Cisco Duo and Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform compete in the cybersecurity space, each offering unique features and services to enhance network security. Based on the comparisons, Cisco Duo takes an edge with its ease of deployment and customer service, whereas Zscaler's strength lies in integration and connectivity features.
Features: Cisco Duo offers multi-factor authentication (MFA) with options beyond smartphones, making it flexible for all users. Its cloud-based management supports VPN security through a single-pane-of-glass interface. For Zscaler, its Zero Trust Exchange Platform excels with seamless VPN-centric connectivity, security features like Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and easy cloud integration.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Duo could improve by removing the telephony credits system and extending on-premises support. Compatibility with additional products would also enhance its offering. Zscaler needs to work on connection stability and support for legacy systems. Introducing a single-tenant option and pricing adjustments would better position it in the market.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Duo's deployment is simple in cloud and hybrid environments, and its customer service is noted for promptness and informativeness. Zscaler, while also easy to deploy across diverse cloud setups, faces challenges with slower technical support response times.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Duo is reasonably priced considering its comprehensive functionality, though it's not the cheapest option. It offers significant ROI through enhanced security. Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform, seen as costly, provides pricing benefits for larger user bases, with value anchored in strong security returns and reliable user protection.
With iboss, whenever you turn on your laptop, the iboss agent automatically connects to the iboss cloud, enforcing all security policies. So with respect to the security side, it strengthens measures.
I have seen some cost effectiveness from iboss; it has reduced certain support requirements, making it a more hands-off solution.
We were able to implement zero trust extremely quickly because of the platform and its ongoing developments, including Cisco Duo Network Gateway, which enabled that transition to zero trust extremely quickly.
Not having MFA means you cannot put a price tag on that because you will be hit with ransomware immediately.
I think Cisco Duo offers a good return on investment for startups, newer organizations, or those utilizing cloud-based applications.
When I see that I am trying to cut costs, for example, even when replacing Prisma, we have managed to save about over half a million dollars a year.
In terms of time savings, since users no longer manually connect to the VPN, access became seamless, improving user productivity, especially for remote users.
We don't have to purchase many components such as load balancers and proxy servers that were necessary in traditional setups.
They are very fast, responsive, and knowledgeable.
The quality of the support is fantastic.
We had promising discussions about resolving these issues, but no real action followed.
They got back to us quickly, were nice, and gave us what we needed.
I would rate their support 10 out of 10.
I would rate support for Cisco Duo a 10, as I have never had a negative experience.
The support engineers are technically knowledgeable, particularly for Zscaler Private Access related issues, providing clear guidance and documentation for troubleshooting.
Sometimes, support takes time since the solution has some bugs that need fixing.
They have provided the numbers and contact supports, and it is almost immediate.
They are also able to meet on-demand requirements based on your contract with them, and can easily provide adequate resources and scalability.
I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.
If I start seeing sluggishness or anything like that, I just reach out to my rep, and they connect with their dev team, typically resolving it the same day.
In my last contracting position, it was a large one for a major worldwide airline that had hundreds of thousands of devices that could use Cisco Duo, and it scaled very well.
You would not need many more engineers to manage Cisco Duo even if we scale up to 500 employees because it is so simple to manage.
Cisco Duo is scalable for organizational growth.
The only limitation I was mentioning is that it was unable to identify the sources of vulnerability, which they are going to embed by the mid of this year.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is highly scalable, primarily because it is built on a cloud-native, globally distributed architecture.
It's been pretty solid; I've never had an outage with them, and if I ever had, it's only been once out of the seven years.
We've experienced zero downtime.
Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device despite our ClearPass sending information to the iboss box.
We have not had any Cisco Duo outages across all the companies I have worked for that utilize Cisco Duo.
The stability has been excellent.
I did not notice any downtime or crashes with Cisco Duo.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is very stable, especially in enterprise environments.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is very stable.
It is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform.
We also had a problem with a transition when we upgraded from one appliance of theirs to another, but their engineer lost a good deal of our data.
Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc.
If you don't have internet access, you can't access your computer, only local access is available.
