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Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 17, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba ClearPass
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
139
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Aruba ClearPass is 25.2%, down from 26.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 29.2%, down from 31.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
Aug 17, 2021
 

Featured Reviews

SvenVenables - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 25, 2022
Easy to use, multifeatured, and reliable policy management platform for identity authentication and new device onboarding
The only area that really needs improvement in Aruba ClearPass is the onboarding for doing TLS authentication. The biggest problem we've seen in our environment is Huawei not being able to get onto Google Play. No Huawei device can be onboarded via Aruba ClearPass easily. An additional feature we'd like to see in the next release of Aruba ClearPass is for its OnGuard function, its health check function. We'd like it to have the functionality for installing or copying files that are required for remediation on health checks. For example: if you're using Aruba ClearPass and you do a health check, if the client is missing a file or a particular product such as an antivirus product, we would like the opportunity to have the files copied or installed in the platform, because currently there are some limitations when you want to do remediation. If the client is missing a file and you want them to install a specific application, we have to provide an HTTP download so they can download the file for the remediation to work. What I would like to see is a bigger storage area in Aruba ClearPass so we can upload those files in the platform, rather than having those files in an external server for downloading, because we've had huge problems with doing remediation to locations that require an HTTP download. What we'd like is having the ability to put the applications on Aruba ClearPass directly, to make the remediation steps for clients when they're missing software, to get those directly from the platform, because currently, you can't put a big file onto Aruba ClearPass as there are size limitations.
Rohit-Joshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
Enables us to ensure that any machine that comes into the network is patched and secure
Posturing is the most valuable feature. There are other tools available that can do some of their other features, like network authentication. The posturing was something because of the nature of the industry that we are in. There are people who go outside for work. Their machines are at times not in the network, and not patched properly. We don't know when they're going to come back, whether it is in a good state, whether it has antivirus, whether it's installed on those machines. Posturing is something that we have made our baseline policy that whenever a machine comes back to our network, it should have a certain level of the operating system and a level of security and antivirus installed. We couldn't have done this posturing without Cisco ISE. This is its greatest feature. It does help me to detect and remediate my network. It enables me to detect any external threat that comes to my network and remediate. If a machine comes into my network that does not qualify per my baseline policy, I have a policy that the machine gets redirected to where it can be patched and remediated. I can ensure that it is fully patched and secure. The entire idea of having ISE is to enhance cybersecurity resilience. The zero trust architecture was coined by the cybersecurity team itself. It was a task given to us in the infrastructure space to see how we can bring resilience into the cybersecurity network and ISE was the solution.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We are able to satisfy many different organizational needs because of its flexibility."
"The aspect of Aruba ClearPass that I like most is that it has a lot of options, it is very versatile."
"It has an easy to learn web GUI and ​command lines.​"
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"Aruba ClearPass has improved the security control in our network environment."
"Document authentications allows us to decide which users can connect to an office VLAN and this has been the most valuable feature."
"Access Tracker is invaluable for troubleshooting access control incidents and quickly getting to the root cause."
"Aruba ClearPass's most valuable features are simple accessing, operating, and management. Additionally, the dashboard and performance work well."
"Not having to trust devices and being able to set those levels of trust and more finely control our network is a benefit."
"The most valuable features are authentication, we have more granular control on the access policies for the administrators. The solution is easy to use, has a center point administration, and has a good GUI."
"[One of the most valuable features] is just the ease of use. It's pretty simple to set up certs that we can add to our clients to make sure that they connect properly, [as is] whitelisting Mac addresses."
"We found all the features of the product to be valuable."
"Typically, the installation is pretty simple."
"Easy to use and provides good support"
"Improves switch account management."
"The posture assessment is a valuable feature because of the ability to do assessments on the clients before they connect to the network."
 

