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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Secure Access

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AA cloud-delivered security service edge (SSE) solution, grounded in zero trust, designed to give users an exceptional user experience and protected access from any device to anywhere.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 Secure AccessZscaler Private Access
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Secure AccessZscaler Private Access
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Secure AccessZscaler Private Access
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Secure Access
    is a better product when other Cisco products in the mix for integrations.
    Incentivized
    Zscaler
    Chose Zscaler Private Access
    Ease of deployment , Scalable , Great user experience during POC , Cost effective with SAS model
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    34 Answers
    99%
    Would buy again
    84 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    29 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    67 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    34 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    84 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    30 Answers
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    59 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    29 Answers
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    68 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Secure AccessZscaler Private Access
    Identity Management
    Comparison of Identity Management features of Cisco Secure Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Secure Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    9.2
    58 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings9.258 Ratings
    Endpoint Security
    Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Cisco Secure Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Secure Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    8.8
    27 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings8.827 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence
    Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Cisco Secure Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Secure Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    8.6
    65 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Network Analytics00 Ratings8.961 Ratings
    Threat Recognition00 Ratings9.053 Ratings
    Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings8.442 Ratings
    Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings8.255 Ratings
    Threat Analysis00 Ratings8.748 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings8.245 Ratings
    Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings8.643 Ratings
    Zero Trust Security
    Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Cisco Secure Access and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Cisco Secure Access
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    9.1
    78 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Continuous Verification00 Ratings9.171 Ratings
    Secure Web Gateways00 Ratings9.353 Ratings
    Network Flow Control00 Ratings9.158 Ratings
    Network Traffic Analysis00 Ratings9.165 Ratings
    Segmentation Leveraging00 Ratings9.264 Ratings
    Admin Access Control00 Ratings9.368 Ratings
    Network Data Encryption00 Ratings9.260 Ratings
    Network Topology Mapping00 Ratings8.752 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Secure AccessZscaler Private Access
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
    Score8.6 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Forescout Vistaro Platform
    Score6.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Secure AccessZscaler Private Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (33 ratings)
    9.4
    (85 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (80 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Secure AccessZscaler Private Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Cisco as a whole solution, Cisco Secure Access as a solution is very well suited. If you want to simplify the operations and the way that you provide access to certain things, rollout and deployment are fairly straightforward and fairly fast if you know how to configure it properly. Regarding private access, there's still some things that need to be addressed to mitigate certain connections that aren't working correctly through the VPN, or maybe create some kind of exception. The most famous ones are things with Microsoft or other vendors, where, when you send that information through the VPN, split tunnels aren't necessarily the only configurations you have to consider. Things like IPS, decryption, you also have to look at those things as well. It might be good to try to enhance those types of configurations and maybe also document those things so that the users are aware.
    Incentivized
    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
    • In my experience, zta (zero trust access) is done well in Cisco Secure Access
    • In my opinion, segmentation is done well in Cisco Secure Access
    • I think traffic security is done well in Cisco Secure Access
    • In my experience, enterprise security is done well in Cisco Secure Access
    Incentivized
    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
    • The integration into the Meraki dashboard is not yet complete, you have to use several interfaces to complete the configuration, the services should be fully integrated to provide better handling
    • Integration of firewall rules onprem and cloud should be standardized
    • Better user management / import
    Incentivized
    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
    No answers on this topic
    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
    It's simpler to identify or find things within the platform. Obviously, there are always things to improve, maybe in the GUI or in certain things coming over from Umbrella, because this platform is actually adopting a lot of the Umbrella solutions. And it's just a matter of trying to navigate through it. I really like the way it's simplified in how you categorize your internal policies and your private access policies. It's just a different mindset and a different way of creating policies in this case, compared to how Umbrella did in the past with rule sets and those kinds of things. But the actual solution itself works pretty well when you understand it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We selected Cisco Secure Access due to the intuitive GUI and ease of use. The agent deployment was simple and easy to maintain. Any additional updates or changes were quickly deployed, and users found the customized block messages useful. From analytics and management, the Secure Access Product has been simple to manage and provides a robust level of security and flexibility that we haven't found in any other product yet.
    Incentivized
    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
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • The impact Cisco Secure Access has on our organization's overall business objectives is that we Replaced Bomgar
    • Another impact Cisco Secure Access has on our organization's overall business objectives is that it Eliminated giving vendors AD accounts
    • A third impact Cisco Secure Access has on our organization's overall business objectives is that Cisco Secure Access is Quick to deploy
    Incentivized
    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

    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.