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it_user588588 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a hospitality company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Enables VPN connections.

What is most valuable?

It is a fast and easy solution for end users. You are always online.

How has it helped my organization?

We were using two-factor authentication via SMS previous to this solution. Sometimes SMSs were not received and users could not make a VPN connection. With this tool, it is now enough to just press the approve button.

What needs improvement?

There are some shortcomings on the reporting side, such as how many connections you can get per month.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started to use it in IT first. We tested it for one month. Later on, we moved all domain VPN users and consultant companies. We have used it for ten months since then.

Buyer's Guide
Symantec VIP Access Manager
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Symantec VIP Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have not been any stability issues yet. Especially with the consultant firms' VPN connections, in which connection approval is done by us and we record their screen.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have not been any scalability issues.

How are customer service and support?

You don’t need any technical support. After the first time installation, the gateway solution is enough. After that, you just install the client app on your mobile device.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used the SMS solution, but it always had problems. Every SMS sent costs money.

What about the implementation team?

The gateway server is easy to install and communicate with. You just install it and download the software to your mobile device. The number received from the mobile device is also secured.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Symantec has always been an open-minded company. If you tell them what your budget is, it will be that number.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have used the FortiGate SMS solution.

What other advice do I have?

If you use a different product like this, your users will definitely see the difference. If this is the first time using such an application, the end user may have some resistance. The necessity of the product is indispensable and it is a really a simple application.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user321156 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Security Architect at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
It is cloud based. As long as a site has an Internet connection, developers can get in and work.

What is most valuable?

Resiliency: At one company I was at, we had development all over the world and often we would have a connection go down to the headquarters where we had the VPNs. This caused the remote site, sometimes with 100s of developers, to come to a halt isolating the office. In order to keep development going, I dropped a VPN and a small VIP relay server in the office. Because VIP is cloud based, as long as the site had an Internet connection, developers could still get in and work.

What needs improvement?

When tracking down an issue, you often have to go to each relay server and read through the logs.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using VIP Access Manager for eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Overall, VIP is very stable compared to RSA SecureID. The back end is handled by Symantec, while the enterprise handles a simple relay server. At times, the relay server could not contact Symantec; it would fail open and allow access without a passcode. If Symantec came back up, it would stay in fail open and not revert back to normal operations. So, I could create a DOS against the relay server, and then have full access to the site with only user ID and password

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We did not encounter any scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is better than average.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used RSA SecureID.

What about the implementation team?

Setup was very easy. I wrote a two-page procedure to deploy a server.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing was about 25% of the old solution. That saved us about $500,000 over three years for 10,000 users.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Entrust and SafeWord.

What other advice do I have?

Include a load balancer in front of the relay servers.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Symantec VIP Access Manager
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Symantec VIP Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user589362 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Consultant And Project Management Of Information Security at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Prevents unauthorized logins, even when passwords have been compromised or shared.

What is most valuable?

Strong user authentication with easy integration to many applications using a free app, Mobile Credential, that lowers hardware costs.

How has it helped my organization?

Most of our customers reported fraud reduction and PCI compliance support.

What needs improvement?

They are adding QR code to its functionalities making the solution more complete.

A good feature that would be interesting to have is a credential profile with access time control. Some of our customers would be happy with that.

But a great improvement would be if they change the token number for a kind of technology by facial recognition.

Another thing is, if the Symantec VIP had a hardware appliance with a risk engine exclusive for IB, maybe they could create a new business opportunity.

With these three features my rating would be 5/5. That’s for sure!

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been installing this solution for about three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It’s a cloud-based authentication service and I never get complaints about stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No complains about scalability. We can make quick changes in the user base and easily provision new VIP features.

How are customer service and technical support?

In my opinion, for this solution, the technical support is not so expert when we talk about integration using the API. I rate them 3.5/5.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

As a consultant, I am familiar with RSA SecurID. But, due to the need for tokens hardware, the solution turns out to be much more expensive than the VIP.

How was the initial setup?

Quickly and easily deployed in enterprise infrastructure.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing is per-user and has a great price if compared to RSA SecurID.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I evaluated RSA SecurID.

What other advice do I have?

VIP is a strong, cloud-based authentication service that enables organizations to secure access to networks and applications to prevent unauthorized logins to company resources, even when passwords have been compromised or shared.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are integration partners.
PeerSpot user
it_user245415 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Service Delivery Coordinator for Victoria at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
All the platforms we were running were supported.

What is most valuable?

VIP is a strong authentication service to securely access the network while working remotely.

How has it helped my organization?

Strong, smarter user authentication with no set date of expiry on the soft tokens issued to remote users. It is an app that sits on the iPhone and generates a token every 30 seconds and combined with a 4 digit PIN makes remote login very simple either from an iPad or a laptop.

What needs improvement?

