Cisco Secure Access vs FortiSASE comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category. Cisco is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.6, while Fortinet is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.6. Cisco holds a 4.0% mindshare in SASE, compared to Fortinet’s 7.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 10, 2024

FortiSASE and Cisco Secure Access compete in secure access solutions. FortiSASE has the upper hand in pricing and customer support, while Cisco Secure Access shines in advanced features with justified costs.

Features: FortiSASE includes comprehensive security tools, scalable solutions, and praised customer satisfaction. Cisco Secure Access stands out with robust integration capabilities, advanced security measures, and is favored for extensive feature integrability.

Room for Improvement: FortiSASE could improve reporting, simplify security policy management, and enhance management tools. Cisco Secure Access needs better documentation, improved initial setup support, and feedback suggests enhancing user guides.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: FortiSASE is noted for straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. Cisco Secure Access is more complex to deploy, but users acknowledge attentive support accompanying its setup.

Pricing and ROI: FortiSASE is known for competitive pricing and faster ROI with affordability. Cisco Secure Access requires higher initial investment but offers long-term benefits that justify its cost, appealing to those valuing extensive features.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Secure Access vs. FortiSASE Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Access vs. FortiSASE

June 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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) category, the mindshare of iboss is 1.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Access is 4.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of FortiSASE is 7.0%, up from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Featured Reviews

Matt Crockford

Head of Cybersecurity at SES Water

It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless

One aspect we value about iboss is its simplicity. Their customer service is brilliant, and they are super responsive and knowledgeable. It's easy to roll out, and their understanding of our business made it seamless. We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times. The user interface is highly intuitive. Our IT team picked it up with minimal training. It's arranged so that it's easy to find where things are. Another advantage is the single pane of glass console, which gives you visibility into what's happening. We're not fully there yet because we haven't implemented zero trust, but we're excited about the possibilities from the demos we've seen. We launched a POC of iboss' ChatGPT Risk Protection feature two weeks ago. AI is a great tool, but you need to be careful what you put into it. My biggest fear is employees inputting sensitive corporate information or customer PII data into one of these chatbots. I was impressed by our trial of the feature. It's exactly what we wanted. Now, when a user goes to ChatGPT, there's a banner warning them not to share information, and we can block conversations containing customer data like bank details and email addresses. I don't want to stop people from using it, but we need visibility. We've only tried it on a test group of 15 people. You can configure it to look for specific keywords or integrate it with your DLP policy if you have that configured

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Aruna Udawatte

Director -Digital Transformation at Convergence

Maintaining top security with comprehensive updates and support

The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Access is the level of security it provides. Cisco's dedication to the security industry is evident with how it remains up-to-date on current situations and recent attacks. Updates are frequent, and firmware upgrades are delivered promptly. It is very easy to stay updated, which is crucial for maintaining security.

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Yusuke Murasato

IT Network, Security Engineer at Zuken Netwave

Efficient access control and authorization with easy configurations

The important aspects are twofold. One is authorization, and the second is access control. FortiSASE can operate in a cloud environment with client certificates for authorizations and access control using features like PostureCheck. The service assesses device security, checking updates on antivirus software and confirming Windows OS specifications. I can use it anywhere I want as long as I have an Internet connection. It's very easy to configure the environment.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I would rate the technical support of iboss a solid 10 without a shadow of a doubt."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"iboss has significantly lowered the number of security incidents. It is crazy how much it blocks and how much it is aware of the outside danger."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"It was a very easy product to install. It can be deployed very fast."

"We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times."

"The security aspect of the solution, particularly the malware behind it, is excellent. That's something that really helped us out. It's not just a simple proxy that just blocks the insights of potential threats that come on behind it. They do malware detection and that helps us a lot."

"From a use-case scenario, what I like the most is the plug-in. I like the fact that we can do the filtering of these devices offsite independent of the network they are connected to, and we do not have to have traffic coming back inside our network."

More iboss pros

"The most valuable feature is the authentication feature."

"The features of Cisco Secure Access that I most prefer are easy management or manageability, and overall security."

"They've protected us from threats like phishing and ransomware."

"I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten."

"Cisco Secure Access has benefited my organization by allowing people to connect 24/7, ensuring reliability."

"The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Access is the level of security it provides."

"The main feature of interest to me and the customers is DNS security and Integrated Secure Web Control (ISWC)."

"Cisco Secure Access has protected our company against threats such as phishing or ransomware, as we have seen it successfully address various cybersecurity vulnerabilities."

More Cisco Secure Access pros

"This advantage is having the ability to create an SPA unit of FortiGate."

"We built a local node in Jordan, which is the main advantage. The data is localized in-country."

"Deep packet inspection is easier to deploy in the FortiSASE environment. It's much simpler to configure one-touch deployment. It was considerably more convoluted to get that to work using FortiClient. All that processing horsepower is happening in Fortinet's cloud infrastructure, reducing the load on our local routers and on-prem FortiGate firewalls."

