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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs IBM Security Network IPS 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 Secure Network Analytics
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (37th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (3rd), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (7th), Cisco Security Portfolio (9th)
IBM Security Network IPS
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Secure Network Analytics is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 0.9%, down 1.1% compared to last year.
IBM Security Network IPS, on the other hand, focuses on Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS), holds 1.6% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.
Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure Network Analytics0.9%
Zabbix4.3%
SolarWinds NPM3.6%
Other91.2%
Network Monitoring Software
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Security Network IPS1.6%
Fortinet FortiGate11.4%
Darktrace10.8%
Other76.2%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Harun-Owr-Roshid - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at BRIGHT-i SYSTEMS LIMITED
Have streamlined network visibility and troubleshooting while seeing benefits from AI integration
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database. When precise manual analysis is needed, it's sometimes difficult, so having a centralized database will allow network admins to find actual scenarios more effectively, especially since some information may not be visible on the GUI. Cisco should upgrade their hardware part to run the database, because sometimes it cannot handle the load while all features are running in the network. The database management should indeed be centralized because while AI runs behind the systems, central management is essential. For example, in a network with 100 Cisco switches, a few routers, firewalls, and access points, all data generated should be preserved in a central database. This approach simplifies management and analysis for troubleshooting, as GUI interfaces may not always provide visible information. Centralizing the database will allow for better understanding of which information is preserved for each specific device.
Jacob_Koithra - PeerSpot reviewer
Project & Program manager at Shell Grp
User-friendly and has a good blocking feature but is quite expensive
Defining the new security rules and policies sometimes becomes a challenge. Integration with other platforms becomes a challenge as well. I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies. XGS 7100 has an end of support for the 30th of December 2022. Many are losing support. All the products of the XGS, including XGS 3100, 4100, 5100, and 7100, support is ending in December 2022. We need to know what is the plan post that? Do we need to spend money on them? Will that be extended? There has been no communication on the website either. It's an expensive device.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are encrypted threat analysis and the ability to run jobs on entire flows."
"Time to value is very good for Stealthwatch."
"Visibility. The ability to look East and West. To see what is passing through your circuits, where it is coming from, and how big it is."
"It has definitely helped us improve our mean time to resolution on network issues."
"Maps is a unique feature which provides logical grouping of different segments of the network with complete visibility and alerting based on a total or protocol base as per defined threshold."
"Most of the engineers I've worked with have been really good. Very knowledgeable and easy to work with."
"Another notable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is its Layer 7 visibility, which allows us to monitor and analyze network communications at the application layer."
"It provides good visibility to the customers, and helps them to take action to remediate and mitigate the issues that are highlighted on the dashboard."
"The blocking feature is great; it acts as an in-line blocker, and any malicious traffic that you see, or anything really, it can block the traffic."
"The most valuable feature is its simplicity."
"IPS has helped us in understanding more about the latest threats out there and made us realize that we need to be proactive when it comes to security rather than reactive."
"This is definitely a product that I recommend, especially for organizations that want a quick integration of data from the transaction systems, with a very low cost of operations."
"The initial setup is simple."
"Signature based analysis and preventing different types of network attacks."
 

Cons

"We had some trouble with the installation as we migrated from our previous solution."
"The reporting of day-to-day metrics still has room for improvement."
"I would like to see more expansion in artificial intelligence and machine learning features."
"Better integration between Cisco Secure Network Analytics and Cisco Secure Workload would be beneficial."
"I think the interface is a little lacking. The interface seems like it just needs to be modernized. It's been the same interface now, ever since I've seen it probably four years ago."
"One thing I would like to see improved is if it could automatically be tied through ISE, instead of you having to manually get notifications and disable it yourself."
"We need to be able to filter out internal IPs as non-threats."
"The configuration of the solution was quite complex."
"In the future, I would like to see a hybrid option so that we can work both on-premises and in the cloud."
"The management server can be made more user friendly and also the database configuration could be made simpler."
"In terms of scalability, I would say that it is a little on the poor side."
"It's an expensive device."
"I'd like to see more integration with other tools and technologies."
"The configuration of this product is complex. It could be made more user friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has a subscription model. There is yearly support, and there is also three-year support. It depends on what the customers want."
"Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside>in traffic."
"This is an expensive product. We have quit paying for support because we don't want to have to upgrade it and keep paying for it."
"The yearly licensing cost is about $50,000."
"One of the things which bugs me about Lancope is the licensing. We understand how licensing works. Our problem is when we bought and purchased most of these Lancope devices, we did so with our sister company. Somewhere within the purchase and distribution, licensing got mixed up. That is all on Cisco, and it is their responsibility. They allotted some of our sister company's equipment to us, and some of our equipment to them. To date, they have never been able to fix it."
"The solution is expensive. It costs several hundred thousand dollars per year (depending on how many flows you are collecting)."
"The tool is not cheaply priced."
"There are additional licenses needed for the number of so-called network flows. It's hard to plan the number of flows you need in the network, this is a problem. The price of the Cisco Stealthwatch is relatively inexpensive"
"The cost of operations is very low."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Performing Arts
16%
Media Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise52
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Stealthwatch?
Regarding cost, for the Bangladesh context, Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a little bit high-priced because we are a developing country, making it tough to manage affordable solutions. However, ...
What needs improvement with Cisco Stealthwatch?
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper m...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Stealthwatch?
Our customers mainly use Cisco Secure Network Analytics to get whole network visibility and easy troubleshooting to find actual problems and also to mitigate loopholes or findings immediately to pr...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
Security Network Intrusion Prevention System, IBM Security Network Protection, XGS, GX
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
Equifax, Christian Hospital Centre
Find out what your peers are saying about Zabbix, Auvik, Datadog and others in Network Monitoring Software. Updated: April 2026.
887,041 professionals have used our research since 2012.