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reviewer2390460 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, Information Technology Solutions at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
May 11, 2024
Comprehensive and allows you to control access to network resources granularly based on policies
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco ISE is a comprehensive solution that allows you to control access to network resources granularly based on policies."
  • "Cisco ISE is very complex and not very easy to deploy."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for network access control.

What is most valuable?

Cisco ISE is a comprehensive solution that allows you to control access to network resources granularly based on policies.

What needs improvement?

Cisco ISE is very complex and not very easy to deploy. There are a lot of prerequisites for the tool.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) for three years.

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We did not face any issues with the solution’s stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco ISE is a very scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

We are working with a partner for support and are very happy with them.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is bad and ten is good, I rate their support a seven or eight out of ten.

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

Compared to Cisco ISE, Fortinet NAC is more consumer-friendly.

How was the initial setup?

On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a four out of ten.

What about the implementation team?

The project lasted a few months, but the planning took several months. Cisco ISE itself means nothing. It has to have the network set up to ensure the network penetration is in place, and we're still working on that.

What was our ROI?

Security is about risk control and exposure avoidance. You can only calculate its return on investment based on how you avoid penalty fees. Cisco ISE improves our security stats.

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

If you consider money only, Cisco ISE is not a cheap solution. Functionality-wise, however, it offers a very good price for the value you receive.

What other advice do I have?

The solution's compliance and policy enforcement capability has benefited our organization by simplifying work.

The solution operates in the background, and users generally don't interact with it. Cisco ISE is the security framework layer between network resources and end users using them. Users do not go into Cisco ISE to do anything.

It's like Active Directory for Identity. If you're an end user, you don't work in Active Directory, but you authenticate Active Directory to use resources on the network. The same applies to Cisco ISE, and users don't interact with it directly. They are affected by it to the extent to which they are accessing network resources.

Cisco ISE has a very comprehensive integration suite and we did not face a lot of challenges in integrating this solution with other security tools. If they know how to use it, I would recommend the solution to other organizations with similar security needs.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight 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
reviewer2212611 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Jun 29, 2023
Works seamlessly and provides insights into authentication issues
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the logging feature."
  • "I don't like the fact that we can see the logs only for 24 hours. Maybe that happens because of the way we set it up."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for RADIUS authentication, device authentication, and TACACS. We also use it for Wi-Fi and guest portals.

What is most valuable?

I like the logging feature. I like that I can look at the logs for authentication issues.

What needs improvement?

I don't like the fact that we can see the logs only for 24 hours. Maybe that happens because of the way we set it up.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability solution is really good. Once we get it up and running, it's great. We have to do a major upgrade, and I'm not as thrilled with the upgrades as I am with just a day-to-day job integration. Upgrades aren't my favorite thing.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product’s scalability is great. We do not have any issues. We could scale it up without any problems.

How are customer service and support?

Sometimes support is better than others. It depends on who you get. Some guys are really sharp, and for some guys, it takes a little bit longer to get the thing escalated.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

We used Secure ACS, which was a Cisco tool. Cisco discontinued support for it, so we switched to Cisco Identity Services Engine.

What was our ROI?

The product runs. It does what it needs to do, and we don't have to touch it most of the time. From that standpoint, we have an ROI.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The product didn't really have a whole lot of competitors at the time. Aruba ClearPass was probably the only other competitor. We were getting rid of Aruba from our wireless. Identity Services Engine was just farther ahead than ClearPass at that time.

What other advice do I have?

We have a lot of things we use for detecting threats. We use the product more for authentication issues and stuff like that. We don't use it to identify threats per se. We have other tools.

The solution helps free up our IT staff. There are only a couple of us who are Cisco Identity Services Engine administrators. In that way, other people can do other things. Once we set up the solution, there's really not a whole lot of maintenance to it. I don't know how many hours it saves. It just works, and we don't have to touch it most of the time. It does its job.

We were using Cisco ACS before using the product. We changed tools and upgraded. The tool helps us improve cybersecurity resilience. We use it for RADIUS and to validate users. There are a lot of tools that we use. Cisco Identity Services Engine is a good tool. It does 802.1X and RADIUS very well. Cisco shop is the way to go.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2212497 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber systems Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jun 29, 2023
Has good posturing and prevents other users from insider threats
Pros and Cons
  • "We found all the features of the product to be valuable."
  • "They should improve their licensing. Licensing is always trouble with Cisco, and Cisco Identity Services Engine is no different. The way the product is licensed could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use Cisco ISE Identity Services Engine currently for TACACS and posturing.

