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reviewer2212455 - PeerSpot reviewer
VP Enterprise Architect at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Provides a single log in place for all SaaS applications and helps in RADIUS authentication
Pros and Cons
  • "Since Duo Security provides a single place to log in for our SaaS applications, we don't have to manage user accounts and remember passwords for each specific application."
  • "Duo Security should better organize its tile feature to organize applications better."

What is our primary use case?

We use Duo Security for authentication for all of our SaaS applications. We also use it for RADIUS authentication.

How has it helped my organization?

Duo Security makes logging into all our applications easy with one stop for all our activity there. We use Cisco across the board for networking, and we love Cisco.

What is most valuable?

Since Duo Security provides a single place to log in for our SaaS applications, we don't have to manage user accounts and remember passwords for each specific application.

What needs improvement?

Duo Security should better organize its tile feature to organize applications better.

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Duo
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Duo. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Duo Security for about three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Duo Security's stability is good, and we haven't had any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Duo Security's scalability is good. We are a fairly large organization but haven't had any scalability issues.

How are customer service and support?

Duo Security's technical support is great. They do a better job on the Duo side than on the networking side for support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We've used Okta in the past. Okta has a really good auto-login feature. Duo Security can do the same thing, but Okta might do it a little bit better. It just automatically logs in if it's part of your profile.

We switched to Duo Security because of our relationship with our account reps.

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment using Duo Security because it saves time.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Duo Security's pricing is good, fair, and very comparable to today's market.

What other advice do I have?

Duo Security Self-Service Portal has significantly helped free up our IT staff for other projects. Instead of managing thousands of accounts across hundreds of SaaS applications, it's all in one spot now. Duo Security has probably saved us four or five hours at least.

I think Duo Security does a great job of establishing trust for every access request, no matter where it comes from.

It is very important for our organization that the solution considers all resources to be external because it frames the activity as zero trust, and that's how we run our network to zero trust across the board. So when you treat all resources as external, we want to lock them down every time and not just have random passwords floating everywhere.

Duo Security will significantly simplify the life of someone who wants to improve cybersecurity in their organization, and they should definitely try it.

Overall, I rate Duo Security ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2212698 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Technician at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Real User
Helps reduce the risk of breaches
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a lot easier for our end users to connect to our network. You don't have to type in a code. You get push notifications, that's probably the best thing about it. The fewer clicks they have to do to be online, the better it is. They can easily get into the network and do remote work."
  • "I'd like to see it integrated into other applications. I know there are some integrations, but I haven't been able to explore that any further."

What is our primary use case?

We use Duo Security for multi-factor authentication for our VPN.

How has it helped my organization?

We didn't have any MFA previously. Adding that extra layer of security helps.

Duo Security has been pretty good for securing our infrastructure from end to end so that you can detect and remediate threats. We've seen several of our employees leave the country, and we see their connections trying to go through and so forth. We can either add them to allow them access or keep denying that access, and we get alerted to that. 

It is pretty good in terms of user authentication and device verification for helping to prevent identity-based attacks. Your device is preauthorized. If somebody steals your device, they still need to know your password. That works out pretty well.

Duo Security helps reduce the risk of breaches. If I had known about it sooner, I'd have got it sooner. 

The Self-Service Portal has helped free up our IT staff. Our guys spend a little time, and they can go in and look at how to do things and how to set things up. It makes things a little easier. 

Duo Security establishes trust for every access request, no matter where it comes from. We really limit where we cannot be accessed from. It helps to make sure whoever we're letting in is who they're supposed to be.

Duo Security considers all resources to be external. If you treat everything as a threat, you're safer that way.

It has helped our organization improve its cybersecurity resilience. 

What is most valuable?

It's a lot easier for our end users to connect to our network. You don't have to type in a code. You get push notifications, that's probably the best thing about it. The fewer clicks they have to do to be online, the better it is. They can easily get into the network and do remote work. 

What needs improvement?

I'd like to see it integrated into other applications. I know there are some integrations, but I haven't been able to explore that any further. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Duo Security for about the last 18 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It has been awesome. It's been a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I haven't had a deal with that.

