Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs Impulse Point SafeConnect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco ISE (Identity Service...
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
138
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
Impulse Point SafeConnect
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the market share of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is 26.7% and it decreased by 15.2% compared to the previous year. The market share of Impulse Point SafeConnect is 0.2% and it increased by 310.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Unique Categories:
Cisco Security Portfolio
32.1%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

Adarge Ekholt - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
The ability to see what devices are online for a particular user helps a lot with our troubleshooting
Another big benefit for us is definitely security in terms of wireless user activity. We spent a lot of time looking at live logs and user logs to figure out where they've been in the network and in which buildings. We can get rogue granular with locations of where people are and where they're experiencing issues. We have definitely saved time since using ISE when it comes to building some of the policies around the types of users, like library users versus student union or even admin users. The policy building is complicated, but after a while, it's pretty straightforward in terms of repeatability of staff turnover, and things like that. It's not the learning curve that's hard for continuous maintenance.
CD
Sep 30, 2021
Easy to scale, enforces policies well, and has responsive technical support
We primarily use the solution for network security A lot of campuses use SafeConnect. It gives us good visibility and enforces policies. It helps enforce network security by scanning devices, making sure they have current and valid antivirus solutions with up-to-date antivirus definitions, and…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The biggest value of ISE is that it can get so granular with gaming systems, versus IoT and BYOD."
"The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall."
"ISE's most valuable feature is integration between IT and OTs."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the policy sets."
"The profiling model included is the most valuable feature."
"The ability to integrate our Cisco AnyConnect connections to the active directory has been great."
"[One of the most valuable features] is just the ease of use. It's pretty simple to set up certs that we can add to our clients to make sure that they connect properly, [as is] whitelisting Mac addresses."
"Cisco ISE is a comprehensive solution that allows you to control access to network resources granularly based on policies."
"It is very easy to scale the product."
 

Cons

"Difficult to figure out the protocols and nodes in order to implement correctly."
"The Cisco wireless​ controller needs to add more than one physical port."
"The primary issue is the slowness of the application and the web interface. We have multiple admin nodes and app nodes. So when I need to get some information about a particular user, the GUI would take ten to fifteen seconds in loading when we need to know right away."
"I'd like to see an easier way to upgrade to larger versions, as well as more best practices that are easier to locate on their support page."
"Some of the reporting could be improved."
"ISE is a little clunky. The front-end feels like it is from the 1980s."
"I would like the product to include support for OSVS version three."
"The tracking mechanism in Cisco ISE is relatively costly, especially its vendor-specific protocol."
"The solution would be much better if it offered self-service onboarding."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Being fully honest, the Cisco licensing model right now is really confusing. We don't know what licenses we have where. We have Smart licensing, but the different levels are way confusing."
"I think licensing costs roughly $2,000 a year. ISE is more expensive than Network Access Control."
"Cisco is expensive, but it's the cost for all the functions and value it brings. Functions like internet solutions, integrations, security, and many more features are important, but it's expensive for some clients."
"The price is a bit on the high side."
"Cybersecurity resilience has been very important to our organization and has been a big factor. We've had issues in the past, but one of the things I like about ISE is its logging features. Security wise or information wise, it really has been a powerful tool."
"The price of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is expensive and we are thinking about changing to FortiGate."
"The price can be lower, especially for subscriptions. It should be a lot cheaper to have a wide range of customers. The price should be comparable to competitive products like Forescout or Fortinet FortiNAC. Forescout is cheaper for customers looking for a cloud solution."
"The price for Cisco ISE is high."
"For our tier group, for one year, the cost is probably around $10,000 for the license. If you do multi-year, you could get two years, and you could get it for about $8,000 per year. If you do three years, you get it around $7,000 a year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
23%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...
What are the main differences between Cisco ISE and Forescout Platform?
OK, so Cisco ISE uses 802.1X to secure switchports against unauthorized access. The drawback of this is that ISE cannot secure the port if a device does not support 802.1x. Cameras, badge readers, ...
How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?
Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user exper...
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Also Known As

Cisco ISE
SafeConnect
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University
Aerohive Solution
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, HPE Aruba Networking, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: June 2024.
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