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Cisco Secure Web Appliance vs. Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Secure Web Appliance

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ACisco Secure Web Appliance (formerly Cisco Web Security Appliance [WSA]), powered by Cisco Talos, protects by automatically blocking risky sites and testing unknown sites before allowing users to link to them, helping with compliance. It is available models S690, S390, and S190.N/A

    Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AThe majority of attacks and exposure to malicious content occurs during the normal course of web browsing activities, which requires the ability to allow safe, secure web access for all users. URL Filtering with PAN-DB automatically prevents attacks that leverage the web as an attack vector, including phishing links in emails, phishing sites, HTTP-based command and control, malicious sites and pages that carry exploit kits.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Secure Web AppliancePalo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
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    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Secure Web AppliancePalo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Secure Web AppliancePalo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Secure Web Appliance
    Considering we're with Cisco IronPort Web Security Appliances for the last 9 years, as I stated, we don't have too much experience with other producs. What I can say is that in the past, we evaluated Websense before it became Forcepoint and we also used MS ISA Server for …
    Incentivized
    Palo Alto Networks
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Secure Web AppliancePalo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Forcepoint SWG
    Score9.7 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Skyhigh Secure Web Gateway
    Score8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Secure Web AppliancePalo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
    Likelihood to Recommend
    6.8
    (9 ratings)
    9.5
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.4
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Secure Web AppliancePalo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    We have both scenarios where we can describe that. For example, in the HQ, where we have about 3,000 users, Cisco IronPort Web Security Appliance is the ideal solution, because we can consolidate all the Internet access, policies, rules, etc. in the same box. However, if you have small offices with a few users, it's hard to justify one big and expensive box that could cost more than the whole office infrastructure.
    Incentivized
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    Palo Alto Networks
    Because of it's complexity, Palo may not be well suited for a small organization that may not have dedicated networking staff. But for a mid to large-sized enterprise, Palo shines.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • SMA gave us central control over multiple servers, simplifying management.
    • Performance of the Appliance VM exceeded that of our old physical appliance-based solution.
    • Convenient licensing for virtualized environments that allows easy scaling.
    Incentivized
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    Palo Alto Networks
    • Threat Detection and Prevention (Malwares, Un-Authorized Access)
    • Out of the box patterns for threat detection
    • Built in and Updated identification patterns
    • Unified Dashboard/Alerting on anomaly
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • I think that the interface could need updates to adapt it to a much more current system, achieve quick access to necessary tools and adapt the platform to a much more customizable and comfortable system to work with.
    • It is undoubtedly a platform that is worth having, however, the license costs could be better adjusted to small businesses so that it can be accessed more easily.
    • It could be a bit complex to use, the use of codes is quite extensive, it could be adjusted to something much more practical but just as efficient.
    Incentivized
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    Palo Alto Networks
    • Steep learning curve
    • The top-down URL filtering match can sometimes be tricky and requires some expertise in setting up the desired policy
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Cisco
    Because it's one of those products you almost don't realize it exists from the end user. From the administrator perspective, you can do everything on its web interface and it's very intuitive to manage, once you know the concepts behind identities, acls, etc. Also, once you build the control structure, I mean, you link 'local' groups with your own Active Directory groups, as we did here, you don't need to be managing those things on the appliance itself.
    Incentivized
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    Palo Alto Networks
    It is very easy to use and setup. It integrates well within all of Palo's products such as NGFWs and Prisma Access. There is a dedicated log inside of Palo products for URL filtering to aid in troubleshooting. It integrates with AD/Azure so that different users can have different URL filtering rules. Filtering can be adjusted in real-time
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    Our experience with Cisco's support was terrible. Other than the fact that they don't respond to service-related emails with urgency, they also keep on changing the policies that affected us. Recently, they came up with a new look for the same software, which was insanely slow. Renewal of keys for the old interface took months. Overall, the support was not very friendly from the users' point of view.
    Incentivized
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    Palo Alto Networks
    Palo support is excellent, and I have never had to wait when contacting them for support. One of the best support teams in the business, in my opinion.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    At home I have a McAfee service that does similar tasks and helps manage the users of my internet. McAfee seems more user friendly and easier to set exceptions.
    Incentivized
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    Palo Alto Networks
    Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering is the best solution to work with Palo Alto Firewalls and Panorama as an orchestrator. We choose Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering as it could reach the success criteria during the PoC.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Security! Security! Security! We are financial company that work with very sensitive information. A lot of unsafe traffic was blocked on the Cisco IronPort WSA over years of using it. We did not earn on it but absolutely sure that we did not lose 'gazillion' of dollars being infected or scammed.
    • Easy to configure and use, no need to teach new personnel how work with this product (hopefully saving time = saving money).
    • Unfortunately the price of license subscription made financial managers push IT dept. to look for something cheaper.
    Incentivized
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    Palo Alto Networks
    • Palo has been an excellent investment for us.
    • Having robust URL filtering built into the same device as the firewall saves the cost of a separate appliance and improves performance.
    Incentivized
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