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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.7
Cisco Secure Network Analytics improves visibility and detection, aiding IT collaboration; value varies by environment and enhances security posture.
Sentiment score
5.7
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention offers financial benefits and high user satisfaction despite its cost, boosting revenues, especially in Italy.
It offers insights into security threats, despite the inability to quantify its impact in numbers.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
Cisco Secure Network Analytics receives praise for its knowledgeable international support, despite occasional challenges with local expertise.
Sentiment score
5.9
Palo Alto Networks' support is praised for expertise but faces inconsistent response times and communication challenges with third-party facilitation.
There is a lack of adequate local support from the Indian side.
Group Head at Stpi
For technical support of Cisco, the support they provide depends on how the client procures it, and so far, it's understandable.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Overall, I find the technical support from Palo Alto Networks quite good, although getting a hold of the TAC can be challenging and sometimes requires long phone calls.
Global Network Tech Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I have proof of this rating - when I escalate a case, I receive a reply from TAC support after two days.
Presales Engineer at SAUDI PARAMOUNT COMPUTER SYSTEMS
I rate technical support from Palo Alto as eight out of ten.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.3
Cisco Secure Network Analytics scales well for enterprises, though high costs and outdated hardware can limit effectiveness.
Sentiment score
7.7
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is scalable, adaptable, and efficient, though cost may constrain its broad deployment.
The scope of the load balancing work was a team effort where we used three tools for load balancing.
Senior Developer at Atlas Laboratory
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is scalable and works well wherever enforcement points exist.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Cisco Secure Network Analytics is praised for stability, minimal downtime, and reliability despite initial setup challenges and infrastructure complexity.
Sentiment score
7.7
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is praised for its superior stability and performance, though requires careful version selection.
Cisco products are incredibly stable, boasting a 200% stability.
Group Head at Stpi
Once resolved, the system works well, and overall I think it's good.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Proper sizing of the firewall models ensures that the system does not experience crippling performance issues.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Secure Network Analytics needs better integration, user interface, AI features, and simplified setup with improved training and database management.
Palo Alto Networks needs improvements in email filtering, setup ease, user experience, support services, and enhanced security features.
The solution should have the ability to analyze security events not only at the network layer but also at the application and OS layers.
Group Head at Stpi
Initially, teams expect to depend on this heavily, but later SOC teams often prefer their own threat intelligence feeds or correlate intelligence inside SIEM instead.
Cyber Security Trainee at DataSpace Academy
Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Palo Alto needs to focus on how to bring that technology to end users and how easy it is to use, especially in a hybrid environment where users work from various locations.
Global Network Tech Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The behavioral detection capabilities could be expanded to address all threats at the perimeter, reducing the reliance on endpoint detection and response systems.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Secure Network Analytics is costly with complex licensing, though valued for features; pricing strategy adjustments are suggested.
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is costly but valued for strong threat detection, with pricing challenging for smaller businesses.
Cisco solutions are considered to be very expensive.
Group Head at Stpi
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.
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention requires an add-on license and is considered expensive compared to competitors like Cisco AMP and FortiGate firewalls.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Secure Network Analytics offers comprehensive visibility and enhanced threat detection, improving security and reducing investigation times effectively.
Palo Alto Networks excels in threat prevention with features like sandboxing, machine learning, and user-friendly design, enhancing efficiency.
The most valuable features include encrypted traffic analytics and the ability to fulfill requirements at the network level.
Group Head at Stpi
Lateral movement detection tends to be a high-value feature in enterprise environments.
Cyber Security Trainee at DataSpace Academy
The best feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is its reliability, which I find to be the one that gets used the most.
Senior Developer at Atlas Laboratory
As traditional signature-based mechanisms become less effective due to the evolving nature of attacks, this solution's focus on behavioral analysis is crucial.
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We are satisfied with the analytic capabilities of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention, especially the reporting features available in the Palo Alto portal in terms of their application visibility interface, which is very good for us to get visibility on all critical applications and the associated users, as well as the risks associated with every category of traffic.
Global Network Tech Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure Network Analytics
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (32nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (4th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (6th), Cisco Security Portfolio (6th)
Palo Alto Networks Advanced...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Network Analytics is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 0.9%, down 1.2% compared to last year.
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention, on the other hand, focuses on Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS), holds 4.5% mindshare, down 5.6% since last year.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Network Analytics0.9%
Zabbix3.9%
SolarWinds NPM3.7%
Other91.5%
Network Monitoring Software
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention4.5%
Darktrace10.2%
Fortinet FortiGate9.2%
Other76.1%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Akash Das Barman - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Trainee at DataSpace Academy
Network analytics has reduced investigation time and provides deeper visibility into lateral movement
Several features often look very promising during evaluation or implementation but end up being used only lightly in day-to-day operations. Advanced reporting and scheduled compliance reports look very attractive for audit and compliance teams at implementation time and can generate structured reports for visibility, risk posture, and traffic summaries. In practice, many teams do not rely on it heavily because SIEM tools or GRC platforms already handle reporting better. Built-in threat intelligence feeds represent another area where expectations do not always match usage. The platform includes threat intelligence-based detection and classifications. Initially, teams expect to depend on this heavily, but later SOC teams often prefer their own threat intelligence feeds or correlate intelligence inside SIEM instead. The built-in feeds are used but not as a primary detection source. Automated incident summaries and guided investigation views are designed to simplify triage by automatically grouping related activity into incidents. However, teams often move away from them due to various factors affecting adoption.
Partha Dash - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Network Tech Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Advanced protection enables us to confidently secure against evolving threats
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooling. The Threat Protection modules should have the necessary intelligence to protect against those types of threats, as AI will be there to do a human job; this is an evolving area. From an Advanced Threat Protection perspective, the technology associated with Palo Alto Networks, such as their sandboxing environment, is quite good. However, Palo Alto needs to focus on how to bring that technology to end users and how easy it is to use, especially in a hybrid environment where users work from various locations. While Palo Alto excels in certain setups, they need to improve the user experience in distributed working conditions.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
9%
Performing Arts
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

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?
Several features often look very promising during evaluation or implementation but end up being used only lightly in day-to-day operations. Advanced reporting and scheduled compliance reports look ...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Stealthwatch?
My main use case for Cisco Secure Network Analytics has been network visibility and anomaly-based threat detection within the enterprise environment. In security operations and VAPT-related activit...
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention requires an add-on license and is considered expensive compared to competitors like Cisco AMP and FortiGate ( /products/fortinet-fortigate-reviews ) fi...
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
Palo Alto Networks can improve Advanced Threat Prevention by catering to the growing adoption of AI and agentic tooling. The Threat Protection modules should have the necessary intelligence to prot...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, SkiStar AB, TRI-AD, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Zabbix, SolarWinds, Datadog and others in Network Monitoring Software. Updated: June 2026.
904,016 professionals have used our research since 2012.