Aruba ClearPass vs. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Aruba ClearPass
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Aruba ClearPass is network access control (NAC) technology from HPE company Aruba Networks. Aruba acquired Avenda and its eTips NAC in 2011.N/A
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
The Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) offers a network-based approach for adaptable, trusted access everywhere, based on context. It gives the user intelligent, integrated protection through intent-based policy and compliance solutions.N/A
Pricing
Aruba ClearPassCisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Aruba ClearPassCisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Aruba ClearPassCisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Considered Both Products
Aruba ClearPass
Chose Aruba ClearPass
From my experience, ClearPass has been the best NAC server of all I've seen. Even though configuration is somewhat hard and it's hard to get training, once you learn how to configure it it works very well. The policies are very granular and scalable and the interface is a …
Chose Aruba ClearPass
ClearPass by far is a more versatile system it seems that it has more features and can configure how you want it. Cisco ISE is extremely complicated to deploy where I felt that ClearPass was more straight forward and user-friendly. Clearpass does what Cisco ISE can do and …
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
So we have Aruba ClearPass manager, so we evaluated that one as well that what is the future around it, but we found Cisco ISE better, so that's why we made a decision to move to Cisco. So we evaluated CPPM, which is an Aruba product, Aruba platform.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Aruba ClearPass and Cisco ISE are very similar in nature. The biggest differentiator that I have seen is the Cisco ISE ecosystem around native Adaptive Network Controls, programmable interfaces, pxGrid, and Cisco TrustSec environment. Due to the span of products Cisco has in …
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
When comparing Cisco Identity Services Engine and Aurba ClearPass, Cisco Identity Services Engine provides more complex graphic user interface - it is easy to get lost within it, but on the other hand you can find everything you need. Cisco Identity Services Engine is very …
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
We manage multiple environments with mixed hardware where we use them both very well.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
I know we looked at ClearPass. ClearPass was the other solution we had looked at a long time ago, but haven't really looked back, so I don't remember too much about it.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Identity Services Engine is reliable and it has been more time out in the market.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
They provide similar functionalities
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is definitely better, PxGrid alone wins the race. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is more dynamic and vibrant, with a myriad of features.
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
We made more progress with Forescout in 2 days than we did in 8 months trying to get ISE operational. It isn't even close. The MDM add-in worked almost immediately, and the lack of reliance on 802.1x made the entire setup process extremely quick.

Since building automation and …
Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco ISE stacks up well against other systems because it does what it says and is stable. For us, ISE is great for managing access to our network devices and systems. Cisco ISE might not do as much as other products, but you will pay more for those options. If you are looking …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Aruba ClearPassCisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Nmap
Nmap
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Nmap
Nmap
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Aruba ClearPassCisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Likelihood to Recommend
9.6
(10 ratings)
8.8
(91 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.6
(3 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(3 ratings)
7.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(3 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(6 ratings)
7.0
(6 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(3 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
6.2
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Aruba ClearPassCisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Likelihood to Recommend
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Aruba ClearPass is suited well for large enterprise networks with many connecting buildings and branches. Aruba ClearPass protects your endpoints from unauthorized or unknown devices accessing your network. You can apply policies that prevent devices from meeting the required policies in ClearPass. ClearPass will allow only authorized access for devices that are using the policies.
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Cisco
One scenario I already mentioned is authentication integration. So that works well. We haven't run any situation where it is not suited, so we haven't run into that situation. So I am not really sure that would it work or not. But right now, so far so good.
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Pros
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • You can use ClearPass authenticate using wired and wireless network devices. This is helpful that you don't have to have multiple systems to accomplish this.
  • Because devices can have different purposes Clearpass can configure groups that will specify what access they have. You can use parameters such as vendor or mac address so clearpass know what group to push them to.
  • It is very easy to view device logs. This is really helpful to troubleshoot auth issues. Once you find the device Clearpass provides more than enough info to know what the issue is and to fix it.
