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Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) vs F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) 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 Secure Client (includ...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
SSL VPN (3rd), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (4th), ZTNA as a Service (10th), Cisco Security Portfolio (3rd)
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) and F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Client (including AnyConnect) is designed for SSL VPN and holds a mindshare of 14.4%, up 13.5% compared to last year.
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM), on the other hand, focuses on Application Delivery Controllers (ADC), holds 15.7% mindshare, up 15.7% since last year.
SSL VPN
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC)
 

Featured Reviews

Wouter Beer - PeerSpot reviewer
Generates revenue through service offering while needing additional safety features
The primary use case for Cisco Secure Client, including AnyConnect, is as a VPN for remote access I use AnyConnect because I have Cisco infrastructure. It utilizes certificates, which allows for automatic setup. The security features are beneficial, and the whole idea of the app is that it should…
Mahmoud-Yassin - PeerSpot reviewer
You can fully automate disaster recovery
LTM's cloud capabilities could be improved. Cloud providers all offer load balancing, but you can't get the same level of security. F5's cloud service is still not on par with its on-prem service. F5 acquired multiple companies a few years ago, but they still haven't integrated those solutions. For example, F5 acquired Shape Security, which had an excellent solution for detecting bots and automated login attacks, but F5 offers the solution in an inflexible way. It is only available as a cloud-based solution. It isn't zone-based. Some companies are restricted from sending financial data outside the country because of GDPR in Europe or other national regulations. Here in the UAE, we can't send host data out.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I like most about Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is that it's easy to use, and that is its main advantage. You can use it without the need for any setup because it's centrally pre-installed, so you just need to log in with your username and password. I didn't experience any problems with the solution in terms of losing connectivity. It works very well every time."
"This solution is stable. There have been no technical issues."
"The solution provides secure and easy access to corporate network resources."
"Easy to deploy and has good NAC integration."
"I think Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is stable."
"It is reliable and easy to configure, and the Cisco Firewall can last for many years."
"The security AnyConnect offers is excellent. It disconnects automatically if someone isn't using it on a private network and doesn't allow you to work, ensuring the data within the system is secure."
"On Cisco's side, the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) story is quite valuable."
"It is a scalable solution."
"It is stable."
"It provides first-tier firewalling, for you application. And it provides server load-balancing, it provides optimization, and it provides a proxy feature, where your users cannot directly access your server. It acts as a fully proxy architecture. It has client-side and server-side connections, both, and they're separate."
"We enjoy its overall ease of use."
"The occasion in which we needed technical support, we didn't have problems with them, because they always answered our questions without any trouble."
"The most valuable features of the solution are in the area of DDoS and WAF."
"The combination of ADC and WAN is good."
"NetFlow balancing and traffic balancing are good features."
 

Cons

"I haven't found there are any shortcomings in the product. For how I use it, it works well."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client would be perfect if it weren't for the fingerprint feature."
"Improvements could be made in terms of pricing and ease of setup."
"The notifications need to be improved. If the VPN is disconnected for a long period of time, they should push out notifications. We need to manually check if the VPN is connected or not. Sometimes it automatically disconnects, but the user doesn't get notifications, and we need to troubleshoot or open the client to manually reconnect. Auto-reconnection would be an improvement."
"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client can be improved by having better speed and reliability. However, the speed and reliability are already really good."
"Even when your internet speed is good, once you connect to the VPN the speed gets automatically reduced, which is worrisome."
"The setup could be simplified for solutions engineers with a wizard."
"There is a speed limit for VPNs because of the encryption."
"I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment. Security will then be a major concern when we migrate our own whole infrastructure to the public cloud."
"To improve the product, they could add more load balancing solutions in Kubernetes."
"There is room for improvement in the user interface."
"The license terms for "non-commercial" will be a challenge for us."
"Reporting could be improved and configuration made easier."
"BIG-IP LTM is taking a long time to mature in cloud environments. They plan to improve cloud integration in the next version, but it isn't out yet. It's essential because more companies are moving to the cloud these days and using things like Kubernetes or microservices. F5 needs to improve in that direction, and they are."
"It's a very expensive solution."
"An area for improvement in F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is that it's a high-priced product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing depends on the requirement, so proper planning and an RF analysis help to properly size the solution and get the best pricing."
"I am using a paid version of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client."
"It is not a free solution and the user needs to buy license."
"We pay for an annual subscription. Additionally to the subscription, we thought in order to connect this solution to the Active Directory we had to purchase a Cisco ACS, Access Control System. It turns out we did not actually need it."
"We have yearly licensing and it's very affordable."
"The solution is reasonably priced and costs $600 for a five-year license in our scenario."
"I would rate the pricing for the license of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client around four to five out of ten. It's not the cheapest option, but it's also not overly expensive."
"My company has a three-year or a four-year license. In scenarios attached to a solution where the product may be reaching an end-of-support or end-of-life phase, Cisco provides OS support in such environments."
"Take a look at the modules that you are going to use. Look into the best bundles for them."
"The price of the solution is sometimes expensive."
"If your IT budget is good, go for it."
"Though functionality is high, its cost can be considered slightly higher than its competitors​."
"There are additional costs depending on what modules or what functionality is required."
"Check other vendors like Cisco, Citrix or A10 Networks. There are plenty in the market with which you can achieve same thing."
"Try to negotiate all the software features that you require upfront."
"F5 is more expensive than other solutions, so you have to be sure F5 is the best solution to fit the requirements."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
50%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Government
4%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
The tool is user-friendly, robust and easy to use in any environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
I perceive the pricing to be a seven, however, I have perpetual licenses.
What needs improvement with Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client?
It should implement something like a kill switch. This particular feature is missing. Vendors offer more features, such as a kill switch.
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP?
There are no specific areas for improvement as it is already well-resolved and doesn't require further enhancements.
What is your primary use case for F5 BIG-IP?
The primary use case includes load balancing to serve application servers and basic web application firewall solutions. Our customers use it for that purpose.
 

Also Known As

Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
F5 BIG-IP, BIG-IP LTM, F5 ASM, Viprion, F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition , Crescendo Networks Application Delivery Controller, BIG IP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST, Molina Healthcare, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Arup, New South Wales Rural FireService
Riken, TransUnion, Tepco Systems Administration, Daejeon University, G&T Bank, Danamon, CyberAgent Inc.
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839,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.