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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security 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
6.6
Number of Reviews
145
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (2nd), Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
Microsoft Enterprise Mobili...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security 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 21.7%, down 27.9% compared to last year.
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), holds 1.3% mindshare, up 0.8% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)21.7%
Aruba ClearPass21.2%
Fortinet FortiNAC15.5%
Other41.6%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security1.3%
Microsoft Intune28.3%
Workspace ONE UEM11.3%
Other59.099999999999994%
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

Featured Reviews

NF
Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis
Has improved authentication management and simplified visitor network access
The log capacity in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced because today natively on the ISE can only have a look at the logs from the day before. You cannot search into the oldest logs; you have to use another tool for that. This can be blocking if you don't have any log consolidation solution. To do a search for an issue or something that happened two days ago, you cannot search directly in there. The capacity of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced. Something between one week and one month for the log capacity would be nice.
AD
Manager IT at Konverge.AI
User experience improves efficiency while awaiting improved application performance
The solution is meeting my requirements. I don't have any direct inputs here, except that stability of the application can be improved. Sometimes it gets hung or restarts multiple times in the background, which consumes battery life. If stability can be improved, it will generally help everyone. These solutions are usually a little expensive. If costs can come down, that will generally help the masses. A reduction of around 30-35% would make it more prompting for people to take that extra jump. Due to budget constraints, I have seen people not going for Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security because even if the commercials get discounted for the first year, subsequent years see significant price increases.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There is good integration with third-party systems like antivirus patch management, MDM."
"It has allowed us to pull in multiple authentication databases, then centralize them into a captive portal system."
"Cisco ISE integrates with everything else."
"The most important feature for us is visibility in terms of user connections. It's the ability to see what devices are online for a particular user that helps a lot with our troubleshooting."
"Having access and being able to add people or change authentication yourself is nice. In the past, we've used other group authentication services, and we always had to go to them and get permissions. Having that control is key."
"For us and our clients, the most valuable features of Identity Services Engine are really around the rich contact sharing that ISE gives you."
"The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall."
"The policies allow us to enforce certain rules on the network to be able to screen our users more effectively."
"The product is a unified solution and you don't require to purchase tools from different vendors. The system analyzes behavior and activity and takes steps for protection."
"The solution is very good at securing files. For example, if I forward a secure document, it's blocked from others, as I can send it with restrictions in relation to who can open it."
"You can scale the solution up or down by department."
"I am very happy with it currently."
"Microsoft Mobility and EMS include Intune for Mobility, which provides mobile device management and mobile application management. With mobile device management, you can control the entire device in an organization."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The solution is scalable."
"The best advantage of the product is that it provides an all-in-one solution."
 

Cons

"The templates could be better. When you have to do certs, especially with X.500 certs, it isn't very intuitive."
"Cisco ISE requires a lot of time-consuming administration."
"I would like to see the product simplified more, especially with the configuration."
"Deploying to a machine, as opposed to a dedicated appliance, can be a bit difficult."
"Cisco ISE does not recognize devices and that is an issue we faced during its integration with our existing devices."
"The interface could be more user-friendly and the ability to apply rules to MAC addresses, for example, if I wanted to allow a certain MAC address access at a particular time I cannot make this adjustment."
"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"There are issues with respect to the posture assessment function. It's been observed that customers are not receiving total access to the network because the assessment agent is glitchy and malfunctions from time-to-time. I would like to see refining of the compliance assessment and adding more detailed compliance of endpoints on the user end."
"Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security is expensive."
"The MDM part of the engine could be better."
"The licensing is quite expensive."
"We did the deployment with the help of Microsoft's consultants. But sometimes, we found it difficult to educate the application developers to integrate."
"The auditing and reporting could be updated and upgraded. I would like to see light applications because they consume a lot of the device's memory at present."
"The technical support from Microsoft could be better."
"Sometimes the application gets hung or restarts multiple times in the background, consuming battery life."
"Technical support could be improved. Sometimes they use a third party that's not so knowledgeable in the product and that can slow down things a bit."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cybersecurity resilience has been very important to our organization and has been a big factor. We've had issues in the past, but one of the things I like about ISE is its logging features. Security wise or information wise, it really has been a powerful tool."
"The SMARTnet technical support is available at an additional cost."
"The price is okay."
"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 licensing can be confusing, but it is still pretty good."
"According to my sales and account team, the prices we're getting are pretty good."
"Pricing is not a problem for Cisco because it has a lot of features and not much competition, although it's more expensive than other products. But if I do a cost-benefit analysis, Cisco provides high quality."
"Licensing is a disaster. It's a mess and I hope they fix it soon."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"The increase in the prices of the product might not be the actual problem, but things become complex with some new plans that were introduced by Microsoft recently."
"I would rate pricing at eight out of ten. It is a bit higher because of the security features that Microsoft provides."
"We have to pay 10 dollars per user. I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Pharma/Biotech Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise91
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
 

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 needs improvement with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
The technical support from Microsoft could be better. Because there are many changes in Microsoft, and most support centers or representatives moved to India, I can share that my experience with su...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
I have been selling Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security for more than 10 years.
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security is a basic part of all of our projects because it's a very important basis for any customer wanting to set up Microsoft technology, as they need to manage a...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Enterprise Mobility + Security E3, Enterprise Mobility + Security E5, MS Enterprise Mobility + Security
 

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
Mars, Whole Foods, Land O'Lakes, Dow
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: January 2026.
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