Cisco NGIPS vs Cisco Secure Network Analytics comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco NGIPS and Cisco Secure Network Analytics based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Cisco NGIPS vs. Cisco Secure Network Analytics Report (Updated: January 2020).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"This solution has helped improve productivity and detect attacks before they happen.""Cisco NGIPS is a stable tool...The technical support provided by Cisco NGIPS is okay.""We have found the IPS detection to be a very valuable feature of this solution. It is easy to use to stop policy violations.""Its ease of use and its ability to block and allow ports in and out of our organization are the most valuable features. It works very well. It gives us all the information that we need.""The initial setup wasn't complex or complicated.""The solution is very stable.""Cisco NGIPS is working well overall with our current needs.""The solution very effectively provides malware protection and signature-based anomaly detection."

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"Provides easily identifiable anomalies that you can't see with signature detections.""It's easy to set up. The deployment takes one or two days. You need to collect the data from a device and then direct it to the portal.""Able to drill down into a center's utilization, then create reports based on it.""I believe this solution has reduced our incident response time.""Most of the engineers I've worked with have been really good. Very knowledgeable and easy to work with.""I value the feature which enables me to detect devices talking to suspect IPs.""The most valuable feature is NetFlow. The beginning of any security investigation starts with NetFlow data.""The most valuable part is that Stealthwatch is part of a portfolio of security devices from Cisco. Cisco literally can touch every single end point, every single ingress and egress point in the network. Nobody else has that."

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Cons
"The solution would be better if it offered customers more integrations and more signatures.""The solution requires better management. When it comes to central management capabilities, improvements can be made.""Should include additional security features.""The GUI could be improved. The pain point is really only focused toward the security engineer who configures it and the operation engineer who manages it.""They could provide one solution to fit all the use cases.""If there was a software-based solution for scaling up then it would be much better.""Some Next-Generation Firewall solutions come with Intrusion Prevention. It would be nice if Cisco NGIPS included that.""The initial setup is a bit complex because it requires a lot of configuration, firewall and zoning."

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"It's not great as a standalone solution.""One update that I would like to see is an agent-based client. Currently, Stealthwatch is network-based. A local agent could help manage endpoints.""Complexity on integration is not so straightforward and you really need an expert to help build it out.""I would like to see a hybrid solution that can work without being connected directly to the internet for those destinations.""The initial setup was straightforward but required a lot of data entry, to begin with building out the server types and network types.""I would like to see more and cleaner reporting. For example, if I pull up Steven and I want to look and maybe compare him to what you've done in the past week, and compare that to the past six months, the point would be to see what the difference in activity looks like over this time. I don't see that capability in reporting to date. You see that trend but you don't really see a straightforward comparison. That right there is key to what we want to see about the normal activity.""I would like to see it better organized when I'm looking at it.""There's a lot of traffic on our network that we don't see sometimes."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We buy the licensing on a yearly basis, when we renew our contract. It is around $14,000."
  • "The price for additional throughput is the highest in the industry."
  • "Licensing fees for this solution are $3,500 USD, and there are no additional costs."
  • "Cisco products are always expensive, but if you can afford the price then it's a great solution."
  • "Pricing depends on negotiation with the vendor, although I can say that it is moderate."
  • "The cost of the license depends on the level of support that you have with Cisco."
  • "This is an expensive product, with the biggest cost being the license that keeps the service going."
  • "There are licensing fees depending on the features that you are using."
  • More Cisco NGIPS Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It is worth the cost."
  • "Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside>in traffic."
  • "Pricing is much higher compared to other solutions."
  • "​Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."
  • "Today, we are part of the big Cisco ELA, and it is a la carte. We can get orders for whatever we want. At the end of the day, we have to pay for it in one big expense, but that is fine. We are okay with that."
  • "NetFlow is very expensive."
  • "One of the things which bugs me about Lancope is the licensing. We understand how licensing works. Our problem is when we bought and purchased most of these Lancope devices, we did so with our sister company. Somewhere within the purchase and distribution, licensing got mixed up. That is all on Cisco, and it is their responsibility. They allotted some of our sister company's equipment to us, and some of our equipment to them. To date, they have never been able to fix it."
  • "The licensing costs are outrageous."
  • More Cisco Secure Network Analytics Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The product's initial setup phase was easy.
    Top Answer:My company does not use the URL filtering capabilities offered by Cisco NGIPS. My company prefers to use the URL filtering feature offered by a brand other than Cisco since other tools provide an… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is the Threat Intelligence integration.
    Top Answer:I would rate Cisco SNA as a nine out of ten in terms of costliness.
    Top Answer:Initially, I felt Cisco Secure Network Analytics lacked integration with Splunk. However, with Cisco's recent acquisition of Splunk, it seems this gap will be addressed. If this integration happens… more »
    Ranking
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    1,836
    Reviews
    25
    Average Words per Review
    329
    Rating
    8.2
    25th
    Views
    3,201
    Comparisons
    2,520
    Reviews
    8
    Average Words per Review
    528
    Rating
    8.4
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Sourcefire NGIPS, Firepower NGIPS
    Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
    Learn More
    Cisco
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    Overview