"It is highly scalable."

"The solution is easy to deploy and simple to manage."

"It has AI-based detections for any signature-less virus or any unknown vulnerabilities."

"The product can scale."

"I feel that it is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."

More FortiSASE pros

Cons

"Fold that in with the risk intelligence they're getting from all of the different subscriptions they are a part of. Now, these security companies subscribe to things like emerging threats, databases, etc. You can fold all this intelligence to decide what's happening on an endpoint. I would love to see them start moving into that space. That would compete directly with Microsoft. Maybe that's why they haven't. Having that ability native within the solution would be great. The other area in which I would love to see improvement is more detailed descriptions of why they block websites."

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."

"SSL decryption: We had issues with learners using apps instead of using web browsers. This type of encryption is tough for any appliance in a BYOD environment."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"Our biggest problem with their service was it did not recognize the device and filtering did not always work correctly."

"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."

"Our iboss subscription access should be more secure with an OTP or VPN etc. It is easy to gain access if, for example, hackers obtain my username and password."

"For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company ExxonMobil."

More iboss cons

"The worst part was the migration from Umbrella to Cisco Secure Access; we experienced some difficulties during that process."

"Cisco is not well accepted in the market since they are somewhat behind their competitors."

"It is confusing. When you look at the prices, you have different licensing and years of licensing that you have to purchase. Additionally, it's unclear what service you get from those licenses regarding end-user support. We have a representative who has to walk me through it every time."

"In my opinion, Cisco Secure Access could be improved by potentially incorporating features that other brands have been using. I"

"The main issue with pricing is that it is higher compared to other competitors, making it challenging to work with customers unless they specifically request Cisco."

"I received support from the team for Cisco Secure Access related to web services. There were occasional delays of up to two working days."

"The way that we're using Cisco Secure Access today, it doesn't scale with the growing needs of our organization, however, if we leveraged more of the cloud services, it would fit better."

"From a licensing perspective, Cisco can improve."

More Cisco Secure Access cons

"They need to have more concise or precise ways to come up with the return on investment for convincing or presenting this to customers."

"I do not recommend FortiSASE for everyone."

"Some of the solution's back-end connectivity and visibility are not robust and could be improved."

"Security and support are two areas with certain shortcomings in the product where improvements are required."

"FortiSASE implementation is too complex where other products take two to three months or maximum four months to implement, FortiSASE took more than double that time."

"The main concern is that if the client is using another firewall, they cannot establish a private channel with the Cisco cloud."

"The GUI and connectivity, along with the support offered, are some of the areas of concern in the product where improvements are required."

"While connectivity from outside to inside is okay, inside to outside is not."

More FortiSASE cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products."

"The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Cisco Secure Access have been very competitive compared to other platforms. I believe that if Cisco continues to improve costs or offers something similar to a Cisco credit, it would attract more customers."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten."

"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price."

"I can only speak about the pricing for education users because we get discounts. Other users aren't going to get the same price, but FortiSASE is competitive with the other products out there. All the solutions came in at the same price, so it just came down to the product that works best for us."

"I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iboss?

Content filtering is the most useful feature of iboss.

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What needs improvement with iboss?

For zero trust implementation, we encountered complexity issues, especially with a large infrastructure company Exxon...

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

Previously when I used iboss, we did the POC for iboss for ExxonMobil. Four or five people wanted to move from our ol...

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

For what you get, it's a fair price in comparison to other products.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Secure Access?

Our main use cases for Cisco Secure Access are security and managing access.

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What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Secure Access?

My advice to other organizations considering Cisco Secure Access is that they should definitely give it a try. It's o...

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What do you like most about FortiSASE ?

The integration with the company's existing security infrastructure enhanced our security posture since it was a stra...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiSASE ?

I have not fully explored the costs yet, but when dealing solely with firewalls and switches, I find Fortinet's prici...

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What needs improvement with FortiSASE ?

I believe the SASE solution from Fortinet requires improvement by developing a cloud management platform that handles...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 19% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 15% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

Cloudflare One vs iboss

Compared 10% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 58% of the time

Netskope vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 16% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 7% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 4% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Cisco Secure Access

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Secure Access Competitors

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs FortiSASE

Compared 21% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs FortiSASE

Compared 19% of the time

Netskope vs FortiSASE

Compared 13% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs FortiSASE

Compared 12% of the time

Cloudflare One vs FortiSASE

Compared 5% of the time

More FortiSASE Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

June 2025

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

June 2025

Download Cisco Secure Access product report

Buyer's Guide

FortiSASE

June 2025

Download FortiSASE product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

Overview

iboss offers a comprehensive security platform designed for diverse use cases such as web filtering, data loss protection, corporate proxy services, and URL filtering.

iboss integrates advanced features to address dynamic security needs, leveraging its strength in SASE, ZTNA, AI initiatives, and cloud integration, while ensuring seamless operations for remote work. It excels in historical forensics, malware protection, and flexible cloud deployments. Users benefit from comprehensive traffic scanning, robust malware detection, and PaaS capabilities that reduce hardware management. An intuitive admin console ensures efficient management with content filtering and low false positives. SSL decryption enhances security, while DLP protects data in AI conversations. Deployment is rapid and scalable, allowing effortless integration with emerging technologies.

