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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. IBM Security QRadar SIEM

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    IBM Security QRadar SIEM

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AIBM Security QRadar is security information and event management (SIEM) Software.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    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 Identity Services Engine (ISE)IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is great for integrating well with other Cisco products but Infoblox is more vendor agnostic and can provide ways to manage a variety of systems. However since Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) uses TACAS for cisco switches it is …
    Incentivized
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    67 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    128 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    61 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    142 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    70 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    99 Answers
    86%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    115 Answers
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    59 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
    Comparison of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) features of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Feature
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    8.5
    69 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Centralized event and log data collection00 Ratings9.927 Ratings
    Correlation00 Ratings8.669 Ratings
    Event and log normalization/management00 Ratings9.527 Ratings
    Deployment flexibility00 Ratings7.827 Ratings
    Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools00 Ratings8.965 Ratings
    Custom dashboards and workspaces00 Ratings7.569 Ratings
    Host and network-based intrusion detection00 Ratings9.725 Ratings
    Data integration/API management00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Behavioral analytics and baselining00 Ratings7.648 Ratings
    Rules-based and algorithmic detection thresholds00 Ratings8.049 Ratings
    Response orchestration and automation00 Ratings7.75 Ratings
    Reporting and compliance management00 Ratings7.947 Ratings
    Incident indexing/searching00 Ratings8.97 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Small Businesses
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    Medium-sized Companies
    FireMon
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Sumo Logic
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco IOS Security
    Score9.6 out of 10
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Score8 out of 10
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    User Ratings
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (146 ratings)
    8.6
    (89 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    8.8
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    7.9
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.3
    (7 ratings)
    8.1
    (62 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.2
    (4 ratings)
    8.1
    (58 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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.
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    IBM
    I would only recommend IBM Security QRadar SIEM in a few situations. For one, it's very easy to setup and use if all your log sources are generic from known vendors. It's also significantly cheaper than Splunk, which is nice if you're trying to save money or be more efficient. I would not recommend IBM Security QRadar SIEM for environments with a lot of custom logs and complicated detection requirements.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    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
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    IBM
    • Enables identification and prioritization of vulnerabilities in IT infrastructure for corrective action.
    • Facilitates security incident investigation and forensic analysis.
    • Provides a real-time view of security events, enabling immediate incident response.
    • Can integrate with external threat intelligence sources to enrich data and improve threat detection.
    • Enables the generation of detailed and customized reports.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    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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    IBM
    • Need to spend more time configuring the system to properly interpret and normalize different type of data collected from multiple resources.
    • While Rule creation QRadar uses that rules to detect security threats and generate alerts, but to creating and managing rules is bit complex & tedious work to complete.
    • IBM Security QRadar SIEM is excellent in handling large & complex systems that requires in-depth knowledge and extensive training to configure and maintain the system which includes upgrading, optimization of performance & issue troubleshooting.
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    Likelihood to Renew
    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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    IBM
    QRadar is an established and stable product, we have been using it for many years and want to continue to focus on it. Anyone who has used the product and knows it knows how reliable it is and how it facilitates continuous monitoring of threats from outside and inside. it is an exceptional product that is very useful for us.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    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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    IBM
    As a grade I give 8 as QRadar is not easy to learn. It requires some time to master it. It also needs a team of people actively working on the product. Once you learn to use it the software works very well and it is easy to correlate and understand detected threats. It only takes time to learn how to use it well and configure it properly.
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    Reliability and Availability
    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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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    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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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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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    IBM
    Customer support is Good of IBM, While Using IBM QRadar its deployment is to slow and suddenly stop working and crashed we have contacted IBM Support and Rised a Ticket within a few minute we get call back from customer support and Query Resolved by them Fast And Rapid Support of Ibm
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    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    The training was very useful and the people who taught us were very knowledgeable. Although the software may initially seem difficult to learn they made things much easier for us.
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    Online Training
    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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    IBM
    The training was very useful and the people who taught us were very knowledgeable. Although the software may initially seem difficult to learn they made things much easier for us.
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    Implementation Rating
    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)
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    IBM
    Initial patience is required to learn how to use the product, and it takes a dedicated team to use it. One person is not enough, and it's not enough to just set it up and check it once in a while. It has to be used daily and kept under control to be used effectively
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    Alternatives Considered
    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.
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    IBM
    IBM Qradar takes the best from its competitors. Reliable and stable but sometimes very expensive, the SIEM from IBM offers a wide range of scenarios in which the customers can suite and size their own infrastructures. IBM Qradar doesn't really needs to stack up againt its competitors because it already sets an example in the SIEM world.
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    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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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    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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    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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.
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    IBM
    • Offense investigation was really helped in tackling the incidents. It was accurate and brief
    • The automation with IBM resilient (SOAR) was a milestone in elimination of user mistakes
    • The X-Force threat intelligence supported us in getting the work done without any 3rd party enterprise OSINT database
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    ScreenShots

    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

    IBM Security QRadar SIEM Screenshots

    Screenshot of QRadar SIEM Cloud native- Threat intelligence preview