Cisco Umbrella vs Prisma SD-WAN comparison

Cisco and Palo Alto Networks are both solutions in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category. Cisco is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.8, while Palo Alto Networks is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6. Cisco holds a 11.4% mindshare in SASE, compared to Palo Alto Networks’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Palo Alto Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 24, 2024

Prisma SD-WAN and Cisco Umbrella are competitors in the networking and security spheres, specifically within SD-WAN and DNS security. Prisma SD-WAN may have an edge in network management and cloud integration, while Cisco Umbrella offers strong DNS-based security features.

Features: Prisma SD-WAN impresses with its deep application visibility, VPN tunnels, and advanced Layer 7 intelligence, enabling prioritization of business-critical applications. Zero Touch Provisioning and seamless Palo Alto integration are key advantages. Cisco Umbrella is strong in DNS filtering, ransomware protection, and offers customization in web content filtering, integrated with other Cisco security solutions.

Room for Improvement: Prisma SD-WAN could improve alert notifications and better integrate zone-based firewalls. Enhanced documentation and connectivity between new and legacy systems are needed for smoother upgrades. Cisco Umbrella's policy settings complexity, absence of an integrated malware protection engine, and better third-party integration are areas for development. More detailed reporting options and on-premises deployment flexibility could enhance its offering.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Prisma SD-WAN aligns with hybrid and private cloud use cases, offering solid support but experiencing some delays in technical expertise. Cisco Umbrella suits public cloud environments well, offering efficient setup and good integration with other Cisco solutions, though some customization challenges with policies have been noted.

Pricing and ROI: Prisma SD-WAN is priced higher, justified by its sophisticated features and ROI through downtime reduction and scalability, appealing to financial institutions. Cisco Umbrella, while more costly than similar products like Fortinet and Zscaler, benefits from integration with Cisco's broader suite, offering a flexible licensing model to fit diverse needs and delivering ROI, especially in DNS-based threat protection.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of iboss is 1.7%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 11.4%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma SD-WAN is 2.6%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Featured Reviews

Jack Hamm

Vice President of Security and Engineering at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

We experienced benefits immediately but the report generation is lagging

iboss excels on the networking side but lags slightly behind competitors like Zscaler and Netskope in terms of security feature parity. I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention. Using iboss for DLP instead of traditional endpoint solutions is preferable, but its current feature set requires some clunky workarounds. I'd also like to see better integration of DLP into the platform. Additionally, while it's improving, reporting can be slow at times. This is problematic when generating reports for executives who expect them immediately. I'd like to see further improvements in reporting speed and efficiency.

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Rohan Singh

Consultant at KRS Systems

Protects endpoints wherever they are, always pushing people to the right locations to avoid malicious intent

The most valuable thing is how easy it is to deploy. We did it with 9,000 users at my last job, and it took a week to get to all the endpoints. Doing that without having to physically touch all those endpoints was very simple. The single pane of glass management makes it very easy to manage your rollout. We get a lot of "single panes of glass" and, eventually, you need a pane of panes of glass. But it's always good to have a clear and graphical view, and Umbrella's is nice and easy to read. Definitely, of the panes of glass that we do have, it's one of the easiest to use. The single pane of glass is good to group users together and separate people out. Some people need different types of security. Some people are more vulnerable. Some have more highly valuable assets, like C-suite people. It's really good to be able to have end-users defined inside of that. You don't have to jump around. You don't have to figure out who's who. It's all done through one pane of glass. What most people don't realize is that it's running in the background, which is a really nice aspect when it comes to security. Often, when you deploy a security tool, it takes up CPU performance. Everything slows to a grind. But Umbrella is so simple and easy and it doesn't affect the end-user experience. It's the best of all worlds. It's nice when people realize that they're being protected when they go to the wrong site. I think people are happy that they're protected, but it's nice that they rarely notice it. It's generally easy to maintain network connectivity, but with Umbrella, the nice part is that whichever connectivity you're on, you're always secure. With Umbrella, as long as you're online, you're going to be protected.

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CarlosNascimento

Senior Cyber Security Consultant at Compwyre

Has high-speed dynamic routing and a good traffic shaping feature for managing bandwidth

The dynamic routing in Prisma SD-WAN is high-speed and valuable because it quickly adjusts, so users do not realize the link is down. The traffic shaping feature is also handy. In branches with poor internet connections, traffic shaping allows us to restrict and manage bandwidth effectively. This ensures no single user can consume all the bandwidth, and it reserves equal parts of the link for all users. For example, we can share the link equally in a small office with ten people. Prisma SD-WAN is highly effective in handling network failovers and ensuring business continuity. It includes redundancy, failover capabilities, and extensive monitoring tools. If one customer experiences an attack, updates are provided to all other customers to prevent similar threats.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"iboss is easy to use despite its complexity. Multiple engineers manage it, but it's significantly more straightforward to administer than traditional VPNs and web proxies."

