We are using Cisco Umbrella temporarily for DNS security, but we want to migrate to secure the internet gateway, which is what we are working on at the moment.
Network Support Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
A cloud-delivered security solution with a useful DNS layer security feature
Pros and Cons
- "I like the DNS layer security."
- "It would be better if there was a little bit of flexibility for organizations that don't have SD One in their environment. Because of the complexity of the environment, it's not easy to actually turn on the feature of the secure internet gateway for our users. We have not been able to explore that option yet."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Cisco Umbrella has improved our organization in the sense that we have more users working from home because of the pandemic. We have a lot of users working outside of the office.
Cisco Umbrella helps secure our environment more because we've deployed some of our applications to the cloud. Our 365 team applications are running on the cloud. Cisco Umbrella helps protect us by guiding threats in external parameters.
It's been helpful for us in the sense that we can see and guide what is coming into the enterprise using Cisco Umbrella in the cloud. This is good for users that are working outside of the office environment and working from other remote locations.
What is most valuable?
I like the DNS layer security.
What needs improvement?
It would be better if there was a little bit of flexibility for organizations that don't have SD One in their environment. Because of the complexity of the environment, it's not easy to actually turn on the feature of the secure internet gateway for our users. We have not been able to explore that option yet.
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Cisco Umbrella
March 2025

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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Umbrella for almost six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
For stability, I will give it 30%
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is okay. I think it has that functionality. Depending on the perspective of the environment, you can scale to any capacity you want because this is a cloud solution.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is okay.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had issues with our traditional secure web gateway. Our environment is not entirely SD One supported yet. We had problems with the SWG device for dot com users. We got advice from Cisco that Cisco data can do the same functionality for that. So, we'll be using it.
We were using Broadcom as our secure web, but we had issues with the number of connections that it could handle. That's the setback, and that's why we're opting for the Cisco umbrella solution.
We have a partnership with a company here, and we have a partnership with Cisco. Most of our appliances in the environment are Cisco products, and we felt that going for a product from them would serve our data. We didn't look at other products.
How was the initial setup?
This solution was deployed across different locations for different users.
We have six remote locations, and we have two data centers. It's deployed across all of those locations.
What other advice do I have?
I would encourage potential users to go for it.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Cisco Umbrella an eight.
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.
Team Lead Network Infrastructure at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Secure and flexible with no latency issues, and it is easy to set up
Pros and Cons
- "I haven't found any issues related to latency or any other issue."
- "Cisco Umbrella should introduce an on-premises device."
What is our primary use case?
We are service providers for all Cisco products.
We have contracted a couple of schools for a proof of concept for the customers who purchase Cisco Umbrella. We have also deployed it to virtual machines in the customer's environment.
We have also deployed Active Directory connectors, and we have directed the customer's traffic towards Cisco Umbrella and their DNS Service.
We have also monitored and provided a course for the customers.
This product can be used for DNS security. DNS security basically provides protection because Cisco thinks that 90% of the attacks come from DNS. So, they warn us that if customers protect the DNS, then they are 90% secure.
Instead of resolving their domains through normal global DNS servers, this solution provides security.
Cisco Umbrella grades all of the domains that are present in its own grading and specifies which are malicious, which are whitelisted, which are not safe, which domains have recently been, and which show some spike in the graph that sometimes they come up and suddenly they go offline.
What is most valuable?
Cisco Umbrella is very flexible, and it does not show any kind of delay that someone is responding to their DNS server, outside of their network and outside of their environment.
I haven't found any issues related to latency or any other issue.
They have Umbrella Investigate, which uses machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to find malicious attacks in the domains.
What needs improvement?
There should be some sort of appliance for those customers who do not trust the cloud. Cisco Umbrella should introduce an on-premises device.
Customers should have the ability to manage on-premises.
While support is provided, the response time could be faster.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been acquainted with Cisco Umbrella for two years.
We are providing the latest version.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Umbrella is scalable. We provide services to customers. We have some customers who have been using this solution for one and a half years.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have contacted technical support. My experience is that it is a bit slow. The response is a bit slow, but they provide support.
People have many queries online. In terms of the support, they may be a bit delayed but ultimately the problem will be resolved.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Cisco Umbrella, there wasn't any security product.
There is a product called Infoblox, but I haven't used it.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is pretty straightforward and it only took 10 minutes to deploy.
