RSA Authentication Manager vs Symantec Advanced Authentication comparison

Why PeerSpot?

RSA and Broadcom are both solutions in the Authentication Systems category. RSA is ranked #13, while Broadcom is ranked #22. RSA holds a 2.7% mindshare in AS, compared to Broadcom’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of RSA users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 77% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

RSA Authentication Manager and Symantec Advanced Authentication are competing products in secure access management. RSA holds the advantage in pricing and customer support, while Symantec offers superior features.

Features: RSA Authentication Manager focuses on robust multi-factor authentication, an effective threat management dashboard, and strong security administration features. Symantec Advanced Authentication offers flexibility, scalability, and integration with existing infrastructures, along with a risk engine that helps analyze and respond to potential threats.

Room for Improvement: RSA could enhance its adaptability and expand integration capabilities beyond Microsoft products. Symantec could simplify its complex deployment and improve ease of use for less technical users. Neither offers built-in single sign-on features that integrate with third-party applications without additional customization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RSA Authentication Manager is praised for its straightforward deployment process, with extensive documentation and dedicated support channels. Symantec Advanced Authentication, while offering comprehensive support, has a more complex deployment process that may require enhanced assistance for setup in complex environments.

Pricing and ROI: RSA Authentication Manager provides competitive pricing, suitable for small to medium-sized enterprises with lower initial costs. Symantec Advanced Authentication, despite higher initial costs, aims for long-term savings and increased security returns, making it a viable option for enterprises seeking comprehensive security solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed RSA Authentication Manager vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

RSA Authentication Manager vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

November 2026

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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 Duo

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Authentication Systems category, the mindshare of Cisco Duo is 3.7%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Authentication Manager is 2.7%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Authentication is 1.5%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Duo	3.7%
RSA Authentication Manager	2.7%
Symantec Advanced Authentication	1.5%
Other	92.1%

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

Charles Slaustas

Information Technology Contractor at Insight global

Supports seamless authentication for users across multiple organizations and personal portals

The features I use in Cisco Duo include Duo Pushes to confirm my identity to the device, and eventually as MFA security was increased, I actually had to use exchange passcodes. Sometimes, I have to go into the site and get into Cisco Duo to retrieve the passcode, and many of them have been two-factor, where the sites send a passcode that I have to enter into Cisco Duo. It has been more of the latter. I have not seen issues with lagging or crashing on Cisco Duo's end; it was usually on the client end, often because someone set up a bad upgrade or there were connection issues with the Cisco Duo cloud through the administrative site.

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Uwe Schomäcker

VP Business Development at SDVG

Enhancing security with seamless single sign-on and Microsoft integration

We use RSA Authentication Manager for web applications and internal applications. We have a number of applications connected to it, serving over thirty thousand clients. It is integrated into everything from our standard login to Windows in the morning, as well as our applications Due to its…

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Umair (Abu Mohaymin) Akhlaque

Group CEO at Flexsolutions

Ensures robust security features and ease of deployment, although it may lack some of the more modern authentication options

There has been a need for aggressive development to modernize the product and align it with contemporary security requirements. While the rebranding has been a step forward, further enhancements are essential to meet the evolving demands of the market. It lacks features such as ActiveSync Exchange security, and it doesn't offer alternatives like password-less authentication via biometrics or patches. While Symantec mainly relies on traditional token-based or password-based methods, newer authentication methods are missing from its repertoire. Support services often lack promptness and depth of knowledge, leaving customers waiting for weeks to resolve issues. In the realm of multifactor authentication, swift resolution of problems is critical, as any slowdown or interruption can significantly impact operations. Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Since Duo Security provides a single place to log in for our SaaS applications, we don't have to manage user accounts and remember passwords for each specific application."

"Duo features benefit my company by making logins more secure and simpler. Everything is in one box, so we don't have multiple servers trying to do the same thing."

"By deploying Duo, we have virtually eliminated the risk of direct deposit redirection as a result of credentials that have been compromised via phishing."

"The multi-factor authentication process and the geo-locking features are great."

"The push notifications and the integrations they offer are valuable. Their mobile app is very useful. It is very easy to use."

"Cisco Duo has been very reliable from my point of view so far, as I have not had any issues with it."

"It's easy to deploy. It's easy to manage. It's easy to integrate with other applications."

