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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Varonis Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
139
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
Varonis Platform
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (15th), Data Governance (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (8th), Compliance Management (8th), Ransomware Protection (9th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Varonis Platform 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 29.9%, down 31.4% compared to last year.
Varonis Platform, on the other hand, focuses on Data Loss Prevention (DLP), holds 2.7% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
 

Featured Reviews

Darren Hill - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
Offers users the ability to be able to see what devices are actually on their network
I don't really know how to improve it, I think it's a great product. If I compare Cisco with something like ClearPass, for example, ISE is a lot more intuitive in terms of all the workflows and the work centers. They give you all the building blocks you need to be able to configure it. It's quite useful and quite easy to manage. If I was going to improve anything, it would be the ease of migration. It's really difficult at the moment if you're looking to upgrade ISE 2.1 and you want to go to ISE 3.1 or 3.2, that whole upgrade path and, particularly, the licensing is quite a minefield to sort out. If I wanted anything to be easier, it would be this.
LM
Jun 11, 2024
Serves as a central repository where you can see all of your file servers from the GUI but calculations can be slow and require time to process
The most valuable feature, in my opinion, is that it serves as a central repository where you can see all of your file servers from the GUI. There are two interfaces: the web version and the graphical user interface (GUI) available on local machines. Another valuable feature is the ability to easily apply restrictions through Varonis, without having to manually configure permissions on individual servers. You can remotely register, block, or enable server or file permissions from one central location. This can be done in bulk as well. I also appreciate the reporting feature, which allows for the extraction of various reports based on specific needs. These reports can be used for audit purposes, such as tracking changes in file locations or deletions. Additionally, Varonis offers data classification capabilities. You can manually create classifications and categorize data accordingly. After a short processing time, you have visibility into where specific types of data are located. There are many other aspects of Varonis worth mentioning, as I learn something new about it every day. However, I have now transitioned to the Microsoft platform and primarily work with Power BI, so my Varonis usage is limited these days.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"It does what it's supposed to. We use a certificate-based authentication method for corporate-managed devices. That means when a user walks in with their managed laptop and plugs it into the network, it chats with Cisco ISE in the background, allows it on the network, and away they go."
"After the product was installed, no one could access the secure connection network. In order for any laptop or any endpoint device to attach to my network, it needs to be authorized or be certified to be connected."
"At the moment, ISE seems to integrate very well with a number of other technologies."
"The access policies, and all of the policies in Cisco ISE, are important to us."
"I like the guest access feature, which has been important for us."
"For guests we give them limited access to the internet when they come in so that access has been useful. Previously, we just used to give them the APN key which they would leave with. Now, we give them credentials to use that are for a limited period of time."
"The valuable feature of the solution lies in its integration capabilities with other applications."
"The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand what's happening in our environment."
"Varonis Platform is transparent and captures everything in the environment without impacting the performance. The tool helps us unify data feeds into a single reporting system."
"The solution ensures that users have not accidentally shared sensitive information with the wrong people or too many people."
"The solution's classification engine is highly configurable and efficient."
"There's also a 90-day policy where if a user is not using the warehouse, it will automatically delete that username."
"I also appreciate the reporting feature, which allows for the extraction of various reports based on specific needs. These reports can be used for audit purposes, such as tracking changes in file locations or deletions."
 

Cons

"Cisco ISE is complex. The deployment and design of networks with it is so complex. If it could change it would be better."
"Some of the reporting could be improved."
"The compliance and posture don't always work. They should make it more stable. With each upgrade, we lose some functionality. We have to wait for another upgrade."
"There should be an easier way to do the upgrades. There are a lot of steps to get to the next version from the previous version which ends up being a bit of the headache with the upgrade."
"We would definitely like to see a little bit of an improvement in the web GUI navigation. Some of the things are a little bit hidden in the drop-down menu. If we could get a way to get to those quicker, it'd be much more useful."
"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."
"The learning curve is steep and the initial setup is complex."
"I would like for the next release to be easier to implement and to limit its dependencies around ISE, Windows, the network as a whole, etc."
"The product is very complicated."
"There is one thing that if I add something manually, I get so many alerts. That's the biggest bad thing."
"The solution's areas of improvement are the interface and the dependency on on-premises deployment for some components."
"The solution's interface is a little complicated with regard to setting up filters and reports."
"One area for improvement is the calculation engine. When applying rules in Varonis, especially for large datasets (terabytes of data), the calculations can be slow and require time to process. Speeding up this process would be beneficial."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is fair for what it does."
"The price for Cisco ISE itself is very low, however, Cisco professional services are quite expensive. Subscription amount is dependent on number of users."
"I have complaints. I don't enjoy the licensing model. Once we moved from 2.7 to 3.1, switching from Base, Plus, and Apex to Essential and Advantage in Premier, we went from a perpetual, with our base licenses, to now a subscription-base. So, we will have to renew those licenses every year, and I'm not a fan of that for our base licenses. Apex/Premier, we already expected, which is fine, but for basic connectivity, I am not a fan of that."
"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."
"Its licensing could be improved. It used to be perpetual, but now they are moving away from that."
"The SMARTnet technical support is available at an additional cost."
"The licensing can be confusing, but it is still pretty good."
"Standard licensing gives backup access and very few features, and then there's VM licensing - each VM we use needs to be licensed."
"It's expensive, kind of, really expensive."
"Varonis Platform wasn't certainly the cheapest solution."
"The pricing is good. It neither expensive nor cheap. It is average."
"The platform is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
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 Varonis Platform?
The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand w...
What needs improvement with Varonis Platform?
One area for improvement is the calculation engine. When applying rules in Varonis, especially for large datasets (terabytes of data), the calculations can be slow and require time to process. Spee...
What is your primary use case for Varonis Platform?
We use the solution for data loss prevention. The tool scans Google Drive documents to ensure nothing is overshared.
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
No data available
 

Learn More

 

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
Nottingham Building Society
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, HPE Aruba Networking, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: September 2024.
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