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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security comparison

The compared Cisco and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in NAC , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 25.3% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #16 in EMM , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Read 142 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reviews
  • 14,014 Views
  • 9,175 Comparison Views
87% willing to recommend
Microsoft Enterprise Mobili...
Read 10 Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security reviews
  • 485 Views
  • 53 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC).

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Network Access Control (NAC)
May 2025
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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

Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
142
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
Microsoft Enterprise Mobili...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security 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 25.3%, down 31.1% compared to last year.
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), holds 0.8% mindshare, up 0.7% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

Featured Reviews

SunilkumarNaganuri - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced device administration hindered by complex deployment and security limitations
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) needs to improve the profiling preauthentication. They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases. This will give them a roadmap for software-defined access (SDA) use cases and network segmentation. Threat detection capabilities are very weak. Additionally, the product is vulnerable and has many bugs.
Read full review
Majid-Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates well with products that fall under the same brand name, but the licensing model needs improvement
Since Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security needs to deal with the competition from VMware and Ivanti, I visited PeerSpot's website to see how Microsoft can compete with its competitors. Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security lacks some remote-related features that VMware offers its users. In the future, Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security should offer some remote-related features that VMware offers to its users. Microsoft outsources the support services to some of its partners who need to understand that the modern-day users of the product don't live in the 2000s, where they want someone to ask if they have restarted the router or not. There are certain shortcomings in the licensing model of the product where improvements are required. There is no simple licensing model where my company can suggest our customers purchase a plan that includes every feature in the tool.
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

"The profiling model included is the most valuable feature."
"I like the automation of the collection of information."
"Cisco ISE's integration with other external identity servers like Duende is very simple and easy."
"The solution cuts down on the repercussions of getting malware or ransomware."
"The endpoint profiling feature is among the most valuable because it keeps me from having to manually maintain a MAC address bypass list to track endpoints. I can have ISE profile them for me and then put them in the right bucket."
"The ability to integrate our Cisco AnyConnect connections to the active directory has been great."
"I like the guest access feature, which has been important for us."
"One of the advantages is that you can easily find rogue endpoints. For example, if you don't want to allow any endpoints where you don't know the people plugging into what kind of devices, ISE can give you a big, clear picture, e.g., what kind of endpoints are getting connected to your network. That is one of the advantages."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pros
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The solution is very good at securing files. For example, if I forward a secure document, it's blocked from others, as I can send it with restrictions in relation to who can open it."
"The solution offers excellent documentation that is easily available online."
"Integration between our departments has been the most valuable."
"The solution is scalable."
"A good feature that is present is MAM or Mobile Application Management. We can deploy this feature on the device, which is not managed by the organization. If I apply some security configuration on a personal device, the user would be really disappointed. What we do instead is that we give all access to the applications related to corporate and ask the users to use the application. We secure the application by putting the security features on the applications and not on the users' devices. This way, the users are happy, and we also meet our company's compliance standards. Then, everyone is happy."
"You can scale the solution up or down by department."
"The product is a unified solution and you don't require to purchase tools from different vendors. The system analyzes behavior and activity and takes steps for protection."
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security pros
 

