Okta Workforce Identity vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Aug 1, 2023

We compared Okta Workforce Identity and Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

  • Ease of Deployment: Okta Workforce Identity's setup process was generally straightforward and could be completed in a few hours or days. Some users found it more complex and needed assistance. On the other hand, Prisma Access's setup process had varying levels of complexity and duration. Some users found it easy and only took a few hours, while others found it more complex and required expertise and assistance.
  • Features: Okta Workforce Identity is highly regarded for its user-friendly interface, seamless integration with other systems, and convenient single sign-on feature. On the other hand, Prisma Access is commended for its robust security measures, adaptable policy application, and comprehensive protection of various application traffic.
  • Room for Improvement: Okta Workforce Identity could enhance its password vaulting management, licensing and features clarity, user interface, customer support, and integration with major cloud providers. Meanwhile, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks would benefit from improvements in user interface, error handling, configuration changes, and documentation.
  • Pricing: Okta Workforce Identity is reasonably priced for its setup cost, although it is not the most affordable option available. In contrast, Prisma Access is considered to be more expensive, but this is justified by the product's quality and features.
  • ROI: Okta Workforce Identity is a dependable solution that delivers a consistent and trustworthy product. It yields a return on investment ROI ranging from 20% to 30%. On the other hand, Prisma Access offers numerous advantages, including a 40% reduction in the total cost of ownership. It provides substantial value for the money invested.
  • Service and Support: Users have generally praised the customer service of Okta Workforce Identity, specifically the effectiveness and quality of technical support. However, there have been some negative experiences related to troubleshooting. In contrast, the customer service of Prisma Access has received mixed reviews.

Comparison Results: Okta Workforce Identity is commended for its user-friendly interface, simple setup process, and strong integration capabilities. However, it lacks certain functionalities such as password vaulting management and could improve its customer support. On the other hand, Prisma Access is highly regarded for its extensive security features, accessibility for users, and ability to safeguard all types of app traffic. Nevertheless, it can be challenging to use and configure, and its pricing is considered relatively high. 

To learn more, read our detailed Okta Workforce Identity vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Report (Updated: September 2023).
745,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Workforce Identity's best features include its user-friendliness and easy setup.""It is a very scalable solution.""The provisioning functionality has been the most valuable. This solution has good performance, fast integration and is very responsive.""It offers very helpful support. The technical team is very helpful.""First of all, the solution is very simple.""Its integration components are most valuable. It integrates with everything in some way. There are some products, such as O365 or AD, with which it completely and 100% integrates. So, you can seamlessly create accounts across the board with some of these products. For some of the products with which it doesn't completely integrate, you can do some kind of interfacing.""They have good push authentications.""The most valuable features of Okta Workforce Identity are MFA, and SSO, which have high security."

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"It is geographically dispersed, and it sits on top of Google and AWS platforms. Therefore, you don't face the standard issues, such as latency or bandwidth issues, that you usually face in the case of on-prem data centers.""The most valuable feature of Prisma Cloud-native, in my opinion, is that it assists in identifying, analyzing, and remediating vulnerabilities.""I like it because it's very easy to use. You install the client and you have to know your gateway, but that's something we give to our users. Beyond that, it takes about three seconds to train them on how to use it. And it just works well. That's great for us because it means less administrative time.""Overall, the cost savings, ease of deployment, and better VPN user experience and performance are valuable.""Its frontend is user-friendly. It is easy to use for us.""The protection for web-based applications was helpful for my colleagues who didn't want a particular application on their devices. And the non-web access protection was more for our developers because they were writing and building code on their computers. Prisma Access was able to protect them.""It supports auto-scaling for mobile users. It auto-scales depending on the mobile user traffic. For example, if 1,000 people are working from home today, and tomorrow, the number increases to 2,000, it is not going to be an issue.""The solution is not very complex and is easy to manage for people who may or may not have knowledge about Palo Alto Networks."

