Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Cisco Secure Workload comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco Secure Workload are both solutions in the Cisco Security Portfolio category. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.3, while Cisco Secure Workload is ranked #8 with an average rating of 9.5. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) holds a 20.4% mindshare in CSS, compared to Cisco Secure Workload’s 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco Secure Workload users who would recommend it.

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Read 144 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reviews

18,648 Views
2,051 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Cisco Secure Workload

Read 15 Cisco Secure Workload reviews

5,788 Views
521 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Cisco Secure Workload

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco Secure Workload based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Cisco Security Portfolio solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Cisco Secure Workload Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Cisco Secure Workload

April 2026

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Helped 902,270 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Ranking in Cisco Security Portfolio

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

144

Ranking in other categories

Network Access Control (NAC) (3rd)

Cisco Secure Workload

Ranking in Cisco Security Portfolio

8th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud and Data Center Security (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (16th), Microsegmentation Software (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Cisco Security Portfolio category, the mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 20.4%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Workload is 5.9%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cisco Security Portfolio Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)	20.4%
Cisco Secure Workload	5.9%
Other	73.7%

Cisco Security Portfolio

Featured Reviews

NicolasFigaro

Network and Technology Information Manager at Akkodis

Has improved authentication management and simplified visitor network access

The log capacity in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced because today natively on the ISE can only have a look at the logs from the day before. You cannot search into the oldest logs; you have to use another tool for that. This can be blocking if you don't have any log consolidation solution. To do a search for an issue or something that happened two days ago, you cannot search directly in there. The capacity of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced. Something between one week and one month for the log capacity would be nice.

Read full review

Raj Metkar

Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA

Discover internal application dependencies and create a dependency map

We actively seek improvements in integrating the Infoblox DDI platform with Cisco Secure Workload. This integration allows Cisco Secure Workload to learn about our networks and network tags, providing valuable insights into vulnerabilities related to the operating system and various applications installed on our servers. Recently, Cisco announced a new product called HyperShield, an AI-based autonomous micro-segmentation solution. While Cisco has not stated that HyperShield will replace Cisco Secure Workload, it represents a natural evolution for the company. HyperShield features dynamic policy discovery and enforcement; however, once policies are enforced, they do not change until a discovery occurs, requiring a re-enforcement process. This new platform operates autonomously, minimizing the need for user or security engineer intervention. I would have expected Cisco to incorporate more automatic discovery and enforcement features within the existing Cisco Secure Workload product. Instead of enhancing the current product, they have introduced a new solution. Cisco plans to honor existing Tetration licenses, allowing users to transition to HyperShield without additional costs, reflecting the investment enterprises have already made. From Cisco’s perspective, this represents a natural progression in their product line. While the product name changes, it seems more of a rebranding effort. The enhancements are greater autonomy, improved discovery, and automatic enforcement, which are now being introduced in HyperShield. Cisco Secure Workload offers automatic policy enforcement but cannot adjust policies dynamically as the application needs to change. Having used the platform for the past five years, the recent announcement has been reassuring. Cisco has confirmed that our investment in the platform will not go to waste. They will honor our existing licenses, providing a natural migration path to the new solution without any disruption

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has all of the features available, in fact, more than what you need."

"The user experience of the solution is great. It's a very transparent system."

"Cisco ISE provides authentication for various applications. It can integrate with other applications to manage access, including Privileged Access Management for those applications. For a comprehensive environment, Cisco ISE should be able to integrate and provide asset management for an IT organization or any organization."

"It has also given us a lot of extra security as the backbone of authentication for our VPN and wireless network."

"The authorization and accounts inside of ISE are very useful for us."

"The core point is that Cisco ISE is the same globally compared to FortiAuthenticator, and whether I deploy in China, the US, South Africa, or wherever, I can get all the capabilities, plus it allows me to directly integrate with 365, which is a good capability from a communications point of view."

"In terms of scalability, you need to factor in your licenses. With a virtual platform, the scalability is more than sufficient. We have over one thousand users."

"Unauthenticated devices are not allowed on our network and that has been an improvement for our company."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pros

"The solution offers 100% telemetry coverage; the telemetry you collect is not sampled, it's not intermittent, it's complete, and you see everything in it, including full visibility of all activities on your endpoints and in your network."

"By using Tetration insight, we are able to get the latency on our level accounts and we can determine whatever the issue is with the application latency itself."

"The most valuable feature right now is to do with having visibility on the network — especially on our servers — and to be able to enforce some type of security measures."

"Overall, this is a really good product and I am happy with it."

