Cisco Network Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 5
Intuitive, easy to manage, and offers great monitoring capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The web dashboard and the policy manager are very intuitive and very easy for the engineers to use."
  • "I can't think of an area where the solution is lacking a feature or a capability."

What is our primary use case?

I'm not the one who deployed this solution. However, there are many use cases.

What is most valuable?

I've had no problems with it at all. It's been a breeze. Our other guy who left taught me everything, including the basics in order to implement it. 

The dashboard, the monitoring tabs, and the configuration tabs, the admin tabs is all pretty self-explanatory.

The WiFi solution, the ease of use, and the scalability are excellent. We have Infoblox for all that stuff; however, as far as authentication and stuff like that, it is very easy to use. 

The web dashboard and the policy manager are very intuitive and very easy for engineers to use. Finding what you need is pretty simple. 

What needs improvement?

ClearPass is not something that I have to get into every day, as I do with Aruba Wireless Solution or Central. The only time I really need to get into ClearPass is to troubleshoot, handle authentication problems, or add a device for SNMP access. I can't think of an area where the solution is lacking a feature or a capability. It's fine right now. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've used the solution for two and a half to three years or so now. 

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Aruba ClearPass
April 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and reliable. We haven't had any issues. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale well. It's great. 

How are customer service and support?

I've never had to open up a tech support case on ClearPass. I can't speak to how helpful they would be if you reached out. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We've used Aruba and Cisco. As opposed to Cisco ISE and their tech act solution, hands down, Aruba is far better. It was far easier to manage. I know that the Cisco ISE solutions that we had before this was a pain. It was just difficult to manage. We had to reboot it three, four times a year just to get it going. And we've had several Cisco tech cases open on it. Cisco never knew how to fix it. That's why we looked at ClearPass. Finally, we convinced the person in charge of everything. We put together a POC and afterward, everyone was like "Wow, this is great. Yeah. Let us do this, please." We switched and we love it. It was no problem at all.

How was the initial setup?

I was not a part of the initial setup, however, Aruba is typically simple to set up. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I do not deal with the licensing aspect of the solution. 

What other advice do I have?

We have a VMware server that hosts this solution. It is not on the cloud. I'm not sure which exact version we're using. 

I don't know about any other tech act applications out there. That said, I know that this is a breeze if you're working with Cisco ISE. I highly recommend a swap over to ClearPass Policy Manager. It is very, very, very, very easy. That's compared to Cisco ISE. I don't know about any other managers out there or if there may be better ones out there. We like Aruba. That's all I can say.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Chief Information Security Officer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Though the base installation is straightforward, the fine-tuning part of the deployment needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "If you are looking at the base installation, then it was a very straightforward process, which I would rate an eight or nine out of ten."
  • "If you look at the tool's deployment phase from a fine-tuning perspective, I feel it was very complex."

What is most valuable?

From a pricing perspective, even though the initial procurement was costly, the renewals were not that costly. From an OpEx perspective, considering that the renewals were not that costly, the cost is very much under control. I am not talking about the initial CapEx, but from an OpEx perspective, the tool's cost is very much under control, which is the most important feature. If I don't consider the fine-tuning part and take into consideration the implementation method, I would describe it as something that has a straightforward process. The fine-tuning part takes time.

What needs improvement?

The support offered for the solution has certain concerns, making it an area where improvements are required. Regarding the solution, the integration issues are hardly a problem. It is important to have a good support partner who knows about the solution so that the product's users don't face any integration-related issues. My company's main problem was related to the tool's support.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for a year and a half. My company is a customer of the product.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the solution was okay.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My company has around 1,200 to 1,300 users of the product.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have experience with Fortinet. In terms of the functionalities that my company is able to achieve, Fortinet was much better than Aruba ClearPass. Fortinet also used to provide good support. Though the features provided by Fortinet and Aruba ClearPass were the same, the ease of use and the support provided by the former were important.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to look at the deployment phase in two parts. If you are looking at the base installation, then it was a very straightforward process, which I would rate an eight or nine out of ten. If you look at the tool's deployment phase from a fine-tuning perspective, I feel it was very complex.