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Cisco
  • The most beneficial thing that I love about it, there are tons of things that I love about ISE and that it does well, but the most fascinating that I feel about is its integration with DNA center or Catalyst Center using PX Grid as the protocol wherein ISE acts as a policy server for the entire campus hand in hand with Catalyst Center to make sure that the policy policy follows the user and also in the background hand in hand with DNA Center or Catalyst Center makes sure microsegmentation is implemented so that east west traffic is blocked and takes care of the campus.
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Cons
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • The user interface is outdated
  • Support is not as responsive as it used to be
  • I'd like to be able to build dashboards
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Cisco
  • I guess the user experience itself, it's sometimes a little bit slow, but this is also dependent on the platform and the scale of the deployment of course. But actually functionality-wise it's really, really good. But yeah, it could sometimes be a little quicker to react on the good front.
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Likelihood to Renew
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We are so very reliant on Cisco Identity Services Engine at this point that finding another solution would be a big hassle for us.
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Usability
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Aruba Clearpass is straight forward in terms of day to day use for monitoring and basic user connectivity issues. The system is very robust on the back end, therefore some larger configuration changes may not be the most intuitive. System upgrades and license management are not the most intuitive either.
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Cisco
For us the solution is very easily useable on its own. Perhaps that has to do because we started using ISE in the 1.2 days and have seen it grow during the years. Policy creation, etc. is all very visible and thus easy to use. Deployment of multiple nodes is also incredibly easy and flexible. You can easily add or remove nodes as you wish.
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Reliability and Availability
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We do have to occasionally reboot the servers when they get low on memory, but we're also a few versions behind. Availability has generally been pretty good though with no major outages in the time that we've had it implemented.
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Performance
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
yes it does. depending on where you coming from. Logs are pretty busy same as report. it also depending on devices count and design.
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Support Rating
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
We had some issues with ClearPass integration with AirGroup on Aruba Controller Clusters. Basically, it was tough to get coordinated between the controller support and the ClearPass support.
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Cisco
Cisco support is second to none, both in terms of how you access support but also the knowledge of the individual support teams. If you focus on one technology and provide "manufacturer support" then you can rest assured that you are accessing Cisco's top individuals. I feel like this is a USP for Cisco support.
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Online Training
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Training can only cover certain areas, there are a lot of areas training just can't cover. You have to learn by doing it.
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Implementation Rating
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
I did participate in the implementation of Cisco ISE and while there were times when it was confusing and we had a lot of trial and error, overall the experience was fine.
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Alternatives Considered
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
From my experience, ClearPass has been the best NAC server of all I've seen. Even though configuration is somewhat hard and it's hard to get training, once you learn how to configure it it works very well. The policies are very granular and scalable and the interface is a well-done web GUI that does not need any extra plugins installed, as some of Cisco's product require. There are many more options than with FortiNAC, and many more integration options. Also, troubleshooting and logging is good.
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Cisco
In our case, the entire core of our network is based on Cisco technologies as well as user access. For this reason it was the simplest choice given that both by integration and by knowledge of the platform it was the solution with the least complexity and the best adoption curve offered us.
At the level of capabilities, they seemed really similar to us, each option having some point where it surpassed the others and others where it was surpassed.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Cisco ISE was competitively priced and Cisco was able to leverage some of our existing contracts to help ease the purchase.
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Scalability
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
It's fully customised and comprehensive. only thing is you need to know what you want. Proper research and planning would save lots of time and effort .
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Return on Investment
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • Set and forget. It made a positive contribution in terms of labor and cost without needing much technical support. Since NAC and TACACS features come together, you can meet your needs with a single license.
  • The number of supporting companies may be limited in the country you are affiliated with. Therefore, agreements with third-party companies are expensive and your support requests may take a long time.
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Cisco
  • Cisco ISE is fairly expensive, but I feel that the time it saves our team is well worth it.
  • We have been able to roll this our to all of our teams, and they can each manage their own device and it is really convenient to have each team mange their own devices
  • Once it is deployed and configured, it seems like there isn't much upkeep, so we don't have to hire someone to manage it we do it by committee.
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ScreenShots