How has it helped my organization?

The product elevated my organization’s security level, helped us meet some guidelines, and made our life easy.

What is most valuable?

We found all the features of the product to be valuable. We have no complaints about it. Posturing is valuable to my organization. Now, we're improving our whole environment to go into a Zero Trust policy, and Cisco Identity Services Engine plays a huge role in it. We're defense contractors, so we support DOD and have specific stakes and a baseline to go with. Our strict environment requires us to do certain things, and the solution plays a role in it.

What needs improvement?

They should improve their licensing. Licensing is always trouble with Cisco, and Cisco Identity Services Engine is no different. The way the product is licensed could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for almost three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution’s stability is good to go so far. Some vulnerabilities had popped up like any other solution, but Cisco remediated them. There was no problem.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven’t even scraped to the surface of what the tool could do. It's very scalable, and we will try to use it as much as we can in the future.

How are customer service and support?

We have had no issues with the product’s customer support so far. We had a neutral experience with support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment in terms of not pursuing any other solutions. We didn't need to look further. The product did what it does for us now. We are very content with it. We don't have to invest further into something else.

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

The solution’s pricing is okay.

What other advice do I have?

The tool secures our infrastructure to a certain point. However, we're not using it in terms of detection. My team is only four people, and we take all the tasks together.

The solution did not help us consolidate tools. However, it does help us with TACACS. TACACS was a big thing that we needed. We are trying to get rid of NPS and RADIUS, and we will probably use the product in the future for Certificate Authority. It could probably consolidate tools, but it's not doing it now. However, it will in the future.

The product has absolutely improved our cybersecurity resilience. With all the posturing we're doing and the Zero Trust policy we are bringing, it prevents other users from insider threats. It helps big time with insider threats. It's a big thing for us in our specific programs.

Give it a shot because we did give it a shot. People at first said it was very pricey, but it wasn't really as pricey as people say it is. It's worth trying it. Zero Trust will be mandated later, especially if you're in the government. The product will play a big role in it.

One of our team members was pursuing a certification in CCMP security. He was specifically on the Cisco Identity Services Engine track. We got that for him to demo and test it out. Eventually, it became part of our product. TACACS, Posturing, and Certificate Authority could be the reason why we chose the solution. We are using it now for 802.1X. All port security is not a thing anymore for us.

Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2212608 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Services Engineer at a government with 51-200 employees
Real User
Jun 25, 2023
Significantly improves our security and has been great for segmenting our traffic and getting the users into the right VLANs
Pros and Cons
  • "The feature that I found most valuable is profiling. We use that to profile certain types of devices, and then depending on the manufacturer, drop them into the appropriate VLAN without us having to go in and manually add the devices."
  • "We would definitely like to see a little bit of an improvement in the web GUI navigation. Some of the things are a little bit hidden in the drop-down menu. If we could get a way to get to those quicker, it'd be much more useful."

What is our primary use case?

We use Cisco ISE to authenticate users or devices onto the network and then drop them into the appropriate VLANs to isolate them and maintain network segmentation.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco ISE has been a great tool to segment our traffic and get the users into the right VLANs. It definitely does free up a lot of time from manual configurations.

It has definitely improved our security a lot. We used to be a single flat network, and now, we are a segmented network where we have all our different traffic isolated so that in case we do get a breach, not all the customers are affected.

Cisco ISE has been great for securing our infrastructure from end to end so that we can detect and remediate threats. We've already seen it detect some devices that we didn't know about, and they quarantine those devices, allowing us to take the appropriate security actions against them.

Our IT staff has been freed up for other projects with Cisco ISE because we're able to do a little bit more automated configuration. We just throw out a single configuration to the ports, and then the users get dropped into whatever VLAN they need to be in without us having to go to each site and configure these things manually. On a usual workday, it has freed up at least a couple of engineers for two to three hours.