The solution can be deployed in three months. Three to four people in my company were involved in the deployment process.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In terms of your fixed cost, it is much less than a lot of other solutions in the market. The initial cost is very high.

What other advice do I have?

The main reason my company started to look for alternate solutions against Aruba ClearPass was that we faced some issues in terms of the levels of integration that we were able to achieve and the support offered by Aruba.

Speaking about my experience with integrating Aruba ClearPass with some multi-vendor environments, I would say that my company had faced issues in terms of the support that we received for Aruba ClearPass, specifically when it came to the area of the configuration changes or any part involving reimplementation. My company did some reference checks related to Aruba's partners, and we saw that we were not getting very positive feedback regarding how the solution is implemented in some organizations.

I haven't reached the level where I can comment about how the product's guest access functionality has improved visitor management for our business. When my company was involved in the reimplementation phase of the tool, we wanted to implement guest access, Wi-Fi access, and other advanced functionalities but didn't reach that level.

In terms of real-time functionalities, my company was not able to access such features, considering the support-related issues we were facing. My company was not able to make good use of it.

If you plan to use the solution, it is important to ensure that you have very good support in terms of both the OEM product and the partner.

I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Aruba ClearPass
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Aruba ClearPass. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Anjan Basu Chowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales Manager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Reseller
Top 10
Robust product that supports multiple integrations
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a robust product."
  • "The pricing policy could be more flexible."

What is most valuable?

ClearPass has been the best NAC product and market leader for a decade. It is a robust product.

What needs improvement?

The pricing policy could be more flexible. Additionally, ClearPass can be integrated with the Aruba cloud solution because many companies are moving to the cloud.

For how long have I used the solution?

We use Aruba ClearPass for authentication purposes.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the product's stability an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a very high-end product. Its scalability is an eight or nine out of ten.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used Cisco before. ClearPass supports multi-vendor products. On the other hand, Cisco is limited to being designed, configured, and managed for a specific device. ClearPass configures any products for authentication, device sharing, security, etc.

How was the initial setup?

The configuration was very complex. It is not a product that normal users can use. A bunch of technologies are involved. There are a lot of other policies, which also include device posturing and management. There are many features involved in this product, best used by experts.

If you implement all of the modules, deployment will be perfect. Otherwise, it is not possible because it is very complex. You need to understand the entire system. Since we are just starting with this product, we need to redirect our switching and wireless traffic to the NAC solution. We need to know the network controller features and infrastructure.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The product is very costly, starting at a minimum of 500 users. No small or medium-sized business can go with it as a standard organization has more than 500 users.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate Aruba ClearPass a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
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RaviVerma2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Group Head - IT at Medusind Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
Real User
Top 20
High availability and simple implmentaion
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has been working well."
  • "The scalability could improve."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Aruba ClearPass for authentication purposes.

What is most valuable?

The solution has been working well.

What needs improvement?

The scalability could improve.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Aruba ClearPass within the last 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the scalability of Aruba ClearPass a nine out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Aruba ClearPass was simple.

What about the implementation team?

We did the deployment of the solution in-house.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Aruba ClearPass an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Yaser_Altwailey - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at General Authority OF ZAKAT & TAX
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Helpful support, stable, and user-friendly GUI.
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Aruba ClearPass is its ease of use and the GUI is user-friendly."
  • "We have had some issues with the installation of Aruba ClearPass."

What is our primary use case?

Aruba ClearPass is used for managing and identifying users.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Aruba ClearPass is its ease of use and the GUI is user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of Aruba ClearPass is good. We can add more users if we want.

We have two technical staff members using the solution.

How are customer service and support?

We have used the support from Aruba ClearPass and they have helped us with our issues.

I rate the support from Aruba ClearPass a five out of five.

How was the initial setup?

We have had some issues with the installation of Aruba ClearPass. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a license to use Aruba ClearPass.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend Aruba ClearPass to others.

