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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Portnox Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

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)
Portnox Cloud
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (37th), Passwordless Authentication (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 29.9%, down from 31.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portnox Cloud is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Adarge Ekholt - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
The ability to see what devices are online for a particular user helps a lot with our troubleshooting
Another big benefit for us is definitely security in terms of wireless user activity. We spent a lot of time looking at live logs and user logs to figure out where they've been in the network and in which buildings. We can get rogue granular with locations of where people are and where they're experiencing issues. We have definitely saved time since using ISE when it comes to building some of the policies around the types of users, like library users versus student union or even admin users. The policy building is complicated, but after a while, it's pretty straightforward in terms of repeatability of staff turnover, and things like that. It's not the learning curve that's hard for continuous maintenance.
Afeez Adeyemo - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 29, 2023
An affordable tool to monitor routers and access points
A lot of our company's customers who use Portnox Clear feel that since it is an agentless solution, it is not well-equipped enough to cover all the devices in their environment. Sometimes, our company has to explain things to our customers and spend extra time trying to convince them that there are no problems with the solution. I don't know if Portnox can introduce agents for Clear or come up with some other values that would make selling the product easier for our company while ensuring that the customers are more open to receiving Portnox Clear in their environment. As there are no agents in Portnox Clear, the customers of the product cannot download any agents on their devices, making them unsure if the product offers proper security. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement in the solution. The features that are offered by the product are great. If there is progress in security concerns, then Portnox Clear might have to add new features. The features that the product provides are the standard ones that are in line with the other network assistant tools or solutions in the market.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"RADIUS is the best feature because it supplies authentication to our entire campus."
"Cisco ISE's integration with other external identity servers like Duende is very simple and easy."
"Having access and being able to add people or change authentication yourself is nice. In the past, we've used other group authentication services, and we always had to go to them and get permissions. Having that control is key."
"The WiFi portal in Cisco ISE is very useful for WiFi customers."
"The product is stable."
"It's flexible and stable. It's been good as a standard environment to run."
"I've had no issues with scalability. I started using it on two campuses, and now I'm using it across the country and scaling it across subsidiaries in other countries."
"The user experience of the solution is great. It's a very transparent system."
"The solution has a valuable reporting feature."
"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward."
"I like the fact that you can take your device anywhere and still have that visibility from anywhere because it's agent-based."
 

Cons

"The admin interface is really slow. It's horrible."
"The web UI should be made similar to the one in DNAC."
"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"The one main thing that it can improve on is the GUI. As the newest addition to the team, I struggle a little bit to get around it just because it has so many features."
"There should be a single button that can be pressed to dismiss all of the alarms at once."
"A lot of people tell you the hardware requirements for ISE are pretty substantial. If you're running a virtual environment, you're going to be dedicating quite a bit of resources to an ISE VM. That is something that could be worked on."
"The area where things could be improved is education. It's complicated to deploy initially because you have to know what you're getting into."
"This product doesn't work in isolation."
"From a resource perspective, the OEM can do better in terms of resource utilization."
"I believe there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of integration."
"As there are no agents in Portnox Clear, the customers of the product cannot download any agents on their devices, making them unsure if the product offers proper security."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Hardware appliances are expensive...Now moving to DNA-styled licensing, we have subscription-based licensing for everything. I hope it will continue to be fair, but we will have to wait and see."
"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."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, one being cheap and ten being expensive."
"I think the price is okay."
"Our customers pay for the license of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine). They have an annual subscription, rather than a monthly subscription."
"The technology is good, but to use some of the other features, and capabilities, they request that we purchase the Cisco DNA Center. As a result, the bundled price is a little high."
"We are running Version 2.9 because Version 2.9 of the ISE has a persistent license — it's a one-time payment. The latest version (3.1) is only available if you do a yearly subscription."
"Pricing is quite reasonable."
"The cost of Portnox Clear is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 Portnox Clear?
The product's initial setup phase was straightforward.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox Clear?
The cost of Portnox Clear is reasonable. Portnox should get customers to reach out to Portnox Clear in the Nigerian market by offering the product at competitive prices. Portnox can also opt for th...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
A lot of our company's customers who use Portnox Clear feel that since it is an agentless solution, it is not well-equipped enough to cover all the devices in their environment. Sometimes, our comp...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Portnox Clear
 

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
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Portnox Cloud and other solutions. Updated: September 2024.
802,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.