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Check Point Harmony SASE vs. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Harmony SASE

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ACheck Point Harmony SASE, based on Perimeter 81 which was acquired by Check Point in late 2023, is designed to simplify secure network, cloud and application access for the modern and distributed workforce.

    $10

    per month per user

    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AThe 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
    Harmony SASECisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Editions & Modules
    Essentials
    $10
    per month per user
    Premium
    $15
    per month per user
    Premium Plus
    $20
    per month per user
    Enterprise
    Custom
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Harmony SASECisco 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+$50 per month per gateway. Discounts available for annual pricing.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Harmony SASECisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Considered Both Products
    Check Point Software Technologies
    No answer on this topic
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    128 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    142 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    99 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    115 Answers
    Features
    Harmony SASECisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Identity Management
    Comparison of Identity Management features of Check Point Harmony SASE and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Feature
    Check Point Harmony SASE
    8.5
    3 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-Factor Authentication8.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence
    Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Check Point Harmony SASE and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Feature
    Check Point Harmony SASE
    6.0
    1 Ratings
    28% below category average
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    Network Analytics6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated Alerts and Reporting6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Zero Trust Security
    Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Check Point Harmony SASE and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Feature
    Check Point Harmony SASE
    8.8
    4 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    Continuous Verification9.53 Ratings00 Ratings
    Secure Web Gateways10.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network Flow Control9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network Traffic Analysis6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Segmentation Leveraging10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Admin Access Control9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network Data Encryption10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network Topology Mapping7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Harmony SASECisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    FireMon
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Forescout Vistaro Platform
    Score6.6 out of 10
    Cisco IOS Security
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Harmony SASECisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (146 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    7.9
    (6 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (7 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.2
    (4 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
    Harmony SASECisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Check Point Software Technologies
    We have found that when thoughtfully implemented, Check Point Harmony SASE can be well suited for almost any customer. Smaller customers may not need all the functions of SASE, but they all need a reliable VPN solution when traveling. The platform can be configured for individual tenants, allowing the solution to scale with the client as they grow. As the customer grows, they are already familiar with the agent, so scaling up has less user pushback.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Well suited... I've used it for both wired and wireless access, and it's perfect for that. In addition to enforcing security on the port, you can also lock down east-west traffic. When you get to the point where you're configuring secure group tags and things like that, you can keep people from getting to places they shouldn't. Basically, you could turn your entire network into a firewall if you wanted to. You can secure access based on the identity of any given user through role-based authentication. For example, if you have salespeople and you don't want them accessing your financial or PCI environment, they authenticate as a salesperson and you can completely stop them from getting to any of that. That's really important, especially for us. Our payment card infrastructure servers are heavily locked down. Granted, in our situation, we firewall all that off anyway, but you still don't want some random individual to be able to even attempt that sort of thing. That's what it's really good for. I'm trying to think of a weakness. I don't know. We don't really struggle with it. There's nothing that I use it for where I wish it were better, at least not that I can think of offhand. I'm sure there are things, I just can't think of anything off the top of my head.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Check Point Software Technologies
    • Secure access.
    • Multiple Azure tenant accessibility within a single login.
    • Ease of deployment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • manageable scaled administrative access to network devices as needed
    • Great use as a radius server which allows proper authentication and authorization into the network
    • Multiple conditions that can be utilized to grant users access based on their role in the organization
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Check Point Software Technologies
    • Harmony SASE can use some improvement in reporting. While general reports are available in the dashboard, it lacks additional details and flexibility to capture insights on user adoption, bandwidth utilization, etc.
    • The app lacks visibility into failures, errors, and network diagnostics, which would allow IT and network professionals to conduct their own investigation and troubleshooting. While their support has a good grasp of this, having these capabilities will allow organizations to take action on their own rather than waiting for support during issues and outages.
    • Expanding the platform's global presence, like adding gateways in different countries, is not a use case for us right now. They have a presence in most geographic locations we need, but I can imagine bigger companies needing other locations.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Trustsec needs more documentation and configuration best practice examples
    • The licensing model can be difficult to explain and understand for customers
    • Difficult to get an accurate benchmark to know exactly how many Cisco Identity Services Engine nodes and the size of the deployment should be
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Check Point Software Technologies
    100% chance of renewal. Is simple become part of our environment.
    Incentivized
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    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.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Check Point Software Technologies
    Overall, the product is easy to use, reliable, and can be automated to minimize user input. Occasionally, an agent update will clear the workspace and sign the user out. When this occurs, a member of our helpdesk team is needed to assist the user in signing back in. This is our biggest reason for giving it a 9 out of 10.
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Check Point Software Technologies
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Check Point Software Technologies
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Check Point Software Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Check Point Software Technologies
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Check Point Software Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    I think our system integrators lacks some competencies and this has led to an implementation that is still perfectible. (i.e. dedicating an interface for intra-cluster communication)
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Check Point Software Technologies
    In the beginning, it was a bit rough getting it to work and getting any kind of quality support from customer service. But recently they really improved their service and customer service. I believe they raise 100M in new funding which provides them the resources to make a better product with better tools and a better help desk.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    I think all give some visibility of device monitoring and management, but Cisco Identity Services Engine gives a good way to manage more details about the device in a centralized way that gives a wider range of monitoring and control than the other softwares individually. I don't think Cisco Identity Services Engine eliminates the need for these other software as of now, but there is potential for Cisco Identity Services Engine to be able to take over more of these roles.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Check Point Software Technologies
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Check Point Software Technologies
    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 .
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Check Point Software Technologies
    • One of the biggest benefits of switching to Check Point Harmony SASE was the pricing model. Our previous VPN solution is usage-based and billed on the amount of network traffic, while Harmony SASE has a per-user license.
    • We also benefited from simplified network architecture. Check Point Harmony SASE takes care of everything; we just need to select a location. Previously, we had to design and architect our VPN infrastructure, a task that required technical expertise.
    • Our organization leverages Harmony SASE's VPN solution allows us to meet our client-specific requirements. It enables remote work and removes the requirement for a physical office.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • I don't know about negatives because we haven't seen it right now, but positive impact is one is the roadmap we have. And now since we are going ahead with doing the deployment of Cisco ISE, we see that we are getting closure to, so at the end of the day, we have to make sure that operationally we stay excellent. So that's where operational excellence comes in. Cisco ISE is basically addressing that for us. Right now we are in a situation if there is a WIFI issue or if there is an authentication issue, it gets really difficult to isolate the problem. But with Cisco ISE , this functionality is going to come in. So we believe that it would be a good ROI.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)