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Cons
"Support could be a bit faster.""Okta Workforce Identity can improve by having more features in governance.""Okta Workforce Identity could improve the support system, they are too slow.""The only area of concern in the solution stems from the fact that my company needs some help regarding the setup phase from a partner.""The only aspect in which it can be improved is that the interface could be cleaner. I found this even when I was trying to do my certification exam because the certification is hands-on. You find yourself fumbling around a little bit to find simple things. This happens even when you start to get familiar with the product.""In some setup cases, there are issues with attributes not going in properly.""The solution’s policies are difficult to understand due to the policy methods. They use authentication. The solution’s workflow is also difficult and not very active. They need to have proper documentation on it. In the next release, I would like to see the workflows being more digestible.""The training is too costly."

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"It's not very easy to use. Sometimes it's buggy and there are problems when doing updates. The user interface is okay, but some configuration items are difficult. I would like it to be less buggy and easier to configure, to better streamline the user experience.""I haven't seen any SD-WAN configuration capability. If Prisma Access would support SD-WAN, that would help... SD-WAN devices should be able to reach Prisma Access, and Palo Alto should support different, vendor-specific devices, not just Palo Alto devices, for SD-WAN configuration.""Its integration with non-Palo Alto products can be improved. Currently, it is easy to integrate it with other Palo Alto products such as Cortex XDR. It integrates well with other Palo Alto products. A major part of our network is based on Palo Alto products, but for those companies that use multi-vendor products in their infrastructure, Palo Alto should optimize the integration of Prisma Access with the network devices from other vendors.""Sometimes, you have these notifications sent out about changes in App-IDs, modifications in App-IDs, or even the introduction of entirely new App-IDs to replace. Sometimes, the recommendations are followed, but even then, when the package is installed on the firewall, it gets messed up. I remember a particular one was with Tableau, and suddenly, people weren't able to use Tableau, which is an analytics tool for business.""It is a managed firewall. When you run into issues and have to troubleshoot, there is a fair amount of restriction. You run into a couple of restrictions where you don't have any visibility on what is happening on the Palo Alto managed infrastructure, and you need to get on a call to get technical assistance from Palo Alto's technical support. You have to get them to work with you to fix the problem. I would definitely like them to work on the visibility into what happens inside Palo Alto's infrastructure. It is not about getting our hands onto their infrastructure to do troubleshooting or fixing problems; it is just about getting more visibility. This will help us in guiding technical support folks to the area where they need to work.""Sometimes, we encountered a portal crash. When we told Palo Alto they said it might be the browser or cache, but I think they need to improve it on their side.""They can add some new characteristics. For example, when an incident triggers, they can automatically send a template for a particular match that is related to the policy. We don't have that right now. It is something to improve. There could be more automation for certain actions. For example, for a particular group, it can send an administrator alert to their manager. It was one of the concerns of our customers.""If you compare Prisma SaaS against other products, such as Cloud Log, it's a little bit tricky to understand, but it offers different functionality that other products don't have. From a user usability point of view, you need some training for this product, as an admin, you need a couple of demos."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing is reasonable."
  • "This solution is costly. Pricing is decent if you have less users, but it significantly goes up the more users you have, with its cost not justified."
  • "This is an expensive solution but the security makes it worthwhile."
  • "The price of Okta Workforce Identity is competitively priced. We pay annually for the use of the solution."
  • "The price of the solution is good."
  • "The cost per user for this solution is really high and could be reduced."
  • "The price of Okta Workforce Identity is reasonable."
  • "The solution is not the cheapest but not the most expensive. They are in the middle rating."
  • More Okta Workforce Identity Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The initial prices of Prisma Access were okay. But as soon as you start deploying Palo Alto gear, the support prices and the recurring prices, which are the major operational costs, tend to increase over time."
  • "Based on what I have heard from others, it is a pricey solution as compared to its peers, but I am not sure. However, considering the features that it offers, it is a break-even point. You get whatever they are promising."
  • "The pricing can be difficult because it came to us with another agreement, but it can be negotiated. I highly recommend people to compare this product's performance and pricing against BetterCloud, because I feel BetterCloud is better than Prisma SaaS if they're starting from scratch."
  • "It is pretty expensive. We have to balance the cost of some features. They need to work on some of the services and products, price-wise."
  • "The licensing model for this product is complicated and changes all the time, making it very hard for the user to comprehend the configuration."
  • "They price their products using credit modules."
  • "I would advise choosing your options according to your company's needs. Just go for what you want and do not pay for anything extra in terms of licensing. You need to determine how much bandwidth is required in your company network, and according to that, you should pay for the license. The mobile user license is based on the number of users who are going to use the VPN solution. You need to determine how many mobile users you are going to have in your network, and you should pay according to that. There are no other costs in addition to licensing, but if you go for the consultant services of Palo Alto networks to deliver the solution for you, then you need to pay something extra. That is not a part of licensing."
  • "The pricing is very friendly. It's not confusing to figure out your workload and how much you'd be paying for the solution."
  • More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Price-wise, Okta Workforce Identity is a cheap solution. The overall cost depends on the license since you can negotiate with Okta or any of Okta's partners only if you opt for many licenses.
    Top Answer: We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a… more »
    Top Answer:Palo Alto Firewall is one of the best firewalls in the world.
    Top Answer:I'm still comparing, but the solution is quite expensive.
    Ranking
    5th
    out of 33 in ZTNA as a Service
    Views
    1,946
    Comparisons
    1,693
    Reviews
    22
    Average Words per Review
    532
    Rating
    8.2
    1st
    out of 33 in ZTNA as a Service
    Views
    8,254
    Comparisons
    5,689
    Reviews
    29
    Average Words per Review
    1,240
    Rating
    8.1
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access
    Learn More
    Overview

