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TirutHawoldar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior operations manager at Orange
Real User
Top 5
Comes with a DLP solution and updates database regularly
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool has a DLP solution which we can implement. Its database is updated regularly."
  • "The tool's pricing can be improved."

What is most valuable?

The tool has a DLP solution which we can implement. Its database is updated regularly. 

What needs improvement?

The tool's pricing can be improved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for seventeen years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Secure Email is stable. 

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Secure Email
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Secure Email. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have more than 1500 users for the product. 

How are customer service and support?

The tool's support is good. 

How was the initial setup?

Cisco Secure Email's installation was straightforward. We discussed with the integrator, designed the implementation and tested the product. 

What about the implementation team?

An integrator helped us with the product's installation. 

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

Cisco Secure Email is not expensive, and licensing costs are yearly. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cisco Secure Email a nine 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
JoseSilva - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager of Partner Solutions at S21sec
Video Review
Integrator
Top 10
Provides reliable protection, brings awareness, and has adaptable pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "The advanced phishing protection and the integration with the awareness tool that Cisco has embedded into the solution to bring awareness to the customers about the dangers of phishing attacks and other things that come from email are the most valuable features."
  • "Cisco is already providing a very good environment with the IronPort solution, but there could be some more integration with other products. For instance, an integration with the EDR solution could be there to raise an alert."

What is our primary use case?

I work at S21sec, which is a partner of Cisco in Portugal. We do integration of different Cisco solutions for our customers. Nowadays, we mostly do integration of Cisco cloud solutions for customers.

Cisco Secure Email is the solution that we deploy for customers in Portugal mostly as a backup of an existing solution such as Office 365 because it guarantees that the customer never falls out of options if the main product has some problem. If they rely on having an email solution that cannot fail, that's an excellent option for them to have in place. It's the oldest solution that we deploy for customers in Portugal. It has a very nice history and very good quality. It's perceived by our customers as an email solution that functions all the time.

How has it helped my organization?

One benefit is the resilience of the solution when implemented in conjunction with other solutions, and the other one is the new features that Cisco is adding to the solution itself, such as awareness of advanced phishing threats. The environment that Cisco is building around this primary product in its catalog is helpful.

We offer almost all of the Cisco Security solutions, but recently, we've been working more with cloud solutions. It's easier for customers to adopt them. We also continue to deploy some of the firewall solutions with the physical devices and also email protection solutions either with the VM solutions or with the physical appliances. We've been seeing evermore integration of the products based on the browsing console, which is very nice for customers because they only need to have a browser to access all the different consoles of different products. They can be consolidated with SecureX. It's an advantage for the customer to be able to handle all the different consoles for different integrations that the customer has in one place.

Cisco Talos is a very nice complementary solution to the email protection suite. It gives you the threat intel regarding the latest news and infections that can be problematic for the customers. They become aware of what's happening and any latest vulnerabilities they may have on-prem.

What is most valuable?

The advanced phishing protection and the integration with the awareness tool that Cisco has embedded into the solution to bring awareness to the customers about the dangers of phishing attacks and other things that come from email are the most valuable features.

What needs improvement?

Cisco has already improved this solution with some add-ons to the basic product. Cisco is already providing a very good environment with the IronPort solution, but there could be some more integration with other products. For instance, an integration with the EDR solution could be there to raise an alert.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been a partner of Cisco for more than 10 years, and we've mostly done integration of solutions. 

How are customer service and support?

We usually give the first line of support to the customer, and then only, we go to the Cisco support. We have a very strong Cisco security team in Portugal, so whenever we need any support, we use those resources. I don't remember a time when I had to open a ticket because the local team has been very good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

Cisco Secure Email hasn't helped clients consolidate any applications. In Portugal, there's no business for that because what you usually do is implement several solutions that are regarded as the better solutions in terms of the market. In some cases, it could be Cisco, and in other cases, it could be another player. At S21sec, we try to give a better solution to customers and adapt and customize it to the specific needs of our customers.