How are customer service and support?

That's pretty good, but we didn't have to use them for this product. In general, Cisco support has been excellent. I'd rate them a nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't have MFA. This was our first one. We were using open-source VPN software and decided that we needed to add MFA. We didn't want to patch a bunch of different things together. Cisco AnyConnect and MFA together worked out very well. We also had a Cisco Firepower firewall, and we decided that one vendor for all of it would make it much easier. Its price was also very reasonable. It made it easy for us to make that decision.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward. For most things that I've dealt with from Cisco, I've had to do a lot of research to find things, but with Duo Security, everything was right there for us.

What about the implementation team?

We did it in-house. It was easy.

What was our ROI?

Less time is spent trying to figure things out with a bunch of different software. By having one vendor, there's not a lot of extra work that our guys have to do to keep maintaining that.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing was very reasonable.

What other advice do I have?

To someone researching this solution who wants to improve cybersecurity in their organization, I'd say that definitely give it a look. It's easy to set up. It was very easy for us to set up. We even had our Cisco team call us and make sure we had everything going. It was almost no effort, so it's worth a try. 

I'd rate Duo Security a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. MSP
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Buyer's Guide
Cisco Duo
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Duo. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
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reviewer2212677 - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Provides security and flexibility, and comes with great support and at-par licensing
Pros and Cons
  • "The flexibility is the most valuable feature. We use it for the app on the phone. When we're at different locations, the phone is usually there, so we can use that. It has just been a very flexible option."
  • "For upgrades, there should be a better notification of when they're coming out. We always have a testing phase, so we need to be ahead of it. It takes us longer before we can upgrade to the newest version."

What is our primary use case?

We use Duo Security for multi-factor authentication.

How has it helped my organization?

Duo Security helps with multi-factor authentication. It gives another level of security for authentication and logging devices. It's just more secure.

It does a very good job of securing our infrastructure. It enables us to be more secure and provides another level for our users and admins.

It definitely increases security in our work environment. I've also used it at school for logging into my system there. It's good for both scenarios. It's very user-friendly.

It's very good for user authentication and device verification for helping to prevent identity-based attacks. The only thing would be if you lose your phone or something like that, then it breaks the whole setup, so it has been very successful in that.

Now that it has been implemented, it has freed up our IT staff's time. It has mostly been set up and go. We then forget about it till we have to update it.

It's very good for establishing trust for every access request, no matter where it comes from.

Duo Security considers all resources to be external which is an important aspect because of the way our network is set up. We've remote sites, and everyone at those sites also has the requirement to use Duo Security.

It's another level of the security level mechanism that we have. At this point, the way cybersecurity is going, adding more options that are not very heavy lifting for a user is very important.

What is most valuable?

The flexibility is the most valuable feature. We use it for the app on the phone. When we're at different locations, the phone is usually there, so we can use that. It has just been a very flexible option.

What needs improvement?

For upgrades, there should be a better notification of when they're coming out. We always have a testing phase, so we need to be ahead of it. It takes us longer before we can upgrade to the newest version.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've known Duo Security for four years.

How are customer service and support?

Their support is great. We use them a lot. It depends on what issues we're having, but we always get any service, so I'd rate them a ten out of ten. They're very responsive and very knowledgeable. They're more eager at points to get things figured out than we're ready to, which is good, but we have to step back.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't use any other solution before. Its integration with the rest of our products probably made us go for it.

How was the initial setup?

Its deployment is easy, but getting users bought in and starting to use it could be a bit difficult. That comes with any big change.

What was our ROI?

Our organization has definitely got a good return on investment on it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I haven't seen it in a while, but it's at par with everything else licensing-wise.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I'd rate Duo Security a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
CTO at EyePea
Real User
Makes the attack vector smaller and improves the security of our customer's networks
Pros and Cons
  • "Multifactor authentication and secure two-factor authentication are the most valuable features. It's been around for a while, but now it's becoming an enforced behavior as opposed to something that you used to do as optional."
  • "I'm not a big fan of relicensing products every year or two years, but that's the model at the moment. I prefer to go back to licensing perpetually or permanent licensing."

