Appgate SDP vs Cisco Secure Workload comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Appgate and Cisco are both solutions in the Microsegmentation Software category. Appgate is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.5, while Cisco is ranked #5. Additionally, 100% of Appgate users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Appgate SDP and Cisco Secure Workload are competitive products in cybersecurity. Appgate SDP is favored for cost-effectiveness, while Cisco Secure Workload is renowned for its feature-rich offering.

Features: Appgate SDP offers dynamic identity-based access control, seamless system integration, and is designed for scalability. Cisco Secure Workload provides comprehensive workload protection, advanced telemetry, and detailed security insights into network activities.

Room for Improvement: Appgate SDP could enhance its telemetry and analytics for deeper insights. Improved granularity in access controls and more robust application dependency mapping would benefit users. Cisco Secure Workload could reduce complexity in its deployment, streamline its feature set for easier management, and offer more intuitive user interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Appgate SDP has a straightforward deployment process and responsive customer support, allowing quick implementation. Cisco Secure Workload may be more complex to deploy due to its extensive features, but it offers robust support to assist with such challenges.

Pricing and ROI: Appgate SDP is noted for its affordable initial costs and ongoing expenses, providing good ROI for budget-conscious organizations. Cisco Secure Workload has higher upfront costs, justified by its comprehensive features, offering solid long-term ROI for those needing extensive security infrastructures.

To learn more, read our detailed Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Workload Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Workload

September 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

iboss

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.

Read full review

Joseph Koomson

Ip Network Security Specialist at MTN Ghana

Zero trust access has strengthened remote connectivity and secures diverse office devices

Appgate SDP support is always available to assist, which is the primary strength. However, there are areas for improvement. When a user is unable to connect, the platform should display detailed information such as the user's IP address, MAC address, and specific reasons for connection failure. Currently, aside from invalid username and password errors, Appgate SDP provides generic errors related to policy, such as a policy admin error. The system should provide deeper diagnostics to explain why a user cannot connect. The dashboard could also be enhanced with additional features and logins to provide better visibility. Sometimes there is no immediate clarity about what is happening. After using Appgate SDP for a long time and experiencing various errors, we have learned where to investigate, but this would be problematic for new users trying to resolve issues. The dashboard could display user connection times, failure reasons, and other relevant information. The user activity logs and accounting features should be improved in particular.

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Raj Metkar

Director, Head of Networks at MUFG, EMEA

Discover internal application dependencies and create a dependency map

We actively seek improvements in integrating the Infoblox DDI platform with Cisco Secure Workload. This integration allows Cisco Secure Workload to learn about our networks and network tags, providing valuable insights into vulnerabilities related to the operating system and various applications installed on our servers. Recently, Cisco announced a new product called HyperShield, an AI-based autonomous micro-segmentation solution. While Cisco has not stated that HyperShield will replace Cisco Secure Workload, it represents a natural evolution for the company. HyperShield features dynamic policy discovery and enforcement; however, once policies are enforced, they do not change until a discovery occurs, requiring a re-enforcement process. This new platform operates autonomously, minimizing the need for user or security engineer intervention. I would have expected Cisco to incorporate more automatic discovery and enforcement features within the existing Cisco Secure Workload product. Instead of enhancing the current product, they have introduced a new solution. Cisco plans to honor existing Tetration licenses, allowing users to transition to HyperShield without additional costs, reflecting the investment enterprises have already made. From Cisco’s perspective, this represents a natural progression in their product line. While the product name changes, it seems more of a rebranding effort. The enhancements are greater autonomy, improved discovery, and automatic enforcement, which are now being introduced in HyperShield. Cisco Secure Workload offers automatic policy enforcement but cannot adjust policies dynamically as the application needs to change. Having used the platform for the past five years, the recent announcement has been reassuring. Cisco has confirmed that our investment in the platform will not go to waste. They will honor our existing licenses, providing a natural migration path to the new solution without any disruption

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

"The iboss solution gives me the ability to scan the traffic through all the ports, through all the 131,000 PCP and UDP ports, and with this ability, we have the granularity also for consults over social media and applications on mobile, and this is an advantage that the customers are looking for right now."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"Our primary use case for this product is DLP,"

"We were impressed by the solution's mental health function, which can detect if someone needs help. It scans what users are browsing and flags warning signs so we can check to see if they are okay. We've had to use it a couple of times."