"I love Duo Security's push notifications. It's simple, fast, and secure. From the user's perspective, the solution is seamless. The security aspect is great."

More Cisco Duo pros

"The product has addressed our remote access security needs while making our work force mobile thus enhancing productivity and customer service initiatives."

"RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution."

"The technical support has been great; their service is perfect."

"RSA Authentication Manager Appliance is almost like Plug 'n' Play, so it's an excellent experience."

"RSA Authentication Manager is a robust solution that provides comprehensive protection for both on-premise and cloud-based applications."

"In 2005 we started with a managed authentication service for three small companies with each having approx. 250 users, and now we have 25 large enterprises/government departments with over 150,000 authenticating users and an uptime of nearly 100% over the last five years."

"Easy setup, deployment, and integration in different infrastructures, including virtual ones."

"I have found RSA Authentication Manager to be scalable."

More RSA Authentication Manager pros

"It actually increases our revenue and the customer base."

"It tells us exactly what we want in terms of authentication to various applications and provides protection for users who access them."

"It allows us to assure our customers that we are protecting their data."

"Symantec Advanced Authentication can be useful for wherever you require a strong authentication."

"Ease of deployment: no need to keep up with physical devices for multi-factor authentication; no software to deploy on end-user computers requiring administrative rights."

"One of the most valuable aspects is its remarkable stability."

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it's a strong authentication solution that's able to integrate with applications."

"The most valuable feature is that we get a wide range of authentication methods and authentication integrators, so different platforms can get service authentication with transparency to the final user while providing strong authentication forms and connectors."

More Symantec Advanced Authentication pros

Cons

"Cisco Duo is not MSP ready by default."

"We were considering purchasing other products, like AMP for Endpoints, and it was not properly integrated with the firewall function. It might be better now with SecureX."

"From an administrative standpoint, I'd love to see it be a little better at remembering a device and location so that I don't have to continually authenticate. That's pretty much it."

"There is always room for improvement."

"We have had instances where Duo Security stops working on a user's device, which we have fixed by uninstalling and then reinstalling it."

"Technical support could be improved. I don't think all support should have to go through an agreement."

"I believe Cisco Duo needs to be improved on the delay process because there is a delay when we send a Duo Push or when we are signing into any applications."

"I would like to see Duo Security increase the time that the users have to log into the devices. The maximum time interval is 50 minutes at the moment, and I would like it to be 60 minutes. When you try to log into a device and have to authenticate yourself, sometimes it's not very pleasant. It's not the best thing particularly if you have to do this every 50 minutes, which is the maximum time that Duo gives. This makes it difficult to use and does not save time."

More Cisco Duo cons

"Perhaps parts of the the user interface should become more intuitive."

"Enhancing the user interface and expanding their marketing efforts in regions like Nigeria and West Africa could be beneficial."

"We found technical support was not very responsive to our requests for assistance."

"The price needs to be improved."

"Our major problem is the authentication via Microsoft, via Microsoft cloud systems. This is our major aim, to be a valued product for the future. The biggest problem is to work against cheap cloud systems. Cloud identification is our main problem at this time."

"We have encountered issue when trying to expand this particular solution for a large set of users across the country."

"My observation over the years is that the system upgrades can be complicated and must be well planned out to address 'what if' issues, including backing off upgrades if necessary."

"The reporting needs to be improved, and they should be delivered by email."

More RSA Authentication Manager cons

"It needs faster implementation on the cloud for our customers."

"The initial setup of the tenant is a big cost element of the service and we were doing multiple tenants for our customer."

"Urgent improvement is necessary to ensure that support responses are faster and more effective, aligning with the demands of MFA implementation."

"This solution could be improved with risk-based authentication. I think that this product has everything that most customers are looking for, but modern technology has people looking for security tools with risk-based authentication, which they have a separate tool for. If they could integrate this, it would improve Symantec Advanced Authentication. They have to look at what's newly trending and how things are moving forward, and then adapt and adopt those features. Symantec's technical support should also be improved, in terms of response time."

"Sometimes getting this set up does take a bit longer. It's not always install, next, next, next, finish."

"We have seen quite a few issues with bugginess. It is indeed pretty buggy and we have had to install some fixes."

"They definitely need to automate a few processes like the Wiley process."

