

Cisco IOS SSL VPN and F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) are strong competitors in the VPN market. Cisco IOS SSL VPN has the upper hand in seamless integration and simplicity, whereas F5 BIG-IP APM excels in customization and handling complex scenarios.
Features: Cisco IOS SSL VPN is known for its simplicity and ease of use, reliable performance, and robust encryption capabilities. These features make it a preferred choice for straightforward integration into existing networks. On the other hand, F5 BIG-IP APM offers notable features such as customizable portals, strong integration with various protocols, and comprehensive access policy features which are highly valued for enterprise-level security.
Room for Improvement: Cisco IOS SSL VPN could benefit from more pricing flexibility, a simpler administrative interface, and enhanced integration capabilities. Users have noted certain limitations with network-based access control and some complexities during setup. F5 BIG-IP APM, meanwhile, could improve its user interface performance and enhance reporting features. There is also a need for better integration with cloud services and advancing GUI and automation capabilities to meet user expectations.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco IOS SSL VPN is frequently praised for its straightforward deployment across on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, complemented by a reputable customer service experience with responsive local support. F5 BIG-IP APM also offers flexible deployment across hybrid and private cloud setups but feedback suggests that the complexity during configuration and support, while satisfactory, could be enhanced.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco IOS SSL VPN is viewed as expensive compared to alternatives but is justified by its integration and reliability, providing solid ROI for enterprises. F5 BIG-IP APM is similarly priced as a premium offering with reliable and quality service, with its ROI supported by strong security and policy management capabilities that appeal to its client base.
When Cisco first took over, it was a bit more difficult to get support, but they now integrate it without differentiating the support for Linksys versus full-blown Cisco switches.
We contact support regularly, especially for deployments, and they are very responsive.
Most of the technical support is managed in-house due to our extensive experience with F5 products.
Even if they respond, they don't update me with the process or what's going on.
F5 technical support is responsive and helpful.
It integrates well with Cisco's ecosystem, providing flexibility and options to connect to diverse environments.
The product's flexibility and company culture contribute to resolving these challenges.
I would rate the scalability of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) between seven and eight.
Linksys can be fairly stable for easy environments, but in more complex network environments, Cisco is definitely a lot more stable.
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is extremely stable.
On a scale from one to ten for stability, I would rate F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) a ten.
Sometimes, the logs are not quite informational or easy to understand.
There have been issues with operating systems where newer updates cause problems with backward compatibility.
I believe Cisco could support easier configuration and having tools that allow for easier management and configuration.
The ability to run the Anycast feature would be valuable, as the current solution only operates on-premises.
If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great.
The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5.
For more than one hundred users, it costs about $60 per seat.
F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability.
The solution is also very scalable, offering up to one hundred licenses for free, and can integrate well with Cisco's ecosystem, such as Cisco ISE and NAC.
Configuring QoS on Linksys is pretty easy, especially compared to Cisco QoS, which I am certified in, as it helps ensure that the bandwidth for voice or other applications doesn't bleed over into the data links.
The valuable features of Cisco IOS SSL VPN are the ease of use and the speed.
APM is quite flexible for customers to use, providing secure remote access through various host-checking conditions for both machines and users.
It provides robust security and offers integration with multi-factor authentication systems, which is crucial for an organization's security policy.
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) provides excellent WAF and bot defense solutions.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Cisco IOS SSL VPN | 9.6% |
| F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) | 7.3% |
| Other | 83.1% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 24 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 4 |
| Large Enterprise | 24 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 9 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 9 |
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access.
BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.
BIG-IP APM Benefits:
BIG-IP APM Features:
Reviews from Real Users
Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.
Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."
Clyde Livingston, Senior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."
Chris Lam, Senior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.
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