We require only one person for the deployment and the maintenance of this solution, who understands it technically.
What about the implementation team?
We are system integrators and we do the implementation ourselves for our customers.
What other advice do I have?
We will continue to sell this product.
I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it.
I would rate Cisco Umbrella a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Umbrella
March 2025

Learn what your peers think about Cisco Umbrella. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
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A very good solution, but needs a real-time malware classification engine and control over file execution
Pros and Cons
- "Overall, it is a very good solution. It is a simple solution and very easy to set up."
- "It should have a real-time malware classification engine. It should check the malware on the website. It would be good if it had a real-time malware check for the websites because currently, it just compares the DNS queries of the blacklist. It should also have malware control over file execution and the types of files that the users are allowed to download."
What is our primary use case?
We have been working with the administration of the product as well as looking at various features of the product, such as locking of the URL. We have also been checking certain intelligence to see how it helps in maintaining security posture for the organization. In addition, we have also been looking at command and control, communication with other IPs, and early blocking of the DNS requests.
What is most valuable?
Overall, it is a very good solution. It is a simple solution and very easy to set up.
What needs improvement?
It should have a real-time malware classification engine. It should check the malware on the website. It would be good if it had a real-time malware check for the websites because currently, it just compares the DNS queries of the blacklist.
It should also have malware control over file execution and the types of files that the users are allowed to download.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with this solution for over one and a half years.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is very good for the existing features, but they must incorporate more features in their solution, such as file execution blocking and real-time malware check.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very simple because it was just the installation of agents on the system, and it can communicate with the cloud easily. It didn't give me any problem.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price should be slightly lower than the current price because if you look at the whole solution, it is simply a threat intelligence solution to block blacklisted things. The price should be lower looking at the features provided by the solution. The price isn't too high either, but it could be lower.
What other advice do I have?
If you are looking to have a simpler solution that can easily prevent malicious threats, you can go for it. If you want to have a more general solution, for example, with control over file execution or real-time malware engine, you can go for a web security gateway. If you want to have a number of things integrated within a single solution, such as DLP, you should go for Forcepoint Security Gateway. Cisco Umbrella doesn't provide such a feature.
I would rate Cisco Umbrella a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Chief Enterprise Architect at Expanded Reality
Great security and access control features
Pros and Cons
- "The security and access control features."
- "User interface could be a little smoother and more intuitive."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution to provide Dorel filtering and security for our WiFi environment. I'm the chief enterprise architect and we are customers of Cisco Umbrella.
What is most valuable?
The security and access control features are the most valuable for us.
What needs improvement?
Improvements could be made with the user interface, it could be a little smoother and more intuitive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have scaled it in other companies and it scales very well. It's got a UV, it's got a decent user interface so once you go to Cisco training, they offer it when you buy the product so that if you are a small business looking for something like Umbrella, you can set it and forget it and it works. You can also tie it into your WiFi solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
Tech support at Cisco is great. Not just for this project. I've been working with Cisco equipment and Cisco tech for 25 years now and I've never had a problem with them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was relatively straightforward. We had an implementation strategy and it wasn't particularly difficult.
What other advice do I have?
In general, Umbrella is a competitive solution for small or large enterprise. It's never the cheapest, but it's always in the competition, at least in my experience. I would recommend the solution, there's no reason not to go there, depending on your specific situation, of course.
I would rate this solution an eight 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.
System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Stable, integrates well, and is easy to install
Pros and Cons
- "What we like most is security and how easy it is to integrate with other appliances."
- "In the next release, I would like to see the integration of VDI NSX with Cisco Umbrella."
What is our primary use case?
We are using this product for DNS security that is integrated with Active Directory. We are also using public DNS connectivity for the filtering of underlying threats.
What is most valuable?
What we like most is security and how easy it is to integrate with other appliances.
What needs improvement?
The different levels of security, such as backend security and internet security, need improvement.
In the next release, I would like to see the integration of VDI NSX with Cisco Umbrella.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the entire Cisco Solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In the two years that I have been using this product, it has been stable. We have not had problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
My experience with technical support is that when you open a case, you get better support. I ordered a part and was told that it was not available. When I opened a case, it was better.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In addition to Cisco Umbrella, we are using Cisco Firepower.