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."

"We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

More iboss pros

"The most valuable features are the protection against ransomware and phishing."

"For us and for customers, it's the ease of integration with Meraki. It's just a couple of clicks. That allows us to deploy very fast, and it doesn't change the way a customer uses his service. It's just more secure."

"Any time someone went off the network, the AnyConnect client had the Umbrella agent built in, and it would realize when their computer connected that they were not on the corporate network. It would monitor and they would have pretty close to the same rules that they had to follow when they were in the office, regarding what kind of website browsing they could do."

"Umbrella, being one pane for managing, being all-encompassing, allows us to quickly go in, make a change, and it applies to either every location, if we want it to, or we can have policies in place that only apply to certain users or certain computers."

"It is user-friendly. It is easy to manage the solution."

"The primary advantage of Cisco Umbrella is its ability to safeguard our users no matter where they are working from - whether it's in the office or remotely, as per the new work model that has emerged globally. This integrated security solution has simplified our lives by combining all the necessary security measures in one product. Additionally, deploying the product is all it takes to protect all our users."

"It blocks malicious DNS queries daily which is very beneficial."

"It offers good visibility for the Administrator. The administrator has full visibility of what is blocked or has the knowledge of where users go when they are surfing the internet."

More Cisco Umbrella pros

"I like the link monitoring and analytics. These are the features that set Prisma apart from other products. Prisma works well with large, complex networks. One of my clients is a top bank in the United States, and Prisma has performed well for that customer."

"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."

"When it comes to supporting large, complex, network architectures, it's a very simple architecture. The main component is the fabric. It's very easy to troubleshoot if there is an issue happening in the underlying network."

"Prisma SD-WAN is intuitive. We have a better idea of the different tools we can use and jump between the menus quickly."

"The gateway is available on the cloud which allows you access from anywhere and still connects to your home gateway."

"The solution allows our network to be self-healing in the event of a loss of connectivity between different locations."

"The AI ops feature streamlines revisions and automates compliance."

"The security offered by the solution is pretty good."

More Prisma SD-WAN pros

Cons

"File integrity monitoring would be very advantageous as an additional feature."

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."

"I'd like to see them accelerate development on the security side, particularly around data loss prevention."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

"SSL decryption: We had issues with learners using apps instead of using web browsers. This type of encryption is tough for any appliance in a BYOD environment."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

More iboss cons

"Cisco Umbrella is difficult to manage and needs to include a dashboard. It needs to improve pricing as well."

"For us, as an MSP, the initial licensing changes were a roadblock, and they still could be a lot clearer. Specifically, it's an honor-based licensing system. We'd like it to be more specific to our traffic or our users so that we can make sure that the customer is paying for all their licensing."

"It would be better if there was a little bit of flexibility for organizations that don't have SD One in their environment. Because of the complexity of the environment, it's not easy to actually turn on the feature of the secure internet gateway for our users. We have not been able to explore that option yet."

"Support for multiple domains is important to us."

"One of the issues with Umbrella is as you get into endpoint detection and response, such as EDR point solutions, some of them will not integrate well with Umbrella. Sometimes when you want to use technology, such as Always On VPN, it will not work. There are some looming issues as one type of technology starts to crossover with Umbrella. That is the challenge and Umbrella should find a way to be more compatible with some of the endpoint response solutions that are coming out on the market."

"If the security issues are taken care of it would be better."

"In the next release, I would like to see the integration of VDI NSX with Cisco Umbrella."

"It needs better integration with external threat feeds to improve scoring."

More Cisco Umbrella cons

"The solution should include custom ports and group voice connections."

"Prisma SD-WAN's technical support should be improved."

"I would also like to see improvement in the product training for customers. Palo Alto has not initiated very much training but they have to do so because this is a new product. If you have experience in a legacy environment, and you are moving to Prisma SD-WAN, you don't have a training framework. That is one of the disadvantages."

"We are incorporating their zone-based firewalls. Prisma SD-WAN has limited documentation on how it manipulates traffic, e.g., how it is interacting with TCP and UDP. We recently had some traffic that was black holing. We literally had to do packet captures to see that the new zone-based firewall, which runs on top of Prisma SD-WAN, was causing issues."

"The tool needs to work on price and complexity."

"Event correlation and analysis capabilities do not help minimize the number of alarms from a single event. That is the problem. We are getting a lot of incidents, and there is some issue with the correlation. That is still a drawback."

"The only con is the pricing because it's more premium."

"Sometimes, during the product's initial setup phase, bypass pair or couple ports don't come up normally, and it requires an hour and a half to troubleshoot to reset the box from Prisma SD-WAN to factory default."

