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.
Comparison of Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Cisco ISE seems to be the slightly superior solution because of its expansive integration capabilities.
"The biggest value of ISE is that it can get so granular with gaming systems, versus IoT and BYOD."
"Cisco ISE integrates with everything else."
"I like that Cisco ISE is easy to use."
"Cisco ISE's integration with other external identity servers like Duende is very simple and easy."
"A lot of customers use a third party to manage their guest Wi-Fi. Cisco ISE presents the ability to bring that in-house so that customers can have full control over it, change the branding, and get extra telemetry from it and the user data. It works really well for our customers."
"Stable network administration solution that can be installed easily, and comes with fast technical support."
"The solution is great for establishing trust for every access request no matter where it comes from."
"The valuable feature of the solution lies in its integration capabilities with other applications."
"The ease of deployment is valuable."
"The most valuable features are the ease of deployment and ease of use."
"It effectively addresses issues arising from endpoint connections to the network, contributing to an enhanced overall security solution for our clients."
"There are some features that are working well."
"The product offers good profiling features and can support various vendor products."
"Provides good performance, is easy to use and configure."
"FortiNAC has enhanced our network visibility because FortiNAC monitors MAC addresses and other network devices, like Cisco, Catalyst, or HPE switches."
"The initial setup was easy and straightforward."
"Documentation is probably the worst part of the software."
"It could be more intuitive in terms of how to configure the policies."
"In an upcoming release, it would be nice to have NAC already standard in the solution."
"Cisco ISE is complex. The deployment and design of networks with it is so complex. If it could change it would be better."
"Some of the reporting could be improved."
"I would like for the next release to be easier to implement and to limit its dependencies around ISE, Windows, the network as a whole, etc."
"I don't see as many customers as I should adopting the onboarding feature. I think Cisco should make that process a lot easier and less intrusive on the end users' devices."
"They should improve the upgrades. It's not easy to upgrade the solution."
"Fortinet FortiNAC's device compatibility could be improved, particularly for VoIP devices."
"Admin UI could be better matched and easier to use; it cannot work as a RADIUS server."
"I would like to be able to compare the configuration backup before and after."
"The training documentation needs to be more transparent."
"There could be better integration with legacy equipment. It integrates perfectly with all Fortinet solutions, but if you look at other third-party integrations—not on the networking part; but more on the security infrastructure part—it's more limited."
"Its technical support needs improvement."
"The reporting capability needs to be improved."
"The course content could be improved, it's not that simple to work through."
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Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is ranked 1st in Network Access Control (NAC) with 138 reviews while Fortinet FortiNAC is ranked 3rd in Network Access Control (NAC) with 44 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.
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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.