No areas come to mind at the moment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for two years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Excellent.

Technical Support:

Excellent.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously we used RSA SecureID hard tokens for authenticating remote logins which were more expensive and we always used to get user requests to replace them when the expired.

How was the initial setup?

It was fairly straightforward because all the platforms we were running like Microsoft Server 2008, Citrix, Cisco etc. were all supported by VIP.

What about the implementation team?

We had very good vendor support for our in-house team, so the implementation went very smoothly. Within a month, we were able to migrate our entire fleet from the hard tokens to the VIP access soft tokens for remote login to the network.

What was our ROI?

It is added value that cannot be quantified with a monetary ROI figure, but what I can confidently say is that it is a one time investment of soft token licenses that do not expire. The main benefit of Symantec VIP is that it provides strong authentication while keeping it as a very user friendly experience.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

As we already had a good business relationship with Symantec, and they were giving us a very cost effective cloud based option with VIP, we did not even have the need to pursue other options.

What other advice do I have?

These are the benefits of implementing VIP by Symantec as remote login solution

  • Cloud based solution
  • Fast migration from hard token solution
  • Reduced complexity
  • Improved productivity
  • Lower costs
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user243873 - PeerSpot reviewer
Help Desk Analyst with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
The VIP manager doesn't authenticate through AD or LDAP, but overall customer satisfaction has increased.

What is most valuable?

  • Ease of integration
  • End user acceptance

How has it helped my organization?

After the initial integration, the overall support calls dropped, and customer satisfaction for VPN increased.

What needs improvement?

The VIP Manager can be accessed from the outside which is a security vulnerability. The VIP manager doesn't authenticate through AD or LDAP.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for one year.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Our deployment was an eight month global, staged deployment. The issues were
related to the documentation and training and not with the products themselves.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Unless you can count an expired certificate as a stability issue, no.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We had a license for 4000 users, which we had to have increased overnight to suit our needs, and the issue was seamless.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Email support usually takes 24 hours to respond to questions, and longer for more complex issues that require additional research.

Technical Support:

Great customer support. They usually respond within 24 hours and provide solutions to end users directly.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used RSA VPN, which was outdated and expensive per seat. We also used Smartcard which had too many hand-offs and, again, was expensive.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward. We were able to install the server and setup the portals within a day.

What about the implementation team?

It was done all in-house.

What other advice do I have?

It's a very easy product to administer and has a lot of extra features, including two and three factor authorization, mobile solutions, pin-to-text, layered administration, etc.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user192297 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security PCI Project Coordinator at a leisure / travel company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
The product is user friendly, but I have found some users still require coaching

What is most valuable?

The ease of integrating into an existing authentication system. A hand held or laptop device is easily enrolled. The product is user friendly, but I have found some users still require coaching.

How has it helped my organization?

No functional improvement on accessing the intranet. However this product provides significantly more access security with an additional challenge. We have yet to use it for additional internal controls.

What needs improvement?

  • Installation
  • User experience
  • Friendliness.

For how long have I used the solution?

It's been available to the enterprise since the beginning of 2014. Test and development began in April of 2013.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Our only issue was with user training. The additional challenge was not well received.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

So far so good!

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No problems.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Responsive, but confusing about who owned what piece and where the expertise was for particular issues.

Technical Support:

Very good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used the virtual solution provided by Solutionary.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward in that adding VIP provided a new layer of security to an existing virtual access platform.

What about the implementation team?

This was done in-house primarily and with the help of Solutionary.

What other advice do I have?

Produce a simple yet comprehensive guide for new enrollees.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2158755 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Supervisor at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 20
Provides efficient remote access to the main system, but its connection speed needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is useful for providing user access from an in-built office server as we follow the work-from-home model."
  • "It is challenging to use when installing a new version."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product to access a virtual computer, hosted by our IT sector while working remotely.

What is most valuable?

The product is useful for providing user access from an in-built office server as we follow the work-from-home model.

What needs improvement?

The product's connection speed needs improvement. Sometimes, I need help connecting my mobile to the main office's system due to a version upgrade. It is challenging to use when installing a new version.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Symantec VIP Access Manager for ten years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 2000 Symantec VIP Access Manager users. The scalability depends on the system maintenance done by our IT technicians. We need VPN connections to comply with the licensing terms and system capacity to accommodate a certain number of users. If the number exceeds the licensing limit, the users cannot access it.

How are customer service and support?

Our organization relies on a third-party contractor to support and maintain the system.

How was the initial setup?

We have set up the product using small routers at home using separate VPN channels. In some situations, connections from common cables are required. The blank cable is already using one of our systems. We can utilize it to establish a temporary connection.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Symantec VIP Access Manager a seven out of ten. I recommend using the product if you also want remote access to the main system for mobile users.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Symantec VIP Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Symantec VIP Access Manager Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.