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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.4
Cisco ISE users report enhanced security, cost savings, seamless integration, improved efficiency, and reliable threat mitigation with positive ROI.
Sentiment score
7.0
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager enhances security and reduces costs, despite challenges in quantifying precise ROI, with immediate benefits.
Direct comparisons with Forescout reveal up to 30% to 40% difference in cost savings.
Deploying CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager has secured the infrastructure, which saves money, time, and resources.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.3
Cisco Identity Services Engine's support is responsive but inconsistent, with reliance on partners and occasional delays in complex issues.
Sentiment score
6.4
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager support varies; effectiveness depends on user experience, with inconsistent response times and complex contact methods.
I rate the technical support as one out of ten.
Sometimes it's challenging to identify which support team is responsible for certain issues, which is a significant concern.
They respond immediately to our inquiries, resolve issues promptly, and provide valuable guidance, especially in critical situations.
We engage them when needed and receive prompt responses that typically resolve our issues.
At times, when we need quick support, I contact them via email or WhatsApp, and I have to wait for about an hour before finding a respondent.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Cisco ISE is scalable and flexible, but may require careful planning and specific hardware for complex environments.
Sentiment score
7.7
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager scales efficiently for small to massive deployments, supporting cloud and on-premise solutions with ease.
Factors like architecture, business nature, and legal limitations such as GDPR affect it.
We can set permissions per team or department, allowing some teams to elevate specific applications while others have different permissions.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is quite scalable.
The available reports and other security tools assist in scaling it according to my organization's needs.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco ISE is reliable and consistent, with some instability during updates or heavy loads, but overall well-regarded.
Sentiment score
8.2
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is stable with high performance but occasionally experiences downtime during upgrades, especially on non-Windows systems.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is considered very reliable and stable.
The stability of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is poor for certain use cases, like authentication.
It is a robust solution that has effectively supported our environment without major issues.
Since implementing it, we have not experienced any outages or stability issues.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager offers multiple options for creating and stopping policies.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco ISE needs UI, integration, performance, and stability improvements, with enhanced documentation, real-time analytics, and security capabilities.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager needs user-friendly enhancements, better integration, faster support, pricing adjustments, and improved threat detection tools.
Pricing can be more expensive compared to other vendors, and there is a significant price gap observed, which doesn't seem justified by some specific features.
They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager could be improved by simplifying the administration process, specifically when setting up policies and applications.
Currently, no user-based policy option is available inside the EPM console.
Some features provided in the self-hosted version of EPM are not supported in the software as a service version, like connection to some analysis applied by Palo Alto.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco ISE pricing is complex and costly, particularly challenging for small businesses, with value dependent on feature utilization.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is costly, especially for small businesses, with potential discounts for large enterprises.
Compared to other solutions like HPE ClearPass, Cisco is more costly, and the conversation suggests a possible forty percent price gap compared to competitors.
Cloud solutions are expensive, while on-prem setups with shared environments are cheaper but not effective.
CyberArk has saved us 15% of our costs.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is slightly expensive, but costs can be negotiated to become more competitive.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is costly compared to other solutions.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Identity Services Engine enhances network security with integration, robust features, and centralized management supporting zero-trust principles.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager ensures security and compliance through admin control, ransomware protection, and advanced credential analytics.
The solution is integrated with other Cisco devices and can offer automation for an organization, making deployments more dynamic and providing real-time visibility.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very good at device administration.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager effectively reduces malicious content in applications by allowing us to identify and block dangerous applications.
The features I find most valuable are the endpoint privilege capabilities, which provide automatic protection to our IT environment.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager enhances computer security by providing minimal access, effectively preventing ransomware attacks.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
141
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Compliance (4th), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (3rd), Anti-Malware Tools (5th), Application Control (5th), Ransomware Protection (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 27.9%, down 31.8% compared to last year.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Privileged Access Management (PAM), holds 3.6% mindshare, up 3.6% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
 

Featured Reviews

SunilkumarNaganuri - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced device administration hindered by complex deployment and security limitations
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) needs to improve the profiling preauthentication. They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases. This will give them a roadmap for software-defined access (SDA) use cases and network segmentation. Threat detection capabilities are very weak. Additionally, the product is vulnerable and has many bugs.
Sumit Chavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps secure the infrastructure and control users with admin rights
There are many features that are currently missing. A customization option is required for certain policies. For instance, if we need to stop PowerShell scripting, we have to create a different policy for that. Being able to create a sub-level policy within a top-level policy would be good. Currently, no user-based policy option is available inside the EPM console. We can only create computer-based policies. The database is available, but there is a drawback in not being able to create local groups on the EPM console. We only have to depend on Active Directory. This limits infrastructure security as we depend on the Active Directory team to manage user groups. If they remove any users, we lose control. If we could create groups locally and block them or set specific policies, we would have more control. Local endpoint management is missing from the EPM site. Moreover, there is an issue with policies not running as expected when we make enhancements. We have to find multiple ways to whitelist applications or enhance policies.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
28%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
8%
 

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 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...
Looking for recommendations and a pros/cons template for software to detect insider threats
This is an inside-out --- outside-in --- inside-in question, as an insider can be an outsider as well. There is no short answer other than a blend of a PAM tool with Behavioral Analytics and Endpo...
What do you like most about CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager?
The most valuable feature of the solution is its performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager?
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is slightly expensive, but costs can be negotiated to become more competitive.
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Viewfinity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
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Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: February 2025.
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