The main difference between Cisco Secure Email and other solutions is the reliability and the capability to offline the email if there are some problems on the customer side. We can also overcome problems that may arise in terms of the local telecommunication operators that handle the communication. If there's a failure there, we can overcome those problems with the relays from the Cisco solution.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment model varies a little bit. In Portugal, some sectors still rely on on-prem solutions, but we are trying to build awareness that the new solutions relying on the cloud are better for the customers because they don't have to worry about getting new patches and new security updates and patching the infrastructure. They only need to rely on having a service that is provided by Cisco for having the best security. They don't have to worry about the maintenance of the platform itself. The cloud provider that our clients use varies. We work a lot with the banks and financial organizations in Portugal. They are historical customers that don't want to go for public cloud solutions. They still rely on on-prem solutions. They have evolved to having virtualized solutions instead of appliance solutions, but they still rely on having mostly private cloud solutions. They use local providers. We are seeing a shift to global providers but not with all of them.

It's a very modular solution. We have some customers who have deployments all over the world. We clusterize the solutions in each of those locations, and then they connect them with the global management solution. We can manage all the operations of the different clusters spread around the world from one site. It's a very good solution in terms of redundancy even in different geographies.

It's a very easy solution. You can go for a very customizable environment, but usually, for the day-to-day needs of most customers, it's very easy to deploy. You can just customize the options to make it more secure for a customer's environment.

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

It's adapted to the market. It's similar to other vendors. We at least don't have many problems regarding that because Cisco is adaptable on that side. When we present the solutions to the customers, we tend to achieve the goals that the customer has in terms of the budget for such implementations.

We offer the best solution for what customers intend to do and the type of problems that their business may have. When a solution is adaptable and customizable to the customer environment, customers tend to go ahead with it. Even if it requires more investment, we find a way of getting it to the budget and getting a good return on investment.

What other advice do I have?

To those evaluating this solution, I'd recommend trying the product. Cloud solutions are very easy to use, and you can do a PoC. In a matter of hours or a day, you can deploy the solution and use it fully.

We are Cisco partners. Cisco has a very nice solution and a very good security team in Portugal, but obviously, they can't cater to all the customers. An integrator does that part. With the relationship that we have with the customers, we can apply and customize the solutions that Cisco has in its portfolio according to the environment and specific needs of each customer.

Our partnership with Cisco is pretty close to a 10 out of 10 because we are getting different kinds of solutions. We at S21sec handle just security. We don't do storage, and we don't do servers. We are very focused on security, and the partnership that we have with Cisco is ever-growing because nowadays, for instance, OT solutions are also a very huge concern for us, and what we have seen with Cisco solutions that are being brought to the market is that they also started to handle the new security issues that we find in other sectors. They are not only into IT. They are also going into the OT and the IoT world. They are able to customize and bring new solutions, even some developed insights, by buying other companies and adapting them to the Cisco reality. They are able to devise a product that handles the needs of different kinds of customers in different areas of the business, not just the IT world but also the industrial world.

I would rate Cisco Secure Email a nine out of ten. It's growing up to be much more than just an email protection tool. It's going for the awareness of the customers, and that's a good complementary solution that addresses other problems that come from using email nowadays.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Secure Email
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Secure Email. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Enrique Diaz Jolly - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at Jolly Security Inc
Real User
Top 10
You can know exactly and accurately where an email came from and for which specific device
Pros and Cons
  • "It has an intuitive, clear graphical interface where you can deploy your policies and understand the overall flow. There are a lot of things that you cannot handle on the graphic interface, like message filters. For this, you need to go to a lower level where you have more power, like command line interface. So, this solution has the best of both worlds. There are not a lot of bells and whistles. It is more practical with access to most features that you can configure."
  • "The Forged Email Detection feature needs improvement, particularly with domain. The sensors are not that good and the rules sets are unclear."

What is our primary use case?