"The security aspect of the solution, particularly the malware behind it, is excellent."

"Valuable features: Within the filter: Controls (Web categories, applications, and Allow/Block list) and Network (local Subnets). Within the reporter: Logs (Event Log) and Reports."

"The students were always protected, and the content filtering worked very well, seeming to work better than other products we had tried previously."

More iboss pros

"Appgate SDP has positively impacted my organization, as we are using it to securely access the internet after the cyber attack."

"The interface is really friendly. It's simple to understand."

"The flexibility of the tool is valuable; it is very robust, has a very robust configuration capability, is pretty well documented, and is also good interface-wise."

"The simplicity of the SDP platform is a standout feature; instead of navigating through intricate details, users can seamlessly connect to the company's network or switch to the internet with minimal effort."

"It is a scalable solution...The support answers your questions very fast."

"One of the most important features is stopping lateral movement across our network."

"Previously, with AnyConnect, we experienced frequent issues, and in comparison to that solution, we have seen significant improvement and minimum downtime."

"It is pretty stable."

More Appgate SDP pros

"This product does everything that you need it to do and more and does a lot to provide visibility in a network environment, save time and money, and make the organization IT operate in a much more streamlined fashion."

"The only use case I can see that makes sense is micro-segmentation. I think there are other use cases for it. The main purpose of the product is to do micro-segmentation by collecting IP. That could be done by installing an agent, and then you have all the communication coming in and out. You could also use some flow sensors installed in the network that receive a copy of the traffic and then report that back to the system."

"The solution is very user-friendly, which clients appreciate."

"Instead of proving that all the access control lists are in place and all the EPGs are correct, we can just point the auditor to a dashboard and point out that there aren't any escaped conversations. It saves an enormous, enormous amount of time."

"The most valuable feature right now is to do with having visibility on the network — especially on our servers — and to be able to enforce some type of security measures."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that we don't have to do packet captures on the network."

"Secure Workload's best feature is that it's an end-to-end offering from Cisco."

"The solution offers 100% telemetry coverage; the telemetry you collect is not sampled, it's not intermittent, it's complete, and you see everything in it, including full visibility of all activities on your endpoints and in your network."

More Cisco Secure Workload pros

Cons

"Sometimes the agent stops working in iboss, and we have to reinstall the agent."

"I appreciate that iboss's single pane of glass console gives centralized visibility into web traffic, user activity, security policies, and alerts from one dashboard, allowing us to quickly investigate incidents and monitor policy violations without switching between multiple tools, improving operational efficiency; however, the dashboard customization and reporting could be more flexible."

"One thing I would like to see differently with their Zero Trust platform is that some of the AI aspects related to high-risk activities have more false positives."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"It is stable, but due to growth, it can sometimes be less stable than wanted."

"Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern."

"Their on-premise hardware's network interface is capped at one gigabit, which is sort of a problem. If you stand a filter up where all traffic flows through that, according to them, in order to go above a gigabit, you have to have multiple devices, which in today's IT seems a little bit silly. They could easily put in an SFP port into their device that could accommodate 10 gigs or at least offer a box."

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."

More iboss cons

"One limitation is that it's harder to provide access to multiple applications in the company with Appgate, but that's probably because of poor management."

"One thing that kind of sticks out to me is the ability to do a proper non-split tunnel."

"If I could change or improve anything about Appgate SDP, it would be to enhance the user experience by improving the UI so that it is more explanatory."

"On the cloud, when you make some changes, it may be difficult."

"The user interface should be improved as it is not very easy to work with the updates."

"One thing that kind of sticks out to me is the ability to do a proper non-split tunnel. VPN tunnel-wise, it is not really a true unsplit tunnel, but I think that's just because of the way it's designed. A split VPN basically allows your system to talk to other systems without being forced down the tunnel. A VPN running in a non-split tunnel mode forces all the traffic down the tunnel to wherever you're VPNing to. It forces the traffic down so that the traffic is subject to the firewall and rules that you have in your corporate environment and such. It helps to prevent remote malicious folks that may be talking directly to that box from piggybacking into the corporate environment through it. They do it partially, but it would be nice to see more of an enterprise-level solution there."

"They could provide a single-box solution to manage tools for 4000 users. Additionally, they could add extra features to enhance remote micro connection."

"It would be better to connect to an application portal from any device. Documentation and support could be better."

