Cisco AnyConnect vs. Sophos SG Firewall Appliances

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco AnyConnect
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers an SSL VPN solution via AnyConnect.N/A
Sophos SG Firewall Appliances
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Sophos SG Firewall Appliances are designed to provide optimal protection for organizations of all sixes from small remote offices, to global organizations requiring high-availability andN/A
Pricing
Cisco AnyConnectSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco AnyConnectSophos SG Firewall Appliances
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
Cisco AnyConnectSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Considered Both Products
Cisco AnyConnect
Chose Cisco AnyConnect
Even though we have a FortiGate firewall on our network, we prefer Cisco AnyConnect as it is one tool for multiple solutions. We are using ISE which by default needs Cisco AnyConnect to be installed on the user's side, so we can use it also to connect through our VPN.
Sophos SG Firewall Appliances

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cisco AnyConnectSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco AnyConnect
-
Ratings
Sophos SG Firewall Appliances
7.8
4 Ratings
9% below category average
Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
Visualization Tools00 Ratings7.34 Ratings
Content Inspection00 Ratings8.74 Ratings
Policy-based Controls00 Ratings7.74 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings7.74 Ratings
Firewall Management Console00 Ratings7.34 Ratings
Reporting and Logging00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
VPN00 Ratings8.34 Ratings
High Availability00 Ratings8.74 Ratings
Stateful Inspection00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco AnyConnectSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Small Businesses
Avast Small Business Solutions
Avast Small Business Solutions
Score 8.3 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.1 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Check Point Quantum Security Gateway
Score 9.1 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco AnyConnectSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(93 ratings)
7.7
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(72 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.8
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(77 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.7
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco AnyConnectSophos SG Firewall Appliances
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
It's well suited for the mobile task force we have at Engel for all the information workers, the salespersons, and the salespeople that are abroad and are not often on the Engel premises but are on customer premises. So for them, it's the only really good tool to connect to central IT resources. But when I look to the future way of utilizing cloud resources and having a hybrid approach and having SaaS services like Salesforce, which are running natively in the cloud, then AnyConnect might not be suitable for them because anyway, I have a direct connection via an HTTPS tunnel to run all my SAS applications. I would not see any benefit of using AnyConnect in this case. So the more a company runs in the cloud, the less it needs AnyConnect.
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Sophos
It is a great fit for small to medium enterprises who are low on budget. The pricing is very competitive when compared with other major players like Palo Alto and the features match any NGFW Firewall in the market. However, in my opinion when it comes to massive performance requirements, I would say the Sophos SG Firewall Appliances lacks the sheer power that other devices in the market have.
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Pros
Cisco
  • Cisco AnyConnect connects the machine with the VPN very smoothly in a few clicks also provides security with Multi-Factor Authentication.
  • It Provides the facility of creating Network groups such as Local and Project Network so that user can limit the connectivity options.
  • The System scan feature is so robust, it Scans the System every time we connect to a new network and remembers the older Network and does not Scans while we connect to usual Netwroks.
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Sophos
  • Sophos' support is actually pretty decent compared to Fortinet. We as a customer who uses both have first-hand experience in that. Sophos' way of support is much more hands-on. For instance, if you raise a ticket, they will contact you via chat, email, or phone in a timely manner and based on your SLA.
  • Sophos antivirus can speak with your firewall natively so that when a threat happens it can be blocked on a network level. We had first-hand experience of this where there was a potential outbreak on the network but the machines were getting isolated and prevented the spreading of malware.
  • Sophos comes with a whole suite of products like Intercept X, MDM, Antivirus, On-premise, and a virtual firewall. So they are like a one shop stop for all your security needs. We liked Sophos compared to our other firewall, which only had on-premise and virtual firewall boxes.
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Cons
Cisco
  • Manual Administrative Config: The Enrollment requires the user to enroll from their end and can't just be "Setup" for the user unless you act as the user. For things like SMS text, it would be nice just to put it in place and have it work without a "Setup/Enrollment" process. This does, however ensure the user understands the process.