"Arcot itself is based on a browser technology. This means that the office ID is effectively stored as a cookie in the browser."

More Symantec Advanced Authentication cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From a reseller perspective, it's still challenging to explain the whole license strategy to a client, so we really have to be ahead of that for all the true forward conversations."

"I haven't seen any information on the pricing in four years, so I can't comment on that."

"With regard to pricing, for a small business buying a one off, it's pretty expensive. If it's an enterprise that has thousands of employees, however, it's really nothing to protect your data because if your network goes down or it's breached, you're losing millions of dollars every minute. When it comes to a large enterprise, it's priced where it should be because you're talking business to business. You're not talking business to consumer."

"It's very simple. Its price is fair. We use the hardware tokens as well. You get what you pay for. In terms of licensing, Cisco has very complicated products, but Duo Security was surprisingly easy."

"You pay per user when using this solution and the pricing is fair."

"Overall, the pricing is fair. Customers can wrap it into their Enterprise Agreement, making it easier for them to solve their issues."

"I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten."

"It is affordable for what's coming to the table with it, but in this day and age, the cost is looked at under a microscope, and companies need to very finely define what is needed versus what is critical. In some cases, it might not be cost-effective for a company to have it. In a lot of other cases, it is the cost of doing business."

More Cisco Duo pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is a little bit complicated because sometimes resellers are able to make prices that are too low. Our price, with a discount, is typically not as high as some of our competitors."

"As a new customer, the minimum cost would be four dollars, but you have room for negotiation, potentially bringing it down to as low as three dollars."

"The solution is costly."

"There are eventually going to be implementation costs. Sometimes you're required to have custom code developments there, so that has to be part of the implementation price."

"The price is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

11%

Construction Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Construction Company

16%

Outsourcing Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	65
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	83

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?

We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Du...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Duo Security?

Regarding the pricing, what actually happened was that we got the product purchased through our HQ, so the costing as...

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What needs improvement with Duo Security?

I do not have a straight answer for how Cisco Duo can be improved at this time. With the implementation that we are g...

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What needs improvement with RSA Authentication Manager?

RSA Authentication Manager is perfect. We do not see current missing products or enhancements yet emphasize the impor...

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What is your primary use case for RSA Authentication Manager?

We use RSA Authentication Manager for web applications and internal applications. We have a number of applications co...

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What advice do you have for others considering RSA Authentication Manager?

RSA Authentication Manager is the best available solution. However, for other companies, it might seem expensive. It'...

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Comparisons

Microsoft Entra ID vs Cisco Duo

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Duo

Compared 6% of the time

Okta Platform vs Cisco Duo

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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Duo

Compared 3% of the time

UserLock vs Cisco Duo

Compared 2% of the time

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Certificate Lifecycle Manager vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Yubico YubiKey vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 6% of the time

OneSpan DIGIPASS vs RSA Authentication Manager

Compared 4% of the time

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Symantec VIP Access Manager vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 5% of the time

RSA Adaptive Authentication vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 5% of the time

Thales Authenticators vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 5% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 5% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Symantec Advanced Authentication

Compared 3% of the time

More Symantec Advanced Authentication Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Duo

November 2026

Download Cisco Duo product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

October 2026

Download RSA Authentication Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Symantec Advanced Authentication

October 2026

Download Symantec Advanced Authentication product report

Also Known As

Duo Security

ACE/Server

CA Advanced Authentication, CA Strong Authentication, CA Risk Authentication, Arcot WebFort, Arcot RiskFort

Overview

Cisco Duo is a cloud-based identity security platform safeguarding critical resources for any user and device worldwide. Known for its ease of use, Duo offers seamless protection across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.

Cisco Duo is designed to secure access with identity-first protection and provides extensive visibility throughout an organization's identity ecosystem. Offering multi-factor authentication, Duo facilitates easy integration and management, allowing teams to protect data effectively on VPNs, applications, and networks. Its single-pane management improves security processes while enhancing trust, making it suitable for diverse IT infrastructures.

What are the key features of Cisco Duo?

Multi-factor Authentication: Strengthens user verification with multiple methods.
Push Notifications: Simplifies authentication with quick approvals.
Single Sign-On: Enhances convenience by allowing one set of credentials.
VPN Access: Secures remote connections with reliable authentication.
User Activity Visibility: Offers comprehensive insights into access patterns.

