G2

Ilham P.

Senior Network Security Engineer

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

6/22/2026

"Powerful NAC Solution, Best Leveraged Within the Cisco Ecosystem"

4/5

What do you like best about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

As an implementer, centralized policy management is the biggest win — defining RADIUS, TACACS+, and 802.1x authorization rules in one place eliminates per-device configuration and makes policy audits straightforward. The deep Cisco ecosystem integration is equally valuable; pxGrid context sharing with Firepower means ISE pushes identity-aware decisions into the broader security stack automatically, something that would otherwise require significant manual correlation." Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)?

The most frustrating pain point is interoperability with non-Cisco network access devices. CoA and VSA behaviour becomes inconsistent when working with third-party switches and wireless controllers, necessitating significant workarounds and increasing deployment complexity in mixed-vendor environments.

The admin GUI is noticeably sluggish, particularly when navigating policy sets or loading live authentication logs on larger deployments. This slows down day-to-day troubleshooting and makes what should be quick configuration changes feel unnecessarily tedious.

The upgrade process is also a significant operational burden. ISE upgrades require careful sequencing across PAN, PSN, and MnT nodes, demand long maintenance windows, and carry real risk of service disruption if anything goes wrong mid-process. A more streamlined, rolling upgrade mechanism would greatly reduce the operational overhead. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) solving and how is that benefiting you?

Before ISE, most of our customers' network access was largely VLAN-based with minimal enforcement — any device could connect with little visibility into what it was or whether it was compliant. Cisco ISE solved this by enabling 802.1x-based network access control across wired and wireless infrastructure, automatically profiling endpoints to classify corporate, BYOD, and IoT devices without manual intervention, and enforcing posture compliance before granting access.

The result is significantly improved visibility into what's on the network and a much stronger security baseline — non-compliant or unrecognized devices are now quarantined automatically rather than left unchecked. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.