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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security comparison

The compared Cisco and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in NAC , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 26.3% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #15 in EMM , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Read 142 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reviews
  • 15,693 Views
  • 10,251 Comparison Views
87% willing to recommend
Microsoft Enterprise Mobili...
Read 10 Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security reviews
  • 553 Views
  • 452 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC).

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Network Access Control (NAC)
March 2025
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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...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
142
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (1st)
Microsoft Enterprise Mobili...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is designed for Network Access Control (NAC) and holds a mindshare of 26.3%, down 31.4% compared to last year.
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), holds 0.8% mindshare, up 0.8% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC)
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

Featured Reviews

SunilkumarNaganuri - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced device administration hindered by complex deployment and security limitations
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) needs to improve the profiling preauthentication. They are very poor in asset classification and should focus on improving the preauthentication profiling, especially for NAC use cases. This will give them a roadmap for software-defined access (SDA) use cases and network segmentation. Threat detection capabilities are very weak. Additionally, the product is vulnerable and has many bugs.
Read full review
Dheen Jaabir - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless integration and easy implementation
Microsoft licensing has always been tricky. There have been several changes in the last quarter, such as the addition of a new SKU on top of the existing ones. The licensing can be messy at times. Apart from that, it's fine. One area where Microsoft lacks is network-level protection. Currently, it focuses on endpoint protection. However, with the shift to remote work, network-level protection has become less relevant since users take their devices home, and there is no physical boundary after COVID. So, investing in network equipment might not be as useful as protecting endpoints with features like EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) and behavioral monitoring. That would probably be helpful.
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

"I've had no issues with scalability. I started using it on two campuses, and now I'm using it across the country and scaling it across subsidiaries in other countries."
"They provide you multiple ways to achieve security, not only on-prem, but also when you have remote and guest workers. Especially post-pandemic, a lot of our customers have remote workers. So, it has been really helpful."
"The ability to integrate our Cisco AnyConnect connections to the active directory has been great."
"So far, we have had no issues with the stability."
"It's scalable."
"I love the policy sets, they are really nice and dynamic."
"When we use ISE, one of the helpful things is that I can go through the dashboard and get every step along the way of how a device was authenticated. If it's failing, why did it fail? Why is it unauthorized? If there's an error, what is the error and how can I fix that error? If it's something that, if they should be passing, why are they failing?"
"In terms of features, I think they've done a lot of improvement on the graphical user interface — it looks really good right now."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pros
"Integration between our departments has been the most valuable."
"A good feature that is present is MAM or Mobile Application Management. We can deploy this feature on the device, which is not managed by the organization. If I apply some security configuration on a personal device, the user would be really disappointed. What we do instead is that we give all access to the applications related to corporate and ask the users to use the application. We secure the application by putting the security features on the applications and not on the users' devices. This way, the users are happy, and we also meet our company's compliance standards. Then, everyone is happy."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The solution is scalable."
"The product is centralized and we can use it for security purposes."
"The solution offers excellent documentation that is easily available online."
"The product is a unified solution and you don't require to purchase tools from different vendors. The system analyzes behavior and activity and takes steps for protection."
"The solution is very good at securing files. For example, if I forward a secure document, it's blocked from others, as I can send it with restrictions in relation to who can open it."
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security pros
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"The learning curve is steep and the initial setup is complex."
"Some of ISE's features need to be more agile. For example, we couldn't integrate our data because Cisco needs your data to be in its own format."
"We face many bugs."
"There can be a little bit more integration between the controller management and ISE. There are two dashboards, you have the controller dashboards, and you have the ISE dashboard it would is a way to maybe integrate that into one. That would be great. It's not that bad. It would be easier if it could be combined into one dashboard."
"An area that could be improved is the agent. The challenge now is that agent and most of the computers have changed. They could think about agent-less deployment."
"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) cons
"The licensing can be messy at times."
"Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security is expensive."
"There are certain shortcomings in the licensing model of the product where improvements are required."
"Microsoft's feature management is based on licenses. Microsoft follows ethical licensing and hence do not restrict the use of it."
"The MDM part of the engine could be better."
"The auditing and reporting could be updated and upgraded. I would like to see light applications because they consume a lot of the device's memory at present."
"The licensing is quite expensive."
"Its performance needs enhancement."
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you're not going through an agreement, it's very expensive."
"I have complaints. I don't enjoy the licensing model. Once we moved from 2.7 to 3.1, switching from Base, Plus, and Apex to Essential and Advantage in Premier, we went from a perpetual, with our base licenses, to now a subscription-base. So, we will have to renew those licenses every year, and I'm not a fan of that for our base licenses. Apex/Premier, we already expected, which is fine, but for basic connectivity, I am not a fan of that."
"Over the years, licensing has been confusing and complicated because there are so many different licenses for each different product and each different iteration of the product."
"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."
"In terms of the licensing and the pricing structure of the Cisco Identity Services Engine, there's been a huge advantage to our clients recently with the advent of the enterprise agreement."
"I get very good pricing from Cisco, so I don't have a problem with that. I also don't have a problem with licensing because we get enterprise or global licensing."
"We are running Version 2.9 because Version 2.9 of the ISE has a persistent license — it's a one-time payment. The latest version (3.1) is only available if you do a yearly subscription."
"ISE has always been expensive compared to other products in terms of what it does on a user level."
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pricing and cost advice
"The increase in the prices of the product might not be the actual problem, but things become complex with some new plans that were introduced by Microsoft recently."
"We have to pay 10 dollars per user. I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten."
"I would rate pricing at eight out of ten. It is a bit higher because of the security features that Microsoft provides."
"The solution is cost-effective."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
26%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Pharma/Biotech Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
The increase in the prices of the product might not be the actual problem, but things become complex with some new plans that were introduced by Microsoft recently. Initially, my company used to ha...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security?
Since Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security needs to deal with the competition from VMware and Ivanti, I visited PeerSpot's website to see how Microsoft can compete with its competitors. Microso...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 24% of the time
Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 22% of the time
Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 11% of the time
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 5% of the time
Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Logo
Portnox vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Compared 3% of the time
More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Competitors
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 31% of the time
ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Logo
ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Compared 12% of the time
More Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
March 2025
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reportDownload Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
March 2025
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security reportDownload Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security product report
 

