Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) Reviews

Our primary use case for the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client has been remote access, especially since the start of the pandemic. We use it to give our technicians access to our applications. 

We also use the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client to create secure firewall-to-firewall connections for certain applications.

The Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is easy for end user to use. However, it can be difficult for the developer or solutions engineer to use because you need to have the infrastructure in place first. This is to do with key validation, certificates, and domain trust.

The setup could be simplified for solutions engineers with a wizard. 

I initially started using Cisco routers and switches in 1998, but I stopped using them for a while as I was focused on my other work. I started using Cisco again in 2012 and have been using it since as I do a lot of security solutions. 

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is very stable. 

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is scalable. However, the bandwidth and latency you need to use this solution is sometimes not available here in Africa. We run into trouble sometimes because of bandwidth. 

Overall, I prefer Microsoft's tech support because I noticed that Cisco does not provide enough of it. Sometimes, we do not have access to tech support. Also, you can only get tech support for registered devices.

I recommend it. However, you first have to be sure that you have all the basics in place. You have to do your research and understand what the requirements of the solution are. It works for millions of people, so it will work for you. 

It is also important to run some tests. That is what I always do. Don't go to the real alderman directly. Make your own tests.

We use the solution to controls the VPN tunnel between people outside connected to the internet into the office network. This is done by prompting them for a username and password for security.

Some of the main features of the solution are it has the ability to integrate with our Active Directory to allow each user to have one less password to have to remember and it has great functionality.

There is one very specific improvement that could be done regarding users logging in. When a user logs in with an expired password we did not know that the password reset function would prompt them for a new password and this system was able to be deployed on this solution. For 10 years, every 30 days, the salespeople who did not want to go inside and reset their password at the 29-day mark, would call me up and have me reset their password for them to gain access. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have at the level that I am at, the ability to sign in to this solution before you log in to the Windows environment without having to upgrade the license. This should be included in the full packages. 

Alternatively, when Cisco notices customers do not have this feature turned on they could call up its customers and inform them they do not have it turned on and could walk them through how to do it. It turned out to be just two lines of code to accomplish the task. In our case, during any of the interactions with Cisco over the years, they could have just mentioned to us this feature that would have real value-added to your employees. We do have a CCNA in-house and he did not realize that he could turn that feature on very easily. The white paper was probably available, but since our network administrator did not know about it, he never suggested setting it up. 

In an upcoming release, there should be better reporting capabilities, this is something that is available in premium packages, or if you were to get a Cisco ISE. Essentially, the upgraded reporting shows a live version of what is going on, but it does not show you historical information unless you hook it up to a SCIM, Cisco ISE, or Cisco ACS. This should be included in all packages and you should not have to upgrade or purchase other solutions.

I have been using this solution for approximately 10 years.

When it comes to the stability of the solution it is stable, functional, and it just works.

We plan to increase our usage when our employee base increases.

I would rate the scalability of the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client a ten out of 10. 

Currently, on a day-to-day basis, there are approximately 85 users using the solution but we have 221 registered users that could use it at any given time.

The support could be more proactive in their recommendations. I noticed that the Cisco support agents tend to leave customers to do what they need to do in many ways, and you can choose how you want to do it. However, it would be great if they could proactively be involved in best practices and let other customers know how most people are doing it.

Previously we had a standard Cisco VPN client, but it was not as functional as it did not have the ability to tie into the Active Directory.

The initial setup was pretty simple. However, we did have onboarding support assist us with it. Our network administrator at the beginning of an install will always call Cisco support to get the expert on the phone. They provided us with white papers on how to do the setup allowing any setup moving forward is done correctly the first time. We did also purchase the premium support, for which there was no additional fee for the installation guideance.

Our in-house team did the implementation with their premium support tech agent on the line through a WebEx. The during of the implementation took approximately two hours. 

We have a network administrator to do any maintenance that is required for the solution, but once we set it up, there really was no maintenance needed. However, we did attach an SSL to link it and set up a DNS entry to allow our users the ability to go to a specific entry instead of just typing in the IP address with the enhanced security.