Cons

"I would rate this solution a 7.5 out of ten. To make it a ten they should have more people on tech support. They need to invest more in the product. It's a good product. They should just work on tech support. More support for the customer. It's not that easy to get somebody to understand this product. I have had some issues with tech before for the solution. One of them brought the solution down due to some of his activity. They need to hugely invest in their tech support."
"I'd like to see an easier way to upgrade to larger versions, as well as more best practices that are easier to locate on their support page."
"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 solution could be more secure."
"An issue with the product is it tends to have a lot of bugs whenever they release a new release."
"Documentation is probably the worst part of the software."
"One of the issues that we used to have was with profiling because we're working with a service provider that uses a lot of bring your own devices."
"It could be less monolithic. It's one huge application, and it does everything under the sun, so it's hard to deal with and upgrade and manage."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) cons
"Its performance needs enhancement."
"Microsoft's feature management is based on licenses. Microsoft follows ethical licensing and hence do not restrict the use of it."
"There are certain shortcomings in the licensing model of the product where improvements are required."
"Technical support could be improved. Sometimes they use a third party that's not so knowledgeable in the product and that can slow down things a bit."
"The auditing and reporting could be updated and upgraded. I would like to see light applications because they consume a lot of the device's memory at present."
"The licensing can be messy at times."
"The licensing is quite expensive."
"Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security is expensive."
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Essentials licensing is reasonable, but I would like the Premier version to be perpetual instead of a subscription."
"Its licensing could be improved. It used to be perpetual, but now they are moving away from that."
"Cybersecurity resilience has been very important to our organization and has been a big factor. We've had issues in the past, but one of the things I like about ISE is its logging features. Security wise or information wise, it really has been a powerful tool."
"The licensing can be confusing, but it is still pretty good."
"Licensing has got much simpler since Cisco moved to the DNA model because we just have the three tiers, but it could always stand to be improved upon."
"The price for Cisco ISE is high."
"It's an expensive solution when compared to other vendors."
"The price of the solution is price fair for the features you receive."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pricing and cost advice
"The solution is cost-effective."
"I would rate pricing at eight out of ten. It is a bit higher because of the security features that Microsoft provides."
"We have to pay 10 dollars per user. I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten."
"The increase in the prices of the product might not be the actual problem, but things become complex with some new plans that were introduced by Microsoft recently."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
18%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Pharma/Biotech Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 ...
See all answers
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, ...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
What do you like most about Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
The increase in the prices of the product might not be the actual problem, but things become complex with some new plans that were introduced by Microsoft recently. Initially, my company used to ha...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
Since Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security needs to deal with the competition from VMware and Ivanti, I visited PeerSpot's website to see how Microsoft can compete with its competitors. Microso...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 24% of the time
Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 22% of the time
Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 10% of the time
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 5% of the time
Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 3% of the time
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Competitors
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 30% of the time
ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 12% of the time
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 5% of the time
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
June 2025
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reportDownload Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
May 2025
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security reportDownload Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security product report
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Enterprise Mobility + Security E3, Enterprise Mobility + Security E5, MS Enterprise Mobility + Security
 

Overview

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers comprehensive network access control and visibility, supporting features like 802.1X authentication, profiling, and posturing. It integrates with Microsoft and other Cisco products, facilitating robust security policies across distributed networks.

Cisco Identity Services Engine is a key player in network access control, offering centralized management and a user-friendly interface. It supports zero trust principles and provides strong authentication for wired and wireless networks. ISE's capabilities include granular security policies, enhanced device posturing, and seamless integration, bolstering security infrastructure. Users benefit from its dual authentication through EAP, simplifying access management across networks.

What are the key features of Cisco ISE?
  • 802.1X Authentication: Supports network security for authorized device access.
  • Profiling: Identifies devices for accurate policy enforcement.
  • Posturing: Evaluates device compliance for access decisions.
  • TACACS: Streamlines network device authentication and authorization.
  • Guest Access: Provides secure access to visitors.
  • Microsoft Compatibility: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft environments.
What benefits and ROI should be considered?
  • Security Enhancement: Offers strong network security policies.
  • Operational Efficiency: Centralized management improves operational aspects.
  • Improved Compliance: Ensures adherence to industry standards.
  • Scalability: Supports growing network demands effectively.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and education, Cisco ISE is pivotal for securing wired and wireless networks, implementing BYOD policies, and managing user access. Organizations leverage ISE for effective authentication and authorization, while maintaining compliance with industry security standards.

Cisco

Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) is the only comprehensive solution designed to help manage and protect users, devices, apps, and data in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.

Microsoft
 

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
Mars, Whole Foods, Land O'Lakes, Dow
Buyer's Guide
Network Access Control (NAC)
May 2025
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