

Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
The return on investment is satisfactory with Cisco products as they have long lifespans, and our customers are satisfied with them.
At Amazon, we knew exactly how much it would cost if a fulfillment center was down for an hour.
The AI features further contribute by expediting threat detection and incident response, ensuring tangible returns through operational savings.
It is one of those tools that needs to work right out of the box, and thankfully, it does; it is reliable, and the setup time was quick and straightforward.
My impression is that the support quality has deteriorated over time.
Cisco TAC is very competent.
With our established point of contact within Cisco, our experience has greatly improved; we no longer log all issues through technical cases, as we can go directly to our account managers or customer service team, which expedites resolution.
I would rate the technical support ten out of ten. Hands down.
We turn the traffic to the Cisco Secure Access cloud, and we can manage and apply the policies that are necessary, making it very easy to scale the solution.
Cisco has a great benefit in that you can integrate with other solutions in an easy way because it has a lot of protocols to integrate with others and sophisticated steps that we can apply for integration.
Performance has remained consistent, usage has increased, and we have not experienced scalability-related limitations.
We find Cisco products stable and thoroughly tested before new software or firmware versions are released.
I find Cisco IOS Security to be a very stable product.
Cisco is renowned for their reliability, and their products perform well under high data usage.
The service consistently provides secure connectivity for remote users, contractors, and hybrid environments with minimal disruption.
I rate the stability of Cisco Secure Access as ten out of ten.
Cisco changes their licensing policy quite frequently, which is becoming confusing and complicated.
Modernization is needed, specifically in the enhancement of security features and functionality.
It was challenging to learn because it has a significant learning curve and requires considerable training to become proficient.
The granular access issue is coming from the product limitation at the moment, as it does not offer us the option to tell it that a particular role can only manage websites, allowed sites, and blocked sites.
The cost of Cisco IOS Security for customers is on the higher end of pricing compared to the competition, depending on the targeted customers.
The solution is cheaper than premium options such as Palo Alto, existing Cisco licenses facilitate replacing previous solutions with Cisco Secure Access smoothly and affordably.
It is good because you want to push Cisco Secure Access, and regarding the price, it is very much below other products.
Improvement on the pricing will help in expanding the market for Cisco Secure Access and then it can be affordable to much more number of companies than what it is right now.
This solution, called Network Access Controller, handles authentication, authorization, and accounting for devices accessing the network.
The best features of Cisco IOS Security are its integration with software management tools such as Cisco DNA Center and Cisco ICE, which provide centralized policy and network access control.
It eliminates the hassle of switching on VPNs and provides a direct connection to resources via Cisco Secure Access.
They are sending the traffic encrypted and categorizing the traffic based on the type, whether web traffic or internet traffic, and doing the security mechanism that is needed for the traffic type.
Using ZTNA in Cisco Secure Access has positively affected my transition and my clients' transition to Zero Trust and least privilege principles, reinforcing the security posture.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Cisco Secure Access | 0.4% |
| Cisco IOS Security | 0.6% |
| Other | 99.0% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 20 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 14 |
| Large Enterprise | 18 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 29 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 13 |
| Large Enterprise | 36 |
Cisco IOS Security integrates advanced VPN capabilities, IPsec security, and firewall features, ensuring scalable and reliable protection suitable for enterprise networks.
Cisco IOS Security offers comprehensive firewall integration, robust AAA capabilities, and encryption, empowering organizations with a reliable network environment. EEM provides flexibility and programmability, while integrated threat detection, intrusion prevention, and centralized management enhance its security profile. Despite its reliability, challenges include complexity in configuration, high pricing, and confusing licensing policies. Performance issues and the need for enhanced integration, automation, and better monitoring tools are areas for improvement.
What are the key features of Cisco IOS Security?Industries leverage Cisco IOS Security to protect against zero-day attacks, deploy secure VPNs, and facilitate network access control and compliance checks. Organizations utilize its features for firewalls, routing, and switching, integrating technologies like Cisco ICE and TrustSec to enhance security across enterprise environments.
Cisco Secure Access is a comprehensive Security Service Edge (SSE) solution (a key component of a SASE solution) that addresses the complexities of securing a hybrid enterprise. Cloud-delivered and grounded in zero trust, it delivers a unique blend of user simplicity and IT efficiency for frictionless, secure access to all applications—SaaS (with gen AI), private apps, and the internet—regardless of user location or device. Secure Access protects users, data, and devices against relentless, sophisticated, and constantly evolving threats including AI-driven attacks and identity breaches.
Provides all core SSE components (ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and FWaaS) plus extended capabilities.
Includes VPN-as-a-Service (VPNaaS), data loss prevention (DLP), AI Assistant, visibility/control/guardrails for generative AI use, digital experience monitoring (DEM), reserved IP, remote browser isolation (RBI), DNS-layer security, flexible security enforcement (in cloud or on-premises), policy verification, and more.
Protects users as they seamlessly access resources and apps with no extra steps needed, regardless of protocol, port, or level of customization
Simplifies IT operations through a single client, single dashboard, single license, and unified policies.
Lowers risk with least privilege, granular controls backed with unmatched threat intelligence of Cisco Talos.
Eases interoperability with other products from Cisco and third-party vendors with common administrative controls, data structures, and policy management.
Robust integrations
Integrates with Cisco Identity Intelligence to protect against the startling increase in identity-based attacks.
Integrates with many SAML Identity Providers (IDPs) such as AD, Azure AD, Okta, Ping, etc.
Integrates with Cisco offerings including SD-WAN, Splunk, XDR, Thousand Eyes, third party technologies such as Menlo RBI, Chrome Enterprise Browser, and AppOmni for SSPM.
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