More Prisma SD-WAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"The price of Cisco Umbrella is a little higher than similar solutions, like Gateway."

"Cisco Umbrella is expensive and could be cheaper."

"Cisco Umbrella is not a cheap product. However, it's not a matter of the cost; it's more a matter of the value of security. It is easy to measure this value when you have a security incident. I think the price is a good trade-off for a product that can help you avoid security threats."

"Pricing depends on the automation requirements of the organization."

"I am not sure, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think it's $1.00 or so per device/month."

"Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis."

"Licensing with Cisco can be a little complex, but I think it's comparable with that of other similar products. It's always hard to put a price on security, but the price is fair for the value it provides."

"When talking about Cisco solutions in general there pricing model is horrible. For example, you can sell a Meraki-based solution, but if the customer starts shopping around, someone is going to have access to the pricing at a level that you cannot compete because they do not have uniform pricing. Not everybody gets fair pricing. Unless you are one of the real major corporations selling the solution your ability to compete is impossible. Cisco will acknowledge the situation and assure you next time it will be in your favor but it never becomes favorable for you. Cisco is not very good in this regard. However, Umbrella is good."

More Cisco Umbrella pricing and cost advice

"This solution stood out because it cost considerably less than the other SD-WAN solutions out there from Cisco."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"If you're already invested in a Palo Alto product, it would be logical to use this solution. If not, there might be some other solutions that are more viable in terms of pricing."

"It is more expensive than Fortinet."

"Prisma SD-WAN is a pretty expensive solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

23%

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

27%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

See all answers

What needs improvement with iboss?

I have the same complaint about them that I have about other software companies. Sometimes when you call in support, ...

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

We are a PreK-12 public school district, and we use iboss to filter internet content for our students at home and sta...

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Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?

Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zs...

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Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Microsoft Cloud App Security?

Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-nat...

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What do you like most about Cisco Umbrella?

Cisco Umbrella is easy to monitor, manage, and deploy.

See all answers

What do you like most about Prisma SD-WAN?

The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma SD-WAN?

The price for Prisma is a bit high, but it is a premium service. The higher tier provides flexibility and scalability...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?

If Palo Alto could open the platform to manage other SD-WANs, it would be beneficial. Currently, it only manages Palo...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 18% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 11% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

Cloudflare One vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 19% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 9% of the time

Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 7% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 22% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 21% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 18% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 13% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Prisma SD-WAN

Compared 11% of the time

More Prisma SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

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iboss

December 2024

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella

December 2024

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Buyer's Guide

Prisma SD-WAN

December 2024

Download Prisma SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

OpenDNS

CloudGenix

Learn More

iboss

Cisco

Palo Alto Networks

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

Cisco Umbrella delivers rapid DNS security with over 30,000 customers, providing outstanding threat protection and handling more than 600 billion requests daily. It's recognized for high threat efficacy in the SSE domain and integrates elements like SWG, ZTNA, CASB, and more.

Cisco Umbrella is renowned for its effective DNS-layer security against ransomware and phishing. It offers flexible content filtering and integrates seamlessly with existing networks while providing single-pane-of-glass management for centralized monitoring. Its robust threat intelligence and customizable policies are central to its appeal. Users highlight room for improvement in areas like WHOIS data inclusion, malware enhancement, and reporting analytics. Integration with other threat feeds and better client support are requested for more comprehensive coverage.

What are the key features of Cisco Umbrella?

DNS-Layer Security: Blocks malicious domains, preventing ransomware attacks.
Web Content Filtering: Allows users to manage lists for strict content control.
Seamless Integration: Blends with systems like Active Directory and Meraki.
Remote Protection: Keeps remote users safe across different locations.
Single-Pane Management: Facilitates effective monitoring and reporting.

What should users expect in reviews about Cisco Umbrella?

Threat Intelligence: Provides comprehensive malware and attack data.
Customizable Policies: Enables tailored security measures for users.
Integration Options: Works with diverse systems for holistic security.
Ease of Use: Offers a straightforward experience for administrators.
Remote Worker Security: Ensures protection outside traditional networks.

Industries implement Cisco Umbrella primarily for DNS-level security, web filtering, and protecting remote employees. It strengthens cybersecurity frameworks by blocking malware and avoiding access to harmful sites. The tool is widely integrated with Active Directory and Cisco Meraki, providing consistent internet security for employees.

Simplify management, enable app-defined SD-WAN policies and deliver a secure, cloud-delivered branch today with the Industry’s first next-generation SD-WAN.

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Chart Industries, City of Aspen, Eastern Mountain Sports, FLEXcon, George Washington University, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, Ohio Public Library Information Network, PTC, Richland Community College, Smart Motors, Tulane University, VeriClaim

Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella vs. Prisma SD-WAN

December 2024

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