Our cybersecurity resilience has improved with Cisco. Users are now segmented. We have firewalls in between, so we can take a look at all the traffic. We have quarantine enabled in there so that if we get a device on our network that we don't recognize, we can lock it down.

What is most valuable?

The feature that I found most valuable is profiling. We use that to profile certain types of devices, and then depending on the manufacturer, drop them into the appropriate VLAN without us having to go in and manually add the devices.

What needs improvement?

We would definitely like to see a little bit of an improvement in the web GUI navigation. Some of the things are a little bit hidden in the drop-down menu. If we could get a way to get to those quicker, it'd be much more useful.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Cisco ISE for about three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

So far, from what we've been using, we haven't had any problems even with any of the additional patches that we've added. It has been great.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, it's great. We have plenty of space to add additional nodes. Right now, the ones we do have are not being utilized to a hundred percent, so if we ever do need to add additional, it seems pretty straightforward.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco support has been pretty good over the years, helping us get this stuff up and running. It has definitely taken us a while, and some of the cases have been pretty long, but Cisco support has been pretty good. I'd rate their support 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 weren't using anything in place of Cisco ISE previously. We were pretty lacking in that department. When we got Cisco ISE, we improved our security significantly.

We went for Cisco ISE based on a suggestion from one of our vendor partners who helped us with our network refresh. They said that Cisco ISE was something that they had used previously in lots of larger deployments, and they had seen great success with it.

How was the initial setup?

I was involved in its deployment. It was pretty straightforward. A lot of the issues that we ran into were related to coordination with the users just because it was a change for them, but the actual deployment and everything else were pretty straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We used MTT. They were great. They walked us through the whole process. They designed the network refresh for us as well as the Cisco ISE integration portion of it.

What was our ROI?

We've seen an ROI. We've freed up some hours, so those engineers who were previously doing more mundane tasks are now able to do something else.

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

I don't know too much about the actual pricing on it. The licensing part is pretty straightforward. It's a lot more simple than some of the other Cisco licensing models. In that aspect, it's great.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I'd rate Cisco ISE a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2212545 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jun 25, 2023
Acts as a network access control solution and mitigates a lot of potential attack factors
Pros and Cons
  • "I found the CMDB Direct Connect in Cisco ISE 3.2 the most promising feature for my use case."
  • "Cisco ISE's real-time data analytics for database logging could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use Cisco ISE as a network access control solution. We do a lot of quarantine actions from our CSOC. We use the AnyConnect VPN by setting multiple deployments for dedicated purposes, where we use it to provide wireless.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco ISE has brought a level of visibility that my organization hadn't had beforehand. At the same time, it has mitigated a lot of potential attack factors and brought in a sense of control in the hardware during the onboarding process.

What is most valuable?

I found the CMDB Direct Connect in Cisco ISE 3.2 the most promising feature for my use case. We have a lot of wired map devices and having an externally approved source to validate if a machine is legitimate or approved to be on the network is extremely valuable for us. It helps make the whole process of authorizing endpoints quick.

What needs improvement?

Cisco ISE's real-time data analytics for database logging could be improved. Earlier, you didn't have direct read access to the database. You'd have to rely on logs through some other sources like Splunk and be able to put everything that you want together. Being able to review logs in real-time, customized to your filtering, adds a lot of context and visibility.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Identity Services Engine for about four and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I do not like the stability of Cisco ISE in the virtual environment. That might have been more of an underlying host issue rather than an ISE issue. But we've moved to hardware right now, and I wouldn't have looked back. The next place we're looking to explore is potentially in the cloud, but that's still up in the air because our environment is not small. We're one of the larger 700,000-plus endpoints.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco ISE's scalability is nice. However, not many people can deploy Cisco ISE in a very large environment. In other words, there are no large environments that are hitting around 100,000 plus clients for active concurrent sessions. If you're trying to create multiple deployments to distribute the workload evenly, I don't like that there's no centralized management platform for Cisco ISE. You still have to go into each deployment and do your configuration.

How are customer service and support?

From my account team, I rate Cisco ISE's technical support ten out of ten. However, from a tech perspective, if I'm talking to tech level one, tech tier one, or tech tier two, I'd have to give it a six out of ten. Once you start getting into the more advanced tiers and even the business units, the support goes through the roof.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I've always worked with Cisco ISE. However, in my organization, there's another part of my infrastructure where they use Forescout. The way Forescout implements a NAC solution differs vastly from how Cisco ISE does it. The way Cisco ISE does it is more ingrained in the whole radius process and enhances the security features on a switch or wireless line controller.