"The product provides multiple-device integration."

"It's stable."

"Generally speaking, Cisco support is considered one of the best in the networking products and stack."

"Instead of proving that all the access control lists are in place and all the EPGs are correct, we can just point the auditor to a dashboard and point out that there aren't any escaped conversations. It saves an enormous, enormous amount of time."

More Cisco Secure Workload pros

Cons

"Also, the menus could have been much simpler. There are many redundant things. That's a problem with all Cisco solutions. There are too many menus and redundant things on all of them."

"Cisco ISE has almost all the features we are looking for now, but sometimes the configuration, such as the conditions, is a little difficult to understand and not so easy to navigate."

"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."

"There should be more visibility into TrustSec policy actions. When TrustSec blocks something or makes any kind of changes to the network, we don't always see that. We have to log into the switch itself, or we have to get some type of Syslog parsing to do that."

"The knocks I have against the product are the number of bugs that we encounter, constantly, and the amount of upgrading that we have to do."

"We are waiting for TACACS integration to completely replace the Cisco ACS line of products."

"When I work with customers to do my knowledge transfer, they're really overwhelmed with the navigation of the product and the number of things you can do with it. From a user interface standpoint, Cisco could focus on making certain tasks a bit more guided and easier for customers to walk through. That is, a user-friendly interface and streamlined workflows would be great."

"Licensing is a disaster. It's a mess and I hope they fix it soon."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) cons

"The emailed notifications are either hard to find or they are not available. Search capabilities can be improved."

"Cisco Tetration needs more flags and system alerts that we should get with network capture."

"Secure Workload is a little complicated to use, and the dashboard isn't intuitive, so it takes a while to learn how to use it."

"A feature that I was looking for was emailed alerts and notifications so we'd get them right away."

"There was a controversy when Cisco reduced the amount of data they kept, and the solution became quite cost-intensive, which made its adoption challenging….Although they have modified it now, I preferred the previous version, and I wish all the functionality were back under the same product."

"The multi-tenancy, redundancy, backup and restore functionalities, as well as the monitoring aspects of the solution, need improvement. The solution offers virtually no enterprise-grade possibility for monitoring."

"I'd like to see better documentation for advanced features. The documentation is fairly basic. I would also like to see better integration with other applications."

"The product must be integrated with the cloud."

More Cisco Secure Workload cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"According to my sales and account team, the prices we're getting are pretty good."

"It's damn expensive and the licensing is terrible... If you have perpetual licenses on 2.7 and you upgrade to 3, you are forced to go with Essentials. That is one of the issues that I'm seeing with my clients now."

"Being fully honest, the Cisco licensing model right now is really confusing. We don't know what licenses we have where. We have Smart licensing, but the different levels are way confusing."

"Licensing has got much simpler since Cisco moved to the DNA model because we just have the three tiers, but it could always stand to be improved upon."

"Its price is probably good if you use all of its features and functionalities to protect your environment. If you use only a part of the functionality, its price is too high. It is just a question of value and the functionality you use."

"The solution is not that cheap."

"Our customers pay for the license of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine). They have an annual subscription, rather than a monthly subscription."

"The recent changes in the licensing model have caused some issues with the team."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pricing and cost advice

"Pricing depends on the scope of the application and the features. Larger installations save more."

"The pricing is a bit higher than we anticipated."

"Regarding price, Cisco Secure Workload can be expensive if you don't have a budget. If you're not doing micro-segmentation, every extra security measure or enforcement you're putting on top of your existing environment will be an extra cost. It's not a cheap solution at all. But from my point of view, if you need to do micro-segmentation, this is one of the best tools I've seen for it. I can't compare that to Microsoft's solution because I haven't looked into it. I've looked into VMware and Cisco. Those are the only two that I know of. I didn't know that Microsoft could do micro-segmentation at all. Maybe they can, but I haven't heard anything about it."

"The cost for the hardware is around 300k."

"The price is based on how many computers you're going to install it on."

"It is not cheap and pricing may limit scalability."

"The price is outrageous. If you have money to throw at the product, then do it."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	45
Midsize Enterprise	32
Large Enterprise	91

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?

Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...

See all answers

What are the main differences between Cisco ISE and Forescout Platform?

OK, so Cisco ISE uses 802.1X to secure switchports against unauthorized access. The drawback of this is that ISE cannot secure the port if a device does not support 802.1x. Cameras, badge readers, ...

See all answers

How does Cisco ISE compare with Fortinet FortiNAC?

Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user exper...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Workload?

