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NOC Manager at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Real User
Integrates well, stable, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
  • "We were originally a Cisco shop and Cisco ISE integrated well with our other Cisco switches and networks."
  • "The installation is not straightforward, it took us approximately one month."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Cisco ISE for limiting port access in our organization's building for wired and wireless networks.

What is most valuable?

We were originally a Cisco shop and Cisco ISE integrated well with our other Cisco switches and networks.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and has good performance.

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
September 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2024.
802,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco ISE  is scalable.

We have approximately 200 people using this solution in my organization.

How are customer service and support?

When I have contacted the support for Cisco ISE I have always been satisfied.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is not straightforward, it took us approximately one month.

They need to reduce the number of options for the installation or have a wizard that covers small, medium, and large enterprises.

What about the implementation team?

We had an integrator help with the implementation. For the deployment, we had five engineers and for the maintenance and support, we use three engineers.

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

The price of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is expensive and we are thinking about changing to FortiGate.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have evaluated Fortinet FortiGate solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would not recommend this solution.

I rate Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) a six out of ten.

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
PeerSpot user
Network Security Engineer at Data Consult
Real User
The firewall can see traffic as unencrypted and we can then mitigate the enemy and any attack

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case of this solution is to protect the website from web attacks. 

How has it helped my organization?

I use the F5 device on the DMZ zone of the firewall. A record will come to the virtual server on the F5. Then the F5 will upload the encrypted message to the server and decrypt this message. The firewall can see the traffic as unencrypted and we can mitigate the enemy and any attack from F5 and from the firewall.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature would be the protection. 

What needs improvement?

I would like for them to improve the reporting. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. 

How is customer service and technical support?

I would rate their technical support as an eight. They provide a quick solution and I trust working with them. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. 

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

The price is not very expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

This solution can be used to protect one's application. The server has many features to secure and diagnose.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
September 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2024.
802,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Cyber Transport Specialist at a government with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Enables us to track people who are authenticating onto our network
Pros and Cons
  • "The interface is pretty easy to use."
  • "Whenever we see the authentication logs, we can't see what device we're logging into... We can see who logged in, but we can't see the IP address of the device... I'm sure that's available. We just haven't figured out how to properly deploy it."

What is our primary use case?

We mainly use it for authenticating devices on our network.

How has it helped my organization?

It's our way to track people who are authenticating onto our network, whenever they log on to our switches, et cetera. It's good for security purposes.

What is most valuable?

The interface is pretty easy to use.

What needs improvement?

Whenever we see the authentication logs, we can't see what device we're logging into. It shows us the main server, but we don't see details like, "It's in building 200," or that kind of thing. We can't see the IP address. We can see who logged in, but we can't see the IP address of the device.

I'm sure that's available. We just haven't figured out how to properly deploy it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) for about a year. I'm only using a small portion of it, so I don't know all the capabilities of the program.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good. I haven't had any issues with downtime or anything going out.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We use it enterprise-wide, around the world. That would indicate it's pretty scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't had to contact technical support.

What other advice do I have?

It's a good product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Team Lead Network Infrastructure at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Scalable with good device administration and good stability
Pros and Cons
  • "Typically, the installation is pretty simple."
  • "Deploying to a machine, as opposed to a dedicated appliance, can be a bit difficult."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is primarily used for authentification purposes. 

What is most valuable?

The solution is stable.

We have found the product to be scalable.

The device administration is great. 

It offers very good integrations and can easily be integrated with mobile devices.

The product works well with StealthWatch.

It's quite an innovative product.

Typically, the installation is pretty simple.

What needs improvement?

The solution isn't as dynamic as it could be. There are some limitations, specifically around switches. 

Deploying to a machine, as opposed to a dedicated appliance, can be a bit difficult. 

The network solutions need to be improved by Cisco.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for three to four years. It's been a while at this point. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution has been quite stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so. It's not a problem.

We have this solution deployed to 6,000 or more users. 

How was the initial setup?

An installation is pretty simple if it is on a dedicated hardware appliance. However, if someone chooses to deploy to a machine, then you can face certain challenges during the installation. On a dedicated appliance, you can deploy in two to three hours.

You only really need one person to deploy the product. You don't need to have a big team.

What about the implementation team?

We are integrators and can deploy the solution for clients.

What other advice do I have?

We are a systems integration company.

I'm using different versions of the solution, and not necessarily the latest one.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. It's worked well for us so far. We find Cisco to be innovative and to offer good products. 

I would recommend the solution to other users and organizations. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
IT Specialist at Armstrong flooring, inc.
Real User
Monitors and secures devices on our network, signalling with alarms to indicate problems
Pros and Cons
  • "Using this solution gives us the ability to allow proper access to the network."
  • "There should be a single button that can be pressed to dismiss all of the alarms at once."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution to monitor and secure devices on our network.

How has it helped my organization?

Using this solution gives us the ability to allow proper access to the network.

What needs improvement?

The stability of this solution needs to be improved.