Our organization chose to go with Cisco ISE instead of Forescout because, holistically, the solution checked all the boxes needed for a NAC solution.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved in our organization's first iteration of Cisco ISE. We've since migrated and modernized our Cisco ISE deployment, and I've been heavily involved in that. 

The ease of deployment depends on the environment you're deploying in, understanding what use cases you have out there, and understanding what kind of endpoints you're exposed to or exposing your network.

Overall, Cisco ISE's initial setup is not overly complicated right now. But since our organization is moving into a multi-vendor or managed services contract, we're bringing in many vendors like Meraki, Juniper Mist, Aruba, and Fortinet. That's when things get complicated because they don't all use the same type of authorization results.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented Cisco ISE in our organization directly through Cisco. My experience with Cisco has been phenomenal because they listen. We've run into many technical issues, but they've been at our beck and call and have been there to support us to a point where they've rushed certain fixes. We've had a couple of engineering specialits because of things we've encountered. They worked hard for us.

What was our ROI?

The product is positive regarding a return on investment, considering the cost we're bringing in for Cisco ISE's deployment versus the value we're adding to the environment.

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

According to my sales and account team, the prices we're getting are pretty good. I wouldn't say they're the manufacturing or listed price by any means, but we do a lot of business with them. So the price points that they're coming in at are pretty manageable.

What other advice do I have?

When it comes to securing our infrastructure from end to end so that we can detect intermediate threats, a lot of it has to do with integrating Cisco ISE with other products. For example, Cisco ISE primarily deals with either the access layer or remote connections. However, when you start integrating it with other things like titration or secure network analytics, you can get a bigger grasp of the overall picture. When you bring other security teams into it, they can start creating their policies, alerts, etc. They can start automating some of the incident mitigations and stuff like that.

My use case is a little bit different in that there's no end to our work. There are a lot of other business groups within my organization that aren't complying with what the network security policy should be. So I have to reach out to them and get them to use a dot1x protocol or ensure that their stuff is in our CMDB database.

We're in a big migration and shift in our overall security policy. So there's a lot of moving aspects going on right now. However, as we start getting things moved into an MDM, as we start getting things moved into using a dot1x protocol, we can get an active identity of an endpoint.

Cisco helps reduce the amount of staff we have to chase down and figure out what kind of policies should be implemented. We can then incorporate our onboarding process into that, preventing unauthorized devices from connecting in or at least be reassured that if anything that we haven't had any chance to look at connects in, we can deny it with confidence. Down the road, it'll alleviate a lot of the time and planning we're doing right now.

My organization is a bit different. I've tried to get them onto the posture feature of Cisco ISE, but they're pursuing other vendors for that. We've decided to incorporate through a pxGrid integration with other applications such as Tanium, Forescout, or whatever application my security organization uses. They can pull contacts from the Cisco ISE endpoint and then be able to issue a quarantine action to Cisco ISE on that particular endpoint.

Overall, I rate Cisco ISE ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Senior Systems Engineer at Austro Control
Real User
Jun 21, 2023
Offers flexible policy sets, helps secure our infrastructure, and serves as a central hub for all types of network access
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the policy sets."
  • "Cisco ISE requires a lot of time-consuming administration."

What is our primary use case?

We utilize Cisco ISE for network access control and employ RADIUS access for managing user control in our virtual environment.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco ISE enables us to implement network access control, ensuring that only approved devices can connect to our network. It serves as a central hub for all types of network access, including wired, wireless, and VPN connections improving our network security.

It does a good job of helping secure our infrastructure from end to end, even though there are many features that we are not utilizing.

Cisco ISE has helped us consolidate tools like Cisco Token that we no longer require. The ability to consolidate tools has provided us with a centralized point of access for our security infrastructure, generating abundant information regarding access.

It has helped our organization improve its cybersecurity resilience by enabling us to control the devices that access our network, unlike before when we had to physically access the port.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the policy sets.

What needs improvement?

