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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs SAP Identity Management 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)
SAP Identity Management
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (8th), Identity Management (IM) (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and SAP Identity Management 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.
SAP Identity Management, on the other hand, focuses on Identity Management (IM), holds 2.2% mindshare, down 3.2% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Identity Management (IM)
 

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.
Imran  Rafi - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows for seamless integration and provides a unified login experience
I believe it is widely used by all our clients. They usually have three or four applications, and it's not advisable to use separate physical logins for each authentication. That's why they prefer a cloud application, where they can find a unified login for all applications. The solution is scalable, and we can handle multiple users and customers. We can accommodate different authentication requirements for various groups of employees. It's a flexible solution that can be tailored according to specific needs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco ISE scales exceptionally well."
"Cisco ISE is a powerful solution. It gives us the ability to control who's accessing our network, and Cisco has made it very easy."
"I have found that all of the features are valuable. It is very easy to deploy because we are able to port users directly from Active Directory (AD) and LDAP."
"In terms of features, I think they've done a lot of improvement on the graphical user interface — it looks really good right now."
"Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very good at device administration."
"Using this solution gives us the ability to allow proper access to the network."
"I like the guest access feature, which has been important for us."
"Cisco ISE provides authentication for various applications. It can integrate with other applications to manage access, including Privileged Access Management for those applications. For a comprehensive environment, Cisco ISE should be able to integrate and provide asset management for an IT organization or any organization."
"Rather than implement a basic SSO, this solution assisted us with setting up two-factor authentication."
"What's most valuable in SAP Identity Management is that it's easily an out-of-the-box solution for connectivity with SAP applications. We do not have to do any customizations, and this makes the solution very compatible with most SAP applications. SAP Identity Management is also very user-friendly."
"The setup process is straightforward."
"The tool's most valuable features are its access control and approval of access requests. The self-service password reset feature is efficient. Role management capabilities streamline user access by assigning and revoking roles."
"The most valuable feature is the user experience for managing information."
"What I like about SAP Identity Management is that it's stable for experienced users and suitable for access management, not just for SAP accounts, but for Active Directory, including file sharing and process sharing."
"It provides basic automatic user administration and role provisioning to save time."
"What I found most valuable in SAP Identity Management is process automation. The solution also gives transparency about what is happening and why which I find beneficial. Another feature I found valuable in SAP Identity Management is integration. It has very good integration."
 

Cons

"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"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."
"The UI is not as intuitive as some other products, even products inside of Cisco's wheelhouse."
"The licensing scheme is complex and could use enhancement to provide more options."
"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."
"Cisco ISE does not recognize devices and that is an issue we faced during its integration with our existing devices."
"The product is expensive. It would also be a good add-on to have some machine learning."
"One of the issues that we used to have was with profiling because we're working with a service provider that uses a lot of bring your own devices."
"SAP Identity Management can improve risk analysis and authority checks."
"Research and marketing need to be improved."
"It needs to have the SSO for the HANA modules that SAP is releasing."
"What needs improvement in SAP Identity Management is its compatibility with third-party applications. We'd like to get connectors or plugin settings to make it easier to manage other applications, whether SAP or non SAP applications. As SAP Identity Management is not compatible with non SAP applications, some of the clients are looking for other IDM applications such as SalePoint and Saviynt, so this is an issue we've observed in the solution."
"A lack of startup connectors to different systems, and could have better connectors for SAP IDM."
"I find SAP Identity Management complicated to use. Maintaining it is also complex."
"I have encountered issues with the host authentication feature."
"One of the areas for improvement in the solution is its user interface which needs to be up-to-date and fancier, in particular, have better visualization in terms of the tabs and buttons. The user interface of SAP Identity Management should be improved based on the latest trends."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For the Avast virus scan, we pay around USD $95 per machine for five years which includes all updates and technical support."
"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 price of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is expensive and we are thinking about changing to FortiGate."
"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"
"The price for Cisco ISE is high."
"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."
"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."
"ISE has always been expensive compared to other products in terms of what it does on a user level."
"I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten."
"The licensing cost varies depending on the specific requirements and deployment size."
"When evaluating the price of any product, I first look at how it meets my business requirements and if it meets requirements adequately and predictively. Currently, I don't see this from SAP Identity Management, so pricing for it is expensive, in my opinion."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
28%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Energy/Utilities Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
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...
What do you like most about SAP Identity Management?
The tool's most valuable features are its access control and approval of access requests. The self-service password reset feature is efficient. Role management capabilities streamline user access b...
What needs improvement with SAP Identity Management?
I have encountered issues with the host authentication feature.
What is your primary use case for SAP Identity Management?
Our clients utilize the tool to automate user provisioning and manage identity, security, and user roles within their IT environment. It is configured as a tenant for this purpose, and it includes ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
SAP NetWeaver Identity Management, NetWeaver Identity Management
 

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
State of Indiana, Automotive Resources International (ARI), Alliander N.V., Chemion Logistik GmbH, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH)
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: February 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.