Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
reviewer1286409 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Account Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Provides good visibility and security, and is affordable and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The visibility and security features are most valuable. We get a clear view. It is a very secure product for educational institutions."
  • "The improvement can be in the cloud area. They can improve it for the cloud so that we can deploy it on the cloud."

What is our primary use case?

We are a gold partner of Aruba. We have deployed it in different educational institutions. It is mainly being used by the students. They onboard their mobile devices on ClearPass so that they can use them securely, and the IT team can have more visibility on the product. This is the main use case for ClearPass.

What is most valuable?

The visibility and security features are most valuable. We get a clear view. It is a very secure product for educational institutions. 

It is very user-friendly. It is easy to configure and use. The dashboard is very intuitive, and it can give you a very clear view. You can see all the students and all the onboarded devices on the dashboard.

What needs improvement?

The improvement can be in the cloud area. They can improve it for the cloud so that we can deploy it on the cloud.

In terms of new features, I don't have anything in mind, but Aruba is always working on new features. They are doing releases every quarter or six months.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with Aruba products since 2004. We are one of the oldest partners of Aruba in the Middle East. We've been working with ClearPass for 10 years.

Buyer's Guide
Aruba ClearPass
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Aruba ClearPass. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is highly scalable. You can start with a couple of users, and you can scale up to 10,000. We have a deployment of 25,000 users in one of the biggest universities in Lebanon.

How are customer service and support?

They are really fast and highly knowledgeable.

How was the initial setup?

It is really easy to set up. It is very user-friendly and easy to configure.

It doesn't take a lot of time to deploy and configure ClearPass. It takes about a week or a maximum of 10 days for the whole deployment.

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

It is affordable. In Lebanon, companies are small, and they do not have a big budget. They cannot invest a lot of money, and Aruba ClearPass is quite affordable for them.

What other advice do I have?

ClearPass is one of the best solutions we have ever worked with. It is very stable and secure, and it has a lot of features that an institution can benefit from.

I would easily rate it a nine out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Business Develop Manager at Cosmos Business Systems
Real User
It isn't hard to learn the tool, and it has a lot of features
Pros and Cons
  • "ClearPass is effortless to use and configure. It's not hard to learn the tool, and it has lots of features."
  • "ClearPass' interface could be more user-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

ClearPass provides authentication solutions for endpoints. 

What is most valuable?

ClearPass is effortless to use and configure. It's not hard to learn the tool, and it has lots of features.

What needs improvement?

ClearPass' interface could be more user-friendly. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used ClearPass for more than four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

ClearPass is stable. In my opinion, it's the best solution of its kind.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

ClearPass is highly scalable.

How are customer service and support?

ClearPass support is fine because we have a good relationship with the vendor, so we can call them whenever we have questions. 

How was the initial setup?

Deploying ClearPass is very straightforward. We are an Aruba integrator, and we've installed ClearPass for more than 10 clients. You can deploy it with two or three engineers, and the time needed for deployment depends on the client. Installing ClearPass for a larger client will take about one week, but a smaller client takes only about three days. 

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

We pay a yearly subscription.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Aruba ClearPass eight out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Aruba ClearPass
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Aruba ClearPass. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Varun Bhati - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Specialist at New Balance
Real User
Policy and access management solution that has a user friendly interface and is easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "Document authentications allows us to decide which users can connect to an office VLAN and this has been the most valuable feature."
  • "This solution could be improved by making it possible to use it across different territories. Currently, if a user moves from the US to the UK, their usage and access will be restricted."

What is our primary use case?

If for example, a user in my office received a particular VLAN for the USA and relocated to the UK, they will not get the same access. This is the challenge that we are trying to achieve through the CPPM. 

What is most valuable?

Document authentications allows us to decide which users can connect to an office VLAN and this has been the most valuable feature. It is dependent upon the policies that we have created on CPPM. If a domain laptop needs a Windows update, the device is updated. 

What needs improvement?

This solution could be improved by making it possible to use it across different territories. Currently, if a user moves from the US to the UK, their usage and access will be restricted. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for one year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. 

What other advice do I have?

The suitability of this solution is dependent upon the requirements of the business. You need to consider if you want authentications for every network devices like switch, routers, firewalls and wireless. This can depend on the type of projects you are running. 

We needed the enterprise authentication because we needed the wifi dot certification. Using this, we can access network devices and policies. 

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten because the Aruba dashboard is quite simple compared to other solutions.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Security5e37 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Automation and Incident Response at a tech services company
Real User
Enables us to double verify whether a machine is compliant with our policy
Pros and Cons
  • "We can double verify whether a machine is compliant with our policy on the one hand, and on the other hand if it's one of our machines we let it into the network."
  • "The user interface should be improved. The logs and how the logging mechanism works can also use an upgrade."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution mainly for NAC, network access control.

How has it helped my organization?

It's security control after all so just like you have an EDR installed, we double verify whether a machine is compliant with our policy on the one hand, and on the other hand, if it's also one of our machines so that we can let it into the network. It's security control.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature for us is the policy compliance. They have an API that assists you in checking whether a machine has specific clients. For example, we check whether the EDR is updated and whether there are specific clients whose machine should be allowed to connect to the network.

What needs improvement?

The user interface should be improved. The logs and how the logging mechanism works can also use an upgrade. It should also have better reporting, we were trying to do the reports and didn't manage to do them because technically we couldn't. 