CloudStrike offers antivirus capabilities and firewall features for servers and VDI but lacks automatic policy discovery. This raises questions about the resources required to discover and write po...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Workload?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Workload?

When we onboarded Cisco Secure Workload, the usual use case was to discover internal application dependencies and create a dependency map for Cisco ACI. As the network team, we chose to implement A...

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 27% of the time

Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 12% of the time

Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 6% of the time

Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 3% of the time

ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Competitors

Illumio Segmentation vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 14% of the time

Akamai Guardicore Segmentation vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 12% of the time

VMware NSX vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 8% of the time

TrendAI Deep Security vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 5% of the time

Check Point Email Security (formerly Harmony Email & Collaboration) vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Secure Workload Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

June 2026

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

Download Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Workload

June 2026

Download Cisco Secure Workload product report

Also Known As

Cisco ISE

Cisco Tetration

Overview

Cisco Identity Services Engine offers robust authentication, posture profiling, guest and secure access, and dynamic policy management. Known for its seamless integration with Cisco tools and network access control features, it ensures secure device and user authentication across networks.

Cisco Identity Services Engine is renowned for its capabilities in managing authentication, guest access, and policy management through segmentation. Its TrustSec functionality, alongside RADIUS and TACACS+ support, provides enhanced security, further augmented by its ability to operate in diverse environments. Its scalability and integration with Cisco solutions aid in maintaining network visibility and access control. Challenges include the complexity of initial deployments, somewhat cumbersome documentation, and limited integration in multi-vendor environments. While encountering issues in stability and updates, the demand for better analytics and straightforward troubleshooting alongside cost-effective licensing is notable.

What are the key features of Cisco Identity Services Engine?

Authentication: Secures user and device access to networks using robust authentication protocols.
Posture Profiling: Provides in-depth analysis of device compliance with security policies.
Guest Access Management: Allows controlled network access for guest users through streamlined processes.
Dynamic Policy Management: Enables automatic adjustment of security policies based on real-time data.
Segmentation via TrustSec: Enhances security levels by segmenting network traffic based on identity.

What benefits or ROI should users expect from Cisco Identity Services Engine?

Comprehensive Security: Ensures enforceable security policies across network access points.
Enhanced Integration: Facilitates seamless collaboration with existing Cisco infrastructures.
Improved Compliance: Helps meet industry security standards for network access and user rights.
Increased Visibility: Provides detailed insights into network traffic and user activities.
Device Management Efficiency: Streamlines the process of managing diverse devices within a single framework.

Industries implement Cisco Identity Services Engine primarily for network access control, ensuring secure authentication and segmentation in both wired and wireless environments. Supporting policies like bring-your-own-device and compliance standards, ISE manages identity-based access control, especially beneficial for entities that require detailed user rights management and integration within enterprise networks.

Cisco

Cisco Secure Workload offers advanced auditing, micro-segmentation, and network visibility, automating policy presentation for improved security. It enhances application dependency mapping and provides comprehensive telemetry with strategic policy enforcement.

Cisco Secure Workload specializes in automating micro-segmentation, data center management, and traffic analysis. Its capabilities facilitate application dependency mapping and enhance internal micro-segmentation, providing invaluable network visibility. Users find its automation in policy presentation and strategic enforcement beneficial, along with granular control and scalability, despite needing improvements in scalability and integration capabilities. Enhanced notification features, troubleshooting options, and an efficient interface are desired for seamless deployment, along with stronger multi-tenancy, redundancy, and monitoring functions. Broader platform support and integrated cloud connectivity are desired for unified management across tools.

What are the most important features?

Auditing: Provides in-depth network analysis and security auditing capabilities.
Micro-Segmentation: Enhances network security by automating segmentation at a granular level.
Application Dependency Mapping: Visualizes connections and interactions between applications.
Network Visibility: Delivers comprehensive insight into network activities and dynamics.
Policy Discovery: Streamlines policy creation through automation and reduces manual intervention.
Comprehensive Telemetry: Offers complete coverage and insights for better security assessment.

What benefits and ROI should be evaluated?

Enhanced Security Measures: Offers robust features for network security improvement.
Automated Processes: Reduces manual efforts through automation, increasing efficiency.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands with flexible scalability options.
Granular Control: Allows detailed control over network policies and enforcement.

Entities in finance, gas, and oil sectors utilize Cisco Secure Workload for networking site management and compliance maintenance. It integrates into extensive Cisco infrastructure, aiding routers, switches, and endpoints, thus supporting auditors in network synchronization and auditing needs.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University

ADP, University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC)

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Cisco Secure Workload

April 2026

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