More Appgate SDP cons

"I would have expected Cisco to incorporate more automatic discovery and enforcement features within the existing Cisco Secure Workload product."

"The product must be integrated with the cloud."

"There's room for improvement when it comes to Cisco Secure Workload. A couple of internal areas could be refined a little bit. They are trying to solve it, depending on where you suppose the agent is. Suppose you have the agent on both the server and the client, which could be the front-end server or web server connecting to the. In that case, if those two are communicating on RPC, the server can look into its configuration. It could go down and find the configuration file on the FTP server and then set the policies to it. But there are a lot of different FTP servers out there. It's also a complex case for the tool to support all FTP servers."

"It is not so easy to use and configure. It needs a bunch of further resources to work, which is mainly the biggest downside of it. The deployment is huge."

"Secure Workload is a little complicated to use, and the dashboard isn't intuitive, so it takes a while to learn how to use it."

"Cisco Tetration needs more flags and system alerts that we should get with network capture."

"The interface is really helpful for technical people, but it is not user-friendly."

"The integration could be better, especially with different types of solutions."

More Cisco Secure Workload cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"We pay $100 per user per month. One license for the site is around $17."

"The pricing is according to the market price. It is not a very cheap solution. They have some very aggressive promotions to sell the product in the market."

"It is a pretty expensive tool. It is maybe about $20,000 per year for a hundred users or so."

"Regarding price, Cisco Secure Workload can be expensive if you don't have a budget. If you're not doing micro-segmentation, every extra security measure or enforcement you're putting on top of your existing environment will be an extra cost. It's not a cheap solution at all. But from my point of view, if you need to do micro-segmentation, this is one of the best tools I've seen for it. I can't compare that to Microsoft's solution because I haven't looked into it. I've looked into VMware and Cisco. Those are the only two that I know of. I didn't know that Microsoft could do micro-segmentation at all. Maybe they can, but I haven't heard anything about it."

"The cost for the hardware is around 300k."

"Pricing depends on the scope of the application and the features. Larger installations save more."

"The price is based on how many computers you're going to install it on."

"It is not cheap and pricing may limit scalability."

"The price is outrageous. If you have money to throw at the product, then do it."

"The pricing is a bit higher than we anticipated."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

I think iboss could be improved by emphasizing the modular function even more during sales presentations and demonstr...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iboss?

iboss is primarily used for content filtering within school districts and public K-12 school districts, and it can al...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

My experience with iboss's pricing structure, setup cost, and licensing model has been positive, straightforward, and...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Appgate SDP?

Regarding pricing and setup cost, everything is already pre-installed in my organization, so I am not sure about pric...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Appgate SDP?

Appgate SDP support is always available to assist, which is the primary strength. However, there are areas for improv...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Appgate SDP?

Appgate SDP is used for user connectivity both in the office and outside the office for remote connectivity. When out...

See all answers

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Comparisons

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Compared 4% of the time

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VMware NSX vs Cisco Secure Workload

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

October 2026

Download iboss product report

Buyer's Guide

ZTNA

October 2026

Download Appgate SDP product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Secure Workload

October 2026

Download Cisco Secure Workload product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

No data available

Cisco Tetration

Overview

iboss is the Zero Trust SASE platform that gives organizations complete visibility and governance over their AI, data, and applications through one unified platform, one console, one policy engine, and one data lake.

Your endpoints may already stop malware. Your data and application activity can still be invisible. iboss decrypts and understands every connection, then turns that signal into answers security leaders can act on.

The platform leads with three capabilities in this order: AI Security and Visibility, Data Security and Visibility, and App Visibility and Control. Zero Trust Network Access, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN sit underneath as the access fabric that carries those three. Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

- AI Security and Visibility: conversation capture, shadow-AI discovery, AI DLP, and agent governance across Claude, Co-Work, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, and emerging services.

- Data Security and Visibility: full SSL/TLS decryption, deep content inspection, MIP label compliance, and one-click compliance reporting.

- App Visibility and Control: signatureless CASB, dual risk scoring, in-app controls, and SSPM for major SaaS.

- Containerized Zero Trust SASE: dedicated containers, isolated SSL keys, one console, one policy engine, one data lake.

- Access fabric: ZTNA, VPN replacement, and SD-WAN under the same platform.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

- Complete visibility over AI, data, and applications from one platform instead of separate point tools.

- Encrypted traffic is inspected by default so data decisions use content and context together.

