Tech specs
1-8 of 302 reviews
What is our primary use case? I implemented the product which provides end-to-end networking and security features. It starts with secure tunneling, and I performed micro-segmentation in the firewall specific to a particular customer environment. It offers comprehensive security as well as networking features that I have enabled. What is most valuable? The software was mainly the highlight. Most firewalls have a challenge of identifying keywords and providing restricted access, which I encountered. However, Cisco Firewall has very good features, like trusted applications and restricted access for users based on keywords. I could access it appropriately, unlike some firewalls where this is a challenge. Essentially, the restricted access to websites has been exceptional. I was in the life science industry, focusing heavily on compliance. This product meets compliance requirements, and the security process has improved. Stability and consistent performance are critical components of Cisco's product. What needs improvement? The integration, especially for APIs or with other firewall products, is a challenge for me. In some satellite sites where large firewalls are not involved, I used Cisco Meraki. The integration between Cisco products themselves presents difficulties, such as SD-WAN configuration. Managing centralized networking with Cisco is challenging for me in terms of integration with other firewall products. For how long have I used the solution? I have used the solution for almost four years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The solution is stable and performs well. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Scalability presents a challenge. There is commercial involvement and several factors, making it complex for me. I would rate scalability seven out of ten. How are customer service and support? Technical support is unsatisfactory for me. There might be restructuring within Cisco India or with the partner's capability. Whenever I encounter a technical support challenge, it is not an easy process. Even with premium support, it is a struggle. I have to provide many logs, yet problems remain unresolved, often requiring workarounds rather than solutions. How would you rate customer service and support? Neutral How was the initial setup? The initial setup is not simple as it is all based on my requirements. If the requirement or site is predominantly complex, specialist involvement is necessary. However, for a vanilla installation, it is fine - just not easy. Which other solutions did I evaluate? I have assessed and decided to move on to Sophos. Sophos's support is excellent compared to Cisco and other products, with their technical support team based in South India. I have received a lot of good feedback about it. What other advice do I have? Overall, I would rate the product six out of ten. Because of the support and cost, I moved away from Cisco, but otherwise, it is a good product. Recommendation depends on the requirement. If lacking a proper team and being dependent on the OEM and partner, Cisco is not suitable. However, if the team is qualified with Cisco-certified people and the requirement is a big network, it can be considered. In today's hybrid work world, having an expanded gateway is more typical than having a single one. Thus, Cisco is unlikely to be recommended for a hybrid requirement unless in-house skills align. Otherwise, depending on partners and Cisco, it can be a risk. I rate the overall solution six out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
What is our primary use case? I am a system engineer, and I've been looking for some details and competitive information regarding the standards of this firewall and similar technologies. What is most valuable? There is a good relationship between real throughput, meaning the root performance, and the data sheet performance. When comparing it to other vendors, the data sheet performance is often more than expected and more than the real performance. It includes features like IPS, malware protection, and other security features. What needs improvement? The management usability and security of Cisco Firewall are based on Firepower Management Center, which is quite out of date compared to other vendors. For how long have I used the solution? I have used this solution for more than ten years. How are customer service and support? The SLA is great, and the escalation process is also great. For example, if I have a priority one case, I am able to call the manager to raise the severity, etc. So the SLA is very good. How would you rate customer service and support? Neutral Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? When compared with other competitors like Palo Alto or Fortinet, Cisco stands in a good position regarding the firewall environment. Compared to Fortinet, Cisco is a bit higher. When comparing with Palata and Juniper, Cisco has the same price level. How was the initial setup? I am well prepared, and it is quite easy. Cisco has really great documentation, like a deployment guide and a quick start guide, etc. Which other solutions did I evaluate? What other advice do I have? If engineers are well prepared, it is good to note that Cisco has really great documentation. I have been working with AI features in the Cisco environment with Cisco Firewall, etc. I have been hearing and reading a lot about the integration of AI capabilities into Cisco devices, but I have not worked with that yet. Overall, I would rate this an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
What is our primary use case? Cisco Secure Firewall is a next-generation firewall that can be used for various security applications. What is most valuable? The advantage of using Cisco is its integration within the Cisco fabric, which allows for effective threat detection and mitigation. What needs improvement? Cisco could improve its score by developing more features that integrate seamlessly with various applications and investing in hardware acceleration to enhance performance. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The product is stable with minimal glitches or latency issues. How was the initial setup? The solution is easy to install, requiring minimal expertise. Deployment time varies, but it can take about two days for a medium-sized company with 200-300 users to configure and install. What was our ROI? After five years of product usage, the high return on investment and low total cost of ownership can be observed. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Pricing depends on partnerships and certifications. The engineering team's certifications can qualify it for seven to eight percent discounts. What other advice do I have? The platform's integration capabilities depend on the project context. In some cases, integrating Palo Alto may provide better performance, but Cisco can still be effective. However, its classification in industry comparisons, such as those from Gartner, is lower than that of competitors like FortiGate and Palo Alto. Overall, I rate it seven out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