We pay for an annual subscription. Additionally to the subscription, we thought in order to connect this solution to the Active Directory we had to purchase a Cisco ACS, Access Control System. It turns out we did not actually need it.

My advice to those wanting to implement this solution is you could purchase the license for this solution and set it up with your ASA directly without having to purchase a Cisco ACS.

I rate Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client a nine out of ten.

Our company uses the solution as a VPN for 2,000 developers. 

The solution is a super product that works as designed. 

The solution's performance and stability are average.

The licensing model is expensive. 

I have been using the solution for two years. 

The stability and performance are average. 

The solution is quite scalable. 

I have not needed technical support. 

We previously used Check Point VPN.

The setup was easy and completed in one day. 

We implemented the solution in-house. Maintenance is performed by a team of six technicians. 

The solution is based on an annual licensing model and is expensive. 

Check Point VPN and the solution were evaluated but the process was conducted by other staff so I do not have additional details.

I rate the solution a seven out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution to connect remotely.

This product is highly secure and easy to use. The user interface is very nice. It's user-friendly.

It's fairly easy to set up. 

The solution is stable. 

It is scalable. 

Technical support is great. 

It could be more efficient on the user side. We would like it to be simpler to get clients connected. 

You do need technical expertise to set up the product.

We have faced some connectivity issues. 

I've used the solution for four to six years. 

It's mostly stable, however, occasionally, it does disconnect on users. 

It is a scalable solution. It's very easy to expand it. 

We only have 20 to 25 users on the solution. 

We do have plans to continue using the product. 

Technical support is great. They are helpful and responsive. We are satisfied with their level of expertise. 

The solution is pretty easy to set up. However, you need to be technical. 

We do have to pay for the solution. People need to be prepared to pay for a Cisco service.

I'm a customer and end-user.

We are using the latest version of the solution. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

It is primarily used for the occasional managers having to work out of office.

It's been fairly stable for us. I'm okay with it.

The language is fine. We don't have any issues as we're English and therefore don't come across barriers. 

Support does solve our issues. 

It can scale. 

The initial setup is easy.

I haven't given improvements much thought. 

Technical support could be better, especially when it comes to understanding the problems. 

The cost could always be a bit less. 

I've been using the solution for around five years. 

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

We don't have that many external users, so we are just using a few licenses of that, and we are okay.

The solution is scalable. However, we don't necessarily need to scale. 

Less than ten people are using the product. 

I have made an occasional call to technical support. You don't always get a solution on a first call. That said, there's enough guidance to point in the right direction. 

It takes time for them to understand what your problem is. So you have to spend much more time explaining the problem.

It is easy to set up. It's not a problem at all. There are no issues with complexity.

We do pay for the solution. It's a bundled option. 

I can't speak to the exact price of the product. I don't handle the licensing. My understanding, however, is that it is expensive. 

I'm just a user. We don't buy directly. We use someone else.

So far, it meets our demands. 

We are not at the latest version. We are either one branch or two branches behind. We are yet to update.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

I'd recommend the solution to other companies if they can afford Cisco. 

We connect and we log in to some server programs or some restricted areas, which can only be accessed to the VPN only. We cannot gain access to these systems over public networks for security purposes.

The login process is pretty simple. You just need to put your credentials and it logs in. 

The solution is stable. 

It is an easy system to set up.

At times, the login process takes a lot of time. If your network is a bit weak, on the weak side, it gives you a lot of trouble. That is one negative that I've experienced about it.

It is highly dependent upon the network connectivity, even a minor network disruption. While other applications do work a bit slow, they do work. However, I have faced significant issues with Cisco whenever there are some little network issues.

I've used the solution in the past year. 

We have about 5,000 users on the solution. It is very scalable. 

While I haven't dealt with support for this solution, we have used Cisco support for Cisco WebEx issues. We found them to be very helpful in that instance. 

The initial setup is very straightforward and simple to set up. It's not overly complex. 