  • Active Directory Sync and Azure Sync Did not automatically match up accounts and duplicate, so I had to do it manually, to be fair the account usernames do not match the Email Address which is used for Azure so it would be difficult.
  • Duo Support and Cisco Support seem to have not been integrated with each other well, most support tickets end up with a Duo expert and a Cisco Firewall Expert on at the same time, though this has improved dramatically.
  • They did not force my Admin to use an NTP Server off the bat, which would have fixed a few issues we had that persisted for a while until he started using one. (A bit old fashioned)
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Sophos
  • The user interface could use a refresh. It's been a few years.
  • Not having the ability to use an Open VPN configuration is a little disappointing.
  • Home license is too restrictive with only 50 IPs.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
This is software is easy to use, easy to maintain, easy to support, cost effective, and extremely secure. We will continue to use it for all employees well into the future. We have already renewed our licenses for another 5 years - that's how confident we are that this software will remain a primary security solution for our firm.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Usability
Cisco
Compared to other products that I have used, Cisco gives me more information and it is easy for me to understand what's happening from the application, which is Cisco AnyConnect, which other vendors don't. It's very hard for me if I have to work with other applications, I have to get support from the application owner vendor. But in Cisco, I myself can read through and get this thing. Now with that being very comfortable, I mean very, very useful. I would like to get to more detail in a more simplified way. There are plenty of things. It is also where there is something it gives me in a simplified way. This is what has happened that would help me in some cases. But always there is a scope for improvement in any product. I never rate any product to 10, even if it's better because there is always room for improvement. So I personally feel we can still make this better. It is a good product, but we can still make it better
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
Thus far, I have not encountered any outages to Cisco AnyConnect. Any firmware updates are completed infrequently and efficiently such that the users don’t experience noticeable downtime. I have not encountered any errors running the platform at any time of day or night , or from any geographical location. Provided a hard-wired or WiFi internet connection is available, expect Cisco AnyConnect to run without unexpected interruption.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
We use Cisco AnyConnect to connect to on-prem resources. The delay in connecting is not noticeable.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
Their support team is extraordinary and quick responding. All support team members have great product knowledge and takes very minimum time for query resolution. Support is available on phone, emails, etc. As per my experience with their support team, I will rate them with 10 stars here because it was truly exceptional.
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Sophos
The biggest selling point for sophos is their vendor support. Those guys put a smile on our faces. There are multiple ways you can contact their support like chat, or telephone or email. They are very responsive and they do have very knowledgable and patient support staff. We have raised tickets at all odd hours and they have been addressed correctly
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
We are quite satisfied with the deployment. We might extend our deployment. My suggestion to everyone will be utilizing Cisco cloud infra as well. As it will give you some nice features like cloud based firewall, DNS Security and threat intelligence. Threat intelligence was a key decision maker for us and people should not ignore it.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
I have tried the above too. I have noticed that the consistency and reliability that connect provides are way better than theirs. Integration with 2-factor authentication apps is something extremely important, and I am not sure if this two software provide such functionality. Network stability and speed are also not as good as Cisco Anyconnect.
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Sophos
Both are equally good when comparing the features, FortiGate has a better dashboard while Sophos SG Firewall Appliances has good vpn texhniques.Overall price was better for Sophos SG Firewall Appliances,So we considered this for our Remote Branch Location .
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Scalability
Cisco
It is a simple application with a minimal interface.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • We are able to seamlessly work on multiple clients daily, and it allows us to quickly handle more projects at the same time.
  • Cisco AnyConnect has allowed our own company's coworkers to remotely connect back to the corporate network, easily assisting work schedules and processes, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being forced to work remotely, meant our processes still happened quickly and efficiently, by being able to leverage and use Cisco AnyConnect VPN.
  • Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have worked 100% remotely for a few years now. This was always due to the reliable connectivity and ease of use with Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I live 2+ hours from our nearest corporate office, and even further from some of my client locations, and I have always been able to connect to any of my multiple Cisco AnyConnect VPN connections, within seconds.
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Sophos
  • Positive ROI due to the competitiveness of the product.
  • Positive impact as the device is fully functional and easy to operate.
  • Negative impact when it comes to log integration as it does not support industry logging standards.
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