Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs Fortinet FortiNAC comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Oct 3, 2022

We compared Cisco Identity Services Engine and Fortinet FortiNA (ISE)C based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions find them to be relatively difficult to deploy.
  • Features: Users of both products feel that they are stable and scalable.

    Users of Cisco ISE find its integration capabilities to be valuable. However, they feel that its web interface could be easier to use.

    Reviewers of Fortinet FortiNAC find it easy to use. However, they feel its integration capabilities could be improved.
  • Pricing: Users of both solutions find them to be expensive.
  • Service and Support: For the most part, users of both products find their technical support to be effective.

Comparison of Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Cisco ISE seems to be the slightly superior solution because of its expansive integration capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: What are the differences between Cisco ISE and Fortinet FortiNAC?
Answer: Here are the differences between Cisco ISE and Fortinet FortiNAC, two widely-used network access control (NAC) solutions designed to help secure networks: Cisco ISE is a comprehensive NAC solution that offers a wide range of features, including: User and Device Identity Management Policy Enforcement Risk Assessment Compliance Reporting Fortinet FortiNAC is a more focused NAC solution that provides visibility and control over wired and wireless devices and offers features such as: Device Profiling Policy Enforcement Asset Inventory Compliance Reporting When choosing a NAC solution, base your decision on your company's requirements and needs.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The authorization and accounts inside of ISE are very useful for us.""Assisting a larger number of users in gaining access and guiding them through the process of getting on Cisco ISE has been seamless.""It is scalable because we use a network load balancer at the front of the PSN. It can be extended as we want to multiply. It's scalable to our environment. We have around 8,000 users and we are planning to expand it.""Being able to authenticate wired users through 802.1X is valuable as it enhances our security.""I like the guest access feature, which has been important for us.""In terms of scalability, you need to factor in your licenses. With a virtual platform, the scalability is more than sufficient. We have over one thousand users.""It does a good job of establishing trust for each access request, no matter the source. It's also very effective at helping with the distributed network and at securing access.""The most valuable features are the ability to retrieve information about Active Directory user names, viewing the log files to see which MAC address tried to connect with the created SSIDs, portal designing for your company, hotspot tools, and creating network rules for WiFi access."

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"It's a very good solution and one thing I have noted is its simplicity and the ease of the set-up process.""The solution is good at giving a deep dive into each product. It tells you, for example, what is connected to the network. It gives us good reporting tools.""The interface is good and simple to use.""The features are more expandable.""Fortinet FortiNAC is both scalable and stable.""The most valuable features are usability and security.""Compared to other NAC vendors, Fortinet’s user interface is more user-friendly.""Provides good performance, is easy to use and configure."

More Fortinet FortiNAC Pros →

Cons
"The price could be better. I would like to see more integration with third-party solutions in the next release. This is because many of my clients don't have Cisco.""This product doesn't work in isolation.""It does a good job of establishing trust for every access request. We have had a little bit of a challenge with profiling, but we are probably about 80% there.""Deploying to a machine, as opposed to a dedicated appliance, can be a bit difficult.""Cisco ISE can become quite complex, especially with policy sets, the entire authentication process, and everything involved.""The software is a little bit complicated to understand in the beginning, meaning the implementation. It needs proper documentation so that we can understand the options more easily.""ISE is a little clunky. The front-end feels like it is from the 1980s.""The licensing documentation needs to be better."

More Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) Cons →

"The product could be more user-friendly in terms of GUI.""Keeping the hard disk on the one series will be easier for the distributor and will keep the prices lower for the customer.""For our organization and our clients, the price is the main concern. They should work to make it more competitive.""FortiNAC could be more scalable.""Its technical support needs improvement.""I would like to be able to compare the configuration backup before and after.""The response and resolution time for technical support issues need to be improved.""The technical support is bad. We've had to escalate to Tier 2 and Tier 3. My customer relationship manager on the other side of this has stopped returning phone calls and emails, because there has been such a constant back and forth."