It is like a gateway for email. They receive all your email traffic. They send over your email traffic, and it is the first incoming point and the last outgoing point. They deliver the traffic to the destination. Whatever it is, you want to be informed of what is happening. Depending on the site's deployment, if you have a single device, then you have all the information on the device. And if you have several devices, you have all the information on every single device for each device. However, for consolidation, you need another device called Security Management Appliance (SMA).

It has no real interaction with other stuff. It does not interact with a gateway beyond the networking level. You have a router and that router provides IP addresses for a switch, etc. You don't have to integrate Cisco Secure Email with something specific since it is standalone and only requires basic essential networking. You can integrate it with a firewall, like ASA, but that firewall has to allow traffic. To do that, you would open port 25.

It is available to be deployed as on-premises, on the cloud, and hybrid cloud.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution is valuable if you are looking for a security email gateway that provides you with the most services possible. It has anything that you may be looking for in an email deployment, except for the endpoint which should be supported by something else, like Exchange. It doesn't have mailboxes because it is a gateway.

There are some methods to authenticate email, i.e., putting a stamp or seal of trust on an email, where one method is DKIM and another is SPF.

  • For SPF in the DNS, where you have records that list the different devices or IP addresses that can send email from a specific domain, a security device can consult that DNS and check if the mail coming from that domain is coming from an authorized source.
  • DKIM is a cryptographic signature of an email. It is usually what you announce is the public key of that system's PKI and verify the signature in the headers. You have a checksum of all the contents so it is possible to define or identify whether the message has been tampered with in route.

They are mutually exclusive in a way, so DMARC consolidates both. It provides alignment with the IP address, domain name, etc., and has to match at least one, being properly aligned. It has become something very important for compliance.

When you are receiving, you use all this information to decide whether an email is legitimate. Or, if you also need to deploy your DKIM, DMARC, and SPF infrastructure, that lets the rest of the world know where you are sending email from and how you are authenticating your email.

It can honor all SPF, DKIM, and DMARC rule sets and apply rules based on the results of these tests as well as sign the DKIM. Therefore, your email can comply with whatever you are announcing on your DNS for the rest of the world to know that you know about the signed domains. It has perfect, robust integration on that. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is reputation filtering. In the beginning, it was based on just the IP source. but it has now evolved to domain reputation. It allows you to classify different IP sources and different sender groups, where you can reject to throttle to whitelist from any IP sources, domains, etc. Based on the reputation gathering, the reputation is powered by Talos security. It is a super powerful feature. That alone gets rid of more than 50% of the crap from the traffic flow, before even hitting the anti-spam or antivirus.

If you have some knowledge about email, it is a pretty simple solution that has many controls on different levels, from the gateway part to accepting messages from certain sources to stringent filtering. It is state of the art with anti-spam, antivirus, and different threat prevention features. 

SecureX is powered by Talos, Sourcefire, etc. Today, it is the largest, richest threat intelligence on the market. SecureX is quite standalone in regards to integration since you put it into the network, whether it is on your own cloud or a third-party cloud.

If you go to the filtering level, you can have very accurate features or filters since it is programmatic. At a certain point, you can define sets of rules, such as where the email is coming from, whether it has this content, or to apply this policy. For example, if it has the same considerations, but the content is different, apply this another policy. It is super flexible and very customizable to your needs. It is not difficult to use.

It provides information, reporting, logging, and tracking. It has powerful tracking, so you can know exactly and accurately where an email came from, for which specific device, etc. It shows the emails which were:

  • Dropped
  • Rejected
  • Quarantined
  • Accepted by which policies.

It also shows the rule sets applied for that email and considers

  • The source
  • The Offender
  • Anything else that you may consider in an email.

It has an intuitive, clear graphical interface where you can deploy your policies and understand the overall flow. There are a lot of things that you cannot handle on the graphic interface, like message filters. For this, you need to go to a lower level where you have more power, like command line interface. So, this solution has the best of both worlds. There are not a lot of bells and whistles. It is more practical with access to most features that you can configure. 

