

VMware NSX and Illumio are competitors in the network security solutions category. VMware NSX appears to have the upper hand due to its scalability, comprehensive feature set, and integration with VMware environments.
Features: VMware NSX provides micro-segmentation, scalability, and integration with VMware environments, making it a favorite for users seeking cloud readiness and ease of integration. Its security policy management is robust. Illumio excels with its visibility features, detailed traffic analysis, and application interaction mapping. Its adaptive security platform enables excellent monitoring and policy enforcement while enhancing endpoint security posture.
Room for Improvement: VMware NSX could improve its user interfaces and streamline the setup process. Users find integration complex and wish for better technical support. Illumio could enhance data security, agent performance in diverse environments, and provide more detailed log views while improving customer support. Both solutions could work on pricing strategies and third-party integrations for cost-effectiveness.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware NSX offers broad deployment options across private, hybrid, and public clouds, noted for responsive customer service despite some response time concerns. Illumio focuses on on-premises deployment and is praised for its technical support, though it could improve customer interactions and support documentation.
Pricing and ROI: VMware NSX is considered expensive with a good ROI due to savings on CapEx and effective network management. Illumio's pricing is considered more flexible and cost-effective in security scenarios, offering competitive pricing against other solutions. Both solutions offer returns based on their respective deployment scopes.
Illumio is known to be the cheapest solution among the security solutions we evaluated.
Even if we raise an issue on non-working days like Saturdays or Sundays, we receive prompt responses.
From my experience, they are very responsive.
They were always helpful.
They are quick and understand things easily, so the support is aligned very effectively.
Our technicians have a good support experience from the company.
Scaling it to a large level is not an issue for us.
There is a high level of satisfaction with its ability to scale.
Illumio is a stable solution with no glitches or bugs reported, making it a reliable product for us.
The product performs at 99% efficiency without any showstoppers or significant issues.
For stability, I would rate VMware NSX as a nine out of ten.
There could also be more examples of how the automations can be done using Illumio.
That's why I'm looking for comparisons with other products.
There should be an option to upgrade from the console to the latest version instead of performing manual upgrades.
The initial configuration and integration within our existing environment were not easy.
The pricing for the product is another area for improvement as I'm not satisfied nowadays.
The licensing model is expensive and could be more flexible, especially after Broadcom bought VMware.
I know that Illumio is the cheapest solution in the security area.
I think it's not very expensive if we compare it with Guardicore.
The cost of VMware NSX is considered high.
VMware NSX is a little higher in price compared to the competition.
There is room for improvement in terms of pricing.
Illumio helps in audit purposes by saving data and showing blocked traffic, ensuring no outside traffic is allowed.
The most important feature is the traffic review analysis, where we use the draft view and the reported view that helps us understand how the application interacts with other applications in the environment, and based on that, we are able to define the policies.
The dependency map is the most valuable aspect.
Micro-segmentation enhances security and provides more secure data in your data center.
The most powerful feature of VMware NSX is the micro-segmentation that allows us to separate the different protocols our application works with.
I value the ability to dynamically configure our network on the fly using VMware NSX.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| VMware NSX | 10.6% |
| Illumio | 20.8% |
| Other | 68.6% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 3 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 8 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 33 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 23 |
| Large Enterprise | 69 |
Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation is a cloud and data center security solution that helps stop breaches from spreading across hybrid and multi cloud IT environments. The solution is designed to stop ransomware, contain cyber attacks, and reduce risk. With Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation, users can understand relationships and communications to map exposure risk of systems and data, identify the right security posture and secure applications through least-privilege policies, and ensure a Zero Trust security posture.
Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation Features
Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:
Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation Benefits
There are many benefits to implementing Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:
Reviews from Real Users
Illumio Zero Trust Segmentation is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it has a good auto policy writing feature, great mapping, and useful monitoring.
Shashi, Technical Consultant at a financial services firm, explains which features she really likes. “The auto policy writing is great. The feature will give you the option of inbound-outbound traffic. The Explorer allows you to know the traffic between source and destination. The illumination definitely stands out. Mapping is great. The application group mapping is useful.”
The solution has “helpful support, useful monitoring, and high availability,” according to Edwin L., Security Architect at MGM.
VMware NSX is a comprehensive tool for network virtualization and security, offering advanced features like micro-segmentation and multi-cloud networking to enhance scalability and management efficiency within enterprises.
VMware NSX revolutionizes enterprise networking by integrating security and scalability into one streamlined platform. With capabilities like dynamic policy updates and automation, it simplifies complex configurations and provides robust API integration. Its support for Layer 4 and 7 load balancing, along with its seamless integration in multi-cloud environments, makes it a preferred choice among companies. Although deployment speed and management console features require refinement, NSX is an effective solution for private cloud and hybrid environments, enabling centralized orchestration and management of complex networks.
What are the key features of VMware NSX?
What benefits and ROI should users consider?
In the tech industry, VMware NSX is instrumental in managing private and hybrid cloud environments, allowing companies to replace traditional networking with software-defined networks. In finance, it helps secure transactional data through micro-segmentation. Healthcare organizations leverage its flexibility for managing sensitive patient information securely and integrating cloud services.
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