Cisco ISE requires a lot of time-consuming administration.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco ISE for eight years.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco tech support, I'm sure, is very good. However, the amount of resources required to submit and process cases is quite significant. As a result, unless we encounter a major issue, we generally prefer to avoid Cisco TAC and instead seek out workarounds.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup should be straightforward, but it is often quite complex. A greenfield deployment, where we start from scratch, is easy. The challenges typically arise when we attempt to upgrade an existing deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We utilized the services of Open Network for assistance with the implementation. Their services were excellent, and we would gladly engage their services again.

What other advice do I have?

I give Cisco ISE an eight out of ten.

Cisco ISE is equipped with numerous features. We are a small company and only utilize the ones we require. However, as our requirements change or grow, we may consider adopting more of the features that Cisco ISE offers.

The administration can be time-consuming due to all the updates and patches, but overall, I recommend Cisco ISE.

Our organization was familiar with Cisco, and we used wireless LAN products. That is why we chose Cisco ISE, as it integrates well with our infrastructure.

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
Network Engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Real User
Jun 21, 2023
We've control and visibility, which is a big deal, but adding new devices is a bit cumbersome
Pros and Cons
  • "Having access and being able to add people or change authentication yourself is nice. In the past, we've used other group authentication services, and we always had to go to them and get permissions. Having that control is key."
  • "Adding new devices was a little cumbersome. I haven't done it that many times, but I remember that adding new devices to the authentication piece of it was a little cumbersome. The way I was shown to do it, I thought it was odd because we had to go into the active device, copy the file down, export it, make some changes to it, and then reimport it as opposed to being able to click it and having a template to fill out."

What is our primary use case?

We're just using it for authentication to our network switches.

How has it helped my organization?

We have more visibility and control with the tool. It has helped us improve our cybersecurity resilience.

The authentication piece was a big deal, especially because we're able to roll it out so quickly. Once we start using it to its full potential by using NAC, we can automate a lot of things that we're doing manually. MAC lockdown is one of the big things we have an issue with because I work on the classified network, so we're locking down every end device. It takes up a lot of time. That's one of the biggest things that we're rolling out. I'm not sure what other features we're going to use out of it, but I know that once we get started on it, we'll be a lot more involved with the things that we're going to roll out.

It's really easy in terms of the authentication piece. It's a big help. We've other parts of the network that are not using any authentication at all, which is scary. We've so many separate companies, and I'm hoping that we can start using this for those networks as well.

It has saved us time. We've control on our side, and we're able to add new devices as we deploy them for new buildings and things like that. We're able to give different types of access that our users need to have, which is nice. It has been huge, and then once we start deploying NAC or something like that, that's going to be a game changer for us because that'll free up a lot of time for us. It probably saves at least ten hours a week because especially right now, we're in the phase where we're getting so many new buildings. We're not only turning up new buildings; there are also all the users. So, for every single device, you have to do a MAC lockdown. Sometimes we get spreadsheets listing a ton of PCs that we've to lock down. That just takes forever, especially if you get it wrong or someone has fat fingers and things like that. It'll hopefully eliminate a lot of that too. We won't have the back and forth with other groups for that.

It has helped consolidate tools. We don't have to go outside our own group for the authentication piece. That control is a big deal. On top of that, once we start integrating NAC and other things, it's going to eliminate a lot of manual work.

What is most valuable?

Having access and being able to add people or change authentication yourself is nice. In the past, we've used other group authentication services, and we always had to go to them and get permissions. Having that control is key. 

What needs improvement?

Adding new devices was a little cumbersome. I haven't done it that many times, but I remember that adding new devices to the authentication piece of it was a little cumbersome. The way I was shown to do it, I thought it was odd because we had to go into the active device, copy the file down, export it, make some changes to it, and then reimport it as opposed to being able to click it and having a template to fill out. It was a little more cumbersome than I thought.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Cisco ISE for about a year.

How are customer service and support?

For the times that I have interacted with them, they've been pretty good, but I've heard of other stories. Overall, I'd rate them an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We were using regular TACACS, RSA, etc. I can't remember what they were using on their side because it was more of the infrastructure team that was using this. We would just basically go to them and give them requests. Having control through Cisco ISE is much better.