Also Known As

Cisco ISE
Enterprise Mobility + Security E3, Enterprise Mobility + Security E5, MS Enterprise Mobility + Security
 

Overview

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers comprehensive network access control and visibility, supporting features like 802.1X authentication, profiling, and posturing. It integrates with Microsoft and other Cisco products, facilitating robust security policies across distributed networks.

Cisco Identity Services Engine is a key player in network access control, offering centralized management and a user-friendly interface. It supports zero trust principles and provides strong authentication for wired and wireless networks. ISE's capabilities include granular security policies, enhanced device posturing, and seamless integration, bolstering security infrastructure. Users benefit from its dual authentication through EAP, simplifying access management across networks.

What are the key features of Cisco ISE?
  • 802.1X Authentication: Supports network security for authorized device access.
  • Profiling: Identifies devices for accurate policy enforcement.
  • Posturing: Evaluates device compliance for access decisions.
  • TACACS: Streamlines network device authentication and authorization.
  • Guest Access: Provides secure access to visitors.
  • Microsoft Compatibility: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft environments.
What benefits and ROI should be considered?
  • Security Enhancement: Offers strong network security policies.
  • Operational Efficiency: Centralized management improves operational aspects.
  • Improved Compliance: Ensures adherence to industry standards.
  • Scalability: Supports growing network demands effectively.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and education, Cisco ISE is pivotal for securing wired and wireless networks, implementing BYOD policies, and managing user access. Organizations leverage ISE for effective authentication and authorization, while maintaining compliance with industry security standards.

Cisco

Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) is the only comprehensive solution designed to help manage and protect users, devices, apps, and data in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.

Microsoft
 

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
Mars, Whole Foods, Land O'Lakes, Dow
Buyer's Guide
Network Access Control (NAC)
March 2025
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