What needs improvement?

You can consolidate on SMA if you want to spam or threats quarantined for multiple devices. It is not advisable for a single device, because if it fails, you are left without any email.

I would like to see a few changes to the UX. 

There is space for improvement with data loss prevention, particularly with third-parties integration. Data loss prevention is quite important, though most customers have some third-party or other elements in their network doing data loss prevention, specifically for email. However, if it could be possible to integrate with other solutions, not only on the email flow, but on analysis for a connector or something like that, then that would be ideal.

The Forged Email Detection feature needs improvement, particularly with domain. The sensors are not that good and the rules sets are unclear.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it since 2004.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It does not add anything to the potential downtime for a corporation, unless everything fails. If all your email exchanges fail, then you don't have email, but this solution does not affect the performance of your whole network. 

At the minimum, you need two devices. If you have two devices and one fails, then the other one can handle the work, though you might have some email delays.

You should keep track of what is going on. It does need some daily administration, fixes, and policy changes.

How are customer service and support?

In general, their technical support is really good. There are a few who are still learning, e.g., not providing enough help, but there is always the option to escalate.

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

It was the IronPort before Cisco acquired it in 2007. It is the same appliance and software. This solution has been upgraded by several versions, but it is basically the same, they just changed the name. 

What about the implementation team?

I have done the architecture for a company in China.

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

It is a super big router that costs a few hundred thousand dollars.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

These days, the first tiers of this market have good enough anti-spam, antivirus, etc. These have become routine. There are some other not-so-good solutions, like Barracuda and Fortinet, but it depends on how much you are willing to pay as this solution is not cheap.

The best other solution is Proofpoint. They have been long-time competitors who have also been evolving. The big difference is it is more fancy because it has more bells and whistles. The solution is good as well. However, they are super expensive, not cheap.

If you want a multi-tiered deployment, you could perhaps have Secure Email on the cloud and Proofpoint on-premises. Then, you have the two best solutions in the market working together. I have customers who have done this and are satisfied. Very few solutions can compete with Secure Email and Proofpoint outside of the price. If your budget is a problem, then you have a problem.

Along with Proofpoint, this is the best solution in terms of preventing spam, malware, and ransomware.

Check Point has fancy graphics and an interface where you can do a lot. The Cisco Secure gateway has both, though not as fancy as Check Point, but a big majority of the tasks can be done on the graphical interface level.

What other advice do I have?

It is not so difficult to us, but neither is it easy, particularly if you don't have some knowledge about email.

Whatever you are looking for with an email security appliance or device, you mostly have it, though nobody is perfect.

The solution’s ability to prevent phishing and business-email compromise is fairly good. DKIM, DMARC, and SPF integration are the best way to prevent phishing, spoofing, etc. However, they still have room to work in this area.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Dipak M - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Network Engineer at Allied Digital Services Ltd.
Real User
Top 5
Easy to maintain and good TAC support
Pros and Cons
  • "This solution provides some benefits, like comfortable access to TAC support. You get prompt support when working directly with Cisco."
  • "In future releases, I would like to see two main improvements come to mind. First, the current solution requires maintaining two separate operating systems for FTD, which can be cumbersome. I'd love to see a single operating system for the FTD box."

What is most valuable?

This solution provides some benefits, like comfortable access to TAC support. You get prompt support when working directly with Cisco. Moreover, the current integration level is fine.

What needs improvement?

There are some drawbacks, like the pricing. It's not a default version, and the cost can be prohibitive. If you're working on projects where winning the bid is crucial, then the high price tag can be a major obstacle. Partnerships are required to use the solution. So it can be more affordable.

In future releases, I would like to see two main improvements come to mind. First, the current solution requires maintaining two separate operating systems for FTD, which can be cumbersome. I'd love to see a single operating system for the FTD box. 

Second, some improvements could be made in the documentation and reporting.

For how long have I used the solution?