More Fortinet FortiNAC Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "There are three levels of pricing: basic, plus, and apex. Basic satisfied our needs."
  • "If you go directly with Cisco for the implementation it's very, very expensive."
  • "The SMARTnet technical support is available at an additional cost."
  • "For the Avast virus scan, we pay around USD $95 per machine for five years which includes all updates and technical support."
  • "The price for Cisco ISE is high."
  • "The price can be lower, especially for subscriptions. It should be a lot cheaper to have a wide range of customers. The price should be comparable to competitive products like Forescout or Fortinet FortiNAC. Forescout is cheaper for customers looking for a cloud solution."
  • "There are other cheaper options available."
  • "The price is okay."
  • More Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It's a subscription-based license, which is based on the usage and number of concurrent users."
  • "The licensing fees are a little bit high."
  • "The pricing is similar to that of other solutions."
  • "The price of the license required is based on how many users are going to be using the solution. If you want more users you can upgrade your license."
  • "For the projects that we do the Fortinet FortiNAC is affordable."
  • "It's a pricey solution."
  • "The solution is expensive. However, it is not as expensive as other solutions, such as Cisco ISE."
  • "The price of Fortinet FortiNAC is less than Cisco's solution. However, the price could improve by being reduced."
  • More Fortinet FortiNAC Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely… more »
    Top Answer:OK, so Cisco ISE uses 802.1X to secure switchports against unauthorized access. The drawback of this is that ISE cannot secure the port if a device does not support 802.1x. Cameras, badge readers… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user… more »
    Top Answer:I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable aspect of Fortinet FortiNAC is the control it offers.
    Top Answer:The product itself is inexpensive, but the licensing is expensive.
    Ranking
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    8.5
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    Rating
    7.9
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cisco ISE
    FortiNAC, Bradford Networks, Bradford Networks Sentry, Network Sentry Family
    Learn More
    Overview

    Cisco ISE is an all-in-one solution that streamlines security policy management and reduces operating costs. Cisco ISE delivers visibility and access control over users and devices across wired, wireless, and VPN connections.

    Identity Services Engine enables enterprises to deliver secure network access to users and devices. It shares contextual data, such as threats and vulnerabilities, with integrated solutions from Cisco technology partners. You can see what is happening in your network, which applications are running, and more.

    Features of Cisco ISE

    • Centralized management helps administrators configure and manage user profile characteristics - a single pane of glass for integrated management services.
    • Contextual identity and business policy: The rule-based attribute is a driven policy model. The goal is to provide flexible access control policies.
    • Wide range of access control options, including Virtual LAN (VLAN) URL redirections, and access control lists.
    • Supplicant-less network access: You can roll out secure network access by deriving authentication from login information across application layers.
    • Guest lifecycle management streamlines the experience for implementing and customizing network access for guests.
    • Built-in AAA services: The platform uses standard RADIUS protocol for authentication, authorization, and accounting.
    • Device auditing, administration, and access control provide users with access on a need-to-know and need-to-act basis. It keeps audit trails for every change in the network.
    • Device profiling: ISE features predefined device templates for different types of endpoints.
    • Internal certificate authority: Qn easy-to-deploy single console to manage endpoints and certificates.

    Benefits of Cisco ISE

    Cisco’s holistic approach to network access security has several advantages:

    • Context-based access based on your company policies. ISE creates a complete contextual identity, including attributes such as user, time, location, threat, access type, and vulnerability. This contextual identity is used to enforce a secure access policy. Administrators can apply strict control over how and when endpoints are allowed in the network.
    • Better network visibility via an easy-to-use, simple console. In addition, visibility is improved by storing a detailed attribute history of all endpoints connected to the network.
    • Comprehensive policy enforcement. ISE sets easy and flexible access rules. These rules are controlled from a central console that enforces them across the network and security infrastructure. You can define policies that differentiate between registered users and guests. The system uses group tags that enable access control on business rules instead of IP addresses.
    • Self-service device onboarding enables the enterprise to implement a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy securely. Users can manage their devices according to the policies defined by IT administrators. (IT remains in charge of provisioning and posturing to comply with security policies.)
    • Consistent guest experiences: You can provide guests with different levels of access from different connections. You can customize guest portals via a cloud-delivered portal editor with dynamic visual tools.

    Support

    You can get ISE as a physical or virtual appliance. Both deployments can create ISE clusters that create scale, redundancy, and requirements.

    Licensing

    Cisco ISE has four primary licences. Evaluation for up to 100 endpoints with full platform functionality. The higher tiers are Partner, Advantage and Essential.

    Reviews from Real Users

    "The user experience of the solution is great. It's a very transparent system. according to a PeerSpot user in Cyber Security at a manufacturing company.

    Omar Z., Network & Security Engineer at an engineering company, feels that "The RADIUS Server holds the most value."

    “Whether I deploy in China, the US, South Africa, or wherever, I can get all the capabilities. It allows me to directly integrate with 365, and from a communications point of view, that is a good capability," says Rammohan M., Senior Consultant at a tech services company.