I rate Aruba ClearPass a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Ammar_Farhat - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of IT at Hubtech
Real User
Top 5
Has a good enforcement feature and a wonderful UI; scales well, stable, and has good technical support that responds fast
Pros and Cons
  • "What I like most about Aruba ClearPass is that it has the best enforcement feature for the network. I also like its Guest Captive Portal and virtual security enforcement features, but the virtual security enforcement feature is still under testing by my company. Aruba ClearPass also has a wonderful UI which I find valuable."
  • "An issue with Aruba ClearPass is the lack of information and poor community support. You can't find the material easily on the internet for any issues. For example, if you're looking for any configuration or exploring any issue, it's not easy to find information, and this is the problem with Aruba ClearPass. Access to helpful information and poor community support could be improved. Another area for improvement in Aruba ClearPass is that some of its advanced features aren't easy to find. For example, my team needed to apply Google single sign-on, but it wasn't easy to find. Aruba ClearPass is a big solution with a lot of capabilities, and it's a very advanced solution, so you need to either have some experience with it or undergo some training. Aruba ClearPass is a very good solution from the network perspective, but the issue is the poor support you get from the community. When you try using the solution, some areas aren't easy. When you search on YouTube, you'll find very few materials about Aruba ClearPass. It isn't like Cisco where you can find information from hundreds of websites, on YouTube, etc. This is bad for Aruba, so this area should be improved. Aruba has a training center, but the usual training offered is only for Aruba Wireless and Aruba Switches. If you have another solution, it's not easy to integrate it with Aruba ClearPass, so this is an area for improvement. You need to do some research to successfully integrate your solution with Aruba ClearPass. We integrated Aruba ClearPass with Ubiquiti WiFi, and it's working fine with no issues. My next project is to start integrating Aruba ClearPass with Cisco Switches. The solution is good, but on the website, there's no book and no video, and you can't find the material on Aruba ClearPass easily. This is one of the issues with Aruba."

What is our primary use case?

We're using Aruba ClearPass for policy management, security health check, and authorization, as well as assistive network by Active Directory or Google mail.

What is most valuable?

What I like most about Aruba ClearPass is that it has the best enforcement feature for the network. I also like its Guest Captive Portal and virtual security enforcement features, but the virtual security enforcement feature is still under testing by my company.

Aruba ClearPass also has a wonderful UI which I find valuable.

What needs improvement?

An issue with Aruba ClearPass is the lack of information and poor community support. You can't find the material easily on the internet for any issues. For example, if you're looking for any configuration or exploring any issue, it's not easy to find information, and this is the problem with Aruba ClearPass. Access to helpful information and poor community support could be improved.

Another area for improvement in Aruba ClearPass is that some of its advanced features aren't easy to find. For example, my team needed to apply Google single sign-on, but it wasn't easy to find. Aruba ClearPass is a big solution with a lot of capabilities, and it's a very advanced solution, so you need to either have some experience with it or undergo some training. Aruba ClearPass is a very good solution from the network perspective, but the issue is the poor support you get from the community. When you try using the solution, some areas aren't easy. When you search on YouTube, you'll find very few materials about Aruba ClearPass. It isn't like Cisco where you can find information from hundreds of websites, on YouTube, etc. This is bad for Aruba, so this area should be improved.

Aruba has a training center, but the usual training offered is only for Aruba Wireless and Aruba Switches. If you have another solution, it's not easy to integrate it with Aruba ClearPass, so this is an area for improvement. You need to do some research to successfully integrate your solution with Aruba ClearPass. We integrated Aruba ClearPass with Ubiquiti WiFi, and it's working fine with no issues. My next project is to start integrating Aruba ClearPass with Cisco Switches.

The solution is good, but on the website, there's no book and no video, and you can't find the material on Aruba ClearPass easily. This is one of the issues with Aruba.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have around one to two months of experience with Aruba ClearPass.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass is a very stable solution. My team didn't experience any hangs or any abnormal behavior from it. If you apply the required configuration, Aruba ClearPass works well. Stability is a good point in the solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Aruba ClearPass scales well. It's a scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support for Aruba ClearPass is good and responds very fast.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for Aruba ClearPass isn't complex, but you need the training to set it up.

