Sophos Network Access Control and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) both compete in the network security space. While Sophos is appreciated for its pricing and support, Cisco ISE is considered superior due to its advanced features and integrations that justify its higher cost.
Features: Sophos Network Access Control offers streamlined access management, endpoint visibility, and simplified deployment for smaller networks. Cisco ISE provides comprehensive network segmentation, advanced policy enforcement, and better integration options, offering a robust solution for larger, complex networks.
Room for Improvement: Sophos could enhance its integration capabilities, increase scalability, and add advanced policy features. Cisco ISE could simplify initial setup, improve ease of use, and enhance cost-effectiveness for smaller installations.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sophos is known for easy deployment suiting smaller organizations with limited integration needs, coupled with good support. Cisco ISE requires a more complex setup but is backed by extensive documentation and a robust support network, beneficial for larger enterprises.
Pricing and ROI: Sophos Network Access Control is noted for its competitive pricing and low setup costs, ensuring a quick ROI. Cisco ISE demands a higher initial investment but provides greater value over time through its extensive features, suggesting a better long-term ROI for organizations needing advanced capabilities.
I rate the technical support as one out of ten.
They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases.
Factors like architecture, business nature, and legal limitations such as GDPR affect it.
Making large organizational costs significant.
The stability of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is poor for certain use cases, like authentication.
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very good at device administration.
Cisco ISE is an all-in-one solution that streamlines security policy management and reduces operating costs. Cisco ISE delivers visibility and access control over users and devices across wired, wireless, and VPN connections.
Identity Services Engine enables enterprises to deliver secure network access to users and devices. It shares contextual data, such as threats and vulnerabilities, with integrated solutions from Cisco technology partners. You can see what is happening in your network, which applications are running, and more.
Features of Cisco ISE
Benefits of Cisco ISE
Cisco’s holistic approach to network access security has several advantages:
Support
You can get ISE as a physical or virtual appliance. Both deployments can create ISE clusters that create scale, redundancy, and requirements.
Licensing
Cisco ISE has four primary licences. Evaluation for up to 100 endpoints with full platform functionality. The higher tiers are Partner, Advantage and Essential.
Reviews from Real Users
"The user experience of the solution is great. It's a very transparent system. according to a PeerSpot user in Cyber Security at a manufacturing company.
Omar Z., Network & Security Engineer at an engineering company, feels that "The RADIUS Server holds the most value."
“Whether I deploy in China, the US, South Africa, or wherever, I can get all the capabilities. It allows me to directly integrate with 365, and from a communications point of view, that is a good capability," says Rammohan M., Senior Consultant at a tech services company.
Hassan A.,Technology Manager at Advanced Integrated Systems, says that "The most valuable feature is the integration with StealthWatch and DNA as one fabric."
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