The reasons for going for Cisco ISE were having that control and having a relationship with Cisco. All of our gears are Cisco. It just made it easier and more compatible. I know there are a lot of other tools that we can take advantage of such as NAC and things like that. We're hoping to do that in the future.

How was the initial setup?

As far as I know, it was fairly easy. We didn't have a lot of problems with it. One of our other guys deployed it. I wasn't with him, but I didn't hear that there were a lot of problems with it, so it was fairly easy. The same guy had deployed it on the unclassified networks, so he had experience with it.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I'd rate Cisco ISE a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2214696 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Manager at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jun 21, 2023
Helps us determine real users on our network, protects our environment 100%, and has excellent support
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco ISE is a powerful solution. It gives us the ability to control who's accessing our network, and Cisco has made it very easy."
  • "Some of the reporting could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for network access control. For security reasons, if a vendor plugs into our network, the port is automatically shut down because it's not authenticated to our network.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco ISE is a great solution. It helped us determine real users on our network. It's very useful.

From a security standpoint, Cisco ISE has improved our organization 100%. We're not guessing who is plugging into our network. It 100% protects our environment and infrastructure from end to end.

Cisco ISE has saved the time of our IT staff time to help work on other projects, but I don't have the metrics.

Cisco ISE has absolutely improved our cybersecurity resilience. Specifically, the 802.11 authentication for wireless has been huge.

Cisco ISE hasn't helped to consolidate any tools or applications.

What is most valuable?

Cisco ISE is a powerful solution. It gives us the ability to control who's accessing our network, and Cisco has made it very easy.

What needs improvement?

Some of the reporting could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using it for about ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable. We never had any issues.

How are customer service and support?

I love it. They know their stuff. Almost in one call, you get the right person. They're very good. 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 use any other solution previously.

How was the initial setup?

You have to have a plan. You have to be prepared to roll it out. You need to think through what you want to configure.

It took us about three and a half months to get every angle we were after, and after that, it was a very slow rollout. We rolled it out in about eight months. It was easy.

What about the implementation team?

We did it all in-house, but we did have consultants from Cisco come in and help us tweak it.

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

Pricing and licensing are not my expertise. As far as budgeting is concerned, we run an ELA with Cisco. It's a part of our ELA.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't evaluate other products. We went straight to Cisco because you can't go wrong with their technology. They're a leader in this space, and they've got a good, robust solution, so we rolled it out.

It integrates seamlessly with other Cisco products that we have. I use Cisco Meraki for all my edge cases. We never considered switching to another vendor. 

What other advice do I have?

It's a great product. I'd rate Cisco ISE a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Network Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Jun 19, 2023
Scans all the programs on the workstations, enforces data loss prevention and security
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is AnyConnect Posture because it scans all the programs on the workstation and checks if the antivirus is up to date, as well as the cryptographic keys on our SSD."
  • "Cisco ISE has numerous features that are impractical, and I won't utilize them since they require payment."

What is our primary use case?

We utilize Cisco ISE for authentication by employing the AnyConnect Posture model to address vulnerabilities on the workstations. Additionally, we make use of TACACS.

How has it helped my organization?

It is a mature solution and it grows with our needs.

Cisco ISE has helped consolidate DNA Center.

Cisco ISE helps our cybersecurity resilience by enforcing security over the workstations.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is AnyConnect Posture because it scans all the programs on the workstation and checks if the antivirus is up to date, as well as the cryptographic keys on our SSD. It also enforces data loss prevention on our workstation, which is usually the main vulnerability for network entry.

What needs improvement?

Cisco ISE has numerous features that are impractical, and I won't utilize them since they require payment.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco ISE for around four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We encountered a few bugs that were resolved using the SMUs. However, when the solution is built properly, there are no performance issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We can scale Cisco ISE up using VMs.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is excellent, and we rely on their services frequently.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We previously used Cisco ACS but transitioned to Cisco ISE because it reached its end-of-life status, and we needed to progress.

What was our ROI?

We have observed a return on investment from the tasks performed by Cisco ISE for our organization.

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

Cisco ISE is not inexpensive, but the solution is well-built and worth the expense.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Aruba ClearPass but ultimately chose Cisco ISE due to budgetary constraints. We were able to secure a favorable discount with Cisco.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Cisco ISE a nine out of ten. Despite the fact that the solution offers numerous features, it is challenging to use.

