Okta Workforce Identity vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) comparison

Okta and Broadcom are both solutions in the Access Management category. Okta is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4, while Broadcom is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.0. Additionally, 94% of Okta users are willing to recommend the solution.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Okta Workforce Identity and Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Okta, Auth0 and others in Access Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Access Management Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Access Management

April 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

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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Tor Nordhagen

Executive Director at Semaphore

Extremely easy to work with, simple to set up, and reasonably priced

The drawback of this solution is that in our shops, many staff members sometimes have to be borrowed from one shop to another and the solution does not really support having multiple roles. The user experience we would like to have when a person works in shop A which pays their salary is that they should have access to pretty much everything. Maybe you have somebody who is a manager in that shop A, he should be able to order new wear, he should be able to change the pricing, he should be able to empty the cash registry, and ship it to the bank. But when for instance, in COVID, people had to fill in for people in shops where a lot of people were sick, then they had to actually use user accounts of people that work in shop B. If you were employed in shop A, you could not work in shop B without borrowing somebody else's user ID and password. Which is really bad. We haven't been able to work around that and Okta Workforce Identity does not have a solution for it. We are now piloting their identity governance solution. Obviously, it's easy to give somebody access, give them an account, and give them roles, but it's hard to maintain that. For example, if you moved from, say working in a shop to working in a warehouse. But why do you still have all this shop access? The solution has until now not had anything to really support the process of taking away access. But now we are in a better release program of Okta's identity governance solution. Although it's very basic, the solution has started on a journey, but identity governance is something that Okta Workforce Identity really needs to improve. The ability or the options in the solution for changing the look and feel are not good enough because in our partner portal, essentially what they have is an ugly admin interface. The admin interface is good enough for us technical people because that's all we need. We work with the product and we're able to see the data but when it comes to presenting the service portal, Okta Workforce Identity does not have any capabilities really for making it look pretty. To add branding and different graphical user interface elements than Okta basic for essentially delegated admin for the business-to-business portal is horrifying because you're essentially using the tech admin. The only option we had and used, was to take the tech admin console and strip it. so that a vendor that has some goods that are sold in the shops, when they want to add a user on their side, say a driver or a packer on their side who should know how much they've packed in a truck to come to our warehouse, then the user interface that this vendor is using, these functional people will then have to use an extremely basic user interface.

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cto543714

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Restricts access to applications but improvement is needed in integrations

Over the last year, I have been working with customers because it's changing and maturing. These things are rolled out in segments and chunks, not all at once. Additional internal work is often required to make it functional, such as properly configuring the active directory. This internal work can take up to three months. The process varies, and implementing Symantec ZTNA quickly is not realistic. I wouldn't recommend the tool to non-core customers because you won't get the support you need. I'd rate Symantec ZTNA a seven on a scale of one to ten. They're still integrating different pieces into their solution. The challenge with ZTNA is that different companies implement it slightly differently, with some features present in one product but missing in another. ZTNA is a tricky acronym that companies use, but when you look closely, you find that each vendor might only have some of the expected features.

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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

"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 is a solution that prevents advanced persistent threats, and has a zero tolerance for attacks."

"The iboss system is highly reliable. The false positive rates are small compared to some other systems we've experienced through other partner agencies who use competing solutions."

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

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

"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."

"I would definitely recommend iboss for web filtering purposes to other organizations or individuals."

More iboss pros

"This solution has a lot of capabilities and features."

"It's reliable and it does what it is advertised to do."

"The MFA part is the best. MFA provided most of the security that we were looking at with respect to the second level of authentication. Okta Workforce Identity provides a number of options with respect to multifactor authentication, such as the app, phone call, and text. These options provide different ways of logging in for users, and they were a lot more than what we needed. This is certainly a very good feature of Okta Workforce Identity."

"You can only log in if you have the access, which protects the applications by avoiding cross-site scripting."

"It's easy to use and straightforward."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"It is a very stable solution."

"It is dependent on the evolution of your user base. It depends on usage per user, so the more sign-ins there are, the more expensive it becomes, so it works best for smaller companies from a financial perspective."

More Okta Workforce Identity pros

"The most valuable feature of this product is restricting and controlling what people have access to. If I want a contractor to connect to my network, I can give them access to only the specific things they need without giving them full VPN access to my entire network. That's the main benefit everyone gets from it. The value depends on how many users and applications you have and what you want to share."

Cons

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"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."

"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."

"If they could implement an extra security layer preventing access to iboss from the open internet, it would be great."

"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."

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

More iboss cons

"Okta Workforce Identity could improve provisioning it can be made simpler."

"The solution's user interface needs to be improved and made easy."

"We had some implementation issues."

"Okta Workforce Identity can improve by having more features in governance."

"I would appreciate it if Okta Workforce Identity becomes more user-friendly. Its API technology is complicated. Certain applications may pose challenges in terms of integration, especially when they require IDP technologies that aren't easily codable. While I can't provide specific examples, some applications may not integrate with Okta Workforce Identity."

"Okta doesn't have a partial push. It pushes down the full profile schema for lifecycle management or provisioning."

"The only area of concern in the solution stems from the fact that my company needs some help regarding the setup phase from a partner."

"It only facilitates provisioning and not de-provisioning."

More Okta Workforce Identity cons

"For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled together on the back end. Sometimes, the integrations work well; sometimes, they don't. For example, if you want to use two-factor authentication, you need to integrate that into the solution. Or if you want to accept protocols other than web coming to your secure gateway, that's another integration. Supporting different devices like Macs, Samsung phones, or iPhones also requires more integrations. Ensuring all these integrations work properly is an ongoing process and a moving target."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

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

"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."

"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."

