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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 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 Network Analytics
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
22nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (3rd), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (5th), Cisco Security Portfolio (7th)
NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
77th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Sudhakar T - PeerSpot reviewer
Strong network security analytics with excellent encrypted traffic analysis features
Improvements are needed on the application layer for complete security analysis. The solution should have the ability to analyze security events not only at the network layer but also at the application and OS layers. There's a need for a more comprehensive licensing model where all necessary licenses are included by default.
Michael Gideon Genita - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up with good documentation and helpful support
I'm using it for a customer The packet flow switch is the most valuable aspect of the solution.  It's an easy product to set up. We can scale the solution if we need to. It's stable.  The documentation is well-written and quite useful. It's compatible with other products.  Under the pocket flow…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Secure Network Analytics has increased the visibility of what is happening in our network, and I think that's the most important reason to use it. We can see what is really happening instead of just looking at numbers from routers or switches."
"It has definitely helped us improve our mean time to resolution on network issues."
"It works efficiently for encrypted traffic analysis."
"From a security standpoint, it is just seeing pockets as well. Visibility is very key for us."
"I believe this solution has reduced our incident response time."
"From what I understand, you can encrypt and unencrypt traffic moving in transit. This is one of the features that we liked about it."
"Another notable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is its Layer 7 visibility, which allows us to monitor and analyze network communications at the application layer."
"The solution allowed us to not only get gain insight but also start collaborating with other tools."
"I love the single pane of glass view. It makes it easier to not have to navigate everywhere. It allows more simplistic visibility, without having to go from tool to tool to tool, or from window to window to window."
"It has cut our troubleshooting down by days. Once we have a product in place, we show people examples of how it can streamline their troubleshooting process."
"It helps us get to root cause quickly. With utilization and consumption of bandwidth, we can usually see what application is taking as much as they should (or shouldn't), then account for it accordingly."
"It allows us to get quicker resolutions. We can see exactly what is using up the bandwidth, so we can assist end users."
"The ability to troubleshoot customers' connectivity has been very beneficial."
"The most valuable features are speed and cost."
"We use it for monitoring whenever we update a new circuit or site."
"It is very rock solid. We hardly have any hardware issues."
 

Cons

"One thing I would like to see improved is if it could automatically be tied through ISE, instead of you having to manually get notifications and disable it yourself."
"I would like to see more expansion in artificial intelligence and machine learning features."
"One update I would like to see is an agent-based client. Currently StealthWatch is network based."
"It hasn't really improved our direct detection rate but it has definitely reduced our incident response time as we wouldn't have been able to detect threats or immediate risks without this solution."
"We had some trouble with the installation as we migrated from our previous solution."
"Some of our customers find this solution to be a little bit tough because they don't understand how to configure and use it."
"One update that I would like to see is an agent-based client. Currently, Stealthwatch is network-based. A local agent could help manage endpoints."
"Better integration between Cisco Secure Network Analytics and Cisco Secure Workload would be beneficial."
"The scalability has some limitations and quirks to it. I would like to be able to upgrade rather than replace the whole thing."
"The NetFlow Collectors could handle more flows per minute."
"We don't use the single pane of glass view, even though we own it."
"The stability depends on who is using the tool, because you only can get as much out of the tool as you put into it. There are a lot of patches for this particular environment, so you have to keep on them. If you lose track of them, then the product is not useful anymore."
"The single pane of glass feed still needs work."
"The monitoring and reporting tool needs improvement. Users want more information, such as the level of detail when doing a packet analysis. They want more detail to be able to isolate down to a specific point."
"There is a timeout feature that we have been asking for awhile."
"It's not able to communicate with our probes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an expensive product. We have quit paying for support because we don't want to have to upgrade it and keep paying for it."
"Our fees are approximately $3,000 USD."
"​Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."
"The solution is expensive. It costs several hundred thousand dollars per year (depending on how many flows you are collecting)."
"There are additional licenses needed for the number of so-called network flows. It's hard to plan the number of flows you need in the network, this is a problem. The price of the Cisco Stealthwatch is relatively inexpensive"
"The licensing costs are outrageous."
"We pay for support costs on a yearly basis."
"On a yearly basis, licensing is somewhere around $30,000."
"To capture more with the solution that we bought, you have to buy another InfiniStreamNG, and there are only four ports in the back."
"It can be scalable. It just costs too much. With a company as big as ours, it gets too expensive to accommodate every single site."
"I would like it to be more scalable with less spend."
"The scalability is good, but it comes at a cost. E.g., if you need 100 InfiniStream because you are sending gigs or terabytes of data to one InfiniStream, then you will have to purchase another InfiniStream, which are not cheap."
"This product could be cheaper."
"The price is a little high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
29%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Stealthwatch?
The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is the Threat Intelligence integration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Stealthwatch?
The organization experienced challenges with licensing as Cisco has multiple licensing factors, and there are concerns about the price. Cisco solutions are considered to be very expensive.
What needs improvement with Cisco Stealthwatch?
Improvements are needed on the application layer for complete security analysis. The solution should have the ability to analyze security events not only at the network layer but also at the applic...
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Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
InfiniStreamNG, NETSCOUT ISNG, Infinistream
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
U.S. Department of Defense
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs. NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.