We do not rely solely on Cisco ISE to secure our infrastructure from end to end. Instead, we utilize various tools such as McAfee, DLP, and Endpoint Security. Additionally, we have the Domain client to check for any breaches. On our Internet edges, we perform SSL offload to enhance the performance of security projects like WAF and IPS, as well as conduct full packet scans. Furthermore, we have NGFW and NG Networks in place.

Cisco ISE is an important component in protecting our environment because it enforces security against the main point of vulnerability, which is accessing workstations. Ransomware infiltrates a network through workstations. The policies implemented are based on the posture model, ensuring that we use the necessary products on our network to mitigate such risks.

I was not involved in the initial setup, but testing the implementation of a new feature is always challenging. We need to allocate time to test it with the security team and the network team. Additionally, we need to create a separate environment to gain a better understanding of how we can improve the performance of the solution within our network. 

For organizations that do not have the funds to purchase Cisco ISE, there are good open-source solutions available. These include TACACS servers, OpenLDAP, and FreeRADIUS. However, Cisco ISE is an excellent tool for enhancing all the existing tools within an organization.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Principal Consultant at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Jun 19, 2023
Profiling and posturing features ensure that all devices are compliant with regulatory authorities
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco ISE's profiling and posturing features ensure that all devices are compliant with regulatory authorities."
  • "Sometimes some of Cisco ISE's graphical interfaces could be a little bit smoother. However, with the different versions, the product is getting better and better."

What is our primary use case?

There's a variety of customer uses for Cisco ISE, which includes securing the edge of the network.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco ISE allows our customers to concentrate on other aspects of the business, knowing that much of their security is now in place.

What is most valuable?

Cisco ISE's profiling and posturing features ensure that all devices are compliant with regulatory authorities.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes some of Cisco ISE's graphical interfaces could be a little bit smoother. However, with the different versions, the product is getting better and better.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Cisco ISE for approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Like most products, as Cisco ISE evolves with different software versions over time, it becomes more stable and feature-rich. Initially, when it first came out, it was playing catch up with other vendors and solutions. However, now Cisco ISE is probably at the forefront of Open NAC solutions.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can build a distributed model or architecture, and you can scale out with a number of PSN nodes. So Cisco ISE can grow as you grow.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco ISE's technical support is generally very good. They have different levels of tech engineers, but their tech support is very good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

Some of our customers have considered using Juniper NAC, ClearPass, etc. They switched to Cisco ISE because they had a lot of network infrastructure in place and wanted a single vendor they could use end to end. Everybody has a good relationship with Cisco because they know that if there is a problem, their technical support team will resolve things in a quick and timely manner.

How was the initial setup?

Cisco ISE is very scalable. We can do a small proof of concept and very quickly demonstrate that to customers.

What was our ROI?

Our customers have seen a return on investment with Cisco ISE. The solution has helped our customers consolidate several products into one and free up their IT staff. Also, the reporting from Cisco ISE enables them to show senior management their network's health.

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

The licensing could be better across all of the Cisco products. Cisco's licensing models seem to keep changing with different software versions. Cisco is moving towards a subscription service, which would mean additional costs.

What other advice do I have?

Our customers are using Cisco ISE, but we're helping to integrate it into their solutions.

The end-to-end infrastructure security from Cisco AnyConnect host points is very good.

Cisco ISE has helped free up our customer's IT staff to concentrate on other projects. In the UK, where I predominantly work, a lot of the NHS staff have a lot of access switches located throughout multiple buildings. Cisco ISE probably frees up at least twenty percent of their time.

Our customers can use Cisco ISE for device administration for TACACS, RADIUS devices, and individual host appliances.

The migration from ACS to Cisco ISE has helped. Some of our customers were looking at various MAP implementations using different vendors, but we've now got I 2.1 X and MAM all built-in together.

Cisco ISE's ability to consolidate tools or applications has centralized everything and made things a lot easier and smoother for our customers to carry out their day-to-day tasks.

Cisco ISE has helped improve the cybersecurity resilience of our customers' organizations. We've always been able to integrate Cisco ISE into other products. So they're getting more security alerts, making them a lot more secure and happy with their environment.

Overall, I rate Cisco ISE an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.