CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Cisco vs SonicWall

Cisco sells security products that protect users, devices, apps, and data. SonicWall is a unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments. CISO Tribune files both under Firewalls and NGFW and SASE and SSE. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Cisco
  • SonicWall
Cisco vs SonicWall: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
CiscoCisco sells security products that protect users, devices, apps, and data.cisco.comSonicWallSonicWall is a unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments.sonicwall.com
What it sells
  • Cisco HypershieldA security architecture for data centers that segments workloads and closes exploit gaps at scale.
  • Cisco Secure AccessA secure access service edge (SASE) product that unifies networking and security policy for a distributed workforce.
  • Cisco Duo[1]An identity security product that gives visibility into an organization's identity ecosystem and enforces access policy.
  • Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)A network access control product that uses data from across Cisco's stack to enforce policy, manage endpoints and grant trusted access.
  • Splunk Enterprise Security[1]A security information and event management product that detects and responds to threats using collected logs and events.
  • Cisco Talos[1]A threat intelligence and research organization that supplies threat data used across Cisco's security products.
  • Capture Client[3][12]Endpoint detection and response built on SentinelOne.
  • Cloud Secure Edge[1][3][7][13][15]SonicWall's Security Service Edge (SSE) platform.
  • SonicSentry MDR[3][7][11]Managed detection and response from SonicWall analysts.
  • SonicWall Unified Management[3]A single console for managing SonicWall products.
Categories
Headquarters
San Jose, United States[3][13]Not stated on its pages
Founded
1984[4]Not stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Public (NASDAQ: CSCO)[1][2][10][12][13]Owned by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management since 2016[2][3][5][6]
Named customers
  • Marriott[5]
  • United States Golf Association[6]
  • Rosen Hotels & Resorts[7]
  • Elon University[8]
Not stated on its pages
Recent news
  • August 12, 2026Cisco reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $17.3 billion for the period ended July 25, 2026.[2]
  • May 13, 2026Cisco reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $15.8 billion for the period ended April 25, 2026.[9]
  • May 4, 2026Cisco announced its intent to acquire Astrix Security, a non-human identity security company, and completed the acquisition on June 29, 2026.[10]
  • April 9, 2026Cisco announced its intent to acquire Galileo Technologies, Inc.[11]
  • November 25, 2025Cisco completed its acquisition of EzDubs, a privately held AI software company based in San Francisco.[13]
  • May 12, 2026SonicWall announced availability of the Gen 8 NSv XS, a subscription-based virtual firewall for MSPs and MSSPs serving small and distributed environments.[18]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 5, 2026[12]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[5]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[6]
Who it fits
From its own pages, Cisco sells mainly to enterprises that need to secure hybrid environments spanning data center, cloud, campus, and IoT. Cisco addresses organizations with a global workforce that need secure access for humans, things, and agents under one consistent policy model. Cisco addresses enterprises that want to govern an agentic AI workforce. Security teams are addressed with unified intelligence and operations for visibility across users, systems, and AI agents.From its own pages, SonicWall sells mainly to SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams, and to MSSPs and distributed enterprises. Its pages name healthcare, education, local government, finance, manufacturing, and retail as the kinds of organizations it protects. TZ series firewalls are positioned for SMBs and branch locations.
Last verified
October 10, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Firewalls and NGFW is the primary category of both Cisco and SonicWall; both are also filed under SASE and SSE.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Cisco is also filed under Network access control and SIEM. SonicWall is also filed under EDR and XDR and MDR and managed SOC.
  • Cisco lists Cisco Hypershield, Cisco Secure Access, Cisco Duo, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), Splunk Enterprise Security and 1 more. SonicWall lists Capture Client, Cloud Secure Edge, SonicSentry MDR and SonicWall Unified Management.
  • Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, United States.
  • Cisco was founded in 1984.
  • Cisco is a public company listed on NASDAQ as CSCO. SonicWall is owned by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management, since 2016.
  • Cisco publicly names Marriott, United States Golf Association, Rosen Hotels & Resorts and Elon University.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files Cisco under Firewalls and NGFW, SASE and SSE, Network access control, and SIEM, with Firewalls and NGFW as its primary category. CISO Tribune files SonicWall under Firewalls and NGFW, SASE and SSE, EDR and XDR, and MDR and managed SOC, also with Firewalls and NGFW as its primary category. Both companies therefore sell firewalls and an SSE or SASE offering, and they diverge beyond that.

Cisco sells Cisco Secure Access, a SASE product, along with Cisco Duo for identity security, Cisco Identity Services Engine for network access control, and Splunk Enterprise Security for SIEM. Cisco also sells Cisco Hypershield for data center segmentation and Cisco Talos, a threat intelligence organization. SonicWall sells Cloud Secure Edge, an SSE platform covering ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and DNS Security. SonicWall also sells Capture Client, endpoint detection and response built on SentinelOne, and SonicSentry MDR, a managed detection and response service from SonicWall analysts. SonicWall Unified Management is a single console covering firewalls, switches, endpoints, and Cloud Secure Edge.

Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, United States, and is a public company listed on NASDAQ as CSCO. SonicWall has been owned by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management since 2016. Cisco names Marriott, United States Golf Association, Rosen Hotels & Resorts, and Elon University as customers. SonicWall sells mainly to SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams, and to MSSPs and distributed enterprises. On May 12, 2026, SonicWall announced availability of the Gen 8 NSv XS, a subscription-based virtual firewall for MSPs and MSSPs. On May 4, 2026, Cisco announced its intent to acquire Astrix Security, a non-human identity security company, and completed the acquisition on June 29, 2026.

