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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. Nmap vs. ScoutDNS

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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

    Nmap

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ANmap is a free, open source network discovery, mapper, and security auditing software. Its core features include port scanning identifying unknown devices, testing for security vulnerabilities, and identifying network issues.

    $49,980

    one-time fee

    ScoutDNS

    N/AN/AN/A

    $15

    per month

    Pricing
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)NmapScoutDNS
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $7,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $11,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $13,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $14,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $19,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $23,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $49,980
    one-time fee per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $59,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $79,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $79,980
    one-time fee per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $95,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $98,980
    one-time fee per license
    Basic
    $15
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)NmapScoutDNS
    Free Trial
    NoNoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsAll perpetual licenses include a six-month trial period during which you can cancel for any reason and receive a full refund of all money paid (including maintenance). The term license is only a 3-month commitment and cal also be terminated with full refund during the first 30 days of the initial quarter.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)NmapScoutDNS
    Considered Multiple Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    128 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    14 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    142 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    14 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    99 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    115 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)NmapScoutDNS
    Network Performance Monitoring
    Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Nmap and ScoutDNS
    Feature
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    Nmap
    5.3
    17 Ratings
    40% below category average
    ScoutDNS
    -
    Ratings
    Automated network device discovery00 Ratings5.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network monitoring00 Ratings10.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Baseline threshold calculation00 Ratings9.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Alerts00 Ratings3.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network capacity planning00 Ratings6.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Packet capture analysis00 Ratings2.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network mapping00 Ratings10.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings1.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Wireless infrastructure monitoring00 Ratings2.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Hardware health monitoring00 Ratings5.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)NmapScoutDNS
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Auvik
    Score8.8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    FireMon
    Score7.9 out of 10
    PingPlotter
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco IOS Security
    Score9.6 out of 10
    NETSCOUT nGeniusONE
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Cisco IOS Security
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)NmapScoutDNS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (146 ratings)
    10.0
    (18 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.9
    (6 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.3
    (7 ratings)
    8.4
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)NmapScoutDNS
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    If you're a sysadmin, or anyone who's had to deploy network services, you've almost certainly had to use Nmap at some point or other. Need to see what devices are on your LAN? Nmap can tell you that. Want to check which ports your web server has open to the internet? Nmap is your friend.
    Nmap is a powerful command-line tool and has many options that require some reading of documentation to get the best out of (although generally straightforward). If the thought of working at the command-line scares you (presumably not if you're reading this review), then you may want a much simpler tool, or at least check out Zenmap GUI.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    Open Source
    • NMap provides a very fast and a very thorough network "sweep" that allows you to quickly map out exactly what's on your network.
    • NMap is highly configurable. The "canned" choices are very good in most instances, but using various switches and options, you can create a very specific scan and get exactly the results you're looking for.
    • NMap is easy to use. Even a new administrator will be able to use the graphical version (Zenmap) with efficiency right away.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    Open Source
    • The GUI version on Nmap could use some improvement with the options that are available to do scans. For example, they could make it easier to select options for the different types of scanning for people who are beginners
    • There are no abilities to schedule a scan in the Nmap tool.
    • An intensive scan sometimes takes too much time to complete.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    Nmap uses are very practical and I don't think there is a better tools for what Nmap does. It is open-sources that therefore there is no cost to use it. It offers a number of benefits, including but not limited to network mapping, port scanning and more. It is very reliable as a network scanning tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    There is a very large support community and a robust selection of add-ons and scripts. Once you get the use down this is one of the most powerful tools and you can find anything you are looking for as far as examples on the web. While not having official support its not lacking by any means.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    Alternatives to Nmap (other IP scanners) are often much more limited in what they can do; They often only allow you to scan a specific subset of ports or a limited number of IP addresses in one command. Nmap is unrestricted in that regard. What makes Nmap stand out above the rest, is the complete network analysis package you get with it. It allows IP scanner, network deep-dives, hardware analysis, vulnerability analysis, encryption detailing, and so much more, in one free application
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    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
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    ScoutDNS
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    • Nmap with Wireshark is free, so it's been a great combo team to gather info and test.
    • It's allowed us to avoid fines from false positives and to fix actual issues ourselves.
    • Great for finding hosts, helps keep the network secure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScoutDNS
    No answers on this topic
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)