Which benefits and ROI should users consider?

Quick Deployment: Facilitates rapid integration within existing systems.
Effective Management: Streamlines IT operations with centralized control.
Regulatory Compliance: Aids in meeting industry standards for data protection.
Enhanced Trust: Strengthens security posture across networks.
User-friendly Approach: Simplifies authentication for non-technical users.

In industries like education and finance, Cisco Duo is widely employed to secure multi-factor authentication across platforms such as email, databases, and servers. Its integration capabilities with Microsoft 365, Active Directory, and VPNs like AnyConnect are instrumental in verifying user identities using mobile apps or OTPs, catering effectively to both remote and on-premise environments.

Cisco

RSA Authentication Manager provides robust security for authentication needs, offering features like multifactor authentication and decentralized administration. It supports both on-premises and cloud environments, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft products.

RSA Authentication Manager is designed to enhance security through comprehensive multifactor authentication and advanced security administration. The integration capabilities with Microsoft products allow for versatile deployment in both cloud and on-premises environments. Known for its reliable performance, it offers simple setup and token deployment, making it highly adaptable for organizations looking for efficient management and mapping solutions. Despite some challenges with reporting and cloud integration, strategic improvements can address these issues. Enhancements in mobile authentication, pricing, and cloud management consoles have been suggested by users. In industries requiring stringent security, RSA's features like Fortinet VPN integration and adaptability for global file transfers make it a preferred choice.

What are the key features of RSA Authentication Manager?

Multifactor Authentication: Provides comprehensive multifactor authentication to enhance security.
Security Administration: Offers effective decentralized administration for seamless management.
Integration Capabilities: Strong integration with Microsoft products and support for VPNs.
Token Deployment: Facilitates easy self-service token deployment for administrators.
Mapping and Logging: Advanced capabilities for efficient security management.

What benefits can users expect?

Reliable Performance: Ensures stable and consistent operations across environments.
Easy Setup: Simplified setup process enhances usability and deployment speed.
Flexible Management Roles: Advanced troubleshooting and role management for effective operation.
Comprehensive Reporting: Built-in reporting tools for detailed insights and analysis.
Integration Flexibility: Seamless integration with legacy systems and custom applications.

RSA Authentication Manager is extensively used in authentication for applications requiring enhanced security measures. It supports improved protection for Cisco VPN connections and file transfers through robust APIs, offering two-factor authentication. Organizations have incorporated it extensively for web and internal application security, demonstrating its widespread application connectivity. Solutions like Fortinet VPN integration further define its capability in providing authentication support globally, serving thousands of organizations effectively.

RSA

Symantec Advanced Authentication provides robust security solutions aimed at safeguarding digital identities through multifactor authentication, ensuring secure access control for businesses.

With increasing cyber threats, businesses need reliable authentication systems. Symantec Advanced Authentication delivers enhanced security protocols, blending risk-based authentication with seamless user experiences. It supports a range of authentication methods and integrates effortlessly into existing systems, offering scalable security options.

What are the key features of Symantec Advanced Authentication?

Risk-Based Authentication: Evaluates risks in real-time to adjust security measures dynamically.
Multifactor Authentication: Supports various means like biometrics, tokens, and smart cards for secure login processes.
Cloud and On-premise Options: Flexible deployment choices to suit different IT environments.
Integration Capabilities: Easily integrates with existing IT infrastructure for seamless operation.

What benefits can users expect from reviews?

Enhanced Security: Reliable protection against unauthorized access.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs without compromising on performance.
Flexibility: Multiple authentication options catering to different user preferences.
Cost Efficiency: Reduction in potential security-related financial losses.

Symantec Advanced Authentication is utilized in healthcare, finance, and other industries to secure sensitive information. In healthcare, it enables compliance with regulations by safeguarding patient data. Financial institutions leverage it to protect client information and ensure secure transactions. Its versatility makes it an ideal choice for industries requiring strict security protocols.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Tiera, Fred Loya, BRE Leasing, ADP, BlueFort Security, New Hanover County

Global bank, Large Filipino Bank and SK Infosec

Buyer's Guide

RSA Authentication Manager vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

November 2026

Free Report: RSA Authentication Manager vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication

Find out what your peers are saying about RSA Authentication Manager vs. Symantec Advanced Authentication and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.

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