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

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security comparison

The compared Cisco and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in NAC , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 25.8% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #14 in EMM , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Read 142 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reviews
  • 14,752 Views
  • 9,837 Comparison Views
87% willing to recommend
Microsoft Enterprise Mobili...
Read 10 Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security reviews
  • 512 Views
  • 416 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC).

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed Network Access Control (NAC) Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Network Access Control (NAC)
April 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 850,760 peers since 2012

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)
Microsoft Enterprise Mobili...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (14th)
 

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 25.8%, down 31.3% compared to last year.
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), holds 0.8% mindshare, up 0.8% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

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.
Read full review
Dheen Jaabir - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integration and easy implementation
Microsoft licensing has always been tricky. There have been several changes in the last quarter, such as the addition of a new SKU on top of the existing ones. The licensing can be messy at times. Apart from that, it's fine. One area where Microsoft lacks is network-level protection. Currently, it focuses on endpoint protection. However, with the shift to remote work, network-level protection has become less relevant since users take their devices home, and there is no physical boundary after COVID. So, investing in network equipment might not be as useful as protecting endpoints with features like EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) and behavioral monitoring. That would probably be helpful.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 ability to allow or deny hosts onto the network is valuable. It provides great security to the network environment."
"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."
"The biggest value of ISE is that it can get so granular with gaming systems, versus IoT and BYOD."
"Technical support is okay."
"The user experience of the solution is great. It's a very transparent system."
"In terms of scalability, you need to factor in your licenses. With a virtual platform, the scalability is more than sufficient. We have over one thousand users."
"Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very stable."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pros
"Integration between our departments has been the most valuable."
"The product is centralized and we can use it for security purposes."
"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 offers excellent documentation that is easily available online."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"A good feature that is present is MAM or Mobile Application Management. We can deploy this feature on the device, which is not managed by the organization. If I apply some security configuration on a personal device, the user would be really disappointed. What we do instead is that we give all access to the applications related to corporate and ask the users to use the application. We secure the application by putting the security features on the applications and not on the users' devices. This way, the users are happy, and we also meet our company's compliance standards. Then, everyone is happy."
"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."
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security pros
 

Cons

"An area that could be improved is the agent. The challenge now is that agent and most of the computers have changed. They could think about agent-less deployment."
"Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) needs to improve the profiling preauthentication."
"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
"Also, the menus could have been much simpler. There are many redundant things. That's a problem with all Cisco solutions. There are too many menus and redundant things on all of them."
"It does a good job of establishing trust for every access request. We have had a little bit of a challenge with profiling, but we are probably about 80% there."
"When I work with customers to do my knowledge transfer, they're really overwhelmed with the navigation of the product and the number of things you can do with it. From a user interface standpoint, Cisco could focus on making certain tasks a bit more guided and easier for customers to walk through. That is, a user-friendly interface and streamlined workflows would be great."
"The licensing documentation needs to be better."
"I would definitely improve the deployment and maybe a little bit of the support. Our first exposure to ISE had a lot of issues."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) cons
"The licensing can be messy at times."
"We did the deployment with the help of Microsoft's consultants. But sometimes, we found it difficult to educate the application developers to integrate."
"There are certain shortcomings in the licensing model of the product where improvements are required."
"The licensing is quite expensive."
"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."
"Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security is expensive."
"Its performance needs enhancement."
"The MDM part of the engine could be better."
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Hardware appliances are expensive...Now moving to DNA-styled licensing, we have subscription-based licensing for everything. I hope it will continue to be fair, but we will have to wait and see."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"Cisco is moving towards a subscription service, which would mean additional costs."
"The licensing can be confusing, but it is still pretty good."
"I think the price is okay."
"It is fair."
"The price of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is expensive and we are thinking about changing to FortiGate."
"Being fully honest, the Cisco licensing model right now is really confusing. We don't know what licenses we have where. We have Smart licensing, but the different levels are way confusing."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pricing and cost advice
"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."
"We have to pay 10 dollars per user. I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"I would rate pricing at eight out of ten. It is a bit higher because of the security features that Microsoft provides."
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Access Control (NAC) solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
850,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Pharma/Biotech Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
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 ...
See all answers
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, ...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
What do you like most about Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
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. Initially, my company used to ha...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
Since Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security needs to deal with the competition from VMware and Ivanti, I visited PeerSpot's website to see how Microsoft can compete with its competitors. Microso...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 24% of the time
Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 22% of the time
Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 10% of the time
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 5% of the time
Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 3% of the time
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Competitors
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 31% of the time
ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 11% of the time
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 4% of the time
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
May 2025
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reportDownload Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
April 2025
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security reportDownload Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security product report
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers comprehensive network access control and visibility, supporting features like 802.1X authentication, profiling, and posturing. It integrates with Microsoft and other Cisco products, facilitating robust security policies across distributed networks.

Cisco Identity Services Engine is a key player in network access control, offering centralized management and a user-friendly interface. It supports zero trust principles and provides strong authentication for wired and wireless networks. ISE's capabilities include granular security policies, enhanced device posturing, and seamless integration, bolstering security infrastructure. Users benefit from its dual authentication through EAP, simplifying access management across networks.

What are the key features of Cisco ISE?
  • 802.1X Authentication: Supports network security for authorized device access.
  • Profiling: Identifies devices for accurate policy enforcement.
  • Posturing: Evaluates device compliance for access decisions.
  • TACACS: Streamlines network device authentication and authorization.
  • Guest Access: Provides secure access to visitors.
  • Microsoft Compatibility: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft environments.
What benefits and ROI should be considered?
  • Security Enhancement: Offers strong network security policies.
  • Operational Efficiency: Centralized management improves operational aspects.
  • Improved Compliance: Ensures adherence to industry standards.
  • Scalability: Supports growing network demands effectively.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and education, Cisco ISE is pivotal for securing wired and wireless networks, implementing BYOD policies, and managing user access. Organizations leverage ISE for effective authentication and authorization, while maintaining compliance with industry security standards.

Cisco

Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) is the only comprehensive solution designed to help manage and protect users, devices, apps, and data in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.

Microsoft
 

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
Buyer's Guide
Network Access Control (NAC)
April 2025
Download Free Report
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: April 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
850,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.

We monitor all Network Access Control (NAC) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.