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Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs Palo Alto Networks Panorama comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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 Firewall Manag...
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks Panorama
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Firewall Security Management category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Panorama is 8.1%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewall Security Management
 

Featured Reviews

Yonas Abebe - PeerSpot reviewer
Great dashboard with extensive visibility and good support
I expect more integration with AI. I expect Cisco to be easier for users in India, especially for junior users. For a junior one, it may somehow be complex, especially when configuring something. I remember version 6.4 had an integration with Eddie, allowing me to define a policy according to my users, however, the latest version, lacks this integration. The logging of FMC should be improved as it does not offer real-time solutions like DazaSodo.
Kim Ejby Lorentzen - PeerSpot reviewer
Unified firewall management streamlines operations across branches with prompt support services
The primary use case for this solution is the management of the entire firewall portfolio across various branches Palo Alto Networks Panorama has simplified management by providing a unified interface for firewall management and configuration. One of the key advantages of Palo Alto Networks…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the dashboard since it gives me a lot of information."
"It's a fine solution in terms of scalability."
"The most valuable feature of the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center is the UTM."
"The tool helps with internet access protection."
"The applied policy inside the firewall is good."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the intrusion prevention system."
"The overall product rating is eight out of ten."
"The solution is quite scalable."
"It has shared profiles for all gateways. If I do not have Panorama, I need to create a separate profile for each and every gateway by logging into that particular gateway, but with Panorama, I can create a shared profile and just push it down to each and every gateway connected to it."
"Panorama integrates security management by allowing easy modification of policy by account, IP, or application."
"Panorama has improved the organization by enabling log collection, administration, and optimization of firewall policies. It supports policy migration and offers platform stability and decent uptime."
"The main value of Palo Alto Networks Panorama lies in its ability to centralize management, similar to FortiManager."
"I like its flexibility."
"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks Panorama is its ease of use."
"Everything about the reporting and everything about Palo Alto Networks Panorama is good."
"A valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks Panorama is reporting because it gives you different reports on data, logs, and threats. I also like the centralized firewall management feature of the product."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve the number of ports available and load balancing."
"The initial setup is a bit complex."
"The solution should improve the user interface."
"I would go with a rating of three out of ten for the stability issues."
"Some duplicated values and security standards are not working in some high-application protocols with Cisco's next-generation firewalls."
"Cisco Firepower has been effective in solving various problems, but it could be improved by making it simpler and more user-friendly like Fortinet."
"The product could be improved by simplifying its user interface and reducing complexity."
"The interface is an area that could be improved."
"It would be beneficial to improve the capabilities of Panorama to handle logs more efficiently, potentially reducing the need for additional local collectors. Adding more predefined dashboards as features would enhance the monitoring and reporting capabilities."
"There were a few bugs a couple of years into it. There was a big bug where it had trouble communicating with the two main boxes."
"The current documentation is not detailed enough."
"A bottleneck in Palo Alto Networks Panorama is the licensing. The licensing model for the product is complicated. Another area for improvement is the PDF report generation because you'll notice that it's missing some details."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"Its UI and usability could be improved. The way the UI looks could be improved to make it a little bit more intuitive. Other than that, it is a pretty simple product."
"The initial setup requires expertise and can be a bit complex."
"Aside from pricing, I don't have any issues with Panorama."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My license offers all the protection, like malware protection, VPN protection, IDS, IPS, and endpoint protection."
"I rate the tool's pricing a four out of ten. The licensing costs are yearly."
"It is rather expensive."
"I rate Secure Firewall Management Center eight out of 10 for pricing."
"The solution is not expensive."
"Technical support is an additional annual cost and is not included with the license."
"Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center has the best price on the market."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"The price of Palo Alto Networks Panorama is high. There is a pay-per-use model."
"It is not a cheap solution."
"Palo Alto Networks Panorama has so many licenses. For example, it has threat protection and group protection licenses. One license depends on another. I find it more expensive than Cisco."
"Initially, Palo Alto looks expensive, but if you dig deeper then you will find that it is very comparable, or even cheaper than other solutions."
"Sometimes the company prefers to give a license to test the product in our environment before we go to the customer. But the customer should buy his own license, and that's the system here. The system is different between one country and another. Some countries say that the IT solutions provider should provide the license."
"If I were to rate the pricing of Palo on a scale of one to five, with one being really high and five being a good, reasonable price, I would rate Palo as a three."
"The solution is priced a bit higher than competitors."
"The price of the licenses could be lower. Still, because we have Panorama with 25 firewalls, Palo Alto gives us a good discount."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
22%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Engineering Company
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?
The platform has significantly enhanced our organization's operations by providing secure communication channels between different office locations.
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center?
I expect more integration with AI. I expect Cisco to be easier for users in India, especially for junior users. For a junior one, it may somehow be complex, especially when configuring something. I...
What do you like most about Palo Alto Networks Panorama?
The most valuable aspect of Palo Alto Networks Panorama for me is the centralized management of multiple firewalls.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Panorama?
The solution requires more flexibility and quicker response times. High-speed replies are crucial. Additionally, the AI module should be on-premises, not in the cloud. It should support more flexib...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs. Palo Alto Networks Panorama and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.