    Cisco NGIPS (Next-Generation IPS) is a highly effective intrusion detection and prevention solution. It is designed to secure a user’s system from end to end and ensure that users are equipped to handle even the most sophisticated threats by offering them a high level of network visibility, threat intelligence, and security automation. Organizations across a wide variety of industries trust IPS to help them prevent unwanted intrusions from harming their networks.

    Cisco NGIPS Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Cisco NGIPS include:

    • Increased visibility. Cisco NGIPS enables users to gain a real-time view of all of the events that are taking place in their network. It gathers data from all corners of the network and uses it to provide organizations with context that can aid them in both proactively keeping themselves safe from harm and reactively addressing potential issues.
    • Increased threat protection. NGIPS’ backbone is the core open Snort technology. This is the most widely used intrusion prevention software on the planet. It leverages this software to search for and detect vulnerabilities and anomalies that might otherwise go unnoticed. IPS is 99.7% effective at stopping threats.
    • Flexibility. NGIPS can be customized so as to fit an organization’s specific security needs. Users can set the system so that it recognizes and seeks out threats that the organization defines as being of the highest level of concern.

    Cisco NGIPS Features

    • Security automation. NGIPS offers users a variety of powerful automation tools that can be leveraged to maximize a network’s protection. Analytics tools automatically examine intrusions and correlate them with known vulnerabilities in a user’s network.
    • Integration suite. NGIPS enables users to integrate their security with many different cloud and application security services. Organizations can seamlessly combine the features that NGIPS offers with other platforms to bolster their effectiveness. This gives users the option to plug any feature hole that they might perceive.
    • URL filter. NGIPS comes with a built-in filter that allows businesses to specify sources that the system should flag and block. This prevents known threats from causing significant harm to an organization’s network.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Cisco NGIPS is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages are its easy-to-use GUI interface and the highly effective technical support that it offers users.

    Aankit G., a consultant at Pi DATACENTERS, said, “The FTD has a GUI interface, which is very easy to work around with all the configurations. It is a client-based software based on Java. Now we have the GUI web interface, and it's very interactive and easy to navigate.”

    Gebremichael T., a networking and security engineer at IE Network Solutions PLC, says, “The other aspect that I like is the technical support, who are highly capable. They were very good to us during the times that we used them and they tend to reply immediately to queries, even though you might not get the right engineer to help you right away. Tickets are usually assigned to junior staff at first but they do have escalation procedures, so if the support member can't solve the issue then they will immediately escalate it to higher management.”

    Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a highly effective network traffic analysis (NTA) solution that enables users to find threats in their network traffic even if those threats are encrypted. It turns an organization’s network telemetry into a tool that creates a complete field of vision for the organization’s administrators. Users can find threats that may have infiltrated their systems and stop them before they can do irreparable harm.