- Shadow SaaS and new web tools appear as they are used, with enforceable controls in one console.

- Native data sovereignty through dedicated containers, in-region inspection, and per-customer SSL key custody.

- Scale proven in published materials: 10M+ users, 100+ countries, 150B+ transactions, 2.5B+ threats blocked.

Economic buyers are CISOs, CIOs, and VPs of Security. Champions include security architects, network and infrastructure leaders, SecOps, and GRC. Primary segments: enterprise and business, financial services, government (including FedRAMP Gov Cloud), healthcare, manufacturing, legal and professional services, retail and hospitality, and MSP/MSSP partners. Education, including K-12, is one vertical among these.

iboss

Appgate SDP provides a comprehensive approach to network access control, optimizing security with robust configurations and a user-friendly interface, featuring flexible deployment and server concealment to mitigate risks.

Appgate SDP has been designed to enhance security operations through reliable access management. It prides itself on offering strong documentation, substantial scalability, and an interface that supports easy deployment, creating a seamless experience for local and remote connections. It enables organizations to implement micro-segmentation and integrate multifactor authentication, thus elevating their security posture. Recent updates reflect improvements, yet aspects like cost, cloud modification difficulties, VPN customization needs, and an upgraded interface remain areas for future enhancement. Ideal for hybrid environments, Appgate SDP aids transitions from traditional VPNs, protecting digital assets and preventing lateral network threats.

What are the key features of Appgate SDP?

Robust Configuration: Allows flexible setups to meet specific requirements.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies deployment, enhancing user experience.
Server Concealment: Minimizes exposure to threats by hiding servers.
Scalability: Accommodates growing organizational needs with stable performance.
Access Rule Granularity: Provides detailed options for managing network access.

What benefits should be considered in user reviews?

Security Enhancement: Improved protection against lateral movement and ransomware.
Deployment Ease: Streamlined processes for faster implementation.
Strong Support: Reliable assistance from the vendor ensures sustained use.
Remote Work Optimization: Facilitates safe remote access, vital for modern work environments.

Appgate SDP is prevalent in industries shifting from traditional VPNs to more secure architectures. It supports enterprises embracing cloud technologies by providing reliable network access solutions, especially in hybrid work settings, ensuring the security of digital assets while accommodating multifactor authentication and micro-segmentation strategies.

Appgate

Cisco Secure Workload offers advanced auditing, micro-segmentation, and network visibility, automating policy presentation for improved security. It enhances application dependency mapping and provides comprehensive telemetry with strategic policy enforcement.

Cisco Secure Workload specializes in automating micro-segmentation, data center management, and traffic analysis. Its capabilities facilitate application dependency mapping and enhance internal micro-segmentation, providing invaluable network visibility. Users find its automation in policy presentation and strategic enforcement beneficial, along with granular control and scalability, despite needing improvements in scalability and integration capabilities. Enhanced notification features, troubleshooting options, and an efficient interface are desired for seamless deployment, along with stronger multi-tenancy, redundancy, and monitoring functions. Broader platform support and integrated cloud connectivity are desired for unified management across tools.

What are the most important features?

Auditing: Provides in-depth network analysis and security auditing capabilities.
Micro-Segmentation: Enhances network security by automating segmentation at a granular level.
Application Dependency Mapping: Visualizes connections and interactions between applications.
Network Visibility: Delivers comprehensive insight into network activities and dynamics.
Policy Discovery: Streamlines policy creation through automation and reduces manual intervention.
Comprehensive Telemetry: Offers complete coverage and insights for better security assessment.

What benefits and ROI should be evaluated?

Enhanced Security Measures: Offers robust features for network security improvement.
Automated Processes: Reduces manual efforts through automation, increasing efficiency.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands with flexible scalability options.
Granular Control: Allows detailed control over network policies and enforcement.

Entities in finance, gas, and oil sectors utilize Cisco Secure Workload for networking site management and compliance maintenance. It integrates into extensive Cisco infrastructure, aiding routers, switches, and endpoints, thus supporting auditors in network synchronization and auditing needs.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Trusted by global enterprises and government agencies.

United States Air Force FINRA Weight Watchers Rackspace DataDog SageNet Verdant Norwegian Cruise Line VoiceBase The Third Floor

ADP, University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC)

Buyer's Guide

Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Workload

September 2026

Free Report: Appgate SDP vs. Cisco Secure Workload

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