We use the entire Cisco solution that includes Cisco Umbrella, Cisco AMP for Endpoint, and Cisco Firepower.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. It took a day to deploy.
What other advice do I have?
We use the entire Cisco solution and we are happy with the product integration.
I would rate this solution a nine 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.
Security Tem Leader at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Good interface and cloud dashboard for managing anti-malware control on the Web GW
Pros and Cons
- "The core business of Cisco Umbrella is non-malware. That's all it does: block the malware on the gateway."
- "The solution's technical support is not very good."
What is our primary use case?
We use Cisco Umbrella for one of our customers, one of Jordan banks. We are using that on the gateways, on the cloud to secure our customer web traffic.
They are happy with the distribution because they know it's straight on the DNS.
How has it helped my organization?
Cisco Umbrella uses the internet’s infrastructure to block malicious destinations before a connection is ever established. By delivering security from the cloud, it will save money and provide more effective security.
What is most valuable?
Umbrella stops threats over all ports and protocols—even direct-to-IP connections. Stop malware before it reaches your endpoints or network.
Even if devices become infected in other ways, Umbrella prevents connections to an attacker’s servers. Stop data exfiltration and execution of ransomware encryption
What needs improvement?
We would like to improve nothing in particular on Cisco Umbrella. They are very good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Umbrella for about two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco Umbrella is stable. I have heard no complaints from my customers at all.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Umbrella is scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
Cisco support is one of the best, their response is very fast and they are very supportive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Yes, we used Bluecoat ASG to block known Malwares.
usually, to complete Sandboxing solution (which used for unknown malwares), we used other solutions like Cisco Umbrella or Bluecoat ASG to block the known malwares on Web GW.
How was the initial setup?
it was very straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We (BMB company which is a Cisco Gold partner) are familiar with such solution and implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have no idea about cost.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No I did not.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale from one to ten, I would rate this product a nine. No one's perfect. They are fine with the interface and the dashboard that they have released.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
System Administrator at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
OpenDNS allows us to maintain low network resource overhead on our small network. It helps us enforce compliance over logically separated networks.
What is most valuable?
OpenDNS allows us to maintain low network resource overhead on our (relatively) small network. Intuitive, flexible web filtering controls also help us enforce compliance over logically separated networks at our school for teachers, students, and non-academic staff.
Given the small to medium scale of our network architecture, our current gateway/firewall DMZ infrastructure is specced too low, and our budget too limited to accommodate more fully featured security appliances. While some organisations may utilise higher specced security appliances with powerful software features available directly on the device including user management, granular IP filtering and more, we must make do with lower spec appliances.
Furthermore, while our network is based around a gigabit fibre core, we have seen bandwidth utilisation increase greatly over the past several years due to cloud hybridisation of our infrastructure (AWS, Google Nearline, et.al.), and as a result are currently stretching the performance limits of what our current hardware stack can do. Given these limitations, the granular control which OpenDNS provides us for Web Content Filtering, malware protection and data logging are crucial in filling gaps in our network security stance.
To add, we are also an educational institution. Our standards for compliance, both internal and external, can be quite strict. We are beholden to security and compliance standards enforced by the Government of Japan, its Ministry of Education, as well as internal compliance enforced by our own Business Administration department.
This is not to mention the sort of 'soft compliance' which comes from the families of our students regarding how we handle sensitive data and personal records.
It has been our experience that the following features available within OpenDNS have helped us meet compliance reporting requirements quite readily:
- Botnet Protection
- Malware Protection
- Internet-Scale Malware/Botnet Protection- Phishing Protection
- Stats and Logs
The management interface for these features is highly user friendly and it is simple and easy to make configuration changes on the fly. This is important to us as specific security policies can and do change on a weekly or even daily basis. The size of our department also dictates that we do not have any single engineer dedicated to network security (or even networking) and so it is crucial that each of our members have the ability to log in and manage this service when needed.
All in all, I can not recommend OpenDNS as a one-size-fits-all solution for security and compliance, especially for larger organisations. I can, however, strongly recommend that any Systems and Network Engineering team consider this product on its merits regardless of scope. Personally speaking, this tool has proven itself invaluable in allowing myself and my team to perform our duties efficiently and securely.
How has it helped my organization?
