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Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) vs. SecureLink Enterprise Access vs. Zscaler Private Access

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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

    SecureLink Enterprise Access

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ASecureLink is a platform for remote support in regulated industries. Enterprise software vendors use SecureLink to deliver remote support and services. Hospitals, banks, casinos and other regulated entities use SecureLink to authenticate, control and audit remote access for their vendors, business associates and other 3rd parties.N/A

    Zscaler Private Access

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AZscaler Private Access™ (ZPA) gives users secure access to private apps and OT devices while enabling zero trust connectivity for workloads.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)SecureLink Enterprise AccessZscaler Private Access
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)SecureLink Enterprise AccessZscaler Private Access
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details———
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)SecureLink Enterprise AccessZscaler Private Access
    Considered Multiple Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    SecureLink
    No answer on this topic
    Zscaler
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    99%
    Would buy again
    84 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    128 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    67 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    142 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    84 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    99 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    59 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    115 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    68 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)SecureLink Enterprise AccessZscaler Private Access
    Identity Management
    Comparison of Identity Management features of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and SecureLink Enterprise Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    SecureLink Enterprise Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    9.2
    58 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings00 Ratings9.258 Ratings
    Endpoint Security
    Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and SecureLink Enterprise Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    SecureLink Enterprise Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    8.8
    27 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings00 Ratings8.827 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence
    Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and SecureLink Enterprise Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    SecureLink Enterprise Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    8.6
    65 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Network Analytics00 Ratings00 Ratings8.961 Ratings
    Threat Recognition00 Ratings00 Ratings9.053 Ratings
    Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings00 Ratings8.442 Ratings
    Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings00 Ratings8.255 Ratings
    Threat Analysis00 Ratings00 Ratings8.748 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings00 Ratings8.245 Ratings
    Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings00 Ratings8.643 Ratings
    Zero Trust Security
    Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and SecureLink Enterprise Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
    -
    Ratings
    SecureLink Enterprise Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    9.1
    78 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Continuous Verification00 Ratings00 Ratings9.171 Ratings
    Secure Web Gateways00 Ratings00 Ratings9.353 Ratings
    Network Flow Control00 Ratings00 Ratings9.158 Ratings
    Network Traffic Analysis00 Ratings00 Ratings9.165 Ratings
    Segmentation Leveraging00 Ratings00 Ratings9.264 Ratings
    Admin Access Control00 Ratings00 Ratings9.368 Ratings
    Network Data Encryption00 Ratings00 Ratings9.260 Ratings
    Network Topology Mapping00 Ratings00 Ratings8.752 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)SecureLink Enterprise AccessZscaler Private Access
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
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    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    FireMon
    Score7.9 out of 10
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    Enterprises
    Cisco IOS Security
    Score9.6 out of 10
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    Score6.6 out of 10
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    Score6.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)SecureLink Enterprise AccessZscaler Private Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (146 ratings)
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    9.4
    (85 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    8.6
    (2 ratings)
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    7.9
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (80 ratings)
    Availability
    9.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.3
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 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
    7.2
    (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)SecureLink Enterprise AccessZscaler Private Access
    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
    SecureLink
    It does exactly what it needs to. The only times I've had serious issues with rolling out to a vendor is when they have a "contractual agreement" to only use their solution. Almost every vendor that I've worked with and shown this product to has been skeptical for the first 5 minutes and fully converted to liking the ease of use of the product by 10 minutes
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    Zscaler Private Access works really well in environments setup for FQDNs and where you know what users should/shouldn't be accessing on what ports. You can use Zscaler Private Access to figure out these kinds of features but that doesn't always mean you'll be correct. It also provides a consistent experience for users as they can access their materials anywhere. It also makes the user the last line of defense. If a user's account is compromised then the attacker has access to everything they already did. It doesn't work great in OT environments or Server based environments. Flows have to be initiated from the client and not the server for stuff to behave properly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    SecureLink
    • Easy to setup on a client PC or server for access
    • Organizes client connections by gatekeeper so it is easy to find what you need
    • File transfer option is great for uploading files to client servers
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • Connecting users remotely with a secure connection. I am a service desk agent who works with end users, and if there is an issue due to ZPA, it's most likely due to configuration. A really good service.
    • Logging, I believe, works well as I troubleshoot end users and can gather extra details for my network admin. IP.zscaler.com, and the debug logs are nice. Additionally, I like how it shows the App policy assigned to the user's machine ECT.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    SecureLink
    • Java based. Always an issue. I know they are working on this and it will be Javaless if we need it. I know that Java can cause issues across the board and I understand the need of it, but it does not make it any better when there are Java issues.
    • Stronger integration with the Active Directory. Currently its only read-only, which is good and bad.
    • I would love to see an App. I know they are working on this as well.
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • Needs an interface for Support Desk/Help Desk to more easily understand that the problem is a lack of an FQDN or access is not allowed due to policy, not because of a technical shortcoming in ZPA.
    • Documentation of the BC solution is not well-detailed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    SecureLink
    We are happy using securelink to access our client environments
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    When it works - it works incredibly slick. It's only L4 which seems like a downgrade of security from solutions that promote L7.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    SecureLink
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    The environment feels more secure, and we are seeing that users are adapting to it fast. The fact that we have tools to assist the users with their day-to-day access helps, as we can hand it off to the helpdesk without any escalations to the Network team. It is a work in progress for our agency, but we are seeing the benefits from the solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    SecureLink
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    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
    SecureLink
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    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
    SecureLink
    The employees at Securelink have always been responsive and seem to be invested in the success of my company. They truly understand what their product means to us so if there is a problem, they are always willing to help. In the rare event that something is found on their end, they will be proactive and reach out to someone to help and get something on calendar for a fix
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    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
    SecureLink
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    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
    SecureLink
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    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
    SecureLink
    Securelink seems to work better than LogMein for a large enterprise group. Our company has over 10,000 different connections and securelink manages them well.
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    ZPA is where the bulk of zero-trust access is found. While the functionality for ZIA is excellent, the policy we implement for internet access is more focused on threat prevention and not narrowly scoped access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    SecureLink
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    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
    SecureLink
    No answers on this topic
    Zscaler
    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
    SecureLink
    • I've found that Securelink allows me to get a vendor access to an application for support purposes much faster than a provisioned VPN account and the red tape around this. I can set up a vendor to access an application suite in a half hour and it will be more secure than regular provisioning.
    • The ROI is yet to be seen on this, but it certainly makes Compliance, Internal Audit, and Legal very happy, which helps everybody.
    • Internally, there is much more push back and it has been problematic. For a tech, to have to log in to a server and navigate to a system is considered cumbersome, when before all they had to do was open up Putty or RDP to a server to get in. The only way to combat this is to force them to use Securelink by removing rights. Near impossible for the domain admins.
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • We used to get anywhere from 30 to 50 tickets surrounding our previous VPN solution every month. We now average 3-5 tickets regarding remote connectivity, and of those, only 1 or 2 are actual issues with ZPA.
    • Using ZPA Access Policies, we can now block endpoints that have outdated security software from ever connecting to our environment. This was simply not possible with our previous solution.
    • Some of our employee base skews older and had a harder time understanding the change from VPN to Zscaler.
    • There is significantly less downtime with ZPA when compared to other VPN solutions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

    Zscaler Private Access Screenshots

    Screenshot of how ZPA provides access for all users while minimizing the attack surface, eliminating lateral movement, and stopping zero day threats. A cloud native service, ZPA can be deployed in just hours to replace legacy remote access tools like VPNs and VDIs.