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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs NetWitness Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Secure Network Analytics
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (37th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (4th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (9th), Cisco Security Portfolio (9th)
NetWitness Platform
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (35th), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (32nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Secure Network Analytics and NetWitness Platform aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Network Analytics is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 0.9%, down 1.2% compared to last year.
NetWitness Platform, on the other hand, focuses on Log Management, holds 0.7% mindshare, up 0.3% since last year.
Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Secure Network Analytics0.9%
Zabbix5.7%
SolarWinds NPM3.4%
Other90.0%
Network Monitoring Software
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
NetWitness Platform0.7%
Wazuh8.3%
Splunk Enterprise Security6.9%
Other84.1%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Harun-Owr-Roshid - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Have streamlined network visibility and troubleshooting while seeing benefits from AI integration
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database. When precise manual analysis is needed, it's sometimes difficult, so having a centralized database will allow network admins to find actual scenarios more effectively, especially since some information may not be visible on the GUI. Cisco should upgrade their hardware part to run the database, because sometimes it cannot handle the load while all features are running in the network. The database management should indeed be centralized because while AI runs behind the systems, central management is essential. For example, in a network with 100 Cisco switches, a few routers, firewalls, and access points, all data generated should be preserved in a central database. This approach simplifies management and analysis for troubleshooting, as GUI interfaces may not always provide visible information. Centralizing the database will allow for better understanding of which information is preserved for each specific device.
MOTASHIM Al Razi - PeerSpot reviewer
CISO at One Bank Limited
It is a stable solution, but they should make the user interface easier to understand
The solution's initial setup takes work. We have to organize multiple paths and many features. The deployment process takes less than a week. But it takes a month to complete if we want to make the solution smarter by integrating it with various devices. I rate the process as a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The search options on Cisco Stealthwatch are the most valuable. You can get very granular with it, down to the kilobits or the seconds if you want. The product supports any time frame that you need, so that is nice."
"The fact that it can identify down to an IP address of a system that is causing problems, or potentially causing problems, is very valuable."
"The most valuable feature is anomaly detection, where it finds things that are not allowed internally."
"It is a good application, providing for real-time monitoring of the organization of data. It can basically identify points of peak traffic where possible issues are being caused."
"Stability is the most valuable feature we have seen in this solution."
"It's easy to set up. The deployment takes one or two days. You need to collect the data from a device and then direct it to the portal."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is data hoarding because it catches threats on a frequent basis that we had no idea of."
"I believe this solution has reduced our incident response time."
"The most valuable feature is that we can create our own connectors for any application, and NetWitness provides the training and tools to do it."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to write rules and triggers for network communication, and then being able to investigate based on that."
"The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult."
"The product has a user-friendly interface and a valuable feature for threat intelligence integration."
"The most valuable features are its ingestion of logs and raising of alerts based on those logs."
"The newer 11.5 version that my team is using has found it to have good mapping."
"NetWitness can be highly beneficial for incident detection and response."
"Performance and reporting are very good."
 

Cons

"Cisco should upgrade their hardware part to run the database, because sometimes it cannot handle the load while all features are running in the network."
"It's too complicated to install, when starting out."
"I would like to see more and cleaner reporting. For example, if I pull up Steven and I want to look and maybe compare him to what you've done in the past week, and compare that to the past six months, the point would be to see what the difference in activity looks like over this time. I don't see that capability in reporting to date. You see that trend but you don't really see a straightforward comparison. That right there is key to what we want to see about the normal activity."
"It hasn't really improved our direct detection rate but it has definitely reduced our incident response time as we wouldn't have been able to detect threats or immediate risks without this solution."
"It is time-consuming to set it up and understand how the tool works."
"We determined that Stealthwatch wouldn't provide the machine learning model that we required."
"Better integration between Cisco Secure Network Analytics and Cisco Secure Workload would be beneficial."
"I would like to see interoperability with other Cisco products because we have ThousandEyes, Cisco Prime, and others. The interaction among these is important to us."
"The threat detection capability and centralizing and upgrading capability need to be improved. The threat alert capability needs to be improved as well because there is some lag time at present. They need to work on their database search too."
"Nowadays, their support is a little subpar compared to other solutions. I rate RSA support six out of 10."
"Lots of competing products have vulnerability protection built into their products, and this solution would be improved by including that support."
"The log system is a bit complex and has room for improvement."
"The product's licensing models are complex to understand. This particular area needs improvement."
"They should implement algorithms to digest that data and produce additional, more advanced reporting, alerting and support of internal security teams."
"It should have a monitoring feature. It would help us analyze the current state of attacks faster from a single platform."
"More customizability is required, which is something that they need to improve on."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for support costs on a yearly basis."
"The pricing for this solution is good."
"Our fees are approximately $3,000 USD."
"The licensing costs are outrageous."
"NetFlow is very expensive."
"It is worth the cost."
"​Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."
"Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside>in traffic."
"The NetWitness Platform may be affordable only for enterprise-level customers, as it may not be within the budget of small and medium-sized businesses."
"In comparison to other SIEM solutions such as Splunk, NetWitness is less costly."
"The licenses are good but the cost is very expensive."
"It is cheap."
"The new pricing and licensing mechanisms are fair. I would advise always to get the full solution (i.e., not only Logs)."
"The tool is very expensive, so I rate the pricing a ten out of ten. The solution has an annual subscription."
"Many clients are not able to purchase the packet capability because there is a huge amount of data, and the cost depends on the number of EPS (Events per second), as well as the number of gigabytes of data per day."
"We are on an annual license for the use of the solution."
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Comparison Review

VS
Manager, Enterprise Risk Consulting at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Performing Arts
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Stealthwatch?
Regarding cost, for the Bangladesh context, Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a little bit high-priced because we are a developing country, making it tough to manage affordable solutions. However, ...
What needs improvement with Cisco Stealthwatch?
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper m...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Stealthwatch?
Our customers mainly use Cisco Secure Network Analytics to get whole network visibility and easy troubleshooting to find actual problems and also to mitigate loopholes or findings immediately to pr...
What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to me.
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
RSA Security Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
Los Angeles World Airports, Reply
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