Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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
142
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 (7th), Identity Management (IM) (15th)
 

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 25.8%, down 31.3% compared to last year.
SAP Identity Management, on the other hand, focuses on Identity Management (IM), holds 2.3% mindshare, down 3.3% 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.
Imran  Rafi - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows for seamless integration and provides a unified login experience
I believe it is widely used by all our clients. They usually have three or four applications, and it's not advisable to use separate physical logins for each authentication. That's why they prefer a cloud application, where they can find a unified login for all applications. The solution is scalable, and we can handle multiple users and customers. We can accommodate different authentication requirements for various groups of employees. It's a flexible solution that can be tailored according to specific needs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"RADIUS is the best feature because it supplies authentication to our entire campus."
"There are a lot of integrations available with multiple vendors. This has made the solution easier to work with."
"The RADIUS Server holds the most value."
"When we use ISE, one of the helpful things is that I can go through the dashboard and get every step along the way of how a device was authenticated. If it's failing, why did it fail? Why is it unauthorized? If there's an error, what is the error and how can I fix that error? If it's something that, if they should be passing, why are they failing?"
"It offers automatic profiling of phones and computers, enabling administrators to identify and categorize devices seamlessly."
"I like the automation of the collection of information."
"The core point is that Cisco ISE is the same globally compared to FortiAuthenticator. Whether I deploy in China, the US, South Africa, or wherever, I'm can get all the capabilities. It allows me to directly integrate with 365, and from a communications point of view, that is a good capability."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the policy sets."
"The most valuable feature is the user experience for managing information."
"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."
"It provides basic automatic user administration and role provisioning to save time."
"The setup process is straightforward."
"Rather than implement a basic SSO, this solution assisted us with setting up two-factor authentication."
"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 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."
"The most valuable features of SAP Identity Management are business roles and automated user provisioning."
 

Cons

"It is a good product, but in order to use all of the functions of the product, you must have a good understanding of the product. You must know how to use and manage it. It is a little bit complicated to configure and manage. It must be simplified to make it easy to manage for end users. In the initial stage, we found ISE complicated for end users. It was not easy to manage it or to write authentication and authorization protocol. They must improve its management and make it easy for end users. The monitoring and reporting capabilities can be improved because end users want to quickly see what is happening in their network. There were some restrictions in working with other vendors. It should also have a better and easy integration with other vendors."
"We do tend to run into a lot of issues with ISE when it comes to bugs."
"With the recent release of the solution, we had a bunch of bugs and we had to delay our deployment. Other than that, the solution is good."
"There is room for improvement in CLI. Most things are done through the GUI, and there aren't many commands or troubleshooting options available compared to other Cisco products like switches and routers."
"Difficult to figure out the protocols and nodes in order to implement correctly."
"The admin interface is really slow. It's horrible."
"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."
"Adding new devices was a little cumbersome. I haven't done it that many times, but I remember that adding new devices to the authentication piece of it was a little cumbersome. The way I was shown to do it, I thought it was odd because we had to go into the active device, copy the file down, export it, make some changes to it, and then reimport it as opposed to being able to click it and having a template to fill out."
"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."
"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."
"I have encountered issues with the host authentication feature."
"SAP Identity Management can improve risk analysis and authority checks."
"I find SAP Identity Management complicated to use. Maintaining it is also complex."
"The pricing could be better."
"Research and marketing need to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you consider money only, Cisco ISE is not a cheap solution."
"The technology is good, but to use some of the other features, and capabilities, they request that we purchase the Cisco DNA Center. As a result, the bundled price is a little high."
"I don't know too much about the actual pricing on it. The licensing part is pretty straightforward. It's a lot more simple than some of the other Cisco licensing models. In that aspect, it's great."
"The pricing is fair for what it does."
"The price for Cisco ISE is high."
"The licensing can be confusing, but it is still pretty good."
"For the Avast virus scan, we pay around USD $95 per machine for five years which includes all updates and technical support."
"Licensing is a disaster. It's a mess and I hope they fix it soon."
"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."
"The licensing cost varies depending on the specific requirements and deployment size."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
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)
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.