How has it helped my organization? Cisco Secure Firewall has impacted our cybersecurity cost efficiency. What is most valuable? The important features are IPS intrusion prevention, anti-malware, and anti-spam. What needs improvement? Cisco firewall needs experience with hardware. They should also enhance security antivirus, application detection, user detection, and ID detection. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for three years. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? 300 users are using this solution. How are customer service and support? The support is good. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The initial setup is easy, but it takes some time to push the configurations. Also, it's a little complicated and not friendly to use. It is good only for IT and experienced people. The deployment took two months and a team of two to three people. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The pricing is average. What other advice do I have? I recommend the solution to medium and enterprise customers since it is expensive. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
What is our primary use case? Our use for Cisco Secure is for the firewall. What is most valuable? Network segmentation is the most valuable feature. What needs improvement? The dashboard can be improved. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for seven years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It is stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? It is scalable. A thousand-plus users are using the solution in my company. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is straightforward. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Pricing is high. What other advice do I have? Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Integrator
What is our primary use case? I deployed the Cisco Secure Firewall at the Internet Edge for the most part. What is most valuable? We use the solution for deep packet inspection, Internet Edge functionality, IDS, and IDP. What needs improvement? The solution’s GUI could be better. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for six years. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Cisco Secure Firewall is a scalable solution that allows you to add capacity. How was the initial setup? The solution’s initial setup is straightforward. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The solution’s pricing is competitive. What other advice do I have? I rate the solution's ease of management and configuration an eight out of ten. I would recommend Cisco Secure Firewall to other users based on what they want it for and a combination of price point and supportability. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
What is our primary use case? I use the solution in my company for some internal testing purposes, so I don't use it in a real environment. I use it in my dummy lab environment. What needs improvement? The product's user interface is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required. From an improvement perspective, the product's price needs to be lowered. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for three years. I am a customer of Cisco. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I have faced no issues with the stability of the product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The product offers good scalability. How are customer service and support? I rate the technical support a nine out of ten. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I have experience with Sophos. How was the initial setup? The product's initial setup phase is a little difficult. The product's deployment phase is a good and easy process. The solution is deployed on the cloud. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The product is expensive. What other advice do I have? I can't describe a particular scenario where the product has improved security, but I can say that the devices from Cisco are much more trustworthy and reliable compared to other devices in the market. The most effective feature of the product for threat prevention stems from the granularity of the control that the devices from Cisco provide to its users. The product offers great integration capabilities. For our company's daily operations, the user interface provided by Sophos is much better and interactive compared to the one offered by Cisco. You can choose Sophos if you want a low-budget or budget-friendly product. You can choose Cisco if you want a high-end and highly scalable tool with great integration capabilities, especially if budget is not an issue. I rate the overall tool an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
What is our primary use case? We had implemented our Cisco API and Cisco Stealthwatch. We use the Cisco Secure Firewall for easy integration that can collaborate with all these Cisco solutions. My operations will also have less maintenance and the same existing team. What is most valuable? Cisco Secure Firewall's security solutions, advanced malware protection, and DDoS communication are very good. With Cisco Secure Firewall, the security is very much manageable because it protects all the incoming and outgoing traffic of our several telecom IT rooms. What needs improvement? The solution's deployment is time-consuming, which should be minimized and made more user-friendly for us. The solution's graphical user interface could be made more user-friendly, and the configuration can be simple. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for five years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Cisco Secure Firewall is a stable solution. I rate Cisco Secure Firewall ten out of ten for stability. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Cisco Secure Firewall is a scalable solution. Around 400 users are using the solution in our organization. I rate Cisco Secure Firewall a nine out of ten for scalability. How are customer service and support? The solution’s technical support is good. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The solution’s initial setup is complex and requires Cisco-certified people. What about the implementation team? Two engineers were involved in the solution's deployment, which took one week. What was our ROI? We have seen a return on investment with Cisco Secure Firewall because it provides advanced malware protection and seamless integration with my existing solutions. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Cisco Secure Firewall is a moderately priced solution. We have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution. What other advice do I have? The solution’s maintenance is very easy, and one person can do it. Overall, I rate Cisco Secure Firewall an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