    Hassan A.,Technology Manager at Advanced Integrated Systems, says that "The most valuable feature is the integration with StealthWatch and DNA as one fabric."




    Fortinet's FortiNAC is a network access control solution that provides visibility, control, and automated response for everything that connects to the network, enhancing the security fabric. FortiNAC protects against Internet of Things (IoT) threats, extends control to third-party devices, and orchestrates automated responses to a variety of networking events.

    Using many information and behavior sources, FortiNAC delivers extensive profiling of even headless devices on your network, allowing you to precisely identify what's on your network.

    You can change the configurations of switches and wireless equipment from more than 70 vendors to implement micro-segmentation regulations. You can also extend the security fabric's reach in diverse contexts.

    With FortiNac, you can respond in seconds to events in your network to stop attacks from spreading. When the relevant behavior is seen, FortiNAC offers a rich and customized set of automation policies that can rapidly trigger configuration changes.

    Fortinet FortiNAC Features

    Fortinet FortiNAC has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Agent or agentless (automated) scanning of the network for device detection and classification
    • Generates a list of all the devices on the network.
    • Evaluates the risk of each network endpoint.
    • Consolidates the architecture to make deployment and management easier
    • Gives wide support for third-party network devices to maintain compatibility with current network infrastructure,
    • Automates the process of onboarding a large number of endpoints, users, and visitors.
    • Enables network segmentation and enforces dynamic network access restriction.
    • Reduces the time it takes to contain a problem from days to seconds.
    • Reduces investigation time by reporting events to SIEM with detailed contextual data.

    Fortinet FortiNAC Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing DX Spectrum. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Automatic response: FortiNAC will continuously monitor the network, analyzing endpoints to ensure they meet their profile. FortiNAC will rescan devices to verify that MAC-address spoofing does not compromise the security of your network access. FortiNAC can also keep an eye out for unusual traffic patterns. The FortiGate appliances are used in conjunction with this passive anomaly detection. When a compromised or vulnerable endpoint is identified as a threat, FortiNAC initiates a real-time automatic response to confine the endpoint.

    • Total device visibility: FortiNAC monitors the entire network and provides total visibility. FortiNAC searches your network for users, applications, and devices. FortiNAC may then profile each element based on observed attributes and reactions, as well as drawing on FortiGuard's IoT Services, a cloud-based database for identification look-ups, using up to 21 distinct techniques.
    • Dynamic network management: Once the devices and users have been identified, FortiNAC allows for extensive network segmentation to allow devices and users access to critical resources while preventing unauthorized access. FortiNAC employs dynamic role-based network access control to conceptually establish network segments by grouping similar applications and data together to restrict access to a certain set of users and/or devices. If a device is compromised in this way, its capacity to travel through the network and target other assets is constrained. FortiNAC assists in the protection of sensitive data and assets while maintaining compliance with internal, industry, and government standards and directives. Assuring the integrity of devices before they join the network reduces the chance of malware spreading.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Fortinet FortiNAC stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its robust network segmentation and its device visibility. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

    A Senior Proposal Manager at a tech services company writes of the solution, “The network segmentation is the most important part of the solution. The integration with the Zero Trust Access solution is a crucial part of segmenting your network.”

    Eranjaya K., Security Engineer at Eguardian lanka, notes, “We use Fortinet FortiNAC to receive excellent visibility of our network for traffic and what devices are connected to prevent attacks.” He adds, “I have found Fortinet FortiNAC to be scalable.”

    Sample Customers
    Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University
    Isavia, Pepperdine University, Medical University of South Carolina, Columbia University Medical Center, Utah Valley University
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Government11%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Computer Software Company11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider24%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization32%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Comms Service Provider6%
    Government5%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise52%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business51%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise26%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise43%
    Large Enterprise38%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is ranked 1st in Network Access Control (NAC) with 135 reviews while Fortinet FortiNAC is ranked 4th in Network Access Control (NAC) with 42 reviews. Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is rated 8.2, while Fortinet FortiNAC is rated 7.6. 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 Fortinet FortiNAC writes "I like the solution's native integration with other devices from the same vendor". Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is most compared with Aruba ClearPass, Forescout Platform, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security, whereas Fortinet FortiNAC is most compared with Aruba ClearPass, Forescout Platform, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator, Fortinet FortiClient and Portnox CORE. See our Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC 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.