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

"I believe it competes well. The pricing is pretty competitive. I know that Microsoft also provides something similar with its MFA and identity services."

"The solution is not the cheapest but not the most expensive. They are in the middle rating."

"This is an expensive solution but the security makes it worthwhile."

"It has a yearly subscription. As compared to its competitors, it is quite expensive. It also has a complex licensing model."

"License is around US$20,000 annually."

"Workforce Identity is well-priced."

"The solution’s pricing needs to be reasonable. You are dealing with a lot of components and the pricing is component-based."

"The pricing for Okta Workforce Identity could still be improved or made cheaper. It costs from 50 to 100 euros a year per user. Okta Workforce Identity has different packages you can choose from, and my previous company had all of them, particularly the full Okta suite."

More Okta Workforce Identity pricing and cost advice

"Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays the full MSRP. Typically, you negotiate and work with them on the pricing."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

I have the same complaint about them that I have about other software companies. Sometimes when you call in support, ...

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What is your primary use case for iboss?

We are a PreK-12 public school district, and we use iboss to filter internet content for our students at home and sta...

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What do you like most about Okta Workforce Identity?

Okta has introduced the Universal Directory. It has custom attribute capability and user permissions to read/write on...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Okta Workforce Identity?

Pricing for Okta is reasonably not that much, however, I don't have access to the commercial aspect.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Okta Workforce Identity?

Okta should have at least a local presense for countries that align with or comply with GDPR or data sovereignty, so ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

Pricing varies depending on the situation. In competitive situations, it's usually priced competitively. Nobody pays ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

For areas of improvement, the main issue is with integrations. The Symantec ZTNA comprises many products cobbled toge...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

The solution helps to allow access only to what is explicitly needed. This means restricting access to specific appli...

See all answers

Comparisons

Zscaler Internet Access vs iboss

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs iboss

Compared 15% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 13% of the time

Cloudflare One vs iboss

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

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Microsoft Entra ID vs Okta Workforce Identity

Compared 39% of the time

SailPoint Identity Security Cloud vs Okta Workforce Identity

Compared 11% of the time

Google Cloud Identity vs Okta Workforce Identity

Compared 10% of the time

Saviynt vs Okta Workforce Identity

Compared 7% of the time

Ping Identity Platform vs Okta Workforce Identity

Compared 2% of the time

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Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 46% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 29% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Compared 25% of the time

More Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

March 2025

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

Okta Workforce Identity

March 2025

Download Okta Workforce Identity product report

Buyer's Guide

Access Management

April 2025

Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) report

Download Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

Symantec Secure Access Cloud, Luminate.io, Luminate

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

Okta Workforce Identity is a comprehensive identity and access management (IAM) solution designed to enhance security and streamline user experiences for businesses of all sizes. As a cloud-based platform, it offers a suite of tools that simplify user authentication, authorization, and management across a variety of applications and services.

Core Features

Single Sign-On (SSO): Enables users to access multiple applications with a single set of credentials, enhancing convenience and reducing password fatigue.
Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Provides robust security by requiring additional verification factors, which can adapt based on the user's location, device, and behavior.
Lifecycle Management: Automates user account creation, updating, and deactivation, ensuring access rights are current and compliant with company policies.
Universal Directory: A centralized directory service that supports user and group management across various applications, simplifying administrative tasks.
API Access Management: Safeguards APIs by implementing policies that control how and when they can be accessed, which is crucial for protecting sensitive data.

PeerSpot users often praise Okta Workforce Identity for its ease of use and robust security features. IT professionals appreciate the streamlined integration with numerous applications and the flexibility in configuring access policies. Business executives value the enhanced security posture and the ability to enforce compliance across their digital assets.

For IT professionals, Okta Workforce Identity offers a scalable and efficient solution to manage user identities and access rights. The ability to automate routine tasks like user provisioning and deactivation significantly reduces administrative overhead, allowing IT teams to focus on more strategic initiatives. Furthermore, the platform's comprehensive reporting capabilities aid in monitoring and auditing access, which is critical for maintaining security and compliance.

Business executives will find that Okta Workforce Identity aligns with broader organizational goals of operational efficiency and risk management. Its intuitive user experience minimizes disruptions to workforce productivity, while advanced security features like adaptive MFA help mitigate the risk of data breaches. The platform's cloud-based nature ensures scalability and agility, enabling businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and workforce dynamics.

Okta Workforce Identity stands out as a versatile and secure IAM solution, adept at meeting the complex needs of modern enterprises. Its combination of user-friendly features and robust security measures makes it a top choice for organizations aiming to streamline their identity management processes while bolstering their cybersecurity defenses.

Okta

Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), revolutionizes remote access security for enterprise applications. By replacing traditional VPNs with secure, temporary connections solely to required applications, it significantly reduces the attack surface, mitigating the risk of data breaches. Whether accessing cloud-based or on-premises applications, Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) ensures robust security through continuous authentication and authorization, adhering to the Zero Trust principle of "never trust, always verify." This solution not only enhances security by reducing unauthorized access but also simplifies access for users while offering scalability and cost savings by eliminating the need for complex hardware and software. Tailored for organizations with remote workforces, cloud-based applications, and stringent data security concerns, Symantec Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) stands as an efficient and scalable access control solution among its competitors.

Broadcom

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.

FedEx, Zoom, Takeda, Lululemon Athletica, GrunHub, jetBlue, McKensson, Bain & Company, Engie, Peloton, Sonos, T-Mobile, Hewlett Packard, MGM Resorts, Ally Financial, Priceline, Albertsons, Itercom, Classy, FICO, Kensho, Live Nation, Drata, Rotary, and others.

NEX, AIG, Fiverr, Upwork

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Okta, Auth0 and others in Access Management. Updated: April 2025.

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