What is our primary use case?

We use a number of Cisco products specifically, Cisco Umbrella and Duo.

Our primary use case is to enhance our client's security and their digital security model; Secure DNS, malware protection, MFA, and MDM services for their premium devices and their office devices.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco has improved our organization by making the attack vector smaller and improving the security of our customer's networks and by extension, enhancing our reputation.

Using Cisco has saved us time and money. It also saves us from the threat of a loss of money by cyberattacks. It saves us months of technical effort and loss of billable hours.

It has also helped to reduce our operating expenditures.

What is most valuable?

Multifactor authentication and secure two-factor authentication are the most valuable features. It's been around for a while, but now it's becoming an enforced behavior as opposed to something that you used to do as optional. 

When it comes to securing infrastructure from end to end so that we can detect and remediate it, it's pretty good. It's a little proprietary. A lot of it is based around its own ecosystem and we've started looking at other solutions that are more open-source or a bit open to more collaboration. That's something that we're picking up with Cisco.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco solutions for two to three years. 

How are customer service and support?

Their support is very good, especially at an executive level and account director level. They'll always find you the right person if they're not the right person to help you do something.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

What was our ROI?

My own company and our customers have seen ROI from using Cisco. The customer specifically does not lose time anymore in cyberattacks, malware, and devices being affected or hijacked.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'm not a big fan of relicensing products every year or two years, but that's the model at the moment. I prefer to go back to licensing perpetually or permanent licensing.

What other advice do I have?

We chose Cisco because it's very good, very well understood, has a good reputation, and has a strong support community around it. There is good technical expertise if you need it.

I would rate Cisco an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Tobias Koennecker - PeerSpot reviewer
IT System Administrator at Mega eG
Real User
Everything is clear in one dashboard but the licensing is complicated
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco Secure solutions are great for detecting and remediating threats across our infrastructure from end to end. The integration of Talos in SecureX is great. Everything is clear in one dashboard. You have a dashboard there, your dashboard, and now you can have one look in your dashboard and see everything. It's on one pane of glass."
  • "Smart Licensing needs improvement. It's terrible. We have problems with it every year and we need to involve support to fix it."

What is our primary use case?

We use Duo, Client, and Umbrella. 

Our primary use case for this is for our clients to be secure.

How has it helped my organization?

We are at the beginning of using Umbrella. We use a traditional Cisco proxy. Now, with Umbrella, it's easy to administrate. It helps save us time.

What is most valuable?

Everything is all in one dashboard, so it makes the administration very easy.

Cisco Secure solutions are great for detecting and remediating threats across our infrastructure from end to end. The integration of Talos in SecureX is great. Everything is clear in one dashboard. You have your dashboard and can have one look in your dashboard and see everything. It's on one pane of glass. 

What needs improvement?

Smart Licensing needs improvement. It's terrible. We have problems with it every year and we need to involve support to fix it. 

Our appliances are connected to Cisco Smart Center but they don't get the license. That's our pain point. But then when they work, they work. 

I liked the traditional licensing. We get the license key, pass it, and it works.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Umbrella for one month and we just started using Duo. We have been using classic Cisco for seven years. 

How are customer service and support?

The support is fast and good.

The first level of support asks a lot of questions. We have a partner who does it for us. If we have a problem, we send it to them and they contact Cisco.

For the first level of support, they always say it's the firewall or the network and we need to prove that it isn't. It's too much back and forth. It's a lot of emails. Maybe it's faster when it's on a call. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

Cisco Duo was really easy to implement. 

Umbrella was a little bit difficult because of the documentation. Not everything was documented. We got help from Cisco and the internet. 

We used a Cisco consultant for the implementation. They were great. They know nearly everything. For Cisco deployment, they need to know our network, how it works, and so it's not so easy for them, but they did great. When I have questions, I get answers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cisco isn't cheap but it's good. 

