Cisco ISE
Cisco Identity Services Engine is a network administration product that enables you to create and enforce security policies for users and devices connecting to your organization's network infrastructure.
Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Internet Access is a cloud-native security service edge platform that provides AI-powered threat protection and data loss prevention to secure your users, workloads, and devices anywhere they connect.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Cisco ISE | Zscaler Internet Access |
|---|---|---|
| Website | cisco.com | zscaler.com |
| Pricing Model | Custom | Custom |
| Starting Price | Custom Pricing | Custom Pricing |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 90 days free trial | ✓ 0 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✘ No free plan | ✘ No free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 1984 | 2007 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, USA | San Jose, USA |
Overview
Cisco ISE
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) gives you a centralized way to manage security across your entire network. You can see exactly who and what is connecting to your environment, whether they are using a wired, wireless, or VPN connection. By gathering real-time data from users and devices, you can make informed decisions about who gets access to specific resources and under what conditions.
You can automate your network security by creating granular policies that adapt based on the user's role, device type, and location. This helps you stop threats before they spread by automatically isolating suspicious devices. Whether you are managing a corporate office or a distributed workforce, it provides the visibility you need to maintain a zero-trust security posture without slowing down your team.
Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) transforms how you secure your workforce by moving your security stack to the cloud. Instead of routing traffic through a slow corporate VPN or physical appliances, you connect users directly to the world’s largest security cloud. This ensures your team stays protected from malware, ransomware, and phishing attempts whether they are working from the office, a home network, or a coffee shop.
You can replace outdated web gateways with a unified platform that inspects all traffic, including encrypted data, without slowing down your connection. It simplifies your infrastructure by eliminating the need to manage hardware, while giving you full visibility into every user activity and potential threat across your entire organization. By using a zero-trust architecture, you ensure that security follows the user, not the network.
Overview
Cisco ISE Features
- AI Endpoint Analytics Identify and profile every device on your network automatically using AI-driven behavioral modeling to eliminate blind spots.
- Zero Trust Access Enforce software-defined segmentation to ensure you only grant users access to the specific applications they need for work.
- Automated Containment Block or quarantine compromised devices instantly through integrations with your security tools to prevent lateral movement of threats.
- Guest Access Management Create custom web portals for your visitors to provide secure, time-limited internet access without compromising your internal data.
- Compliance Monitoring Check the security posture of every device before it connects to ensure they meet your corporate encryption and antivirus standards.
- Centralized Policy Management Define your security rules once and push them across your entire global network from a single, unified management console.
Zscaler Internet Access Features
- AI-Powered Sandbox. Stop zero-day threats by instantly analyzing suspicious files in a virtual environment before they ever reach your network.
- Cloud Firewall. Scale your security across all ports and protocols to protect your branch offices without deploying expensive physical hardware.
- Full SSL Inspection. Inspect encrypted traffic at scale to find hidden threats without sacrificing the browsing speed your team expects.
- Data Loss Prevention. Protect your sensitive information by automatically blocking unauthorized uploads of company data to personal cloud apps.
- URL Filtering. Manage your team's web access by blocking dangerous or inappropriate websites across your entire global organization.
- Bandwidth Control. Prioritize your business-critical applications like Zoom or Microsoft 365 over less important web traffic to ensure performance.
Pricing Comparison
Cisco ISE Pricing
Zscaler Internet Access Pricing
Pros & Cons
Cisco ISE
Pros
- Unmatched visibility into every device connected to your network
- Granular policy control for complex enterprise environments
- Seamless integration with the broader Cisco security ecosystem
- Powerful automation for isolating and remediating infected endpoints
- Highly scalable for global organizations with thousands of users
Cons
- Significant learning curve for initial setup and configuration
- Requires substantial hardware resources for on-premise deployments
- Licensing structure can be complex to navigate and manage
Zscaler Internet Access
Pros
- Eliminates the need for expensive on-premise security hardware
- Provides consistent security policies for remote and office workers
- Fast global performance through a massive distributed cloud network
- Excellent visibility into encrypted traffic and user web activity
Cons
- Initial configuration requires significant technical expertise
- Policy management interface can feel complex for new users
- Customer support response times can vary during implementation