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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs WSO2 Identity Server 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)
WSO2 Identity Server
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and WSO2 Identity Server 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.
WSO2 Identity Server, on the other hand, focuses on Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM), holds 4.5% mindshare, down 4.7% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM)
 

Featured Reviews

Rohit-Joshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2023
Enables us to ensure that any machine that comes into the network is patched and secure
Posturing is the most valuable feature. There are other tools available that can do some of their other features, like network authentication. The posturing was something because of the nature of the industry that we are in. There are people who go outside for work. Their machines are at times not in the network, and not patched properly. We don't know when they're going to come back, whether it is in a good state, whether it has antivirus, whether it's installed on those machines. Posturing is something that we have made our baseline policy that whenever a machine comes back to our network, it should have a certain level of the operating system and a level of security and antivirus installed. We couldn't have done this posturing without Cisco ISE. This is its greatest feature. It does help me to detect and remediate my network. It enables me to detect any external threat that comes to my network and remediate. If a machine comes into my network that does not qualify per my baseline policy, I have a policy that the machine gets redirected to where it can be patched and remediated. I can ensure that it is fully patched and secure. The entire idea of having ISE is to enhance cybersecurity resilience. The zero trust architecture was coined by the cybersecurity team itself. It was a task given to us in the infrastructure space to see how we can bring resilience into the cybersecurity network and ISE was the solution.
Clement Hsieh - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 11, 2024
Supports API integrations with different systems
My company uses multi-factor authentication and we tried using it integrating with FIDO Server. It was done to make sure that the multi-factor authentication feature gets used during the authentication process. AI can be used for better authentication, but right now, our company has not used any such feature. I recommend the product to others. It is easy to install and easy to use. Understanding a feature before you integrate a tool with other tools is important. In my company, there is another team with five to six engineers that takes care of the support part of the tool. The product has helped me to meet my security management requirements as per ISO 7001. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

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 features are authentication, we have more granular control on the access policies for the administrators. The solution is easy to use, has a center point administration, and has a good GUI."
"The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall."
"I like that Cisco ISE is easy to use."
"Cisco ISE's integration with other external identity servers like Duende is very simple and easy."
"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."
"Technical support is okay."
"The solution cuts down on the repercussions of getting malware or ransomware."
"The profiling model included is the most valuable feature."
"Comprehensive ecosystem."
"The keystore feature has been most valuable for us."
"I would rate the solution's stability eight or nine out of ten."
"The product provides easy integration between API manager and IT server components."
"The solution gets the job done, and we don't have to do the main configuration."
"It's very easy to implement everything."
"Some of the valuable features of the solution are the easy integration with processes, such as Single Sign-On. Overall WSO2 is straightforward and does not need customization."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
 

Cons

"Cisco ISE does not recognize devices and that is an issue we faced during its integration with our existing devices."
"It could be more intuitive in terms of how to configure the policies."
"I'm working from China currently and the only real issue is that, within the country, there's some concern around Cisco and its ability to offer the solution for the long term. As the United States has banned the Huawei version in their country, we feel there may be retaliation in ours and Cisco will get banned as a countermeasure from the government. The future of Cisco in China is in question. Our local partners are worried about the situation."
"There should be more visibility into TrustSec policy actions. When TrustSec blocks something or makes any kind of changes to the network, we don't always see that. We have to log into the switch itself, or we have to get some type of Syslog parsing to do that."
"If Cisco could grant more control, the features could be more focused on network and security administration, reducing the need for integration with other components."
"There can be a little bit more integration between the controller management and ISE. There are two dashboards, you have the controller dashboards, and you have the ISE dashboard it would is a way to maybe integrate that into one. That would be great. It's not that bad. It would be easier if it could be combined into one dashboard."
"The product is expensive. It would also be a good add-on to have some machine learning."
"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."
"This solution requires extensive knowledge to be used effectively as certain areas of its use are not user friendly."
"There needs to be a good support model and easy-to-understand documentation."
"The solution could improve its development from a user perspective."
"The solution seems to be pretty outdated."
"The high availability architecture has to be improved."
"The solution's licensing model could be more flexible, and pricing could be improved."
"I found the initial setup to be very complex."
"This solution does not have BPM workflows already integrated, we had to integrate the BPM module externally. They do not provide full-featured auditing and certification modules out of the box."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing can be confusing, but it is still pretty good."
"The price is okay."
"The price of the solution is price fair for the features you receive."
"I believe I have paid around $1,000 in licensing fees. The license is annual."
"The pricing is good. The last time we purchased four new appliances the price was doable for any organization of our size."
"Cisco ISE's licensing can get pricey."
"Cisco has actually transitioned to a lot of subscription models, fees, and licenses."
"The SMARTnet technical support is available at an additional cost."
"WSO2 Identity Server is not an expensive solution."
"At this time we are working with the open-source version."
"I have found the solutions license is priced competitively compared to others."
"We have to take their support, but that is a minimal charge if I'm comparing it to other identity managers."
"They should bring in some good pricing models to host the marketplace."
"I rate the product price an eight out of ten. There is a need to pay more for the extra features provided by the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

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 WSO2 Identity Server?
The product provides easy integration between API manager and IT server components.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WSO2 Identity Server?
I rate the product price an eight out of ten. There is a need to pay more for the extra features provided by the solution.
What needs improvement with WSO2 Identity Server?
The solution's licensing model could be more flexible, and pricing could be improved.
 

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
Nutanix, ELM, AlmavivA, BDigital, StubHub, M-creations, MedVision360
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, HPE Aruba Networking, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: September 2024.
801,394 professionals have used our research since 2012.