We do pay for licensing. I'm not sure what the subscription costs are. I don't deal with licensing aspects. 

I am an end-user of the product. I'm not a partner or reseller. 

The version we are using would be the latest version only. As per my organization's policies it's always updated.

If you're looking for an easily configurable and accessible kind of solution, then I suggest that Cisco is the product to go to, hands down. The ease of use is the most valuable aspect of the product.  

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is great for connecting to the company's network when working from home. Clients can install it on their laptops.

It has a very secure VPN connection and is a good product from a performance perspective.

The solution is great, but perhaps the security could be improved.

We have been using this solution for three and a half years.

The solution is stable. We have not had any issues with it at our company. I have also used Cisco VPN for more than 15 years and also have not had any issues.

The solution is scalable. The solution operates as one device per user and is designed this way from a user and security perspective. We have around 300,000 people using this solution.

I cannot comment on our experience with customer service as we interact with our internal IT team when we have any issues. Our IT department is pretty large too.

The initial setup was straightforward.

I cannot comment on the pricing as a different department deals with it.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten. The system is reliable, simple and secure. 

I primarily use AnyConnect SMC to connect to clients' networks.

AnyConnect SMC's best features are that it's secure and connects seamlessly to clients' networks.

An area for improvement is that sometimes when you disconnect or switch from one wireless network to another, it's necessary to re-login.

I've been using Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for over fifteen months.

AnyConnect SMC is stable, though when there are a lot of users, the collection can be a bit slow.

I've had no problems with Cisco's technical support.

The initial setup on the client side is very easy, and installation takes a maximum of ten minutes.

AnyConnect SMC is simple to use and does what it needs to do. I would rate it as eight out of ten.

It's for mobile users accessing corporate resources from the internet.

For some with a client list, you don't have to prepare any client beforehand. You just access the URL and you can download it, so that's easy. It doesn't require any prep on the client's end which makes implementation faster. It's an easy initial setup.

Technical support is always helpful.

It's stable.

The solution has the potential to scale. 

If there's any cloud version available, instead of on-premise, that would be ideal. That's one thing that could be helpful.

I've had a few cases over the last five years

I haven't received any complaints about this solution. We haven't had a word of many bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze on clients. It is reliable. 

The solution can scale to a certain point. Up to 500, companies should be okay. After that, we may run into problems. That's our product design. That's maybe not have something to do with the product itself.

Typically, our clients get licenses for 20 to 30 people. All levels of an organization can have access to the product. Anyone can use it. 

We provide technical support to our clients. 

In terms of us reaching out to support, it's rare that I get disappointed with Cisco tech. They are quite responsive and knowledgeable as well.

Positive

The initial implementation process is simple. 

The size of the deployment depends on the amount of personnel you'll need, however, in our experience, we've only ever needed one or two people to deploy it. 

After we get an order from the customer, they have some admin work to be done, which takes probably up to two weeks or three weeks. After three weeks, we have the project manager and the engineer assigned to the opportunity. Then, it might take up to ten days.

Maintenance is minimal. We may only need one or two people to handle maintenance. We don't have many issues with the solution.

We provide assistance to our clients in terms of setting the solution up.

Licensing usually involves a yearly contract. I don't have any details in terms of what the exact pricing is, exactly. 

The pricing is all-inclusive. You don't need to concern yourself with add-on costs. 

We are a partner. We sell to and implement for our customers.

We tend to use the latest version that we have on our server. It may not be the latest in the market, however, our engineering team chooses the best software for our service, so it's the latest on our server. The difference is that it may not be the latest in the market.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

We use the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client as a VPN to connect to our VMs.

The most valuable feature of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is the one-click VPN connection. Additionally, the performance is good.

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client could improve by adding faster connectivity.

I have been using the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for approximately two years.

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is stable.

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client

We have more than 10 people using the solution in my organization.

I have not used another similar solution previously.

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client was installed by our IT team.

Our company does the implementation of the solution.

I rate Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client a ten out of ten.