stability of the solution needs to be improved. It's not ideal. It's lacking overall."
"It is too complex. It should be easy to use."
"The customer server was great but it would have been better for me if they had support in other languages such as Spanish."
"Its user interface could be better. It's not bad. They've just redesigned the whole user interface. It's not terribly difficult. The drop-down menus are easy to use. However, when you're looking for some things in the user interface, it takes a minute to find where you were prior."
"I have complaints. I don't enjoy the licensing model."
"Cisco ISE could be simplified somewhat. I would also prefer certificate-based authentication over confirmation-based authentication for all the processes. It's possible for us to do a workaround, but the process needs to be simplified."
"The integrations with the switches and the wireless controllers are not really straightforward. There is what they call the best practice for them, but it may not be what we have on-premise."
"The solution is also a bit pricey for the Nigeria region."
"Self service center is not always easy to understand."
"I think improvements could be made in the self service center, making it easier for the user to understand."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is fair for what it does."
"The licensing is subscription-based and based on the user account."
"Licensing is a disaster. It's a mess and I hope they fix it soon."
"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."
"The solution’s pricing is okay."
"I get very good pricing from Cisco, so I don't have a problem with that. I also don't have a problem with licensing because we get enterprise or global licensing."
"Our customers pay for the license of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine). They have an annual subscription, rather than a monthly subscription."
"The recent changes in the licensing model have caused some issues with the team."
"I would rate the price eight out of 10, with 10 as the best value for money."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise91
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
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 ...
What are the main differences between Cisco ISE and Forescout Platform?
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, ...
How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?
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 exper...
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Also Known As

Cisco ISE
IGI, IBM Security Identity Manager, ISIM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
E.ON Global Commodities
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, ThreatLocker and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.