Better documentation on the API would be useful as well.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Aruba ClearPass for around a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good. We didn't have any problems there. We deployed it in 12 hours worldwide, so it's pretty scalable. There are about 2,500 users currently, in total.

In terms of increasing our user base, we increase the license whenever we acquire a company so it depends on whether we're growing organically or not organically. It's in the pipeline, so once we buy a company they go through us, pick a stage, and we implement all the security enforcement for that company. So as long as we buy companies, we implement this as well.

How are customer service and technical support?

Most of the problems we had were solved by the integrator. The technical support is medium to good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was complex. The deployment was fast, but in order to tune the policy, install the agent, and do everything else, I would say it took around 4 to 6 months.

What about the implementation team?

We used an integrator. They were very good. Most of the shortcomings were technology based, not implementation based.

What other advice do I have?

My advice is to get a good integrator.

I would rate this solution as an eight and a half out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Technology Manager at MediaTek
Real User
Helpfully identifies devices found in our network environment
Pros and Cons
  • "Aruba ClearPass has improved the security control in our network environment."
  • "Configuration should be more easy to understand between the link of two topics."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for controlling the security of our wireless network.

How has it helped my organization?

Aruba ClearPass has improved the security control in our network environment.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature for our network environment is the identification of discovered devices. 

What needs improvement?

Configuration should be more easy to understand between the link of two topics.

For how long have I used the solution?

Four and a half years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Solution Design Engineering at Cigna
MSP
Gives us network access control, visibility, scalability, security, and control
Pros and Cons
  • "Gives us network access control, visibility, scalability, security, and control in what is becoming an uncontrollable, inundated BYOD and IoT world."
  • "I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service. This way, like AWS, they can spin up what they need when they need it and vice versa."

What is our primary use case?

OnBoard, OnGuard, SSO and IntroSpect UEBA, including Palo Alto integration. These are valuable from engineer to C-level executives, who want visibility, performance, statistics, and a platform which can take action for them without manual intervention, saving time and money.

How has it helped my organization?

Gives us network access control, visibility, scalability, security, and control in what is becoming an uncontrollable, inundated BYOD and IoT world.

What needs improvement?

Aruba is always finding better, innovative ways to make their products easier and more friendly. It is always being improved, but what I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service. This way, like AWS, they can spin up what they need when they need it and vice versa.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

None.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

None.

How are customer service and technical support?

Awesome tech support when needed. Each customer is given a customer number and TAC will follow through until all issues are resolved, whether it be a flaw in the product or a customer misconfiguration.

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

I did not personally use a previous solution.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup is straightforward. It is recommended to read the manual before implementation.

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

I provide straight answers. Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward.

Run a 90 day free Proof of Concept (PoC) for each product by implementing and using it fully in your environment. This way you will be educated on its features, functionality, and manageability.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1805229 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Proposal Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
It's useful for network separation
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a great solution with multi-vendor support. That's always useful."
  • "I would like to see better integration with the firewall for zeroing out blacklisted users."

What is our primary use case?

I mostly use ClearPass for network separation.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better integration with the firewall for zeroing out blacklisted users.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Aruba solutions for almost 20 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

When working with a virtual solution, it's always the same image when you do the initial installation, but you need to have a picture of the scale you want to achieve. 

For example, let's say you are switching from a medium-sized solution to a larger-scale solution. Suppose you overestimate and wind up with too many endpoints. In that case, you'll need to reinstall the solution because it reserves resources of your virtual infrastructure, depending on the type of installation that you do. 

Say, for instance, I want my next solution to service 5,000 endpoints, and in the end, you have 12,000. That means you needed the bigger version. The license is the same, but the installation reserves the resources of the virtual infrastructure.

How are customer service and support?

We handle all our support in-house. Our engineers have the highest certifications.

How was the initial setup?

Generally speaking, setting up a network access control solution is complex. You have to integrate the use cases.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Aruba ClearPass eight out of 10. It's a great solution with multi-vendor support. That's always useful. My advice is to take advantage of Aruba's identification solution called ClearPass Insight in addition to the network access control.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1180662 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Design Network at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A good NAC solution with great QBT technology
Pros and Cons
  • "Stable with good QBT technology."
  • "Lacks the ability to handle more than one certificate for both the management process and the Captive Portal."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution when I need deep authentication regarding security issues, passwords and so on. ClearPass is also available on the Captive Portal. We're also finding that customers with many IOT devices are interested in the product. We are customers of Cisco and deploy this solution for our customers. 

What is most valuable?

ClearPass works, it's quite stable and the solution is NAC and will stay that way. The QBT technology is very good.  

What needs improvement?

There is an issue on the technical side with ClearPass. Many devices work with SSL certificates but Aruba ClearPass only has the ability to handle one certificate for both the management process and also for the Captive Portal. I would like Aruba to permit the use of different certificates for the Captive Portal and for the management interfaces.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There is scalability but it's linked to the licensing model and is quite inferior to other solutions like Cisco ISE or Macmon.

How are customer service and support?

When we sell this solution to our customers it's always with a really, really high SLA. The support engineers at Aruba are knowledgeable and they provide good support.

How was the initial setup?

If you know what you're doing, deployment doesn't take much time. It requires first deploying a V-LAN schema so you have to keep that in mind. 

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution and rate it nine out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba ClearPass Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: February 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba ClearPass Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.