Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs Cisco Security Cloud Control comparison

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs. Cisco Security Cloud Control

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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 Firewall Manag...

Ranking in Firewall Security Management

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Security Cloud Control

Ranking in Firewall Security Management

12th

Average Rating

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Firewall Security Management category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is 3.0%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Security Cloud Control is 4.3%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewall Security Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center	3.0%
Cisco Security Cloud Control	4.3%
Other	92.7%

Firewall Security Management

Featured Reviews

SurajYadav

Network Security Consultant at NTT DATA

Centralized firewall control has improved visibility and policy management but needs faster UI performance

The best features of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center are the centralized management and strong security visibility. The most useful feature for me is centralized policy management, where I can create and enforce access control policies across multiple firewalls from a single console. It saves a lot of time and ensures consistency. Another key feature is IPS visibility. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center provides detailed intrusion events and signatures, which help in quickly identifying and responding to threats. Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center has had a positive impact mainly by improving centralized control and visibility across our firewall environment. Earlier, managing multiple firewalls individually was time-consuming and inconsistent. With Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, we can manage policies from a single console, which has improved efficiency and reduced configuration errors. It has also enhanced our security posture with better visibility into traffic and IPS events. We are able to detect and respond to threats more quickly, which helps in reducing risk and improving overall incident response time.

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Francisco Delos Santos

Security Engineer at Metrobank

Automation reduces intervention and speeds up threat prevention

Our primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator is the automation of playbooks. We primarily use it for this purpose to streamline processes The most valuable feature is the automation, as it reduces user intervention and allows us to focus on other tasks. Since the system is automated,…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have not had any complaints about the stability of the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center."

"Scalability is not an issue as long as you are able to buy additional licenses. Ten percent of our customers use Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, and we have large accounts with 50% of their end users behind this firewall."

"The overall product rating is eight out of ten."

"I like the dashboard since it gives me a lot of information."

"The product's user interface is very easy to use and convenient."

"The support is good, they are always good."

"Malware detection, URL filtering, and antivirus are the most beneficial features for our security management. The platform has three main components: filters, hardware, and antivirus. We use the standard approach for automation and integration. The person in charge of management follows the rules and policies of the equipment and handles operations. However, we haven't set up any notifications, so it's mostly manual."

"The tool helps with internet access protection."

More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center pros

"The most valuable feature is the automation, as it reduces user intervention and allows us to focus on other tasks."

"It is saving us at least a week's worth of work because we can log in and instantly see what version all the ASAs are at and which ones need to be upgraded."

"The initial setup was straightforward; we spun up the VM onsite, generated the key that it needed to talk to the Cloud Orchestrator, and after that, as I started adding devices, it was relatively quick and easy."

"The bulk changes feature is definitely the most valuable."

"The main return on investment is time, and the first time a firewall went down the savings probably exceeded what CDO costs."

"If our server is blocked, this solution shows us why it is blocked and allows us to update the network routing."

"The most valuable feature is the Intrusion prevention."

"The most valuable feature is that you can push one policy or one rule out to several devices at a time."

More Cisco Security Cloud Control pros

Cons

"It's not very user-friendly and can be somewhat disorganized."

"The user management and protection in-network access should be improved upon."

"The product's setup could be easier."

"Cisco firewalls use old ESR or a Linux system, and there are problems with encryption. When we switch on encryption, the throughput goes down."

"One area where Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center can be improved is the user interface."

"The interface is an area that could be improved."

"Due to the lack of enough tutorials available online, I face problems with Cisco."

"We use the suggested standard policies that come with the equipment. We don't put much effort into customizing these policies, which we know is a risk. We're moving to a more advanced IT area that will change how we manage the firewall policies. Cisco offers many ways to manage the equipment, but our team lacks extensive knowledge. We're moving these responsibilities to a specialized security team."

More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center cons

"I wanted CDO to be a central place so where I could do everything but right now I don't think that's possible."

"CDO doesn't have a report, an official report that I can check daily. It has another module called FTD, but it doesn't have that specifically for ASA. In the reporting, there are a lot of things that aren't there. There is also room for improvement in the daily monitoring."

"The dashboard needs to be more customizable to provide better reporting for our network."

"They can centralize all products and provide a correlation about an incident and the response. They can also provide an on-premises solution. Currently, Cisco Defense Orchestrator is just for cloud deployments, not for on-premises deployments. Customers have to manage it on the cloud. We are based in Vietnam, and most of the customers here prefer to have on-premises deployments. Customers, especially from banking and government sectors, do not prefer to do anything on the cloud. Some of the small enterprises use the cloud."

"It hasn't really improved our organization. It has been more like a PoC which was spun up and played with for a little while, and we haven't gotten back to it."

"They should make it more of a one-stop shop for everything. It should have more features to manage FirePOWER appliances."

"The main thing that would useful for us would the logging and monitoring. I have to check it out, to get the beta, because I don't have access to them... I wanted CDO to be a central place so where I could do everything but right now I don't think that's possible. I really don't want to go back and forth between this and FMC. Maybe the logging portion, when I look at it, will give me some similarities."

"If I make a change locally to the firewall, CDO gives an alarm or an error message and says there's a change in compliance: "The firewall has this configuration but the last time it was compiled it had that configuration." That view of new changes versus the old could be better... I had to log in manually, locally on the firewall, to check which version, which configuration was actually running. I couldn't see it in CDO."

More Cisco Security Cloud Control cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not expensive."

"The price of the solution is expensive. We do not have to pay more than the standard licensing fees."

"It is rather expensive."

"I rate Secure Firewall Management Center eight out of 10 for pricing."

"I use the free version of the product."

"The platform is costly."

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

"Technical support is an additional annual cost and is not included with the license."