    Okta Workforce Identity is a comprehensive identity and access management (IAM) solution designed to enhance security and streamline user experiences for businesses of all sizes. As a cloud-based platform, it offers a suite of tools that simplify user authentication, authorization, and management across a variety of applications and services.

    Core Features

    • Single Sign-On (SSO): Enables users to access multiple applications with a single set of credentials, enhancing convenience and reducing password fatigue.
    • Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Provides robust security by requiring additional verification factors, which can adapt based on the user's location, device, and behavior.
    • Lifecycle Management: Automates user account creation, updating, and deactivation, ensuring access rights are current and compliant with company policies.
    • Universal Directory: A centralized directory service that supports user and group management across various applications, simplifying administrative tasks.
    • API Access Management: Safeguards APIs by implementing policies that control how and when they can be accessed, which is crucial for protecting sensitive data.

    PeerSpot users often praise Okta Workforce Identity for its ease of use and robust security features. IT professionals appreciate the streamlined integration with numerous applications and the flexibility in configuring access policies. Business executives value the enhanced security posture and the ability to enforce compliance across their digital assets.

    For IT professionals, Okta Workforce Identity offers a scalable and efficient solution to manage user identities and access rights. The ability to automate routine tasks like user provisioning and deactivation significantly reduces administrative overhead, allowing IT teams to focus on more strategic initiatives. Furthermore, the platform's comprehensive reporting capabilities aid in monitoring and auditing access, which is critical for maintaining security and compliance.

    Business executives will find that Okta Workforce Identity aligns with broader organizational goals of operational efficiency and risk management. Its intuitive user experience minimizes disruptions to workforce productivity, while advanced security features like adaptive MFA help mitigate the risk of data breaches. The platform's cloud-based nature ensures scalability and agility, enabling businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and workforce dynamics.

    Okta Workforce Identity stands out as a versatile and secure IAM solution, adept at meeting the complex needs of modern enterprises. Its combination of user-friendly features and robust security measures makes it a top choice for organizations aiming to streamline their identity management processes while bolstering their cybersecurity defenses.

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks provides consistent security for all users and applications across your remote networks. Prisma Access grants users safe access to the cloud and data center applications and the internet as well. In addition, the solution combines all of your security and networking capabilities into a single cloud-delivered platform, enabling flexible hybrid workforces.

