We performed a comparison between Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) and F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Network Access Control (NAC) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."Technical support is okay."
"The posture assessment is a valuable feature because of the ability to do assessments on the clients before they connect to the network."
"Stable network administration solution that can be installed easily, and comes with fast technical support."
"We have seen ROI. It has done its job. It has protected us when we needed it to."
"The interface is pretty easy to use."
"Cisco ISE's profiling and posturing features ensure that all devices are compliant with regulatory authorities."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility element, the ability for customers to be able to see what devices are actually on their network. Without a solution like ISE, they would have no idea what devices are connected to their network. It offers them the ability to authenticate devices via mobile."
"It's keeping our company safe from rogue devices connecting to our network. From a security standpoint, there's peace of mind knowing that every device that connects is a good one."
"The portal access was very good."
"The performance of the solution is valuable."
"The product allows us to create customized portals for your users."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"The tool is reliable and easy to configure."
"Our customers have never complained about the stability"
"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is the virtual IP creation. It's our most frequently used feature."
"We do tend to run into a lot of issues with ISE when it comes to bugs."
"There should be an easier way to do the upgrades. There are a lot of steps to get to the next version from the previous version which ends up being a bit of the headache with the upgrade."
"The admin interface is really slow. It's horrible."
"The web UI should be made similar to the one in DNAC."
"I'm working from China currently and the only real issue is that, within the country, there's some concern around Cisco and its ability to offer the solution for the long term. As the United States has banned the Huawei version in their country, we feel there may be retaliation in ours and Cisco will get banned as a countermeasure from the government. The future of Cisco in China is in question. Our local partners are worried about the situation."
"I don't like the fact that we can see the logs only for 24 hours. Maybe that happens because of the way we set it up."
"In order to make it a ten, it should be more user-friendly. You need somebody who is knowledgeable about it to use it. It's not easy to use. We have to rely heavily on technical support."
"Sometimes some of Cisco ISE's graphical interfaces could be a little bit smoother. However, with the different versions, the product is getting better and better."
"The price of this product can be improved."
"We do not have knowledgeable support teams locally."
"The solution’s GUI looks very old."
"In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side."
"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products."
"Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions can simplify user authentication and access control."
"The technical support’s response time must be improved."
"The solution is quite costly."
More Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) Pricing and Cost Advice →
More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is ranked 1st in Network Access Control (NAC) with 135 reviews while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is ranked 8th in Network Access Control (NAC) with 13 reviews. Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is rated 8.2, while F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) writes "Gives us that extra ability to assist the end user and make sure that we are making them happy". On the other hand, the top reviewer of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) writes " Facilitates packet inspection, modification, and offloading and offers visibility and troubleshooting capabilities, allowing for pre-production server testing". Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is most compared with Aruba ClearPass, Fortinet FortiNAC, Forescout Platform, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager and Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, whereas F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is most compared with Citrix Gateway, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, Ivanti Connect Secure and Microsoft Entra ID. See our Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report.
See our list of best Network Access Control (NAC) vendors.
We monitor all Network Access Control (NAC) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.