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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs SAP Identity Management 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

Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
SAP Identity Management
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (6th), Identity Management (IM) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and SAP Identity Management 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 25.1%, down 30.7% compared to last year.
SAP Identity Management, on the other hand, focuses on Identity Management (IM), holds 2.5% mindshare, down 3.1% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Identity Management (IM)
 

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.
Kiril Petkov - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable, especially if you're an experienced user and is suitable for managing access rights for accounts, process sharing, and file sharing, but it isn't straightforward to use or maintain
I'm not so happy about the features provided by SAP Identity Management, but I'm not sure where the problem lies, if it's a product issue, an issue with its deployment, or both. I find SAP Identity Management complicated to use. Maintaining it is also complex. The solution is integrated with only two core systems, so it's not compatible with all applications in terms of providing single sign-on, which makes no sense to me, so this is another area for improvement in SAP Identity Management. Still, the issue could be with the supplier my company is working with, as that supplier provides consultancy and deployment services. It's a popular, experienced, and well-ranked supplier in the local market. However, it's still not guaranteed that the business requirements have been understood correctly and that the deployment was done properly. What I'd like to see in SAP Identity Management in its next release is a more innovative way to use it for handling all access rights rather than having to use different products.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Among the most valuable features is TACACS."
"It is a good product for what it does...So, it is one of the most critical systems that we have."
"After the product was installed, no one could access the secure connection network. In order for any laptop or any endpoint device to attach to my network, it needs to be authorized or be certified to be connected."
"Visitors can be granted access to the wifi network using their cellphones, notebooks or tablets in a very easy way. The ease of accessibility that anyone can have to the network is very quick and is a big improvement in our network."
"The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall."
"Our clients like Cisco ISE because they already use various Cisco solutions. It's easy for them to use this solution because they have an engineer with Cisco certifications."
"I found the CMDB Direct Connect in Cisco ISE 3.2 the most promising feature for my use case."
"It's flexible and stable. It's been good as a standard environment to run."
"What I like about SAP Identity Management is that it's stable for experienced users and suitable for access management, not just for SAP accounts, but for Active Directory, including file sharing and process sharing."
"The most valuable feature is the user experience for managing information."
"The most valuable features of SAP Identity Management are business roles and automated user provisioning."
"It provides basic automatic user administration and role provisioning to save time."
"What I found most valuable in SAP Identity Management is process automation. The solution also gives transparency about what is happening and why which I find beneficial. Another feature I found valuable in SAP Identity Management is integration. It has very good integration."
"Rather than implement a basic SSO, this solution assisted us with setting up two-factor authentication."
"The setup process is straightforward."
"The tool's most valuable features are its access control and approval of access requests. The self-service password reset feature is efficient. Role management capabilities streamline user access by assigning and revoking roles."
 

Cons

"We would definitely like to see a little bit of an improvement in the web GUI navigation. Some of the things are a little bit hidden in the drop-down menu. If we could get a way to get to those quicker, it'd be much more useful."
"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"I would like for the next release to be easier to implement and to limit its dependencies around ISE, Windows, the network as a whole, etc."
"The learning curve is steep and the initial setup is complex."
"I would definitely improve the deployment and maybe a little bit of the support. Our first exposure to ISE had a lot of issues."
"I think some areas where ISE could be better are perhaps in the number of integrations that they offer from a virtual standpoint, as well as having a better and more comprehensive pathway for the customer to go from a physical environment to a virtual one."
"Cisco ISE requires a lot of time-consuming administration."
"Cisco could improve the GUIs on their hardware."
"I find SAP Identity Management complicated to use. Maintaining it is also complex."
"A lack of startup connectors to different systems, and could have better connectors for SAP IDM."
"What needs improvement in SAP Identity Management is its compatibility with third-party applications. We'd like to get connectors or plugin settings to make it easier to manage other applications, whether SAP or non SAP applications. As SAP Identity Management is not compatible with non SAP applications, some of the clients are looking for other IDM applications such as SalePoint and Saviynt, so this is an issue we've observed in the solution."
"It needs to have the SSO for the HANA modules that SAP is releasing."
"One of the areas for improvement in the solution is its user interface which needs to be up-to-date and fancier, in particular, have better visualization in terms of the tabs and buttons. The user interface of SAP Identity Management should be improved based on the latest trends."
"Research and marketing need to be improved."
"SAP Identity Management can improve risk analysis and authority checks."
"The pricing could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco ISE is not inexpensive, but the solution is well-built and worth the expense."
"It is fairly expensive and that's part of why we have implemented it in the type of 'hack' that we did, to service multiple clients."
"The recent changes in the licensing model have caused some issues with the team."
"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."
"The price of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is expensive and we are thinking about changing to FortiGate."
"It has a fair price. It is better than it was before."
"Cisco is expensive, but it's the cost for all the functions and value it brings. Functions like internet solutions, integrations, security, and many more features are important, but it's expensive for some clients."
"It is fair."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
"The licensing cost varies depending on the specific requirements and deployment size."
"When evaluating the price of any product, I first look at how it meets my business requirements and if it meets requirements adequately and predictively. Currently, I don't see this from SAP Identity Management, so pricing for it is expensive, in my opinion."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

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 ...
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...
What do you like most about SAP Identity Management?
The tool's most valuable features are its access control and approval of access requests. The self-service password reset feature is efficient. Role management capabilities streamline user access b...
What needs improvement with SAP Identity Management?
I have encountered issues with the host authentication feature.
What is your primary use case for SAP Identity Management?
Our clients utilize the tool to automate user provisioning and manage identity, security, and user roles within their IT environment. It is configured as a tenant for this purpose, and it includes ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
SAP NetWeaver Identity Management, NetWeaver Identity Management
 

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
State of Indiana, Automotive Resources International (ARI), Alliander N.V., Chemion Logistik GmbH, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH)
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