TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Symantec SiteMinder

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AF5 Networks provides BIG-IP Access Policy Manager as an identity and access solution which can be deployed as a standalone solution or as an add-on to F5 Networks' flagship BIG-IP TLM or F5 Advanced WAF applications.N/A

    Symantec SiteMinder

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ASymantec SiteMinder (formerly Layer 7 SiteMinder from CA, now from Broadcom) provides a unified access management platform that applies an authentication mechanism to positively identify users; provides single sign-on and identity federation for access to any application; enforces granular security policies to stop unauthorized access to sensitive resources; and monitors and manages the entire user session to prevent session hijacking.N/A
    Pricing
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)Symantec SiteMinder
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)Symantec SiteMinder
    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
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)Symantec SiteMinder
    Considered Both Products
    F5
    No answer on this topic
    Broadcom
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    20 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)Symantec SiteMinder
    Virtual Private Network
    Comparison of Virtual Private Network features of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) and Symantec SiteMinder
    Feature
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
    9.2
    2 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Symantec SiteMinder
    -
    Ratings
    AES 256-bit Encryption10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Kill Switch10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-Platform Support10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Simultaneous Connections8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customer Support Services8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    User Ratings
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)Symantec SiteMinder
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (12 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)Symantec SiteMinder
    Likelihood to Recommend
    F5
    I think that the platform is well suited to many Remote Access VPN solutions, but I also think there is a lot of room for improvement on the backend. If you are hoping to deploy your APM solution across many different datacenters or colos, it may not be the best choice for the final solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Broadcom
    We currently are working to set up Single Sign On and auto provisioning with a new vendor. Symantec SiteMinder visualizes things like SAML responses and assertion attributes within the console extremely clearly. This makes making adjustments on the Vendor's side or even working with Vendor support clear and effective. The only time I would avoid trying use Symantec SiteMinder as a local IDP would be when I am trying to minimize complexity or overhead troubleshooting needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    F5
    • SAML 2.0 identity federation support.
    • Integrates with third-party SSO solutions.
    • Bridging modern authentication and authorization (SAML, OAuth/OIDC) and classic authentication and authorization methods.
    • Policy routing
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Broadcom
    • Federation Services
    • Detailed logging for troubleshooting
    • Console management is clear and easy to use for less experienced techs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    F5
    • There's some more advanced configurations within OAuth that I think could be fleshed out and easier to approach.
    • There's a lot of things in F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager policies that I find myself recreating every policy. An easier way to copy objects from one to policy to another.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Broadcom
    • Guided tutorials within the console
    • Visual connection testing
    • Support can be difficult to contact
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    F5
    Integration with F5 BIG-IP systems that we plan to keep using for a while.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    F5
    If F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager usability is fine it's not hard to use if you read the documentation but it does feel dated and could use a responsive design update to modernize user interface to current standards.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Broadcom
    6.5 Symantec SiteMinder's usability is high but the barrier to entry can be intimidating for an unfamiliar user. Symantec SiteMinder support can be difficult to get a hold of when needed leading to situations where you're not sure how to proceed. Overall, if you have experience with SSO, federations, SAML, and IDP's, then you will be fine
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    F5
    It is open platform so support is not good and than F5 and features visibility as not good as F5. F5 Set up and easy to use to admin console. Also have more feature visibility for load balancing, web server accelerator, application server ddos protection and WAF. F5 more efficient to handle concurrent request.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Broadcom
    We use Microsoft Windows Azure AD which can act similarly in comparison to Symantec SiteMinder. While this experience is somewhat narrow, Symantec SiteMinder seems to have more flexability/customization and caters to the crown that prefers to automate and work with linux. I am less familiar with Azure's automated abilities, however, Symantec SiteMinder allows to automate various factors that already line up with our existing Linux environment and setup
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    F5
    • Simplified our approach to company-wide VPN solutions greatly by allowing us to use a single product instead of multiple products like we had before
    • Can handle 15000-20000 users at once with no issues
    • Was able to configure to support users travelling with 4G connections on their laptops and accommodate constant changing IP addresses
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Broadcom
    • Extremely flexible/customizable partnership federations
    • Consolidation of SSO settings in one place
    • Requires more knowledge and therefore more time training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots