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

Cisco Secure Email vs Fortinet FortiMail Cloud 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 Secure Email
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (5th), Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (6th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Email is designed for Email Security and holds a mindshare of 6.2%, down 8.5% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Email, holds 3.4% mindshare, up 1.8% since last year.
Email Security
Cloud Email
 

Featured Reviews

Kostas Karidas - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps prevent security breaches but fails to improve in the area of AI
I have not noticed any impressive advanced threat protection mechanisms in the tool. I don't know if there are any AI features in the product. I don't know if there is any other technology embedded in the solution. Cisco Secure Email successfully mitigated potential email threats. My company has seen plenty of scenarios where Cisco Secure Email successfully mitigated potential email threats, spam emails, and fraudulent domains. The product is good for dealing with spam emails, and it can take care of more than 100 spam emails per day. A huge number of spam emails are monitored with the help of Cisco Secure Email. I would not recommend the product to other businesses because you need to have some kind of expertise in configuring and knowing a bit about the tool's GUI. The tool also lacks in the area of AI mechanics. If I would like to have an overview and review another solution, I would go for another product other than Cisco Secure Email. I can definitely suggest others to look at the product and review it, but I would also recommend that they compare it with the other solutions in the market. I wouldn't prioritize Cisco Secure Email over other tools. Either the support partner of the product or I take care of the tool's maintenance phase by looking into the configurations and doing some fine-tuning. I rate the tool a seven to eight out of ten.
Pravin Mandlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides enhanced email security with potential agent compatibility issues
There are definitely features that Fortinet should work on. I'm not the right person to implement those features. For a portable cloud solution, a customer has more affinity towards a solution where endpoint security is already in place. In endpoint security, they are not at the latest quadrant. That is why a customer with existing endpoint security solutions like Trend Micro might prefer a main security solution from that vendor. If we go for FortiMail Cloud and have a separate endpoint security solution, there are two agents that have to sit on a customer endpoint. From that perspective, Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint. Maybe other solutions have an advantage when it comes to Fortinet.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It integrates with Active Directory and we can limit specific users to using specific applications."
"The tool comes with AI features. It is good for clients who already use Cisco products due to integration."
"The advanced phishing protection and the integration with the awareness tool that Cisco has embedded into the solution to bring awareness to the customers about the dangers of phishing attacks and other things that come from email are the most valuable features."
"Cisco Secure Email is part of Cisco's extensive efforts and investments in technology, especially in the realm of cyber security. The product is one among many security solutions offered by Cisco."
"The system enables end users to manage their own whitelists/blacklists."
"Capital expenditure is a significant consideration, and the impact on major expenditures prompts a careful analysis before onboarding the new product."
"The most valuable features are Advanced Malware Protection, URL filtering, and of course Reputation Filtering."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"FortiMail Cloud is very fast."
"This solution is easy to install. The deployment takes about forty-five minutes."
"The scanners with FortiMail are valuable."
"Fortinet is good at providing security beyond our email solution assets."
"The most valuable feature is the advanced threat protection."
"The quarantine feature of FortiMail is the most valuable, as it quarantines emails based on my policies."
"One of the most beautiful benefits is its integration, as it can seamlessly integrate with any third-party email servers."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the ability to check to see if the email is real."
 

Cons

"They could improve the filters. In my time at the company, there were several times we had to contact support to update the filters."
"While Cisco offers excellent solutions and innovations, the pricing may not be suitable for everyone. The cost of the software is relatively high. In the current market, there are numerous competitive alternatives that focus on security, enterprise networks, and various other aspects. Cisco, being a comprehensive provider, extends its expertise across data, servers, storage, and security, making them a preferred choice for many enterprises. However, when it comes specifically to security solutions, there are other vendors that specialize solely in this domain, offering competitive options."
"Typically, in a phishing email, they try to use a name everybody's going to recognize, like the CEO's name or the CFO's name... With this appliance, the way it's designed at the moment, for us to really stop that with any level of confidence, we have to build a dictionary of all the names of the people we want it to check, and all the ways they could be spelled. My name would be in there as Phillip Collins, Phillip D. Collins, Phillip Dean Collins, Phil Collins, Phil D. Collins. There could be eight or 10 variations of my name that we'd have to put in the dictionary. There's no artificial intelligence to say "Phil Collins" could be all these other things, and to stop phishing from coming through in that way."
"The reporting functionality needs to be improved."
"Many smaller businesses opt for more cost-effective solutions, such as Gmail or Hotmail accounts, instead of investing in Cisco Secure Email, given its higher cost."
"I would like more functionality and how to use it for Level 2 type staff. The biggest issue is it needs to be easier to use and navigate."
"It would be nice to have an easier way to check on the health of the system, how stressed these appliances are. Sure, you can do it, but it would be helpful to have an easier way to do it, maybe even at a glance."
"We would like to see more options for the customization of content filters."
"This ease of use and user-friendliness is something we believe could be improved in FortiMail."
"The customer service and technical support from Fortinet could improve. While they rate between seven and eight, reaching support can sometimes be challenging and time-consuming."
"I would like to see more advanced sandbox features, where you can actually download to a machine where you can test."
"Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint."
"They could look at strengthening anti-spam with the newly observed domains."
"The downside of this solution is that it is difficult to implement policies on FortiMail."
"The setup of the rules can be improved. I think it should be simplified and would be the best improvement in the system."
"The tool's UI can be simple since it's cluttered now and you can't understand where you are going. It's not obvious to find out the menus or things that you are looking to find."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's price falls on the higher side when compared to the other products on the market."
"It is expensive. I would rate it 2 out of 10, where 1 is the most expensive and 10 is the cheapest."
"The pricing for the Cisco Email Security Appliance involves recurring costs for licenses based on the contracted time frame, such as one year, three years, or five years. Renewals are required after the license expires."
"I rate the product price as six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a very expensive tool."
"The pricing is good."
"There were no other costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"It is a reasonably priced solution."
"As per market availability, this solution is more expensive than other vendors."
"The price of this solution could be more competitive."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud a five on a one to ten scale, where one is the low price, and ten is the high price. It is an averagely priced product."
"You only have to purchase one license for multiple participants."
"A license for our company using FortiMail and FortiCare (filtering and support) was $4000."
"It should cost around $60,000. We bought it as a bundle, so everything comes together in the license. That is standard."
"The licensing is for three years. In the beginning, we did not pay monthly, it was paid once for three years."
"The pricing depends on various factors, including the type of licenses and subscriptions you have procured"
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Email Security solutions are best for your needs.
861,481 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Educational Organization
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Hospitality Company
6%
Non Profit
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Secure Email?
Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Email?
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Email?
The user interface of the Email Security Gateway ( /products/security-gateway-reviews ) should be improved. It would be beneficial to have the functionality of the Email Threat Defense integrated i...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
They can improve their CDR content profile and some anti-spam features. They don't have any direct script to run to add personalization, and we have to do it manually one by one. There are many tas...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email vs. Fortinet FortiMail Cloud and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
861,481 professionals have used our research since 2012.