Because we have a small sysadmin team, the less time we need to devote to responding to threats, parsing data logs and putting out fires, the better. OpenDNS saves us time in this regard, as well as providing fast and easy configuration control.
What needs improvement?
Difficult to answer as we haven't yet pushed the outer limits of what this product can do.
Nonetheless, one thing to keep in mind when using OpenDNS is how it will interact with your internal network and DNS architecture. You run the risk of breaking any local subnet DNS lookups in a domain-bound enterprise environment. While this criticism can be applied to other third-party DNS providers, it is nonetheless one reason for withholding a perfect rating.
Additionally, OpenDNS will handle server caching differently than your local service provider. This can cause service slowdown or interruptions, and generally prevents OpenDNS from becoming the "one-size-fits-all" solution that some would like it to be.
Finally, although this has never posed a problem in our environment specifically, OpenDNS has been known to grab NXDOMAIN records and redirect traffic to their own internal ad pages. Some people may find this unethical; however, that might depend upon whether you are utilising paid or unpaid services from OpenDNS as well.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using for over a year.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We currently have OpenDNS deployed across two sites providing coverage to more than 500 active clients. No problems so far. We will be further expanding this year and hope to leverage OpenDNS web filtering at our new sites as well.
How are customer service and technical support?
On the rare occasions we have used it, technical support has been prompt and professional, if a bit lacking in personal touch.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previous infrastructure relied on router/gateway-installed software for filtering and security. It simply isn't enough for a modern network, especially not one as complicated and security-conscious as education.
How was the initial setup?
With a basic understanding of networking, implementation should be straightforward. For non-technical people, there is probably enough documentation floating around that basic configuration is possible for anybody motivated enough.
What about the implementation team?
An in-house team implemented it.
Implementation was a no-brainer. We do recommend notifying and educating users in advance of implementation to avoid potential headaches caused by sudden changes to filtering policies and such.
What was our ROI?
ROI for OpenDNS: time saved, checkboxes ticked, and organizational leadership satisfied.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Get a quote! You also need to weigh any licensing costs against potential risk factors. (I.e., what is the potential cost factor of not implementing this or other solutions?) OpenDNS licensing structure and policy is generally straightforward and easy to understand. In our case, managing a network in use by students, many of them younger, necessitates certain compliance and security implementations not found in typical corporate environments.
What other advice do I have?
Plan out your security coverage and filtering strategy in advance of purchasing and implementation. Think about what role you expect OpenDNS to fill in your security architecture. Do you have Layer 3 security in place? Where do your vulnerabilities lie and what threats can you expect to counter?
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Consultant at a security firm with 51-200 employees
One of the easiest ways to avoid phishing attacks
Pros and Cons
- "Cisco Umbrella is a totally different solution. They are the first to come up with this idea of security. It's a totally new concept of security for everybody, for every time, real time, perfectionism."
- "I would like them to make some videos, practical videos, the kind with steps that people can use to learn and deploy"
What is our primary use case?
We have small, medium and enterprise customers.
What is most valuable?
Cisco Umbrella is a totally different solution. They are the first to come up with this idea of security. It's a totally new concept of security for everybody, for every time, real time, perfectionism. The browsing is great compared to other products. You will be protected by Cisco rather than other security solutions where you must first be rerouted and then they will start working on the domain rather than this. This couldn't be compared to any other solution.
What needs improvement?
I would like them to make some videos, practical videos, the kind with steps that people can use to learn and deploy.
For how long have I used the solution?
You could say maybe two years or three years that we have been working with Cisco Umbrella.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cisco Umbrella is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Umbrella is very scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
Cisco technical support is always fine.
How was the initial setup?
A couple of clicks that we have had it up and running. Cisco requires more documentation regarding to the basic configurations. That is what I can say. I don't think I'm expecting it from Cisco's side.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You could say the price is a little bit high.
What other advice do I have?
If you start to talk about it, it's a really interesting new kind of security product rather than other places before it. There is a place to come on to find a solution. So this is one of the easiest ways to avoid phishing attacks. This is one of the strong products. I would rate Cisco Umbrella at a nine on a scale 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: partner

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The introduction of Cisco umbrella into our infrastructure was a tremendous change. It has helped to protect the infrastructure better. Because every traffic exiting to the internet is now being filtered. Also combined with Cisco WSA for web proxy, it is a good one.