Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches

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.

Incentivized

If you have a big environment with a lot of edge switch needs and department groups, then Extreme's fabric connect can save a lot of management time. If your environment is small then you may want to stick with the traditional model since fabric connect costs more. Also if you make lots of configuration changes all the time then fabric connect will be helpful. Otherwise, making an occasional change you don't need fabric connect.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• Uptime has been fantastic. We have had no issues with our switches shutting down or crashing
• Policy, We have the ability to enforce Policy at the port

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• They are working on it, but a single console to manage the policies across all switches.
• For those with a Cisco background, the CLI commands are different with Extreme so you have to get used to that. Nothing necessarily wrong though.
• If you want a chassis core switch/router then those are becoming less available and won't find many options with Extreme.

Incentivized

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

Great product, great support and very happy with the reliability.

Incentivized

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

Very easy to use, the CLI is a little different than competing products, but the GUI is very intuitive.

Incentivized

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

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

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

There hasn't been a single problem with the code or hardware that hasn't been resolved in a timely fashion. You get technicians who know the product and who will work with you to get things fixed. That being said, I never ran into a problem with Cisco tech support either. I love that both groups were willing to teach me as they fixed things.

Incentivized

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

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.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

We upgraded to Extreme Switches from Cisco SG500 and SG250 small business switches. Extreme Switches offer a much easier to use GUI management platform called Extreme CloudIQ, which makes visibility into our network much easier and user friendly. Performance wise these offered higher uplink speed as well.

Incentivized

Cisco ISE was competitively priced and Cisco was able to leverage some of our existing contracts to help ease the purchase.

Incentivized

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

• 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.

Incentivized

• Extreme [Ethernet Switches] have a long-life. You can easily get 7 years in main production life depending on when you buy in the product life-cycle.
• Extreme [Ethernet Switches] are expensive, no doubt, but we also don't have "weird" network problems or other issues with the network randomly going down.
• If you use fabric connect switches then the ease of managing many switches is of no concern.

Incentivized