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Cisco Secure Email vs Perception Point Advanced Email Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
Cisco Secure Email enhances ROI with robust security, reducing disruptions and downtime from cyber threats, despite perceived high costs.
Sentiment score
7.5
Perception Point Advanced Email Security enhances efficiency, reduces false positives, and ensures high ROI by preventing phishing and productivity loss.
I estimate that my team saves approximately eight hours each week because of Perception Point Advanced Email Security.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Secure Email support is praised for its responsiveness and expertise, though experiences can vary based on assigned engineers.
Sentiment score
7.5
Perception Point's customer service is highly praised for its responsiveness, quick resolutions, and professional, effective support.
Cisco's tech support can be hit or miss, depending on the engineer you get.
Cloud Partner & Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
The support is pretty decent, with a rating of eight out of ten.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
They help us a lot, and when we create a ticket, they answer us in one or two hours.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
Customer service and support are good, but there is room for improvement in response time.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Cisco Secure Email provides scalable solutions for seamless user migration and system growth, with reliable cloud service options.
Sentiment score
7.8
Perception Point Advanced Email Security offers seamless scalability and integration, handling high email volumes and diverse user loads effectively.
The on-premises hardware is not very scalable, but switching to the SaaS offering is expected to improve scalability.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco Secure Email is praised for reliability, consistent performance, easy maintenance, and high user satisfaction with stable uptime.
Sentiment score
8.1
Perception Point Advanced Email Security provides stable performance with minimal downtime; users highly rate its reliability and email preservation.
Based on my experience, the stability of Cisco Secure Email is very strong.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
Perception Point Advanced Email Security is stable approximately ninety-nine percent of the time.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Email's high cost, complexity, poor interface, and limited integration impact usability, requiring AI and service enhancements.
Perception Point users desire enhanced spam filtering, customizable alerts, improved UI, better threat intelligence, integration, and additional training features.
The solution should better analyze the actual content rather than only focusing on the email header or origin.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
It would be beneficial to have the functionality of the Email Threat Defense integrated into the Email Security Gateway so customers don't have to buy two products for full email protection.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
Integration and end-user interaction can be improved as the current system does not allow end-users to send back information to the platform, unlike Google Workspace or competitive tools like Ironscales.
Perception Point Advanced Email Security can be improved by increasing the speed of analysis and delivery.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
Maybe a couple of improvements on their portal would be good.
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Email is priced higher, but users find its extensive features and security benefits justify the cost.
Perception Point Advanced Email Security offers fair pricing with flexible options and good value compared to leading competitors.
Its cost is bundled with other Cisco products.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
The licensing is a mess and needs sorting out.
Cloud Partner & Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
The pricing structure is good as it is user-based or email client-based, which is positive for clients.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Email provides comprehensive threat management with advanced filtering, intuitive management, and seamless integration, enhancing email security effectively.
Perception Point Advanced Email Security offers robust protection with rapid threat detection, low false positives, and excellent support.
It also possesses multiple modules for spam detection, malware detection, and threat intelligence, which are valuable in categorizing emails and determining actions.
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
It is highly effective in catching phishing and spam emails.
Systems Engineer at a non-tech company with 51-200 employees
It covers everything through email, like antivirus, IDS, and IPS.
Cloud Partner & Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
I get weekly reporting, and by doing that, I can go and talk to these people directly and make them aware of how many attacks they had and where the attacks are coming from and not only the source of the email, but what category of emails that they are receiving.
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Perception Point Advanced Email Security has a correct price point and offers very good email filtering capabilities.
The best features Perception Point Advanced Email Security offers are its multi-layer dynamic scanning and anti-evasion technology.
Security analyst at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Email
Ranking in Email Security
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
Perception Point Advanced E...
Ranking in Email Security
18th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Internet Security (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Email is 5.3%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Perception Point Advanced Email Security is 2.3%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Secure Email5.3%
Perception Point Advanced Email Security2.3%
Other92.4%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

BD
Chief Information Security Officer at Abcl
Threat intelligence with fast attack detection enables comprehensive email protection
In some cases, detection is missed, leading to false positives where genuine emails are flagged as spam. This could result in users not opening genuine emails. We have highlighted this to Cisco because sometimes phishing or marketing campaigns, which are genuine, are incorrectly flagged as spam. The solution should better analyze the actual content rather than only focusing on the email header or origin.
GC
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Provides strong email protection and accurate threat detection with effective multi-layer defense mechanisms
They run us through about seven layers of protection, and the reporting is excellent. I found it to be very effective. It has a very high level of protection with Perception Point Advanced Email Security. They continually modernize their surveillance. They use a lot of AI. They run it through several layers of detection, deep packet inspection, which takes a lot of horsepower. I just think it is a good system. Perception Point Advanced Email Security has helped address specific email threats within my organization. I get weekly reporting, and by doing that, I can go and talk to these people directly and make them aware of how many attacks they had and where the attacks are coming from and not only the source of the email, but what category of emails that they are receiving. With the combination of KnowBe4 PhishER, I think it is a good security process that we have in place.
report
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879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise6
 

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 Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
The most valuable feature is the technical support services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
In Brazil, the dollar price affects the cost. Perception Point Advanced Email Security is about 50 percent less expensive.
What needs improvement with Perception Point Advanced Email Security?
Maybe a couple of improvements on their portal would be good, but other than that, I think it is good.
 

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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email vs. Perception Point Advanced Email Security and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.