I  have been using it for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Performance is actually very good. I have deployed around 10 to 15 instances of this solution, and so far, I haven't encountered any major issues. As of now, it's a good product.

I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

The customer service and support are very good. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not that easy. We needed experienced engineers because FTD is a new technology, especially if you're used to VMware or other on-box solutions. Cisco provides both on-box and VM solutions. However, deploying the FTD with the on-box option requires managing two separate operating systems: the FXOS and the FTD. It's not the most user-friendly process, but once deployed, management is quite easy.

You can use the FMC to manage all Cisco security products from one place, making management convenient. However, deployment is still a bit clunky.

What about the implementation team?

Deployment typically takes a whole day. The time can vary depending on the number of firewalls involved. Updating the system can also be time-consuming, especially with the new FCDI and FCDO operating systems.

Maintenance is actually quite easy after initial deployment. Once a supplier sets it up, ongoing maintenance is straightforward.

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

I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. 

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: MSP
PeerSpot user
PaulGiles - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Video Review
Consultant
Top 10
Provides good visibility into the traffic, valuable reporting, and secure remote access
Pros and Cons
  • "The tech engineers are very knowledgeable."
  • "Licensing is quite complicated for a number of customers, including ourselves."

What is our primary use case?

We have a number of different types of customers and organizations who need to secure their environment. These range from healthcare professionals to financial organizations to very small organizations. They have a number of security requirements, whether it's just to secure the actual environment where they're working and also to provide additional services, such as VPNs and remote access for their remote workers.

Most of the customers that I work with tend to be on-prem, and a lot of them go with the centralized management system, FMC, purely because it has larger memory and larger hard disk space, and it can hold reports for a much longer period of time. Also, as their network infrastructure scales, FMC can manage more and more of their devices, and they're not having to manage individual devices. It's all centralized for them. 

How has it helped my organization?

A lot of our customers use another Cisco product already, so they have confidence in Cisco products. The firewalls they are currently deploying and using have evolved from their older ASA products. They are now moving to the new Firepower Threat Defense, which incorporates many more features and allows them to get the latest ALOFT download and feeds for any security vulnerabilities and they're able to react very quickly to any vulnerabilities that have been highlighted.

Initially, when the firewalls were first marketed and came onto the market, the visibility wasn't very good. But as the software evolved over time, that visibility has increased a lot more, and that is giving customers a lot more competence in the traffic and the traffic flows that they're seeing through the actual devices, so they can better understand the types of applications that they have on their network.

The good thing about the actual firewall itself is that it can integrate with other Cisco products, such as Cisco ISE so that it allows full end-to-end visibility of connectivity. It gives very good visibility. It's that integration with other products, not just what that individual firewall can do itself.

Talos is obviously fundamental to the actual firewall, reporting on vulnerabilities that are happening day to day. And the regular downloads, obviously, give customers confidence that their products are as secure as they can actually be.

What is most valuable?

There are a number of valuable features because we have that sort of single product that can do a number of different things, but remote access for users is very important, and visibility of the types of traffic that are passing through the actual appliances is very good, and the reporting of the devices is very good. 

What needs improvement?

It's not just the firewalls themselves, but one thing I think, where certainly firewalls and other products could actually improve, is in the licensing. Licensing is quite complicated for a number of customers, including ourselves. The licensing appears to be changing on a regular basis depending on the product and the software versions, so we are constantly having to keep up to speed with the different licensing types.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Secure Email for over ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

When most software evolves, the software becomes more stable and feature-rich. As we're seeing with the latest version from seven onwards, it's a lot more resilient and a lot more robust. The actual GUI interface is also a lot slicker now, whereas before it was a little bit clunky. We've definitely seen improvements with the latest version of Secure Firewall.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We typically work with customers to price space. We don't typically work with customers in the service provider realm where they would typically have very large scaling of firewalls. They would do clustering and things like that. We know that these features are available, but that's not a particular area that we would actually work in. But, obviously, there's a breadth of Firepower products and platforms, and we can actually scale or arrange the correct firewall for the particular needs of that customer.