The deployment for the solution is very easy, and you can install it within half an hour, but this is a NAC solution. In terms of configuration, it's not a switch configuration or an IT configuration. Aruba ClearPass has one thousand scenarios in our network, and the problem is that you need a lot of information, so its configuration isn't as straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment for Aruba ClearPass was done in-house. I took training classes from the Aruba training center. It was on-demand training.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing cost for Aruba ClearPass is a bit expensive. Its pricing could be better. The license costs around $125,000 for the perpetual license and support for one year. Aruba can give you a license with five thousand endpoint access and one thousand five hundred onboard licenses on one hundred endpoints and two controllers.

What other advice do I have?

My company is evaluating Aruba ClearPass right now. It isn't live, but it's under evaluation or testing currently.

I'm using version 6.10 of Aruba ClearPass.

My rating for Aruba ClearPass is nine out of ten.

Between ten to twenty people use Aruba ClearPass within the company. There's only a small amount of users of Aruba ClearPass currently because the solution is still under evaluation. Once Aruba ClearPass is live, my impression is that there would be no issues with it in terms of connectivity.

My advice to others looking into using Aruba ClearPass is to get good training from the Aruba virtual training center. The training costs extra. The on-demand training costs around $500. I also recommend doing the structured training, but that would cost around $3,000.

My company is a customer of Aruba.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Unit Nos at Orange
Real User
Great authentication and monitoring features
Pros and Cons
  • "ClearPass' best features are authentication, support for multiple devices, and monitoring."
  • "ClearPass' GUI could be more user-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use ClearPass to issue and authenticate certificates.

How has it helped my organization?

ClearPass has simplified our security as an automatic email is now sent to concerned users when something goes down. For example, if your AP or controller is down, a log is immediately generated stating what's happened, and we can use that to work with local engineers or OEM to resolve it. This reduces the impact on business and has simplified around 70% of our work.

What is most valuable?

ClearPass' best features are authentication, support for multiple devices, and monitoring.

What needs improvement?

ClearPass' GUI could be more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Aruba ClearPass for almost three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

ClearPass is stable - we haven't had any issues since deployment.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

ClearPass' scalability is up to the mark.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was a bit complex and took a couple of days.

What about the implementation team?

I implemented ClearPass myself.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate ClearPass nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
NAREK MOVSESYAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Team Lead at Digitain
Real User
Top 5
A stable tool that offers its users downloadable user roles for authentication, along with NAS and backup
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
  • "The initial setup phase of the solution was really very difficult, owing to which the setup phase can be considered as an area that can be improved."

What is our primary use case?

My company uses Aruba ClearPass mainly for the initial goal we set during the initial setup of the solution, which includes Network Access Server (NAS) and backup. We use the application in our company with almost all the features it provides.

What is most valuable?

I have found all of the features of the solution to be valuable. One of the most important features of the solution is that you can have downloadable user roles for authentication in the solution, which I think is pretty good.

What needs improvement?

The initial setup phase of the solution was really very difficult, owing to which the setup phase can be considered as an area that can be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for three years. I am a customer of the solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My organization has about 3,000 users of the solution.

How are customer service and support?

I contacted the solution's technical support team since I had some questions related to the product and not due to any particular issues related to the solution.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

My company has a huge infrastructure, because of which we have to deal with a multi-vendor environment that includes Arista, Cisco, Juniper, and Fortinet.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Aruba ClearPass was really very difficult.

The solution is deployed on-premises.

Aruba ClearPass' deployment process that involves the configuration from scratch can take up to a couple of weeks, especially if you are not familiar with the product.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Though I don't remember the pricing model of the solution, I can say that the package or licensing model offered for the solution is a permanent one.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend those planning to use the solution to use it, but they need to consider that it comes across as a really complex solution. It is important to have some past experience with the solution.

I rate the overall product a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba ClearPass Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba ClearPass Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.