Cons

"Aruba ClearPass could improve when it comes to troubleshooting, it can be difficult. Some advanced problems are difficult."
"I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service. This way, like AWS, they can spin up what they need when they need it and vice versa."
"An issue with Aruba ClearPass is the lack of information and poor community support. You can't find the material easily on the internet for any issues. For example, if you're looking for any configuration or exploring any issue, it's not easy to find information, and this is the problem with Aruba ClearPass. Access to helpful information and poor community support could be improved. Another area for improvement in Aruba ClearPass is that some of its advanced features aren't easy to find. For example, my team needed to apply Google single sign-on, but it wasn't easy to find. Aruba ClearPass is a big solution with a lot of capabilities, and it's a very advanced solution, so you need to either have some experience with it or undergo some training. Aruba ClearPass is a very good solution from the network perspective, but the issue is the poor support you get from the community. When you try using the solution, some areas aren't easy. When you search on YouTube, you'll find very few materials about Aruba ClearPass. It isn't like Cisco where you can find information from hundreds of websites, on YouTube, etc. This is bad for Aruba, so this area should be improved. Aruba has a training center, but the usual training offered is only for Aruba Wireless and Aruba Switches. If you have another solution, it's not easy to integrate it with Aruba ClearPass, so this is an area for improvement. You need to do some research to successfully integrate your solution with Aruba ClearPass. We integrated Aruba ClearPass with Ubiquiti WiFi, and it's working fine with no issues. My next project is to start integrating Aruba ClearPass with Cisco Switches. The solution is good, but on the website, there's no book and no video, and you can't find the material on Aruba ClearPass easily. This is one of the issues with Aruba."
"ClearPass isn't hard to set up, but it takes a long time."
"The pricing policy could be more flexible."
"The user interface could be more polished and modern. It would be useful to have more options for automation."
"TLS authentication onboarding in Aruba ClearPass needs to be improved. The biggest problem we've seen in our environment is Huawei not being able to get onto Google Play. No Huawei device can be onboarded via Aruba ClearPass easily."
"The implementation can improve because it is challenging to explain some of the concepts to the client."
"There should be an easier way to do the upgrades. There are a lot of steps to get to the next version from the previous version which ends up being a bit of the headache with the upgrade."
"Cisco ISE is very complex and not very easy to deploy."
"In the next release, I would want to see this kind of solution in the cloud as opposed to on prem because when enhancements are made to the software, if it's in the cloud, it's overnight. I mean you're not going to have to respin the servers that the license sits on, it's all microservices kinds of things in the cloud. That would be my recommendation. If I'm a customer, that's what I'm looking at - for cloud based software subscriptions."
"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"Cisco ISE can become quite complex, especially with policy sets, the entire authentication process, and everything involved."
"Migration could be better. Right now, we back up with the new version, and it requires a lot of licensing and other things. Whenever we choose a product, it's very difficult because we have to meet the requirements of each feature. There is no standard feature, so the best system that we bought may not fit the solution. We have to look at every feature that the customer uses. If you compare it with other products like Aruba, it's not the same. With Cisco, I have to read all about the features on this version and the licensing required for the product. In Aruba, that thing is covered when you get one license because it covers almost everything. It could also be more scalable."
"The interface is not very user-friendly and it is not simple to use."
"The customer server was great but it would have been better for me if they had support in other languages such as Spanish."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aruba is a little more expensive than other products in the market here."
"The licensing cost for Aruba ClearPass is a bit expensive. Its pricing could be better. The license costs around $125,000 for the perpetual license and support for one year. Aruba can give you a license with five thousand endpoint access and one thousand five hundred onboard licenses on one hundred endpoints and two controllers."
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"Aruba ClearPass has permanent licenses. You purchase it one time and this license is yours. You don't need to refresh it for five years, et cetera. They have a couple of licenses for enabled features with not only one license."
"We pay an annual licensing fee for Aruba and there are no additional costs."
"The pricing model for Aruba ClearPass is complex. Customers only pay for the license fees, with no additional costs."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is too expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
"The price of Aruba ClearPass is expensive. When you want to build redundant systems it can be seen as necessary, so the enterprise will manage all of those costs."
"It is fair."
"It's an expensive solution when compared to other vendors."
"Licensing is a disaster. It's a mess and I hope they fix it soon."
"Licensing has got much simpler since Cisco moved to the DNA model because we just have the three tiers, but it could always stand to be improved upon."
"The solution is not that cheap."
"It has a fair price. It is better than it was before."
"The licensing is subscription-based and based on the user account."
"That's where things got a bit more complicated. Previously, it was a one-time purchase and we just had to renew support. These days, there's a subscription model, which is supposed to be easier and cheaper as well, but it's more pricey"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Educational Organization
26%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...
What is the biggest difference between Aruba ClearPass and FortiNAC?
I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless g...
What do you like most about Aruba ClearPass?
If you are looking at the base installation, then it was a very straightforward process, which I would rate an eight or nine out of ten.
What are the main differences between Cisco ISE and Forescout Platform?
OK, so Cisco ISE uses 802.1X to secure switchports against unauthorized access. The drawback of this is that ISE cannot secure the port if a device does not support 802.1x. Cameras, badge readers, ...
How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?
Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user exper...
What do you like most about Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine)?
Cisco ISE is a comprehensive solution that allows you to control access to network resources granularly based on policies.
 

Also Known As

Avenda eTIPS
Cisco ISE
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba ClearPass vs. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.