    Cisco Secure Network Analytics Benefits

    A few ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Cisco Secure Network Analytics include:

    • Security scaling. Secure Network Analytics makes it easy for organizations to scale up their level of network protection to match the growth that their business is experiencing. It can be deployed on whatever type of system is necessary. Users will have their growth needs met at every stage of their business journey because the solution offers users the ability to use it on-premises or in the cloud and it can be consumed as a SaaS-based or license-based solution. Whenever any kind of device is added, Secure Network Analytics can automatically classify that device so that it is seamlessly integrated into its network protection system.
    • Detects threats as they appear. Users gain the ability to scan their network traffic for even the most advanced threats at all times. Secure Network Analytics easily identifies the early warning signs that are typically initiated before attacks are conducted by bad actors. Once these signs are found, users are warned so that they can take steps to prevent those threats from escalating. This also enables users to determine the source of the threat and whether it might have spread further than initially thought.
    • Eliminate blind spots. Organizations that use Secure Network Analytics can view their network traffic across both private networks and public cloud environments. The scanning power of the solution allows users to gain complete visibility with a fewer number of sensors than their competitors require to achieve a similar level of protection.

    Cisco Secure Network Analytics Features

    Some of the many features that Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers include:

    • Centralized security management. Secure Network Analytics’ Identity Services Engine feature enables users to control their network from a single graphical user interface. Administrators can simplify their jobs by controlling profiler, posture, guest, authentication, and authorization services from a single pane of glass.
    • Machine learning tools. Secure Network Analytics uses machine learning to generate alerts when malicious or suspicious activity is detected. It also analyzes the threat so that users gain insight into the nature of the dangers that confront them. Additionally, it examines the threats to determine whether they are actual threats or false alarms. This significantly reduces the number of false alarms that administrators have to spend time attempting to resolve.
    • Automation. Users can automate routine tasks that users would otherwise have to handle manually. This automation feature frees administrators and employees to handle other more critical tasks.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a solution that stands out even when compared to many other comparable products. Two major advantages that it offers are the way that it enables users to define the threshold at which the solution will issue a warning to administrators and the predefined alerts that it offers straight out of the box.

    Gerald J., the information technology operations supervisor at Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., writes, “StealthWatch lets me see the ports running in and out and the country. It has excellent reporting, telemetry, and artificial intelligence features. With the telemetry, I can set thresholds to detect sudden changes and the alarms go through the PLC parts. I can see all the ports running on that trunk.”

    A senior security engineer at a tech services company, says, “Cisco Stealthwatch has predefined alerts for different types of security issues that might happen in the network. Whether it's PCs or servers that are used for botnets or Bitcoin mining we receive the alerts automatically. This functionality is what we receive from the solution out of the box.”

    Sample Customers
    American Electric Power, Huntington Bank, Keycorp, Nationwide, Transunion, Marriott, Inova Health, Ford, Thomson Reuters, Dow Chemical, Equifax, Chevron, Walmart, Coca Cola
    Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Government11%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    University10%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    REVIEWERS
    Healthcare Company23%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Government7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company27%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company5%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise27%
    Large Enterprise35%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise64%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise76%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise73%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco NGIPS vs. Cisco Secure Network Analytics
    January 2020
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco NGIPS vs. Cisco Secure Network Analytics and other solutions. Updated: January 2020.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco NGIPS is ranked 5th in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) with 62 reviews while Cisco Secure Network Analytics is ranked 25th in Network Monitoring Software with 57 reviews. Cisco NGIPS is rated 8.2, while Cisco Secure Network Analytics is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco NGIPS writes "Very effective for malware and signature-based anomalies but stability needs improvement". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Secure Network Analytics writes "Increased the visibility of what is happening in our network". Cisco NGIPS is most compared with Check Point IPS, Fortinet FortiGate IPS, Trend Micro TippingPoint Threat Protection System, Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and KerioControl, whereas Cisco Secure Network Analytics is most compared with Darktrace, Cisco Secure Cloud Analytics, ThousandEyes, Vectra AI and Arista NDR. See our Cisco NGIPS vs. Cisco Secure Network Analytics report.

    We monitor all Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) 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.