    Prisma Access can be managed two ways:

    1. Cloud Managed
    2. Panorama Managed

    Prisma Access delivers both networking and security services, including:

    • SD-WAN
    • VPN
    • Zero Trust network access (ZTNA)
    • Quality of service (QoS)
    • Clean Pipe
    • Firewall as a service (FWaaS)
    • DNS Security
    • Threat Prevention
    • Cloud secure web gateway (SWG)
    • Data loss prevention (DLP)
    • Cloud access security broker (CASB)

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Features

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has many valuable key features including: App-ID, User-ID, Device-ID, SSL Decryption, Dynamic User Group (DUG) Monitoring, AI/ML-Based Detection, IoT Security, Reporting, URL Filtering, Enterprise Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)*, Logging, Policy Automation, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and many more.

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks include:

    • Security: Prisma Access gives you consistent security to protect against cyberattacks, with enforcement of policy at every location. By implementing Prisma Access, you also gain protection that works to prevent known and unknown malware, exploits, credential theft, command and control, and many other attack vectors across all ports and protocols.

    • Global connectivity: Prisma Access provides global coverage through use of its connectivity layer.

    • Scalability: With Prisma Access, scaling is automatically managed and is scalable, flexible, and agile.

    • Instant deployment: Deployment is fast, eliminating wasted time that may otherwise be associated with setting up a solution, operating it, or shipping hardware in order to get started.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

    users who are currently using the solution.

    PeerSpot user Partha D., Global Network Tech Lead at a computer software company, speaks about his experience using the product, saying, "It protects all app traffic so that users can gain access to all apps. Unlike other solutions that only work from ports 80 and 443, which are predominantly for web traffic, Prisma Access covers all protocols and works on all traffic patterns... The most sophisticated attacks can arise from sources that are not behind 80/443."

    Tejas J., a Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a computer software company, mentions that "it is geographically dispersed, and it sits on top of Google and AWS platforms. Therefore, you don't face the standard issues, such as latency or bandwidth issues, that you usually face in the case of on-prem data centers.

    Another PeerSpot reviewer, Max I., Associate Director at Cognizant, comments that "Security is absolutely spot-on, really top-notch. It's the result of all the components that come together, such as the HIP [Host Information Profile] and components like Forcepoint, providing end-user content inspection, and antivirus. It incorporates DLP features and that's fantastic because Prisma Access makes sure that all of the essential prerequisites are in place before a user can log in or can be tunneled into."

    Offer
    Learn more about Okta Workforce Identity
    Learn more about Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks
    Sample Customers
    FedEx, Zoom, Takeda, Lululemon Athletica, GrunHub, jetBlue, McKensson, Bain & Company, Engie, Peloton, Sonos, T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard, MGM Resorts, Ally Financial, Priceline, Albertsons, Itercom, Classy, FICO, Kensho, Live Nation, Drata, Rotary, and others.
    Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company23%
    Manufacturing Company19%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    Healthcare Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company48%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    University4%
    Government4%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise41%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise62%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise31%
    Large Enterprise41%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise68%
    Buyer's Guide
    Okta Workforce Identity vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks
    September 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Okta Workforce Identity vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and other solutions. Updated: September 2023.
    745,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Okta Workforce Identity is ranked 5th in ZTNA as a Service with 25 reviews while Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is ranked 1st in ZTNA as a Service with 27 reviews. Okta Workforce Identity is rated 8.2, while Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Okta Workforce Identity writes "Extremely easy to work with, simple to set up, and reasonably priced ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks writes "Makes us part of a bigger security ecosystem with updates taken care of for us, but pricing and support need work". Okta Workforce Identity is most compared with Google Cloud Identity, Microsoft Entra ID, SailPoint IdentityIQ, Saviynt and Auth0, whereas Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is most compared with Netskope , Cisco Umbrella, Zscaler Private Access, Prisma SD-WAN and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. See our Okta Workforce Identity vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks report.

    See our list of best ZTNA as a Service vendors.

    We monitor all ZTNA as a Service reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.