Cisco DNA Center is great, but it's too big for our environment, we don't need it in our company. Before we had classic Cisco infrastructure, now, we are switching to Meraki because it's cheaper and it's not big like DNA Center. DNA Center is great, but it's too big. You need a lot of IT to get it to work. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also evaluated Unify. Cisco is the leader and we started with Cisco. It's good, so we stay with it.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it a seven out of ten. It's not like Cisco Duo. Not everything is on one application. It should be easier to get everything in one application, where you can see everything. I would like to see one pane of glass so that we can plug everything into one application in order to see the performance.

The support should also be improved.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2143209 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Video Review
Real User
Makes it easy for the user to approve access and go through the process of logging in to the VPN
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Duo Security is the ability for the user to easily approve access. The application prompts the user, and they can see the location and the IP address. This makes it easy for the user to approve it and go through the process of logging in to the VPN."
  • "Integration between Duo Security and FTDs needs improvement. Integrating Next Generation Firewall safety with Duo Security currently requires a proxy agent between Active Directory and the appliance. It's an additional factor that we need to think about. It would be great to have direct integration with FTD so that we don't have to worry about middleware products. For the rest of the Cisco Secure solutions, the APIs need improvement."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is multifactor authentication for our VPN users. We didn't have multifactor authentication before. After we integrated Duo Security with our systems, everyone has been using it, and it has given us peace of mind when dealing with VPNs.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Duo Security is the ability for the user to easily approve access. The application prompts the user, and they can see the location and the IP address. This makes it easy for the user to approve it and go through the process of logging in to the VPN.

Duo Security can be used for any type of authentication apart from that for VPNs. It saves time and prevents problems because it is user-friendly.

What needs improvement?

Integration between Duo Security and FTDs needs improvement. Integrating Next Generation Firewall safety with Duo Security currently requires a proxy agent between Active Directory and the appliance. It's an additional factor that we need to think about. It would be great to have direct integration with FTD so that we don't have to worry about middleware products. For the rest of the Cisco Secure solutions, the APIs need improvement.

Duo Security needs to improve the delivery of text messages to the users. This has been a big pain point for us over the years. Though we understand that the local telecoms are the ones responsible for the final delivery of the message, there should be a way to improve the process. Some users don't use the application and rely on SMS messages. It is a problem at times because the messages are not delivered.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Duo Security for almost six years.

We use Cisco Umbrella, ISE, FirePOWER Services, Next Generation Firewalls, FTD, ASA, and Duo Security.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Duo Security is great. We receive notices for any problems or issues in a very timely manner.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is generally easy to scale. If you have the ability to deploy Duo Security yourself or can leverage third-party integrators, there should not be any issues with scalability.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco support for Duo Security has been great. We haven't had many cases, and most of the ones we have had were related to SMS and text messaging delays.

On a scale from one to ten, I'd rate technical support at eight. They are quick to provide solutions but can improve on working with third-party service suppliers so that end-user experience is better.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

Deploying Duo in our environment was very easy because of the pre-staged configuration. It was very quick, and in one to two days, we had a VPN concentrator using Duo Security.

What about the implementation team?

Duo Security was initially deployed using a consultant, but afterward, we deployed multiple additional VPN concentrators ourselves.

What was our ROI?

The return on investment has been huge in terms of protection from cyber-attacks. We have been able to protect our employees by having multifactor authentication. This is invaluable for companies in the current threat landscape.

In terms of support, it's always great to have happy users who are able to easily log in to our environment through VPN without having to bother about non-working software agents or any other type of authentication platforms.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to you if you are evaluating Duo Security would be to do your research and compare it to other competitors. If you are a Cisco-oriented company, you will see that there are several benefits to using Duo Security. You will also see that it has the edge over other solutions on the market.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Duo Security at eight. The stability and user experience are great, but there's room for improvement in terms of text message and SMS delivery.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Tihomir Vangelov - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Fast support, good scalability, and helpful for two-factor authentication
Pros and Cons
  • "The two-factor authentication is valuable because that is the use case for which we are using it."
  • "We first deployed Duo Security for our company with the VPN, and afterward, about a year later, we implemented it for a customer of ours where we offered infrastructure as a service. When I tried to establish a VPN connection through Duo Security, it did not function well on that version, which was the latest one at the time. So, I had to make a copy of the machine and then implement Duo Security with the VPN because it did not function well with the newer version."

