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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Portnox vs Securonix Next-Gen SIEM 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
8.4
Cisco Identity Services Engine enhances security, reduces breaches, ensures compliance, simplifies management, and consolidates systems for cost savings and efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox CORE improved network visibility, security, and efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing decision-making through detailed analytics and automated features.
Sentiment score
5.2
Securonix Next-Gen SIEM delivers ROI through cost savings, operational efficiency, quick deployment, and enhanced threat detection in compliance environments.
Direct comparisons with Forescout reveal up to 30% to 40% difference in cost savings.
If you were moving from a traditional on-premise NAC that was 100% managed by the IT department, there would be great savings in going to a cloud-based NAC with Portnox.
The solution is time-saving, particularly in the long run after it is deployed, enabling us to get value promptly.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.9
Cisco ISE support is praised for knowledge and responsiveness, yet occasionally inconsistent with integration and follow-up challenges.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox customer service is highly rated for responsiveness and efficiency, with room for improvement in local services and communication.
Sentiment score
6.7
Securonix Next-Gen SIEM excels in customer service with high satisfaction ratings, proactive guidance, and effective issue resolution.
I rate the technical support as one out of ten.
Sometimes it's challenging to identify which support team is responsible for certain issues, which is a significant concern.
They respond very immediately and provide detailed, amazing support.
I was seeing weird things, and they were able to explain things to me and help me quickly find a resolution.
They resolved issues quickly and provided clear explanations.
There is no UK-based support, which leads to delays in waiting for US support.
If I raise a ticket, it initially goes to the L1 team, but the next level of escalation is really effective.
When we reach out to someone, we often wait for the right person with the right skills to come and fix the solution, which is the major challenge.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers high scalability, supporting large deployments and enterprise expansions despite hardware and setup challenges.
Sentiment score
7.5
Portnox is scalable and flexible, supporting growth efficiently, though larger setups may require more resources, rated seven to ten.
Sentiment score
8.0
Securonix Next-Gen SIEM offers efficient scalability with flexible options, resolving slowdowns swiftly for diverse operational needs.
Factors like architecture, business nature, and legal limitations such as GDPR affect it.
I can rate it around eight to nine, and it is very scalable and capable of handling tasks, especially for the on-premises product.
The solution is scalable as it is cloud-based and cloud-native.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco ISE is highly reliable and stable, though larger deployments may experience occasional performance and configuration challenges.
Sentiment score
7.6
Portnox offers reliable uptime, though CORE users report issues with vendor support and configuration, while Clear performs smoothly.
Sentiment score
7.8
Securonix Next-Gen SIEM is stable with high availability, efficient log management, and high user satisfaction despite occasional issues.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is considered very reliable and stable.
The stability of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is poor for certain use cases, like authentication.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
The stability of Securonix Next-Gen SIEM is based on the events we are processing.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Identity Services Engine requires improved integration, user interface, documentation, compatibility, and management efficiency to enhance user experience.
Portnox can improve with better GUI, integration, scalability, support, licensing, false positives, documentation, and Wi-Fi and AI analytics.
Securonix Next-Gen SIEM struggles with complex deployment, integration, usability, and needs improvements in reporting, support, pricing, and performance.
The whole setup works well with Cisco access points and Cisco switches, but when you have multiple vendors in the environment, such as HP switches or access points like Aruba, you'll find they will not work well with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE).
Pricing can be more expensive compared to other vendors, and there is a significant price gap observed, which doesn't seem justified by some specific features.
They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases.
Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
When I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly.
They don't have much support during Asia Pacific hours.
At the admin level, we have many challenges where log parsing is causing issues and compatibility is not present.
The passing and setup are quite complex at the beginning, making onboarding not smooth.
SIEM could have better integration with other technologies.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco ISE offers three pricing tiers, with high costs and complex licensing, but provides extensive features and potential discounts.
Portnox offers scalable, competitive pricing based on ports, with annual fees, appreciated value, but no perpetual license option.
Securonix Next-Gen SIEM offers competitive, predictable pricing based on employee count, with typical enterprise costs around $100,000 for three years.
Compared to other solutions like HPE ClearPass, Cisco is more costly, and the conversation suggests a possible forty percent price gap compared to competitors.
The license costs can range between $50,000 to $100,000 per year for enterprises.
Cloud solutions are expensive, while on-prem setups with shared environments are cheaper but not effective.
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
It is a bit on the high side, but considering the cloud features and how much it costs to run the instance in the cloud, it is not unreasonable.
Licensing is based on events per second (EPS), costing between $50 to $60 per EPS.
The pricing has similar ingestion charges compared to other solutions, such as Splunk.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco ISE enhances network security with integration, 802.1X authentication, policy management, ease of use, and strong access control.
Portnox provides scalable, agentless network visibility with intuitive dashboards and automated security integration, enhancing efficiency and endpoint compliance.
Securonix Next-Gen SIEM offers advanced threat detection, automation, and integration, enhancing security while reducing manual tasks and response times.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers authentication using RADIUS, enhancing network security by separating and segregating networks.
The solution is integrated with other Cisco devices and can offer automation for an organization, making deployments more dynamic and providing real-time visibility.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very good at device administration.
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
It is very easy to implement on our current network hardware.
We use Meraki for our switching, making it simple to point all our networks and offices to Portnox.
The software includes user behavior interactions, dashboards, and training capabilities.
Now, the process is automatic, reducing our workload.
The other SIEM solutions lack an option for big data analysis, whereas in the Securonix Next-Gen SIEM, we have this option.
 

Mindshare comparison

Network Access Control (NAC)
Network Access Control (NAC)
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

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.
Scott Kerr - PeerSpot reviewer
It is seamless and integrates well with our Azure setup
We use devices like PLCs and controllers, and when we receive a request to allow one on the network, we bypass typical authentication, associate it with a group account, and push it to a firewalled VLAN. However, problems arise when the same MAC address is requested for a different project. Our current system only finds authenticated MAC addresses, making it difficult to troubleshoot when the same device is used for multiple purposes. Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
Mohammed Nadeem Rais - PeerSpot reviewer
The visibility and analytics from Securonix SIEM have become indispensable in identifying and stopping potential threats before they escalate.
The most valuable feature of Securonix Next-Gen SIEM is its advance analytics, flexibility and scalability. We ingest billions of logs without worrying about resource allocation. This makes it a robust and cost-effective solution for our needs. Its user entity and behavior analytics (UEBA) are also integral for detecting insider threats and lateral movements within the organization. These features help organizations strengthen their security posture, protect sensitive data, and maintain compliance with strict regulatory requirements.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
5%
 

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...
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 cann...
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 some...
What do you like most about Portnox CORE?
It's easy to manage and troubleshoot thanks to the lightweight components.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox CORE?
It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle, so I'll probably give it a seven out of ten, where one is che...
What needs improvement with Portnox CORE?
We have been having some issues with it. That's why we're considering migrating to Portnox Clear due to some limitati...
Which is the best SIEM tool for a mid-sized financial services firm: Arcsight or Securonix?
In my market, a lot of financial companies had or have an ArcSight installation. Just because in former times it was ...
What is your primary use case for Securonix Security Analytics?
I use this solution for security monitoring and user behavior analytics. Banks, governments, and the oil and gas sect...
What do you like most about Securonix Next-Gen SIEM?
The two major features of this product we extensively use are the UEBA capability and the multi-tenant approach with ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
Securonix Security Analytics
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

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
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Dtex Systems, Pfizer, Western Union, Harris, ITG
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: May 2025.
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