What features does iboss offer?

Granular Web Filtering: Provides precise control over web content access.
Traffic Scanning: Monitors data through multiple ports for security breaches.
Malware Detection: Ensures superior protection against malware threats.
PaaS Capabilities: Eliminates need for hardware management.
SSL Decryption: Enhances data protection by decrypting secure connections.
DLP Capabilities: Safeguards data during AI interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Scalability: Adapts quickly to growing demands and emerging tech integration.
Rapid Deployment: Reduces time to implement security measures.
User-Friendly Admin Console: Facilitates efficient operations management.
Low False Positives: Increases accuracy of threat detection systems.

iboss finds significant application in sectors such as education, where web filtering for K-12 is crucial, and in corporate environments requiring robust proxy services and URL filtering for network security. Its adaptability is essential in scenarios demanding flexible, decentralized security frameworks, particularly for remote work setups.

iboss

Cisco Secure Access is a comprehensive solution that ensures secure access to networks and protects against unauthorized access. It is used for network authentication, enforcing access policies, managing user identities, securing remote access, and providing secure connectivity for devices. Users have praised its robust security measures, seamless integration with existing systems, user-friendly interface, and reliable network performance.

Cisco

FortiSASE is a comprehensive security solution that combines SD-WAN, security, and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) capabilities in a single platform. It provides secure access to applications and data from any device, anywhere, and at any time. FortiSASE offers advanced threat protection, real-time visibility, and control over network traffic, ensuring that organizations can securely connect their users and devices to the cloud and on-premises resources. With FortiSASE, organizations can simplify their security infrastructure, reduce costs, and improve their overall security posture.

FortiSASE Benefits:

Easy to use and set up
Good value for the price
Provides accurate and reliable results
Compact and portable design
Comes with helpful instructions and customer support

FortiSASE combines the following key elements:

Networking: FortiSASE provides networking capabilities, including SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network), WAN optimization, and network traffic routing. It allows organizations to optimize and secure their network connectivity.
Security: FortiSASE integrates multiple security services, including next-generation firewall (NGFW), secure web gateway (SWG), secure web application firewall (WAF), and zero-trust network access (ZTNA). It offers comprehensive protection against various threats, such as malware, intrusions, and data breaches.
Cloud Security: FortiSASE includes cloud-native security services to protect cloud-based applications and workloads. It offers secure access to cloud services, cloud-based firewalls, and security for multi-cloud environments.
Zero Trust Security: FortiSASE follows the Zero Trust security model, where all users and devices are treated as untrusted and must undergo strict authentication and authorization before accessing resources. It enforces granular access controls and micro-segmentation to limit lateral movement within the network.
Secure Web Access: FortiSASE includes secure web access capabilities, enabling organizations to enforce web filtering policies, block malicious websites, and protect against web-based threats like phishing and malware.
Visibility and Analytics: FortiSASE provides centralized visibility and analytics to monitor network traffic, security events, and user behavior. It helps organizations detect and respond to security incidents and provides insights for ongoing security improvements.

FortiSASE aims to simplify and streamline security operations by integrating multiple security functions and network services into a single platform. This approach allows organizations to reduce complexity, improve efficiency, and enhance overall security posture.

Reviews from Real Users

Peter VanDorp, Cyber Security Analyst and Network Operations Supervisor at a non-tech company, says that "Deep packet inspection is easier to deploy in the FortiSASE environment. It's much simpler to configure one-touch deployment. It was considerably more convoluted to get that to work using FortiClient. All that processing horsepower is happening in Fortinet's cloud infrastructure, reducing the load on our local routers and on-prem FortiGate firewalls."

Jose-Rivera, Account Manager at Telefónica, that FortiSASE is "Reliable with good security and helps with network optimization".

Fortinet

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Amazon 4. Google 5. Apple 6. Cisco Systems 7. Oracle 8. Intel 9. HP Inc. 10. Dell Technologies 11. Verizon Communications 12. AT&T 13. Comcast 14. T-Mobile 15. Sprint 16. Vodafone 17. Orange 18. BT Group 19. Deutsche Telekom 20. Telefonica 21. Nokia 22. Ericsson 23. Samsung Electronics 24. Sony 25. Panasonic 26. LG Electronics 27. Siemens 28. General Electric 29. Ford Motor Company 30. General Motors 31. Toyota Motor Corporation 32. Volkswagen Group

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Access vs. FortiSASE

June 2025

Free Report: Cisco Secure Access vs. FortiSASE

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Access vs. FortiSASE and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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