Cisco IOS SSL VPN Reviews

• Great encryption capabilities • Versatile Remote Access configuration down to user level settings • Customizable Web Portals Internet/Extranet Sites • Monitoring VPN activity and errors • CLI provides quick access to various states of the device • Troubleshooting Tools

• Troubleshooting error codes not always decipherable • Firewall rule configuration not as intuitive as Checkpoint. ASDM needs work

Cisco ASA VPN device with the 8.4(5) image and ASDM 7.11. This device meets the requirements for FIPS 140-2 cryptographic requirements for federal agencies. The purpose of the device is that it ensures the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information between networks. The device is best used between different locations offering secure communications for users, clients (DMZ), and partners (DMZ). Cisco has been in the business for creating borderless networks for some time. Overall performance and features of the device are great. It does take a little time to get used to the commands, as they are a little different from the Cisco IOS router but not as different as another vendor like 3com now, HP. Visibility and granular control of applications and micro-applications,

The product can be used for remote workforce connectivity, especially for companies with many users who want to work from home.

The product's most valuable features are security, stability, and troubleshooting capabilities. 

Cisco IOS SSL VPN should improve its pricing. 

I have been using the product for ten years. 

The stability depends on the license and the product model we use on our premises. I rate it a ten out of ten. 

My company has 50 customers for the product. 

The tool's technical support is good. 

Cisco IOS SSL VPN's deployment is easy. Its deployment time can vary depending on the size of the company. It may take around one or two hours for a small company with just one or two users. However, larger enterprises with around fifty people could take one or two days. The deployment time is not excessively long, but it depends on how the servers are managed. You would need a ten-member team to handle it. 

I rate the overall product a ten out of ten. It enables everyone to work remotely, adding value for the company and its users. Additionally, the tool offers security, high availability, and stability. 

On-premises

I use IOS for VPN. I work overseas often, and sometimes, I can't access what I need without a VPN. Some countries like Indonesia are restrictive, so you need a VPN. We've got about 10,000 employees, and we're all using it. I'm working on a company-provided laptop. I can't connect to our systems without Cisco.

IOS is user-friendly and simple. You connect to a particular VPN, and that's it. You become seamless after that.

I've been using Cisco IOS for about seven years. I've used it since before it was called IOS. 

I've never had any issues with IOS. It's probably a little on the older side, but it does the job.

Cisco customer support is excellent. I've never had issues at all.

I rate Cisco IOS SSL VPN eight out of 10. My main advice is always: Does it work for you? If it works for you, use it.

The feature I find most valuable is the management portal. The one we're currently using is much more simple and with the IOS version 9, there is quite an improvement on the stability and the configuration of the solution itself.

I think the management of the design of the console or portal needs to improve because when you compare it to other vendors, you find that the graphical interface is old. I do, however, believe that the newer version has an improved graphical interface.

An improvement in the scalability of the solution will also be great.

I've been working on Cisco SSL VPN for more than ten years on cloud and on premises.

The newer version is much more stable than the versions we used a few years ago.

I think the scalability could be improved in the next version but it's fine for now.

The documentation that comes with the program is pretty clear and everything is explained well. So we haven't used the customer service yet.

The difficulty of the initial setup depends on the security or policy configuration one needs to implement. But for us, it was quite straightforward and not difficult at all. We did the installation and deployment ourselves. 

My advice to others would be that, if they are going in the cloud, they can use other products from the cloud too. In the next version, I would like to see central management, because sometimes you have more than two or three devices. If we can have a solution that can manage all these devices, that will be great. For example, if you need to update one device, you can just do it from one place without having to update all of them separately. On a scale from one to ten, I rate this solution a seven. 

I primarily use the solution for remote access for my clients.

The solution is very easy to work with. This is its most valuable feature. They also did a good job surrounding how you configure the devices.

The solution needs to solve the issues they have with Java.

Cisco device management is quite difficult. They should work to simplify this.

I've been using the solution for almost four years.

In terms of stability, I think it would be nice if Cisco could manage their Java problem. Sometimes it works and sometimes it requires troubleshooting or you need to take the time to update in order to fix the Java issue. 

I have contacted technical support in the past, but nowadays our company is not allowed to contact Cisco directly because we don't have a contract with them. Intermediary companies can, however. In the past, I have been satisfied with the level of service I've received.

