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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs RSA SecurID comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.6
Number of Reviews
144
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (3rd), Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
RSA SecurID
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (10th), 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 18.6%, down 25.3% compared to last year.
RSA SecurID, on the other hand, focuses on Authentication Systems, holds 2.5% mindshare, down 6.7% since last year.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)18.6%
Aruba ClearPass18.0%
Fortinet FortiNAC13.7%
Other49.7%
Network Access Control (NAC)
Authentication Systems Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
RSA SecurID2.5%
Microsoft Entra ID5.9%
Okta Platform4.5%
Other87.1%
Authentication Systems
 

Featured Reviews

NF
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.
Chandan Tripathi - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The RADIUS Server holds the most value."
"When you push out the policy, it is able to populate the entire network at one time."
"The implementation is very simple."
"We found that the most valuable features associated with this tool are posture assessment, policy management, VLAN assignments, guest assignment, and BYOD services. In addition to these services, the Cisco IOS software switch configuration feature is another very valuable aspect of the policy and compliance solution."
"The most valuable feature is the ASDM - the user interface makes it very easy to configure the firewall."
"Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is very good at device administration."
"The way the ISE works is you can get into defining. Let's say, in my case, I've got a Windows laptop and I've got an Apple product and those have unique identifiers, unique back addresses. It would say that this in my profile so I could get to those apps with either device, 24/seven. That's how granular the ISE or these NAC Solutions can get."
"Among the most valuable features is TACACS."
"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 easy to set up and reliable."
"All of its features work well with the cloud authentication manager and the tokens — the authentication manager is good."
"It is a scalable solution."
"With the SSO RSA technology, we simplify the login and authorization process for dozens of web sites with high load traffic."
"Encryption random key generation and making it available for the user on the fly without any knowledge of the user regarding the keys."
"The most valuable features of RSA SecurID Access are push notifications, multifactor authentication, and ease of integration and deployment."
"In house applications access via weblink can be locked down to specific groups or criteria."
 

Cons

"It is too complex. It should be easy to use."
"The area where things could be improved is education. It's complicated to deploy initially because you have to know what you're getting into."
"This product doesn't work in isolation."
"Profiling is a really good feature. However, it sometimes is a challenge for customers when there are issues with the remediation part. I would add a built-in remediation solution. That would be a very nice feature."
"Segmentation can be improved."
"This solution has problems in terms of stability."
"They could incorporate some AI features."
"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"We are currently migrating to CA Site Minder due to RSA not having a viable SSO solution at this time."
"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."
"It doesn't offer an agent-based or reverse-proxy-based approach to integration, which could enhance its flexibility."
"There are different compliances across the globe; RSA SecurID Access could be more complaint-based."
"I would really rate the technical support as 4 (in a scale of 1-10). My interaction with the technical support was never good."
"The interface needs to improve a lot. It should be easier to manage and navigate."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The pricing is fair for what it does."
"It has a fair price. It is better than it was before."
"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."
"I am not aware of the current price for Cisco ISE, but considering it is a Cisco product, it is likely to be quite high."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, one being cheap and ten being expensive."
"The price for Cisco ISE itself is very low, however, Cisco professional services are quite expensive. Subscription amount is dependent on number of users."
"RSA SecurID Access is expensive."
"I think the price of this solution is reasonable compared to YubiKey and Duo given that it offers the same similar features."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise91
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

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 ...
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, ...
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...
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Also Known As

Cisco ISE
RSA SecurID Access, RSA Access Manager
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet, Cisco and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: June 2026.
902,417 professionals have used our research since 2012.