It should not be necessary to go to each individual set of alarms and acknowledge them in order for them to go away. There should be a single button that can be pressed to dismiss all of the alarms at once.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution has problems in terms of stability. I have had certain things that do not work, and I have called technical support for help. They have sent me a patch, and then it still doesn't work, so we end up living with the problem.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Good user interface but complicated to implement
Pros and Cons
  • "The feature that I most like is that it can notify me whenever someone plugs in their device, which is not allowed. I get notifications for new laptop devices. I think the user interface looks good compared to previous versions."
  • "The software is a little bit complicated to understand in the beginning, meaning the implementation. It needs proper documentation so that we can understand the options more easily."

What is most valuable?

The feature that I most like is that it can notify me whenever someone plugs in their device, which is not allowed. I get notifications for new laptop devices.

I think the user interface looks good compared to previous versions. 

What needs improvement?

The software is a little bit complicated to understand in the beginning, meaning the implementation. It needs proper documentation so that we can understand the options more easily.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have only very recently using Cisco ISE, since about one and a half months ago.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have our own team for the maintenance of this solution.

How was the initial setup?

I am still implementing it. So far it has been one and a half months.

What other advice do I have?

Cisco ISE is a good product, but it requires some technical knowledge and knowledge about network security.

One a scale from one to ten, I would rate Cisco ISE a six.

As I said, I have not implemented it 100%. Maybe once I implement it 100%, and I start using it in production, then I will rate it higher.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user683622 - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Delivers great Posture Assessment Policy Management and VLAN Assignment
Pros and Cons
  • "We found that the most valuable features associated with this tool are posture assessment, policy management, VLAN assignments, guest assignment, and BYOD services. In addition to these services, the Cisco IOS software switch configuration feature is another very valuable aspect of the policy and compliance solution."
  • "There are issues with respect to the posture assessment function. It's been observed that customers are not receiving total access to the network because the assessment agent is glitchy and malfunctions from time-to-time. I would like to see refining of the compliance assessment and adding more detailed compliance of endpoints on the user end."

What is our primary use case?

Our company doesn't use Cisco ISE internally. We act as the solution reseller. Our business model is set up to provide a network-based approach for adaptable, trusted access to our clients. We provide our clients with intelligent, integrated protection through intent-based policy and compliance solutions.

What is most valuable?

We found that the most valuable features associated with this tool are posture assessment, policy management, VLAN assignments, guest assignment, and BYOD services. In addition to these services, the Cisco IOS software switch configuration feature is another very valuable aspect of the policy and compliance solution.

What needs improvement?

There are issues with respect to the posture assessment function. It's been observed that customers are not receiving total access to the network because the assessment agent is glitchy and malfunctions from time-to-time. I would like to see refining of the compliance assessment and adding more detailed compliance of endpoints on the user end.

We have also had to deal with some cache update issues in conjunction with Cisco's tech support team. Unfortunately, they had trouble providing suitable solutions within specific and desirable time frames.

The next release should offer more inter-operability, increased cross-integration functionality. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We are currently experiencing stability issues with this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support needs improvement. There were times when my engineers had to talk to a number of different Cisco tech engineers explaining things over and over again. If their tech support has to escalate an issue our support staff is required to mediate which of course disturbs workflows.

How was the initial setup?

The setup requires proper planning. We approach every customer interaction strategically taking into account the complete project scope. It's our job to understand the customer's expectations and requirements for deployment.

Initially, the setup is a bit tough with respect to the graphic user interface (GUI) tool. Cisco ISE has proven to be a bit complex as well.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is sufficient and seems to require little to no maintenance from the client side. Maintenance is always in proportion to the client's needs and product deployment. For instance when we are managing two Cisco ISE boxes with two onsite engineers. As capacity grows obviously we need more engineers; it's not a 1-to-1 relationship but we always take a minimum of two certified engineers qualified to manage Cisco ISE.

I would give this solution a rating of 7 out of 10.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user690516 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager - IT Security & Process Compliance at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Highly scalable and enables us to have visibility of all the changes happening on certain devices
Pros and Cons
  • "We have multiple metal devices from different places that use management, so we need to know who would be accessing all those devices and what changes are being done to those metal devices. With Cisco ISE we have visibility of all the changes happening on those devices."
  • "Support and integration for the active devices needs to be worked on. Their features mainly work well with Mac devices. If we use an HP the Mac functionalities may no longer be able to deliver."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case for this solution is as a server for my networking devices.

How has it helped my organization?

We have multiple metal devices from different places that use management, so we need to know who would be accessing all those devices and what changes are being done to those metal devices. With Cisco ISE we have visibility of all the changes happening on those devices.

What is most valuable?

The authorization feature is the most valuable feature. 

What needs improvement?

Support and integration for the active devices needs to be worked on. Their features mainly work well with Mac devices. If we use an HP the Mac functionalities may no longer be able to deliver.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's not very stable. Product-wise, in terms of performance and in terms of stability, I don't experience any challenges.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's highly scalable but it's challenging to scale-up non-Cisco products. We currently have around 50 users and 11 employees monitoring the device. We don't have any plans to increase usage. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Their technical support is pretty good. They have a good database and knowledge space regarding this solution. You'll get the support that you need. 

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

We are also currently using ForeScout for another feature but we are facing multiple challenges with ForeScout implementation.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. The deployment and negotiating time depends on your network infrastructure and what kind of environment you have.

What other advice do I have?

You should have a fair understanding of the kubernetes that have been used in their infrastructure.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

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 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.