Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the core OS for the ASA suite. It provides firewall functionality, as well as integration with context-specific Cisco security modules. It is scaled for enterprise-level traffic and connections.N/A
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP) for Azure, on-premises, and multicloud (Amazon AWS and Google GCP) resources.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
7.9
49 Ratings
8% below category average
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
-
Ratings
Identification Technologies6.932 Ratings00 Ratings
Visualization Tools6.730 Ratings00 Ratings
Content Inspection8.132 Ratings00 Ratings
Policy-based Controls9.045 Ratings00 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP7.947 Ratings00 Ratings
Firewall Management Console7.747 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting and Logging5.748 Ratings00 Ratings
VPN9.148 Ratings00 Ratings
High Availability9.147 Ratings00 Ratings
Stateful Inspection9.046 Ratings00 Ratings
Proxy Server8.031 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Small Businesses
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.6 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.6 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.5 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(87 ratings)
8.3
(41 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.1
(4 ratings)
8.9
(4 ratings)
Availability
7.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.7
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco ASA's are great for internal network connected access between a firewall and the central management server. And, for complex networks where high security requirements with overly strict compliance are necessary. For networks with limited connectivity to the core or for poor network connectivity these are not the best solution. There are other more stand-alone firewall's that do this better. These firewall's are a little more complex to set up to start with so significant knowledge of these devices is required to set them up and ensure they are best practice installed.
Read full review
Microsoft
If you need to proceed with pay as you go service then go ahead with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. This could be expensive in the long run but if the organization usage is slightly less than then this would suite the purpose. Also, it has the latest threat updates, so you're future proof in terms of potential treats.
Read full review
Pros
Cisco
  • ASA is our VPN concentrator. The client and server are very stable and very easy to use
  • ASA also offers Intrusion Prevention, to an extent. This is also very useful for an improved security posture for a small company
  • ASA allowed us to scale very quickly. We could onboard clients, partners, and consultants and give them a great onboarding experience as well
  • Administrative costs with ASA are low. It's very easy to administer.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • detect and respond to security threats in the cloud environment, reducing the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.
  • The product assists our organization dealing with sensitive data in achieving and maintaining compliance with data protection rules.
  • The product provides real-time visibility into the cloud environment, offering insights into ongoing security activities.
  • It guarantees that security teams can actively handle possible threats by delivering real-time monitoring and notifications, reducing the impact on business operations.
Read full review
Cons
Cisco
  • The ASDM software is at times a nightmare to install because of different java versions[.]
  • [The firewall] could do with a power button, just to be able to do a hard reboot when needed[.]
  • It would be nice to manage the firewall via the web on port 443[.]
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The licensing structure could be better by providing possibilities for partial deployment in a subscription
  • The information in the dashboards are sometimes scattered, there should be a better overall view
  • Some parts of Defender for Cloud are expensive, some features should be moved to the standard capabilities of Azure
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
To be honest there has been now great products out in the market compared to Cisco ASA. I beleieve Cisco has to do a lot of improvement in this area. The other defeiniete factors is the cost when it comes to renewals which is always a premium on Cisco products
Read full review
Microsoft
It is a great product that integrates nicely when running an Azure platform and even multi-cloud environment. Not looking for point-solutions but a suite that answers most requirements. It is very comfortable being able to use KQL, workbooks and automation that is native to the azure platform
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
I generally have not noticed the outages, however since it's a machine it can malfunction, we need to implement the firewall infrastructure in such a way that it is highly available with device failure, region failure etc. Else any solution will be having the issues if they are not build with resiliency.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
The support is usually very good and gets back to you very quickly. However I had some instances of when two engineers will give me wildly different answers to what I thought was a simple question. Overall however I do rate the support highly and they are generally always very good.
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cisco
It was quite a good one, how ever requires an expertise to deploy hence the SMB segment would be finding it difficult to implement this product. The one good reason is that there are lot of ASA certified engineers in compared to the other certified engineers. Hence this resembles positively on the deployment as you have quite a lot of experienced engineer on your deployment
Read full review
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
We were using [pfSense] before in our environment but we regularly facing difficulties over it due to software bugs & downtime. After implementing Cisco ASA, it resolved our availability issue & provides us a reliable solution with the best security features & easy to understand GUI.
Read full review
Microsoft
We used to use Symantec and McAfee. It's been mostly defenders since, gosh, the last eight to 10 years. So we're a small organization. We don't have a lot of folks, so single-painted glass is really important to be able to see the whole environment in a single place. And the Microsoft tooling gives us that.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Most network engineers have worked with ASA, so there is no need for re-training when adding or turning over staff
  • Current configs from older devices plug in easily, and are operational on larger devices if an upgrade is required
  • Many support options available
Read full review
Microsoft
  • It simplifies security management and saves time. I'm not sure, but I'm very confident it saved me a couple of paychecks by centralizing the data I need to secure the cloud environment.
  • I also utilize the inventory overview to monitor my team's activities and verify they are following internal regulations, as well as cost overruns.
  • The recommendations can be utilized as a valuable instructional tool. I have the team explain why they are receiving them, why they are not following them, and what they are doing differently.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Screenshots

Screenshot of Remediation of critical issues in codeScreenshot of Cloud security benchmark mapped to industry FramworksScreenshot of Prioritization of critical risks with contextual threat analysisScreenshot of Workload protectionScreenshot of Unified DevOps VisibilityScreenshot of Visualizations to improve security posture proactively