If the person setting up the solution understands the underlying technology, they won't have trouble with the initial setup of the product. It's a bit complex. Besides following the steps of the setup, you have to understand what you are doing, otherwise, you can get lost in the process.

I'm a Cisco engineer, so I was able to implement the solution myself.

I use the on-premises deployment model. I've worked with Cisco products for 15-16 years.

I would rate the solution eight out of ten.

Our primary use case of this solution is security. It is very effective and I am satisfied with how it works and with its performance. 

The most valuable feature about this solution is that the client can connect from his house to the office. It does, however, take some time to configure.

The administration should be improved.

I've been using Cisco for many years now, on cloud and on premise, so I am an experienced user.

The last deployment we did, was for a customer about three months ago. The customer has three branches and we deployed Cisco SSL VPN and I think it is stable.

Cisco has good products and the products have good scalability. Some of my clients have more than 60 users!

The technical support department is very good.

The initial setup is easy, but the complicated part is to configure out what the customer wants. Clients need assistance from integrators or consultants for the deployments, so the customer usually calls my company or calls me to deploy the Cisco solution for them.

On a scale from one to 10, where 1 is the worst and 10 is the best, I would you rate Cisco SSL VPN a seven. 

It is used as a VPN. Suppose you are working for any company and need to access something, but are unable to access it from outside, this solution is able to help. This solution helped a lot during the pandemic.

It helps us access networks from anywhere. 

The configuration is critical and complex. Also, the code should be updated from time to time. The speed should also be improved. 

I have been using Cisco IOS SSL VPN for three years. 

It is a stable solution. 

It is a scalable solution. Presently, forty-fifty users are using the solution. 

The technical support team is good. 

I used Fortinet before using Cisco IOS SSL VPN. 

The initial setup is complex. However, Cisco provides a lot of documentation that is easy to understand. This makes the setup not feel complex. You can also receive guidance online.

I recommend the solution. I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten. 

We use Cisco SSL VPN mostly as a secure way to access our business applications remotely.

It provides a solution for our secure remote access.

Usability is the most important feature for me. The stability is really good and it is very important to usability. I think this product is number one for stability. At the end of the day, the speed depends on stability. Once the solution is stable that means the speed is also okay. But really it matters the base connection.

I am mostly satisfied with the product. The biggest issue and the reason we do not make more use of it is the pricing. If Cisco can provide us discounts like Microsoft we could make better use of the product. There are other organizations providing discounts to non-profits. They realize the need, and they are creating programs. Microsoft has discount programs for non-profits. With Amazon, we have joined a special program where they are providing us services at a discount for non-profit. Cisco is quite expensive in comparison. So we decide to use what makes the most sense for our model. We see that there are these offers and we decide to use Amazon for some purposes. 

So if Cisco did have a similar program — a non-profit program — it would be great for the utilization of other products as well. We don't have a big budget like enterprise businesses and we budget more like a small business does. But at the moment, for Cisco, we pay the same price that everybody else pays. If they had programs for non-profits, more non-profits would join the program and make use of their services.

We would like to expand to use many other products from Cisco as well. We need them. But we're not able to choose them because of the pricing. We want to use the Cisco products because they service the enterprise level and we would like to have Cisco firewalls, switches, and everything. Unfortunately, the pricing is making us get out from incorporating Cisco products.

We have been using the product a little over four years.

As for stability, it is one of the best features of the product. A stable connection is the reason we use the product.

We have roughly fifty users who are using it at the moment. Initially, we started with only a small number of users. So the usage of the product has been pretty scalable. At the moment we are not planning to scale our usage of Cisco products more, but that need depends on the business growth and the number of staff who need access. Things may change.

We have not really used Cisco's technical support because local support is good enough for us. After it is set up and stable then it doesn't really need much maintenance or attention.

For us, in using the local support the wait is sometimes quite a long time. But it's okay for us.

I have used Fortinet as well and that product is stable as well. It is another solid, stable solution. They provide similar stability, features, and functionality. There are some other products we still use for other things because of Cisco's lack of discount programs for non-profit organizations.

The initial setup for the VPN straightforward. It is user-friendly and easy for someone to set up.

We didn't require any assistance for the setup or implementation. We did it ourselves. It was really quite simple.

The product is a bit expensive compared to some other products. If they could lower the prices, it would be great.

Cisco does have really good products and good services but pricing is not allowing us to take advantage of their enterprise solutions.

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I think Cisco SSL VPN is an 8.