Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs RSA SecurID comparison

The compared Cisco and RSA solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #1 in NAC , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 24.2% mindshare in the category. RSA is ranked #9 in AS , with an average rating of 7.0, and holds a 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of RSA users who would recommend it.

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

Read 143 Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) reviews

16,354 Views
10,630 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

RSA SecurID

Read 9 RSA SecurID reviews

2,977 Views
2,650 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Identity Services Eng...

RSA SecurID

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and RSA SecurID 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).

To learn more, read our detailed Network Access Control (NAC) Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Network Access Control (NAC)

August 2025

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Helped 868,787 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...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

143

Ranking in other categories

Network Access Control (NAC) (1st), Cisco Security Portfolio (2nd)

RSA SecurID

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Authentication Systems (9th), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (4th)

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and RSA SecurID 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 24.2%, down 29.5% compared to last year.
RSA SecurID, on the other hand, focuses on Authentication Systems, holds 5.9% mindshare, down 7.4% since last year.

Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)	24.2%
Aruba ClearPass	23.6%
Fortinet FortiNAC	17.9%
Other	34.30000000000001%

Network Access Control (NAC)

Authentication Systems Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
RSA SecurID	5.9%
Microsoft Entra ID	12.9%
Cisco Duo	8.1%
Other	73.1%

Authentication Systems

Featured Reviews

SunilkumarNaganuri

Service Line Manager (Service Operations Expert) - Network Access Control at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

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

Chandan Tripathi

Identity and Access Management Principal at Mobily

Useful for making logins more secure by using multifactor authentication but extremely expensive

There is room for improvement in a few areas. Firstly, it lacks support for OIDC and OS capabilities, making it less versatile for integrating various applications. Secondly, there are some limitations in the number of supported applications. Lastly, it doesn't offer an agent-based or reverse-proxy-based approach to integration, which could enhance its flexibility.

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

"A lot of customers use a third party to manage their guest Wi-Fi. Cisco ISE presents the ability to bring that in-house so that customers can have full control over it, change the branding, and get extra telemetry from it and the user data. It works really well for our customers."

"The first benefit is that we can implement zero trust architecture because of Cisco ISE. I can assure my CISO in my company that my network is such that nobody can just bring in their laptop, desktop, or any sort of mobile device and can directly get connected to my network. That is a benefit that I can only allow people who I trust on the network."

"The features that do work, work well, and we use it on a daily basis."

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

"The ability to allow or deny hosts onto the network is valuable. It provides great security to the network environment."

"The live logs and live sessions for troubleshooting are the most valuable features because they provide a detailed report of any issues."

"The access policies, and all of the policies in Cisco ISE, are important to us."

"Cisco ISE now competes with any other product in the space because of its centralized and unified highly secure access control with ISE."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) pros

"The most valuable features of RSA SecurID Access are push notifications, multifactor authentication, and ease of integration and deployment."

"One of the most valuable feature is the ID soft token and hard token."

"I would say that the two-factor authentication and the ease of installation and configuration are the most valuable features of this solution."

"It is a scalable solution."

"I think it is really good when it comes to the hard token side of things."

Cons

"The integrations with the switches and the wireless controllers are not really straightforward. There is what they call the best practice for them, but it may not be what we have on-premise."

"This product doesn't work in isolation."

"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 web interface needs improvement. The new web interface that they have is not as easy to manage and we find it to be very slow."

"If you have someone taking care of it, it can be quite easy to manage the solution. Otherwise, if you don't look after it and take care of it day-to-day, then it will become more complex to run."

"Cisco ISE does not recognize devices and that is an issue we faced during its integration with our existing devices."

"The product is expensive. It would also be a good add-on to have some machine learning."

"Cisco ISE's performance could be better, faster, and more robust."

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) cons

"It doesn't offer an agent-based or reverse-proxy-based approach to integration, which could enhance its flexibility."

"The interface needs to improve a lot. It should be easier to manage and navigate."

"Sometimes, we encounter issues with other applications that are not compatible with RSA SecurID Access and require expert troubleshooting. At those times, we need additional support from an implementation perspective. This is an area where Oracle can improve as there is no substitute for reliable and efficient support."

"There are different compliances across the globe; RSA SecurID Access could be more complaint-based."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"It is fairly expensive and that's part of why we have implemented it in the type of 'hack' that we did, to service multiple clients."

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

"That's where things got a bit more complicated. Previously, it was a one-time purchase and we just had to renew support. These days, there's a subscription model, which is supposed to be easier and cheaper as well, but it's more pricey"

"If you go directly with Cisco for the implementation it's very, very expensive."

"The technology is good, but to use some of the other features, and capabilities, they request that we purchase the Cisco DNA Center. As a result, the bundled price is a little high."

"Cisco ISE's licensing can get pricey."

"It is fair."

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

"I think the price of this solution is reasonable compared to YubiKey and Duo given that it offers the same similar features."

"RSA SecurID Access is expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

16%

Government

13%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	44
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	90

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	4

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 RSA SecurID Access?

The most valuable features of RSA SecurID Access are push notifications, multifactor authentication, and ease of integration and deployment.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RSA SecurID Access?

RSA SecurID Access is quite expensive. I would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of costliness.

See all answers

What needs improvement with RSA SecurID Access?

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba ClearPass vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 23% of the time

Fortinet FortiNAC vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 22% of the time

Forescout Platform vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 9% of the time

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 5% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Competitors

Yubico YubiKey vs RSA SecurID

Compared 56% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs RSA SecurID

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Duo vs RSA SecurID

Compared 8% of the time

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs RSA SecurID

Compared 4% of the time

HID PIV vs RSA SecurID

Compared 2% of the time

More RSA SecurID Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

September 2025

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) report

Download Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) product report

Buyer's Guide

Authentication Systems

September 2025

Download RSA SecurID product report

Also Known As

Cisco ISE

RSA SecurID Access, RSA Access Manager

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

The RSA SecurID Suite combines the separate disciplines of access management and authentication with identity governance and user lifecycle management into one comprehensive suite. It goes way beyond the capabilities of traditional identity and access management systems by using risk analytics to provide identity and access assurance. This helps organizations solve two fundamental challenges:

Verifying that their users are who they say they are.
Providing their users with the right level of access.

RSA

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

Milliman, Geisinger Health System, Advanced Micro Devices

Buyer's Guide

Network Access Control (NAC)

August 2025

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