We performed a comparison between Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) and F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Network Access Control (NAC) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."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 return on investment we have seen is related to time in terms of troubleshooting. The logs, such as the security logs, inform us of the issues that people have had. ISE has been very instrumental in helping isolate those issues. We've seen a lot of cost savings because we don't have to pay an IT person to waste time doing something that should be instantaneous."
"It's scalable."
"For me, the TACACS feature is the most valuable. I have also used Cisco ISE with LDAP, not with Active Directory. That works for me because I prefer LDAP versus Active Directory."
"We have seen ROI. It has done its job. It has protected us when we needed it to."
"Cisco ISE's profiling and posturing features ensure that all devices are compliant with regulatory authorities."
"We were originally a Cisco shop and Cisco ISE integrated well with our other Cisco switches and networks."
"It works as a good RADIUS server. It has lots of features. It works with all the proprietary Cisco AB pairs and features."
"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."
"The performance of the solution is valuable."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"The portal access was very good."
"In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work."
"The product allows us to create customized portals for your users."
"The tool is reliable and easy to configure."
"We have seen a return on investment from F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager. It provided access at a time when we didn't have it."
"The upgrades could be better. Every time we try to do an upgrade, we have problems. It's a pain."
"Its user interface could be better. It's not bad. They've just redesigned the whole user interface. It's not terribly difficult. The drop-down menus are easy to use. However, when you're looking for some things in the user interface, it takes a minute to find where you were prior."
"The tracking mechanism in Cisco ISE is relatively costly, especially its vendor-specific protocol."
"The user interface can be improved."
"I don't like the fact that we can see the logs only for 24 hours. Maybe that happens because of the way we set it up."
"The interface is not very user-friendly and it is not simple to use."
"It would be ideal if Cisco could provide some short training videos or documentation to customers to help them understand how to use the product."
"The solution lacks properly knowledgeable support, especially internationally, and this is why I am exploring other applications."
"I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal."
"The operational deployment is not great."
"The initial setup was complex."
"The solution’s GUI looks very old."
"The solution is quite costly."
"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products."
"F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."
"The price of this product can be improved."
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Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is ranked 1st in Network Access Control (NAC) with 135 reviews while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is ranked 8th in Network Access Control (NAC) with 13 reviews. Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is rated 8.2, while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) writes "Gives us that extra ability to assist the end user and make sure that we are making them happy". On the other hand, the top reviewer of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) writes " Facilitates packet inspection, modification, and offloading and offers visibility and troubleshooting capabilities, allowing for pre-production server testing". Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is most compared with Aruba ClearPass, Fortinet FortiNAC, Forescout Platform, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, whereas F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is most compared with Citrix Gateway, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, Ivanti Connect Secure and Microsoft Entra ID. See our Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report.
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