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Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs IBM Security Network IPS comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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 IPS (NGIPS)
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Security Network IPS
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
23rd
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is 3.3%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Security Network IPS is 2.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS)3.3%
IBM Security Network IPS2.0%
Other94.7%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer373227 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Marketing strengths shine but regaining user trust needs significant effort
There are numerous things that could be improved about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) to get it back on track. Sollution for small branches: when we have to connect a lot very small branches (or sometimes only an ATM) we need something small, with LTE and with reasonable price. Cisco response is SDWAN but it is not always the case. Recently Cisco released some small firewalls but I have not tried them yet. Central management with FMC is a very good idea, but sometimes local management or monitoring is helpfull. With Cisco You have to decide: central or local. You cannot have both. Regarding usability, when you commit configuration on Cisco, it sometimes takes very long. Commits also take some time for the competition, but Cisco is definitely lagging behind the rest in this respect. Last but not least, for me as a professional is lack of CLI. With CLI, I can configure every firewall on the market except Cisco. CLI is very important in professional working, and IMHO it was an unwise decision by Cisco to remove it. Graphical interfaces are very nice, but when you've got thousands of objects in a big installation and have to configure many things, CLI is a much faster way to do it.
Jacob_Koithra - PeerSpot reviewer
Project & Program manager at Shell Grp
User-friendly and has a good blocking feature but is quite expensive
Defining the new security rules and policies sometimes becomes a challenge. Integration with other platforms becomes a challenge as well. I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies. XGS 7100 has an end of support for the 30th of December 2022. Many are losing support. All the products of the XGS, including XGS 3100, 4100, 5100, and 7100, support is ending in December 2022. We need to know what is the plan post that? Do we need to spend money on them? Will that be extended? There has been no communication on the website either. It's an expensive device.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Good IPS and VirtualBox features."
"The malware detection, threat defense, sandboxing, VPN, and mail security have all been valuable features of Cisco NGIPS."
"I like Firepower's automation, and the security intelligence is a powerful feature."
"Cisco support is really great; especially when you have a priority case, when everything is down, you can get an engineer in 15 minutes."
"The main advantages to Cisco are the scale, the integration, the training, and the possibility of finding somebody to work with."
"The solution is good at scaling."
"We primarily use this solution as an application filter and for IPS."
"I like how NGIPS has everything in one console."
"The initial setup is simple."
"The blocking feature is great; it acts as an in-line blocker, and any malicious traffic that you see, or anything really, it can block the traffic."
"Signature based analysis and preventing different types of network attacks."
"The most valuable feature is its simplicity."
"This is definitely a product that I recommend, especially for organizations that want a quick integration of data from the transaction systems, with a very low cost of operations."
"IPS has helped us in understanding more about the latest threats out there and made us realize that we need to be proactive when it comes to security rather than reactive."
 

Cons

"It has room for improvement when it comes to integrating machine learning and AI into it where even if you don't have a baseline that is of length for anomaly detection, it could do more like an AI style machine learning. It learns on its own."
"There is room for improvement in the policy documentation."
"Cisco NGIPS could improve its ability to do SSL inspections."
"Our customers are still facing many bugs on the system. It has matured noticeably, but we are still facing multiple stability issues on Firepower. There are more than 80 or 90 bugs for each release node. It's a considerable number of bugs."
"The look and feel of the console could be updated."
"The configuration of this product can be simplified."
"The biggest problem with most Cisco products is that the interface is lagging behind the competition. The user interface could be updated and improved."
"We have a separate management controller for Cisco NGIPS. If they have not done it already they should integrate Cisco NGIPS with the Cloud Portal."
"The management server can be made more user friendly and also the database configuration could be made simpler."
"In the future, I would like to see a hybrid option so that we can work both on-premises and in the cloud."
"I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies."
"It's an expensive device."
"In terms of scalability, I would say that it is a little on the poor side."
"The configuration of this product is complex. It could be made more user friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is expensive to a degree it cannot be used by small businesses. It is best suited for medium and enterprise businesses."
"The price of Cisco NGIPS could be reduced. It is more expensive than other solutions."
"We pay for the IPS license to use this solution."
"The price for additional throughput is the highest in the industry."
"Cisco products are always expensive, but if you can afford the price then it's a great solution."
"The licensing can be billed annually or in multi-year contracts such as three, four, or five years."
"We get cut in price since we use other Cisco products. We have the whole bundle of Cisco solutions."
"I usually work with Fortinet and FortiGate which is a lower cost in comparison with Cisco NGIPS."
"The cost of operations is very low."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Performing Arts
11%
Outsourcing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise26
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco NGIPS?
I would rate the price for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) as high.
What needs improvement with Cisco NGIPS?
I am aware that we are not measuring some metrics or tracking access through Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS). In my opinion, Cisco could improve the Web GUI for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS).
What is your primary use case for Cisco NGIPS?
Our main use case for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is in-line traffic control, and we are using IPS in an in-line mode.
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Sourcefire NGIPS, Firepower NGIPS
Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, IBM Security Network Protection, XGS, GX
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Electric Power, Huntington Bank, Keycorp, Nationwide, Transunion, Marriott, Inova Health, Ford, Thomson Reuters, Dow Chemical, Equifax, Chevron, Walmart, Coca Cola
Equifax, Christian Hospital Centre
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs. IBM Security Network IPS and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,325 professionals have used our research since 2012.