How are customer service and support?

As with most Cisco products, we typically find Cisco and their support very good. In the unlikely case, we have to raise a tech issue, they're very responsive, and they generally always provide a quick resolution to any encountered problems.

The tech engineers are very knowledgeable. The tech engineers who pick up cases know the product very well. And they always dive deep into the problem and provide regular updates to us or to the customer. If there are any other problems that are noticed after we've had an issue, the case can be reopened and investigated further.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We and our customers use a variety of different firewall manufacturers, not just Cisco. And as with all vendors, some have better properties or better features than others. Cisco Firewalls for Firepower had to use the centralized management system, FMC, but where some customers prefer just an On-Box GUI to configure the device, Cisco was playing catch up with other vendors who were operating in that same area. But what we found is that with later versions of Firepower and also FDM which is the On-Box management, those features have now come leaps and bounds. They are now on par with the centralized FMC to the FDM, allowing customers an easier way to deploy these products not only on-premise but also in the cloud.

What other advice do I have?

I would give Cisco Secure Firewall an eight out of ten. We're expecting that with later versions of software, again, more features will become available.

We have approximately 2000 employees and we sell a variety of Cisco solutions and products. 

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
Joshua Boat - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Easy to read logs, but the pricing structure needs to be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "What I find the most valuable about Cisco Secure Email is that the logs are not that difficult to see even if you're not used to them. The logs are reasonably readable and diagnosing the problem is not too hard with them."
  • "My opinion on the licensing of this solution is that it is a mess that needs sorting out. I am not particularly bothered by pricing as I administer it and make recommendations for people to buy or not to buy."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for Cisco Secure Email is placing it at the edge and then passing it off to another service, like, for example, Postfix. We have security policies that allow certain clients to email.

How has it helped my organization?

The user interface massively improved our organization. The device itself works perfectly fine and it's not too complicated to write policies.

What is most valuable?

What I find the most valuable about Cisco Secure Email is that the logs are not that difficult to see even if you're not used to them. The logs are reasonably readable and diagnosing the problem is not too hard with them.

What needs improvement?

Cisco Secure Email could rename features in the menus. They could also show a flow of how things go and where the policies sit in conjunction with the actual application.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Secure Email for about seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would say that we hardly had any issues with the stability of this solution.

How are customer service and support?

Tech support can be a bit of a hit-and-miss. Depends on what type of engineer you get when you contact them. Whenever we had an issue, we would either go to the account manager or another engineer.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

My opinion on the licensing of this solution is that it is a mess that needs sorting out. I am not particularly bothered by pricing as I administer it and make recommendations for people to buy or not to buy.

What other advice do I have?

We would use multiple vendors to secure our infrastructure from end to end so that we can detect and remediate threats. We would take everything through email. Email Security Appliance has antivirus and IDS and IPS on anyway. We've got policies in place that only we can receive from certain domains and certain emails within those domains from the customers that they were a part of. We would then pass that on to another service like Postfix. They would then sort out anything that needs to do attachment-wise or anything similar. Eventually, it would go through the Palo Alto firewall as well for the traffic, so anything malicious is picked up across all sets of vendors in that solution.

This solution did not save time for our IT staff, not particularly. It was something we had to deal with and as a network engineer, I had to deal with that aspect of it.

This solution did not save our organization's time because it was a new product that we were selling, so we had more work.

This tool did not help us consolidate our tools because it was a new solution.

