Cisco IOS Security vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT comparison

"Previously, anyone in the organization would see any data point in the wall. They could just go and connect their machine with that data point and could access the network. But now, even if someone came and tried that, they will not be given access."

"Cisco is head-and-shoulders above all of the competition when it comes to technical support."

"The solution is stable."

"It is less expensive than alternative firewalls."

"We are able to filter a lot of traffic especially when a lot of the traffic is in layer 7."

"The most valuable feature is endpoint protection."

"There is a positive impact on security, particularly the intrusion feature, which helps keep the solution concealed and secure."

"One of the main features is that the hardware is extremely reliable."

"The URL filtering is very good and you can create a group for customized URLs."

"In general, the features are all great. However, if I need to take hardware for ASA, because they need to upgrade to Firepower, we want to create rules. For that, most of the time we go to the command line. Right now Firepower is working really hard on the grid. You can apply all those rules to the grid. Even if you want to monitor the logs, for example, the activity will tell you which particular user has been blocked because of that rule. Firepower's monitoring interface is very good, because you can see each and every piece. ASA also had it, but there you needed to type the command and be under the server to see all that stuff. In Firepower you have the possibility to go directly to the firewall. The way the monitoring is displayed is also very nice. The feature I appreciate most in Firepower is actually the grid. The grid has worked very well."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering."

"The whole solution is very good, and stable."

"I like most of Cisco's features, like malware detection and URL filtering."

"The solution is rather easy to use."

"It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings."

"The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet."

"Cisco is a scalable product, but it is expensive compared to other vendors."

"I would love it if it has a link-by-link feature, integration with Unified Threat Management (UTM), and load balancers. They haven't got any link-by-link feature right now, which can be a very attractive option. This link-by-link feature can also be made available for Cisco's UTM firewalls. The link-by-link feature is available in some of the other firewalls. Currently, integration with UTM is missing. Cisco IOS Security also doesn't have the load balancers and a few things that need to be done to get a good UTM firewall. Normally, other firewalls have UTM. As a next-generation firewall, it's good, but as a UTM, it has to do some work."

"I wish it would be more like the next generation firewall technology. There should be more selection between the application and filtering."

"The company needs to make its solution more affordable to make it more accessible to larger markets. Otherwise, it's seen as an enterprise-level solution that small or medium-sized organizations can't afford and therefore they won't even look at it."

"We have a very bad experience on the support. They take too much time requesting logs, and they are not coming directly online to resolve the issues."

"Most of their features are meant for Cisco. You cannot integrate them with any other vendor."

"Cisco IOS Security's monitoring is rather rudimentary and could be improved."

"We faced significant challenges related to licensing issues, particularly when licenses expire."

"The customization of the rules can be simplified."

"To be frank, the product is not really stable, although they're working on that. Whenever I go to the technical community with an issue, they will usually say that it is not there yet, but the technical team are working on it. The issues are not insolvable. I think they should just keep working on the product to make sure that the product can become very stable. The technical support is great. I appreciate that. We have a lot of communities supporting Firepower now, so you can find help for whatever issue you have."

"The pricing needs to be improved. We have lots of low-budget clients around us. Budget constraints are always a deterrent in our market."

"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."

"The initial setup is a little difficult compared to other products in the market. It depends on the environment. If we are doing any migration, it might take months in a brown-field environment."

"The implementation could be a bit easier."

"The main dashboard of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve."

"I did not experience any pain points that required improvement. Maybe a couple of false-positives, but that's about it."

"The tool could be priced lower. If you want advanced services, then you need to purchase them."

"The product is expensive."

"The solution's pricing is very good."

"The cost may be around $5,000 to $10,000 a year. If you want support you have to pay at least this price."

"Cisco IOS Security is not very expensive, and pricing depends on where you live. It's affordable for both individuals and institutions. On a scale from one to five, I would give Cisco's pricing a four."

"The pricing is okay. It is competitive. It costs more when you need get more features."

"I rate Cisco IOS Security's pricing a ten out of ten."

"The price of the solution should be cheaper, and the license is purchase annually."

"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."

"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."

"We have a three-year license for this solution."

"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."

"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."