It lacks some dynamic identity management features compared to other products such as SailPoint.
Cisco should allow easier integration with third-party equipment because Cisco's own equipment is expensive.
It would be beneficial to have more granular centralized visibility, allowing for quick end-to-end tracing of a user request from authentication to application access without switching between multiple views.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform probably needs to be more efficient because scanning takes a lot of time.
They might be able to identify if something is missing with Zscaler.
It offers the same features you would get from a vendor that charges 250,000 British pounds for a fraction of the price.
The following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs.
Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern.
The pricing is acceptable to them.
Their website lists $3 per month per user for the Essential license.
One of my customers recently received a billing statement charging 3,600 US dollars for 100 users for one year.
There is minimal setup cost since it is a cloud-delivered platform, eliminating the need to invest in additional hardware such as VPN gateways or maintain infrastructure.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform is much, much cheaper when comparing price.
The solution's mental health function can detect if someone needs help.
It's given us a lot more visibility into our computer assets that may be infected with viruses and also shows us people who have unusually large uploads or might be engaging in high-risk activities, such as searches or going to sites not categorized by their web crawler.
iboss was the best solution for us because, no matter what domain you were in, everything is under a single pane of glass, which is exactly what we wanted.
From a management perspective, I appreciate that we can enroll or control devices on the back end for people who get a new phone and forget to handle Cisco Duo properly and need to add a new device.
Our company benefits from all those features of Cisco Duo with confidence, and we feel very secure with it in terms of authentication of our logins.
The benefit of having a complete passwordless environment in our organization is that it's gotten people away from using the sticky note under their keyboard - which is a huge problem.
The solution is cloud-based with the latest inspection engines, which I find to be amazing.
We have excellent account management, smooth marketplace engagement, and processing in how my team or organization uses Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform.
Since we started using Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform, it has auto-configuration, and wherever we have deployed the auto-configuration, we have not encountered any problem.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform | 13.9% |
| Cisco Duo | 2.4% |
| iboss | 2.6% |
| Other | 81.1% |



| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 7 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 7 |
| Large Enterprise | 8 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 42 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 24 |
| Large Enterprise | 57 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 16 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 12 |
| Large Enterprise | 44 |
Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.
Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.
What are the most important features of Iboss?The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.
Cisco Duo is a cloud-based identity security platform safeguarding critical resources for any user and device worldwide. Known for its ease of use, Duo offers seamless protection across multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.
Cisco Duo is designed to secure access with identity-first protection and provides extensive visibility throughout an organization's identity ecosystem. Offering multi-factor authentication, Duo facilitates easy integration and management, allowing teams to protect data effectively on VPNs, applications, and networks. Its single-pane management improves security processes while enhancing trust, making it suitable for diverse IT infrastructures.
What are the key features of Cisco Duo?
Which benefits and ROI should users consider?
In industries like education and finance, Cisco Duo is widely employed to secure multi-factor authentication across platforms such as email, databases, and servers. Its integration capabilities with Microsoft 365, Active Directory, and VPNs like AnyConnect are instrumental in verifying user identities using mobile apps or OTPs, catering effectively to both remote and on-premise environments.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange enhances security with seamless cloud-based connectivity and VPN-less operation, offering integration with multiple identity providers and advanced security features, suitable for remote work environments.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange provides secure, adaptive connectivity without traditional VPNs, allowing organizations to replace legacy systems and bolster remote work security. The platform offers cloud-based protection, single sign-on, dynamic URL categorization, and scalable solutions. While advanced security features like DLP and threat protection enhance data protection, users may face issues with speed, connectivity, and some customization options. Integration challenges, latency due to multi-tenant hosting, reporting delays, and licensing costs require consideration. It supports secure internet access and private application security, ensuring traffic control and data compliance.
What are the key features of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange?
What are the benefits of using Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange?
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange is deployed across industries to secure remote access and enforce zero trust principles. Organizations in finance, healthcare, and technology sectors utilize it for secure internet access and visibility into cloud applications, enhancing performance and compliance in dynamic environments.
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