What is our primary use case?

We mostly use it for our AnyConnect VPNs and two-factor authentication.

How has it helped my organization?

We use Firepower Defense as a firewall, and we have implemented the IPS system on the firewall. Previously, we had ASA, and two-factor authentication was with the code, but now, it's with a push notification. It has somehow made it easier for non-IT employees to easily connect to the VPN, but it, as such, hasn't saved any time. It didn't reduce any tasks. 

It hasn't helped consolidate any tools or applications because we're not using any other security components that can be integrated with it.

What is most valuable?

The two-factor authentication is valuable because that is the use case for which we are using it.

What needs improvement?

We first deployed Duo Security for our company with the VPN, and afterward, about a year later, we implemented it for a customer of ours where we offered infrastructure as a service. When I tried to establish a VPN connection through Duo Security, it did not function well on that version, which was the latest one at the time. So, I had to make a copy of the machine and then implement Duo Security with the VPN because it did not function well with the newer version. I didn't know why, but it did not function. I haven't tried to update it since then, but that could be an area of improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Duo Security for almost four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It has good scalability.

How are customer service and support?

They were helpful and fast 90% of the time. They have knowledgeable tech engineers. We didn't have many problems, but any problem that required a case to be opened was resolved quickly. I'd rate their support a nine out of ten.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't use a similar solution previously. We went for this solution because of the consistency of Cisco products and the best cases that it provides. It fulfills our needs as a company.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward. I had some issues, but mostly, I followed the complete path from sandboxing to testing and then going live in production.

What about the implementation team?

We have two people, me and my colleague, but it's mostly me.

What was our ROI?

I am not involved in its pricing, but we haven't yet seen an ROI.

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend using it. You can read about the product and implement your infrastructure.

I'd rate Duo Security a 10 out of 10.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Derek Mikel - PeerSpot reviewer
Network engineer 2 at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Cloud based security solution that offers end to end MFA functionality and is reliable and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "Duo has allowed us to add an additional layer of security to our organization and to establish trust for every access request and secures our environment."
  • "We have a 24 hour timer for our Duo cookie and we would like to reduce this to a shorter time when using Duo."

What is our primary use case?

Duo specifically offers good MFA functionality. We needed support for our VPN and used GlobalProtect as well as Duo for additional security.

How has it helped my organization?

Duo has allowed us to add an additional layer of security to our organization. It prevents people from gaining access unless they have your credentials as well as a device. It has allowed us to establish trust for every access request and secures our environment. We are confident and comfortable with the way the solution handles this. We have tried other solutions but they've not met our expectations.  

Duo Security does a good job of helping to support our organization across a distributed network. It does a fantastic job at securing access to applications and networks. It is streamlined and straightforward.

Duo Security provides single-pane-of-glass management.

What is most valuable?

This solution has been most valuable for locking up our VPN solution and providing secure web protection. 

What needs improvement?

We have a 24 hour timer for our Duo cookie and we would like to reduce this to a shorter time when using Duo. We use Duo together with GlobalProtect and I am not sure which solution would be responsible for this improvement. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Duo Security for the entire time I've been employed at my company.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. We have 20,000 users covered by this solution. 

How are customer service and support?

We have not needed much help from the Duo support team. Using this solution has been surprisingly easy for us. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were running a different solution on a test gateway we had and it didn't meet our expectations so we moved to Duo. We have previously tested XAML. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You pay per user when using this solution and the pricing is fair.

What other advice do I have?

We have never had an issue in maintaining network connectivity across all workplaces. Duo Security has helped remediate threats more quickly and offers security end to end. Cybersecurity resilience is probably one of the most significant elements of organization because we work in the healthcare industry.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten. This is because we have not had any vulnerability that has been exposed to or any other issues that we've had to deal with.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Duo Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Duo Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.