We chose Cisco Secure Email because, as the phrase goes, you can't get fired for buying Cisco. We are used to the Cisco product stack as we used the Cisco suite in previous companies.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Enrique Diaz Jolly - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at Jolly Security Inc
Real User
Top 10
A threat detection solution for email security gateway, including internal email distribution
Pros and Cons
  • "We rely heavily on antivirus protection, email content filtering, and authentication mechanisms to ensure compliance with email security. Regarding phishing attempts, while phishing protection features are crucial, we also emphasize user education as a critical defence. The intelligence services Cisco provides, such as the Cisco Intelligence Center, play a significant role in analyzing and validating threats, including phishing attempts, in our email security practices."
  • "The discontinuation of physical hardware solutions is a significant area for improvement in Cisco Email Security Appliance. This decision has posed challenges as virtual appliances are now the only option, which may not be suitable for all industries. The uncertainty regarding the future of the hardware aspect of the solution is a notable concern."

What is our primary use case?

I use Cisco Secure Email mainly as a email security gateway, including internal email distribution.

What is most valuable?

We rely heavily on antivirus protection, email content filtering, and authentication mechanisms to ensure compliance with email security. Regarding phishing attempts, while phishing protection features are crucial, we also emphasize user education as a critical defence. The intelligence services Cisco provides, such as the Cisco Intelligence Center, play a significant role in analyzing and validating threats, including phishing attempts, in our email security practices.

What needs improvement?

The discontinuation of physical hardware solutions is a significant area for improvement in the Cisco Email Security Appliance. This decision has posed challenges as virtual appliances are now the only option, which may not be suitable for all industries. The uncertainty regarding the future of the hardware aspect of the solution is a notable concern.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Secure Email for the past twenty years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of stability, there have been minimal issues, mainly typical hardware-related ones like hard disk failures. However, overall, it's a competent solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My experience with the scalability of Cisco Email Security Appliance has been positive, as it can handle our processes efficiently. We do have plans to increase usage based on business needs.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is satisfactory.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The setup process for Cisco Email Security Appliance is straightforward in my experience. Integration with our existing ecosystem of Cisco tools was seamless for networking features.Maintenance primarily involves tuning and understanding SMTP and email infrastructure and general email operations.We deployed it on our private cloud, and the physical enablement on the network was relatively fast, usually within a day.

What was our ROI?

Regarding return on investment, I find it highly valuable and worth its cost in the email security market. I recommend this solution to others, as it stands out as one of the best options .

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

The pricing for Cisco Email Security Appliance involves recurring costs for licenses based on the contracted time frame, such as one year, three years, or five years. Renewals are required after the license expires.

What other advice do I have?

Cisco Secure Email may incorporate AI capabilities, but I'm not directly familiar with its implementation in threat detection. I would rate it as a nine out of ten due to its effectiveness, reliability, and value for investment.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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ChrisWanyoike - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Infrastructure Specialist at Central-Bank-Kenya
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
A cloud security solution for endpoint and greymail protection

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for endpoint protection, including email protection, such as antivirus, anti-phishing, content filtering, outbreak filtering, and greymail protection.

What is most valuable?

An important feature is retrospective analysis, which allows the solution to retrieve emails sent even a week ago, even if they have already been delivered. This is done by analyzing emails for malicious content after they have been sent.

What needs improvement?

Cisco Secure Email focuses on cloud-based threat intelligence and endpoint security. The current version improves on the on-premises version by integrating Threat Grid and Advanced Malware Protection, which helps users quickly identify malicious emails.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable. We never had issues. If everything is configured right, it's something you can easily forget about.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

1300 users are using this solution.

How are customer service and support?

We used it once when the appliance was acting up and then realized that an upgrade was needed. We follow up on the requirements upgrades and patching. It doesn't require much patching.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

Cisco Secure Email can be integrated in-house, but we are too busy. Therefore, we have decided to use an integrator.

What was our ROI?

Even though Cisco Secure Email is not cheap, it offers a good return on investment. Cisco needs to ensure that its products are functional and have a long support timeline.

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

The solution is not cheap.

What other advice do I have?

Cisco Secure Email is a fast data service. Because of this, most of its features are already pre-configured. All clients need to do is customize and tailor the service to their specific use cases.

I would recommend anyone using the on-premise ports move to the cloud.

Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
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 Secure Email Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Secure Email Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.