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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pros and cons

Vendor: Cisco
4.1 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1
2,667 followers
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Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Cisco ISE offers centralized and unified highly secure access control, integrating various Cisco devices and platforms such as wireless, networking, and firewall devices for streamlined management and security protocols.
It enhances device administration by implementing multifactor authentication across all devices, thereby securing access comprehensively in collaboration with IT departments.
Cisco ISE is noted for its scalability; the use of a network load balancer facilitates expansion as needed, catering efficiently to environments with a large number of users.
The initial setup of Cisco ISE is straightforward, with most configurations being completed quickly, and integrated technical support readily handling any arising issues.
Cisco ISE provides profound integration capabilities with Microsoft products, easing the integration process for users reliant on Microsoft environments.

CONS

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) has a steep learning curve and complex initial setup, making it difficult to implement in networks.
There are issues with compliance and posture assessments, as they don't always function reliably and upgrades can result in lost functionality.
There are significant challenges in integrating Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) with third-party solutions and different vendors, which limits seamless integration.
The upgrade process for Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is complicated, often requiring numerous steps, and can lead to issues.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) faces challenges with bugs and performance issues, causing it to be unreliable at times.
 

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Pros review quotes

Brad Davenport - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
For us and our clients, the most valuable features of Identity Services Engine are really around the rich contact sharing that ISE gives you.
Wayne Cross - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 14, 2022
The solution is great for establishing trust for every access request no matter where it comes from.
Laurence Mcbride - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 15, 2022
It does what it's supposed to. We use a certificate-based authentication method for corporate-managed devices. That means when a user walks in with their managed laptop and plugs it into the network, it chats with Cisco ISE in the background, allows it on the network, and away they go.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1261278 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 26, 2021
In terms of features, I think they've done a lot of improvement on the graphical user interface — it looks really good right now.
CN
Aug 5, 2022
Not having to trust devices and being able to set those levels of trust and more finely control our network is a benefit.
TA
Aug 3, 2023
The authorization and accounts inside of ISE are very useful for us.
ChrisWanyoike - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 12, 2021
At the moment, ISE seems to integrate very well with a number of other technologies.
Brad Lossing - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 15, 2023
The solution enables us to do everything from one interface.
Rohit-Joshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
The first benefit is that we can implement zero trust architecture because of Cisco ISE. I can assure my CISO in my company that my network is such that nobody can just bring in their laptop, desktop, or any sort of mobile device and can directly get connected to my network. That is a benefit that I can only allow people who I trust on the network.
Bill Masci - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 5, 2022
When we use ISE, one of the helpful things is that I can go through the dashboard and get every step along the way of how a device was authenticated. If it's failing, why did it fail? Why is it unauthorized? If there's an error, what is the error and how can I fix that error? If it's something that, if they should be passing, why are they failing?
 

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Cons review quotes

Brad Davenport - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
I think some areas where ISE could be better are perhaps in the number of integrations that they offer from a virtual standpoint, as well as having a better and more comprehensive pathway for the customer to go from a physical environment to a virtual one.
Wayne Cross - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 14, 2022
The interface is a little bit complex.
Laurence Mcbride - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 15, 2022
A main issue is that the upgrade process, over time, is extraordinarily fragile. Repeatedly, over the past several years, when we've tried to upgrade our Cisco ISE implementation, the upgrade has broken it. Ultimately, we have then had to rebuild it because we need it.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1261278 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 26, 2021
An issue with the product is it tends to have a lot of bugs whenever they release a new release.
CN
Aug 5, 2022
The UI is not as intuitive as some other products, even products inside of Cisco's wheelhouse.
TA
Aug 3, 2023
We do tend to run into a lot of issues with ISE when it comes to bugs.
ChrisWanyoike - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 12, 2021
This product doesn't work in isolation.
Brad Lossing - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 15, 2023
They should improve the documentation. There tends to be a lot of old text, or the new things aren't always up to what's been released on the code, and sometimes the documentation is inconsistent.
Rohit-Joshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
Cisco ISE integration with Cisco ACI is something that can be done in a less complex way. And the simplification in that area may help us do better.
Bill Masci - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 5, 2022
A lot of people tell you the hardware requirements for ISE are pretty substantial. If you're running a virtual environment, you're going to be dedicating quite a bit of resources to an ISE VM. That is something that could be worked on.