


Cisco Web Security Appliance and F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager are both competing in the network security solutions category. Cisco Web Security Appliance seems to have the upper hand due to its user satisfaction with pricing and ease of integration with other Cisco products, although F5 BIG-IP APM delivers strong performance in complex environments.
Features: Cisco Web Security Appliance offers strong security functions, policy management, and SSL decryption, integrating seamlessly with other Cisco products for user management and application control. F5 BIG-IP APM provides load balancing, virtual IP creation, and portal customization, making it suitable for complex environments.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Web Security Appliance could improve its reporting features and usability while addressing its fragmented nature. F5 BIG-IP APM needs better integration capabilities and documentation while enhancing its user interface and reporting features.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Web Security Appliance supports on-premises and hybrid cloud deployments, with strong customer service praised for its quality. F5 BIG-IP APM offers less deployment flexibility and has mixed reviews on support, with issues regarding promptness and clarity.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Web Security Appliance is considered expensive but justifies the price with advanced security features, although licensing costs can be high for smaller organizations. F5 BIG-IP APM is similarly costly but delivers good ROI for large-scale deployments.
With iboss, whenever you turn on your laptop, the iboss agent automatically connects to the iboss cloud, enforcing all security policies. So with respect to the security side, it strengthens measures.
I have seen some cost effectiveness from iboss; it has reduced certain support requirements, making it a more hands-off solution.
They are very fast, responsive, and knowledgeable.
The quality of the support is fantastic.
We had promising discussions about resolving these issues, but no real action followed.
Generally, the response time for resolving issues is getting slower.
Even if they respond, they don't update me with the process or what's going on.
Most of the technical support is managed in-house due to our extensive experience with F5 products.
F5 technical support is responsive and helpful.
They are also able to meet on-demand requirements based on your contract with them, and can easily provide adequate resources and scalability.
I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
If I start seeing sluggishness or anything like that, I just reach out to my rep, and they connect with their dev team, typically resolving it the same day.
The product's flexibility and company culture contribute to resolving these challenges.
I would rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) between seven and eight.
It's been pretty solid; I've never had an outage with them, and if I ever had, it's only been once out of the seven years.
We've experienced zero downtime.
Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device despite our ClearPass sending information to the iboss box.
It is very stable, a product that I put on the network, and it will run for a very long time.
On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten.
Sometimes, the logs are not quite informational or easy to understand.
It is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform.
We also had a problem with a transition when we upgraded from one appliance of theirs to another, but their engineer lost a good deal of our data.
Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc.
Once it is done correctly, the functionality and reports become valuable, although the implementation part can still be challenging.
If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great.
The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5.
The ability to run the Anycast feature would be valuable, as the current solution only operates on-premises.
It offers the same features you would get from a vendor that charges 250,000 British pounds for a fraction of the price.
The following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs.
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern.
Cisco is not a product for small companies due to its pricing.
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability.
The solution's mental health function can detect if someone needs help.
It's given us a lot more visibility into our computer assets that may be infected with viruses and also shows us people who have unusually large uploads or might be engaging in high-risk activities, such as searches or going to sites not categorized by their web crawler.
iboss was the best solution for us because, no matter what domain you were in, everything is under a single pane of glass, which is exactly what we wanted.
When I integrate these three products, it efficiently prevents malware, showing which endpoint is affected and providing a comprehensive view of the endpoint connections.
APM is quite flexible for customers to use, providing secure remote access through various host-checking conditions for both machines and users.
It provides robust security and offers integration with multi-factor authentication systems, which is crucial for an organization's security policy.
A lot of features are useful to me, including mostly the authentication, SAML, or SSO, with no sign-on.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| iboss | 3.3% |
| Cisco Web Security Appliance | 1.8% |
| F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) | 1.6% |
| Other | 93.3% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 6 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 7 |
| Large Enterprise | 8 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 11 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 7 |
| Large Enterprise | 12 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 9 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 2 |
| Large Enterprise | 9 |
Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.
Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.
What are the most important features of Iboss?The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.
Cisco Web Security Appliance delivers robust web security, combining efficient proxy functions with strong malware protection and seamless Cisco integration. It enhances security management and is favored by enterprises for its scalability and stability.
Cisco Web Security Appliance is a comprehensive tool used for safeguarding network traffic through powerful proxy capabilities, effective URL filtering, malware protection, and identity checks. Enterprises rely on it for controlling internet browsing, compliance, and securing remote work activities. With advanced features like SSL decryption, content filtering, and real-time policy enforcement, it offers centralized management with intuitive controls. While praised for its reliability, users seek a more affordable price, better support, a simplified interface, and enhanced integration abilities. Supporting Active Directory, it provides granular security measures for efficient web access management.
What are the key features of Cisco Web Security Appliance?Cisco Web Security Appliance is widely implemented across industries like finance, healthcare, education, and government. It protects sensitive data and meets regulatory compliance by controlling web access and ensuring secure remote connectivity for a diverse workforce.
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) enhances access management by offering remote application access through SSL VPN, secure access verification, and login capabilities. Its user-friendly interface and robust security ensure efficient scalability and performance.
F5 BIG-IP APM serves enterprises by integrating multiple authentication protocols and supporting remote access via SSL VPN for secure application and network connections. Known for its strong performance and reliable scalability, APM allows custom policy management, facilitating load balancing and enhanced server management through virtual IP creation. It offers a secure bridge for users to connect to private networks while managing access through portals and enforcing compliance checks. Despite its efficient and user-friendly interface, APM has areas needing improvements such as updates for MacOS access, comprehensive reporting features, and simplifying the initial setup process. Better documentation and improved cloud integration are also areas for potential enhancement, alongside more efficient management and automation capabilities. Pricing and integration with other systems could be more competitive, and improvements in support response times would benefit users significantly.
What are the key features of F5 BIG-IP APM?In sectors like finance and healthcare, F5 BIG-IP APM ensures secure access management for sensitive data networks. Retailers utilize it to manage seasonal traffic efficiently with its load balancing and scalability, while educational institutions leverage its robust security and remote access features for faculty and students accessing campus networks remotely. These industries benefit from tailored policy management and comprehensive authentication integration to meet specific security and access needs.
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