More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center pricing and cost advice

"It is covered under the CIsco Enterprise License Agreement (ELA). So, it is licensed and ours."

"After our free trial was done we got a subscription for three years and it was under $3,000 or so. It's part of the EA we already paid for, so I don't know what it would be if it was a la carte."

"If you compare to what is available on the market, they are in the same range with respect to pricing."

"It is about a $100 per year for an ASA 5506 firewall, and from there it keeps going up if you have a bigger box. For example, the 5516 is $200 to $300 per year."

"It's around £500 per unit for a three-year license."

"I work with a lot of clients, and the price or value of the Cisco Defense Orchestrator can vary from one client to another. If you have a lot of Cisco solutions, the price of the Cisco Defense Orchestrator is justified. Whereas if you have some security components from other vendors, such as Check Point or Palo Alto. This solution would be a pretty expensive proposition considering that they don't integrate with them well."

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913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Construction Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?

My experience with pricing and licensing for Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is that it is generally on the higher side compared to some alternatives. The initial setup cost can be signific...

What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?

One area where Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center can be improved is the user interface. At times, it can feel complex, especially for new users, and navigation between different sections coul...

What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center serves as my primary tool for centralized firewall policy management and monitoring security events across multiple devices. On a daily basis, I use it to ma...

What needs improvement with Cisco Defense Orchestrator?

Cisco Defense Orchestrator should be made more user-friendly overall. Currently, to use it effectively, one must be specific with the rule set that needs to be set up. Additionally, I suggest impro...

What is your primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator?

Our primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator is the automation of playbooks. We primarily use it for this purpose to streamline processes.

What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Defense Orchestrator?

Those who want to use Cisco Defense Orchestrator should build their own use case and see if it fits their environment. The most significant benefit for us is the response time because it automates ...

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

Comparisons

Compared 29% of the time

AWS Firewall Manager vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

Compared 16% of the time

Tufin Orchestration Suite vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

Compared 14% of the time

FireMon Security Manager vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

Compared 12% of the time

AlgoSec vs Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

Compared 8% of the time

More Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Competitors

Tufin Orchestration Suite vs Cisco Security Cloud Control

Compared 16% of the time

AlgoSec vs Cisco Security Cloud Control

Compared 15% of the time

Skybox Security Suite vs Cisco Security Cloud Control

Compared 10% of the time

FireMon Security Manager vs Cisco Security Cloud Control

Compared 10% of the time

AWS Firewall Manager vs Cisco Security Cloud Control

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Security Cloud Control Competitors

Product Reports

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

Download Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center product report

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center report

Cisco Security Cloud Control

Download Cisco Security Cloud Control product report

Also Known As

No data available

Cisco Defense Orchestrator, CDO

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Cisco

Overview

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is a robust platform with features like intrusion prevention and centralized management, enhancing security with compatibility across Cisco's ecosystem.

Designed for enterprises, Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center provides advanced features like application visibility and seamless policy deployment. Its user-friendly design and extensive monitoring capabilities enable effective network management. While it excels in threat intelligence and automation, challenges remain in interface complexity, pricing, and performance. Improved API integration and enhanced user support would bolster its functionality, especially in policy management and monitoring.

What are the key features?

Intrusion Prevention: Provides strong protection against threats.
Centralized Management: Simplifies policy management across networks.
Application Visibility: Offers detailed insights into network applications.
Advanced Threat Detection: Uses Talos intelligence to detect threats.
Seamless Policy Deployment: Facilitates efficient policy application.

What benefits should users expect?

Integration Ease: Compatible with Cisco tools for effective data center protection.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Supports extensive network oversight for better management.
Efficient Threat Response: Leverages threat intelligence for proactive defense.
Effective Network Segmentation: Ensures secure traffic management between zones.

In financial and healthcare industries, Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center optimizes security operations by managing firewalls and ensuring network protection. Its deployment aids in advanced malware detection, supporting compliance with industry regulations and securing sensitive data efficiently.

Cisco

Cisco Security Cloud Control offers centralized management, real-time visibility, and AI-driven automation for on-premises and cloud environments, simplifying scalability and deployment.

With a unified approach, Cisco Security Cloud Control enhances security posture by providing cross-platform insights across Cisco's ecosystem. It accelerates threat detection and optimizes policy enforcement through a blend of AI automation and natural language querying capabilities. The intuitive platform serves multiple devices, enabling comprehensive management of Secure Firewall, Secure Access, and other services with guidance from the Cisco AI Assistant. It also includes an AI Operations feature that identifies critical issues and provides real-time insights, enhancing response times while a policy analyzer improves security hygiene by detecting and closing security gaps. Its automation minimizes manual tasks, secures cloud-stored configurations, and supports two-factor authentication. However, it could benefit from improvements in navigation clarity, bulk change handling, and expanded third-party integrations.

What are the key features of Cisco Security Cloud Control?

Centralized Device Control: Streamlines management with bulk policy upgrades and automation.
AI-Driven Automation: Reduces manual tasks and enhances threat detection.
Network Visibility: Provides insights with valuable reporting and intrusion prevention.
Intuitive Configuration: Enables easy policy adjustments and restoration of secure connections.

What benefits can users anticipate?

Increased Efficiency: Reduces operational overhead with centralized management.
Improved Security: Enhances protection through automated policy enforcement and AI insights.
Time Savings: Simplifies management of multiple devices in cloud and on-premises environments.
Scalability: Supports growth with ease of deployment and policy consistency.

Industries implementing Cisco Security Cloud Control leverage its capabilities for tasks ranging from firewall management to intrusion prevention. Enterprises use it to streamline policy management, automate configurations, and integrate Cisco devices with cloud strategies, benefiting from simplified security orchestration and network segmentation.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Insurance Company of British Columbia, Shawmut

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs. Cisco Security Cloud Control