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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs RSA SecurID 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
6.5
Number of Reviews
144
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
RSA SecurID
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (10th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and RSA SecurID 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 23.8%, down 29.1% compared to last year.
RSA SecurID, on the other hand, focuses on Authentication Systems, holds 5.2% mindshare, down 7.5% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)23.8%
Aruba ClearPass22.7%
Fortinet FortiNAC17.3%
Other36.2%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
RSA SecurID5.2%
Microsoft Entra ID11.6%
Cisco Duo7.2%
Other76.0%
Authentication Systems
 

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.
Santhosh Rajamanickam - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced security, reliable, helpful technical support, and easy to install
RSA SecurID Access is a scalable solution. I would rate the scalability of RSA SecurID Access a nine out of ten. Initially, our organization had around 250 users for whom we were aware of the usage of the solution. However, there were certain users for whom we were not notified due to the nature of their job, and hence we were not aware of their usage. Eventually, we decided to scale the solution for all our 4,000 users. Currently, we are using it for 250 users only. There is a high likelihood that we will expand our usage in the future.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco ISE's profiling and posturing features ensure that all devices are compliant with regulatory authorities."
"The solution is very reliable."
"We have multiple metal devices from different places that use management, so we need to know who would be accessing all those devices and what changes are being done to those metal devices. With Cisco ISE we have visibility of all the changes happening on those devices."
"The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall."
"The RADIUS Server holds the most value."
"The policies allow us to enforce certain rules on the network to be able to screen our users more effectively."
"At the moment, ISE seems to integrate very well with a number of other technologies."
"It works as a good RADIUS server. It has lots of features. It works with all the proprietary Cisco AB pairs and features."
"I think it is really good when it comes to the hard token side of things."
"I would say that the two-factor authentication and the ease of installation and configuration are the most valuable features of this solution."
"One of the most valuable feature is the ID soft token and hard token."
"The most valuable features of RSA SecurID Access are push notifications, multifactor authentication, and ease of integration and deployment."
"It is a scalable solution."
 

Cons

"The product is expensive. It would also be a good add-on to have some machine learning."
"There can be a little bit more integration between the controller management and ISE. There are two dashboards, you have the controller dashboards, and you have the ISE dashboard it would is a way to maybe integrate that into one. That would be great. It's not that bad. It would be easier if it could be combined into one dashboard."
"The licensing scheme is complex and could use enhancement to provide more options."
"The area where things could be improved is education. It's complicated to deploy initially because you have to know what you're getting into."
"This product doesn't work in isolation."
"On the network services devices, when you click on filter, the filter comes up. However, when I type in a search and I want to click on something it defaults back to the main page. I keep having an issue with that, and I'm not doing anything wrong."
"They could incorporate some AI features."
"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."
"It doesn't offer an agent-based or reverse-proxy-based approach to integration, which could enhance its flexibility."
"There are different compliances across the globe; RSA SecurID Access could be more complaint-based."
"Sometimes, we encounter issues with other applications that are not compatible with RSA SecurID Access and require expert troubleshooting. At those times, we need additional support from an implementation perspective. This is an area where Oracle can improve as there is no substitute for reliable and efficient support."
"The interface needs to improve a lot. It should be easier to manage and navigate."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution requires an annual license and it is a bit expensive than competitors."
"There are other cheaper options available."
"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 SMARTnet technical support is available at an additional cost."
"The licensing is subscription-based and based on the user account."
"Cisco is moving towards a subscription service, which would mean additional costs."
"The pricing is good. The last time we purchased four new appliances the price was doable for any organization of our size."
"It's damn expensive and the licensing is terrible... If you have perpetual licenses on 2.7 and you upgrade to 3, you are forced to go with Essentials. That is one of the issues that I'm seeing with my clients now."
"I think the price of this solution is reasonable compared to YubiKey and Duo given that it offers the same similar features."
"RSA SecurID Access is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Government
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise91
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise4
 

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...
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Also Known As

Cisco ISE
RSA SecurID Access, RSA Access Manager
 

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
Milliman, Geisinger Health System, Advanced Micro Devices
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: October 2025.
873,085 professionals have used our research since 2012.