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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs NetWitness Platform 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 Network Analytics
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (33rd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (5th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (7th), Cisco Security Portfolio (8th)
NetWitness Platform
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (35th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (31st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Secure Network Analytics and NetWitness Platform aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Network Analytics is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 1.2%, down 1.5% compared to last year.
NetWitness Platform, on the other hand, focuses on Log Management, holds 0.4% mindshare, up 0.3% since last year.
Network Monitoring Software
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Harun-Owr-Roshid - PeerSpot reviewer
Have streamlined network visibility and troubleshooting while seeing benefits from AI integration
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database. When precise manual analysis is needed, it's sometimes difficult, so having a centralized database will allow network admins to find actual scenarios more effectively, especially since some information may not be visible on the GUI. Cisco should upgrade their hardware part to run the database, because sometimes it cannot handle the load while all features are running in the network. The database management should indeed be centralized because while AI runs behind the systems, central management is essential. For example, in a network with 100 Cisco switches, a few routers, firewalls, and access points, all data generated should be preserved in a central database. This approach simplifies management and analysis for troubleshooting, as GUI interfaces may not always provide visible information. Centralizing the database will allow for better understanding of which information is preserved for each specific device.
MOTASHIM Al Razi - PeerSpot reviewer
It is a stable solution, but they should make the user interface easier to understand
The solution's initial setup takes work. We have to organize multiple paths and many features. The deployment process takes less than a week. But it takes a month to complete if we want to make the solution smarter by integrating it with various devices. I rate the process as a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has improved our internal knowledge of what's going on with the network, and that's helpful."
"The deployment was a breeze. It is a very innovative and robust platform that allows us to bi-directionally stitch together data elements from Netflow-enabled devices to provide a context for network utilization."
"The most valuable feature about this solution is that it gives me insight of my network."
"Great network monitoring, looking at anomaly detection and evaluation."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is the Threat Intelligence integration."
"The most valuable features are encrypted threat analysis and the ability to run jobs on entire flows."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the way the net flow is being merged together in a single pane. That's been extremely useful for us, because can see what's going on with traffic in one single place."
"The development of use cases on the SSA console is quite user friendly. This means that the security analyst or the researcher does not have to learn another language."
"The software is scalable to whatever is required, and you can also put a lot of resources in the cloud."
"The newer 11.5 version that my team is using has found it to have good mapping."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to write rules and triggers for network communication, and then being able to investigate based on that."
"Incident management is its most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature is that we can create our own connectors for any application, and NetWitness provides the training and tools to do it."
"The packet capture aspect of it is a valuable feature because it is quite different from a traditional SIEM solution that only carries out investigations based on captured logs."
"It gives the ability to investigate into network traffic in the Net and the organization what we couldn't do before."
 

Cons

"At my company, we might not be using it enough with other applications that we have that can integrate with it."
"I would like to see it better organized when I'm looking at it."
"It's not great as a standalone solution."
"It would be better to let people know, up front, that is doesn't give you nice, clear information, as seen in the demos, without Cisco ISE installed."
"One update I would like to see is an agent-based client. Currently StealthWatch is network based."
"Cisco could improve the administration for the customers."
"It is time-consuming to set it up and understand how the tool works."
"The version with the Dell server had iDRAC problems. Often, it reported iDRAC failure."
"I'd like to see improvement in its ease of use. It's basically unusable. It's overly complex."
"The documentation is not as structured as I would like, personally, and I think that it can be improved and made much more user-friendly."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets can improve the threat level aspect, it is lacking compared to other solutions. Whenever any hacking activity or any other threat factor occurred they used to provide the coverages very fast when comparing RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets. I heard the other three solutions, from a discussion with my team members who had experience in other solutions, they used to say that. Whenever any issues happened across the globe RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets are a little bit slow improving those detection mechanisms."
"If we have the ability to run a dynamic analysis through malware in the same suite, it would be great to have a sandbox solution to analyze malware through dynamic analysis."
"Its technical support could be better."
"More customizability is required, which is something that they need to improve on."
"Health monitoring of the event sources and devices."
"The system architecture is complex and sometimes it’s hard to troubleshoot potential problems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has a subscription model. There is yearly support, and there is also three-year support. It depends on what the customers want."
"The tool is not cheaply priced."
"The yearly licensing cost is about $50,000."
"Licensing is on a yearly basis."
"The pricing for this solution is good."
"Our fees are approximately $3,000 USD."
"On a yearly basis, licensing is somewhere around $30,000."
"This is an expensive product. We have quit paying for support because we don't want to have to upgrade it and keep paying for it."
"We have a perpetual license, so the total cost of ownership is not very expensive. It's a good investment."
"In comparison to other SIEM solutions such as Splunk, NetWitness is less costly."
"The NetWitness Platform may be affordable only for enterprise-level customers, as it may not be within the budget of small and medium-sized businesses."
"The licenses are good but the cost is very expensive."
"Compared to the competition, the is price is not that high."
"We are on an annual license for the use of the solution."
"The product is expensive."
"It is cheap."
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Comparison Review

VS
Feb 26, 2015
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
24%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Stealthwatch?
The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is the Threat Intelligence integration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Stealthwatch?
Regarding cost, for the Bangladesh context, Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a little bit high-priced because we are a developing country, making it tough to manage affordable solutions. However, ...
What needs improvement with Cisco Stealthwatch?
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper m...
What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to me.
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
RSA Security Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
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