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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs ForgeRock 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:
 

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)
ForgeRock
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (12th), Access Management (9th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ForgeRock 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.
ForgeRock, on the other hand, focuses on Access Management, holds 6.6% mindshare, down 6.7% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Access Management
 

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.
Trisha Bhola - PeerSpot reviewer
It's easier to customize and maintain our code
I worked on two different projects based on ForgeRock, and both are automated deployments. One is a UI-based deployment. It's an automated process using some scripts. The deployments are done through Octopus, so it's also automated. We first deploy the essential components of AM and then implement additional configurations like Amster Imports. After that, we import all the SAML Federation data and add some certificates. We have two teams of five and three team members working on the different deployment processes. One is working on the dev side, another is looking at the higher environment, and one is managing the data. In another project, I'm the only developer. We also deploy on the dev environments so that anyone can test new features, configurations, and client requirements. They can test it on the dev environment, but a team of four people manages higher environments. The Access Management component involves the most customization, which takes around 15 to 20 minutes because of the need to import the Amster configuration. If another deployment is simultaneously happening, it may be a little slower and take around 30 minutes. The other components, like the user data stores, take about five to seven minutes. It's another five to 10 minutes for Identity Management. After deployment, the maintenance is mostly checking for security vulnerabilities. If ForgeRock shares security vulnerabilities or advisories, we check to see if there is something inside we need to maintain. Other than that, we just install updates when they add features each month.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Cisco ISE is its seamless integration with the switches and the entire suite, enabling wireless access and smooth client information retrieval."
"There are a lot of integrations available with multiple vendors. This has made the solution easier to work with."
"The most valuable feature is 801.1x and another very good feature is the TACACS."
"It's flexible and stable. It's been good as a standard environment to run."
"The solution enables us to authenticate with AD."
"The most valuable feature is the provisioning of the device so as to ensure that they are compliant with the security policy that we need to have."
"It does a good job of establishing trust for each access request, no matter the source. It's also very effective at helping with the distributed network and at securing access."
"We were originally a Cisco shop and Cisco ISE integrated well with our other Cisco switches and networks."
"I like the intelligent authentication feature."
"In terms of the tool's operational efficiency, ForgeRock Access Management is used in a lot of environments, different regions, and in different stages of production environments."
"The solution is very scalable. We have a lot of users that have been increasing over the years that we have been using it. We have approximately 20,000 users."
"Even though we have very small business interests with them today, they see that we plan on growing drastically over the next two years. Therefore, we have excellent support and we are now at a point where we are not calling tech support. We pick up a phone and call the Account Manager and they'll get everything resolved for us. We don't have to queue along with everybody else and go through a long process."
"It works very well, especially in Identity and Access Management. It helps detect anomalies in user behavior patterns."
"The support is good and prompt."
"Easy to navigate, handle and manage the applications."
"The most valuable features are that it is easy to manage and it's stable."
 

Cons

"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"The Guest Network verification needs to add a QR code option."
"The ISE software needs to be improved so that it is easier to administer."
"In an upcoming release, the solution needs to be more agentless and more independent. Additionally, there could be improved integration with other next-generation solutions, such as Palo Alto, Fortinet, or Check Point."
"The price could be better. I would like to see more integration with third-party solutions in the next release. This is because many of my clients don't have Cisco."
"Also, the menus could have been much simpler. There are many redundant things. That's a problem with all Cisco solutions. There are too many menus and redundant things on all of them."
"Automation [is an area for improvement]. It seems like everywhere I look, automation is super important. Automation and integrations. That's the area it could be improved..."
"Some of ISE's features need to be more agile. For example, we couldn't integrate our data because Cisco needs your data to be in its own format."
"The solution's documentation is not very good, and they do not give more details."
"In an upcoming release, the solution could improve by limiting the need to do customizations."
"The identity management model needs a bit of improvement."
"The product's customization is a bit complicated."
"The user interface could be improved as it is cumbersome and outdated. It doesn't have a responsive UI."
"I think the upgrade process is sometimes a little complicated and there are failures that occur."
"I find that it's quite expensive for just an open-source system. Support is quite expensive."
"The solution could improve by adding more advertising and marketing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's damn expensive and the licensing is terrible... If you have perpetual licenses on 2.7 and you upgrade to 3, you are forced to go with Essentials. That is one of the issues that I'm seeing with my clients now."
"Over the years, licensing has been confusing and complicated because there are so many different licenses for each different product and each different iteration of the product."
"The price for Cisco ISE is high."
"I get very good pricing from Cisco, so I don't have a problem with that. I also don't have a problem with licensing because we get enterprise or global licensing."
"Previously, Cisco ISE had a perpetual licensing model, but now they have shifted to a subscription-based licensing system."
"Cisco is moving towards a subscription service, which would mean additional costs."
"Pricing is not a problem for Cisco because it has a lot of features and not much competition, although it's more expensive than other products. But if I do a cost-benefit analysis, Cisco provides high quality."
"Cisco ISE's licensing can get pricey."
"It's a bit pricey and could be more competitive."
"ForgeRock is an expensive solution."
"The license is purchased annually per user. However, you can negotiate if you are signing for a longer period of time. When comparing this solution to others on the market it is priced fair, it is not at the top of the price range or at the bottom end."
"We have multiple clients we are looking at right now. We are at a very small number, however, the idea and the goal is to grow. We are looking at about $100,000 and $50,000 a minimum a month cost. That'd be minimum maybe in a couple of years."
"ForgeRock's pricing is more competitive than other products."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis, but it also depends on the contract that you have with the vendor. They have multiple types of contracts. There are additional costs to the standard licensing fees. If you need some of the features, you have to pay more."
"Its price is comparable to other products in the market."
"The pricing of the solution is fair but I do not have the full details."
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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
24%
Computer Software Company
12%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
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 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 ForgeRock?
The most valuable features of ForgeRock are social login and data protection.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ForgeRock?
Our company was considering switching back to Keycloak from ForgeRock, so as to not pay any license fees. ForgeRock also supports M-PIN and biometric features that Keycloak does not provide. My com...
What needs improvement with ForgeRock?
In the past, I saw that Splunk was integrated with a testing portal, and then it was integrated with Slack. I don't think ForgeRock directly supports integrations with Slack, making it an area wher...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
ForgeRock Identity Platform, ForgeRock OpenIDM
 

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
Geico, Thomson Reuters, Salesforce, McKesson, Trinet, SKY, BNP Paribas, Deloitte, Capgemini, North Western University
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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