What it sells: SonicWall

What Capture Client does[3][12]
Capture Client is built on SentinelOne. SonicWall describes it as delivering endpoint detection and response integrated with the SonicWall ecosystem.
What Cloud Secure Edge does[1][3][7][13][15]
Cloud Secure Edge delivers secure access to internal resources and safe connections to the internet for remote and hybrid workers. It covers ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and DNS Security from one platform.
What SonicSentry MDR does[3][7][11]
SonicSentry MDR combines SonicWall telemetry with expert analysts who hunt, triage, and contain threats around the clock. For endpoints, SonicWall describes 24/7 expert monitoring and response backed by proactive threat hunting.
What SonicWall Unified Management does[3]
SonicWall Unified Management gives IT teams and MSPs a single console to manage, monitor, and respond. It covers firewalls, switches, endpoints, and Cloud Secure Edge.

Questions about Cisco and SonicWall

What do Cisco and SonicWall sell?
Cisco sells Cisco Hypershield, Cisco Secure Access, Cisco Duo, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), Splunk Enterprise Security and 1 more. SonicWall sells Capture Client, Cloud Secure Edge, SonicSentry MDR and SonicWall Unified Management.
Are Cisco and SonicWall in the same category?
Yes. Firewalls and NGFW is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Where are Cisco and SonicWall headquartered?
Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, United States.
When were Cisco and SonicWall founded?
Cisco was founded in 1984.
Who owns Cisco and SonicWall?
Cisco is a public company listed on NASDAQ as CSCO. SonicWall is owned by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management, since 2016.
Which customers do Cisco and SonicWall name?
Cisco publicly names Marriott, United States Golf Association, Rosen Hotels & Resorts and Elon University.
Who are Cisco and SonicWall sold to?
From its own pages, Cisco sells mainly to enterprises that need to secure hybrid environments spanning data center, cloud, campus, and IoT. From its own pages, SonicWall sells mainly to SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams, and to MSSPs and distributed enterprises.
What have Cisco and SonicWall announced recently?
August 12, 2026: Cisco reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $17.3 billion for the period ended July 25, 2026. May 12, 2026: SonicWall announced availability of the Gen 8 NSv XS, a subscription-based virtual firewall for MSPs and MSSPs serving small and distributed environments.

About Cisco

Cisco sells security products that protect users, devices, apps, and data. Cisco describes the offering as an open, network-native platform built to handle today's threats and enable the agentic enterprise at scale.

Cisco says its security applies policy, inspection, and enforcement at every connection. Cisco also describes unified data for earlier detection and faster response, powered by AI-driven context.

For cloud protection, Cisco describes securing modern cloud and AI apps at runtime with segmentation that keeps up with change, vulnerability shielding to close the patching gap, and protection for AI workloads. Cisco Encrypted Visibility Engine (EVE) is used to find malicious flows in encrypted traffic and to decrypt without sacrificing performance. Cisco says it stops zero days using Snort ML and Talos Threat Intelligence. Cisco offers distributed, optimized enforcement with unified management across a hybrid enterprise, and the same enforcement is described for data center, cloud, campus, and IoT environments.

Cisco describes a security architecture designed to defend modern, AI-scale data centers. Cisco says the architecture closes exploit gaps, segments everywhere, and self-qualifies updates and changes.

For workforce protection, Cisco describes secure access for humans, things, and agents with one consistent policy model. Cisco offers a cloud-native security service edge (SSE) that includes digital experience monitoring. Cisco offers a single-vendor SASE that unifies networking and security for a global workforce. Cisco offers identity security for the workforce that helps see across the entire identity ecosystem. Cisco offers multicloud NAC with zero trust, which uses intel from across the stack to enforce policy, manage endpoints, and deliver trusted access.

For threat intelligence and response, Cisco describes detecting, investigating, and responding faster with unified intelligence and operations. Cisco says this gives a team continuous visibility across users, systems, and AI agents in a single platform. Cisco describes unifying the data fabric, analytics, tooling and AI to automate the mundane, clarify the complex, and proactively mitigate risk.

Cisco also addresses agentic AI. Cisco describes safeguarding the agentic workforce against malicious attacks and data leakage. Cisco says it integrates identity, access, and behavioral controls to govern an agentic AI workforce and reduce risk. At RSAC 2026, Jeetu Patel, Cisco's President and Chief Product Officer, challenged the industry to fundamentally reimagine security.

Cisco Services provide expert guidance to plan, design, implement, operate, and optimize an IT environment. Cisco says support for Cisco Security products is available through the Cisco support hub, which provides product-specific resources, documentation, downloads, and expert assistance.

Cisco on the record

Sources

Cisco full record

  1. [1]Security Products and Solutions for Cloud and Workforce Protection - CiscoCisco · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Cisco reports fourth quarter earningsCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published August 12, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]IndexCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Cisco systems reaches agreement with state city on major land purchaseCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published April 17, 1996 · Tier A
  5. [5]MarriottCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]cisco.comCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Rosen hotels and resortsCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Elon universityCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Cisco reports third quarter earningsCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published May 13, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Cisco announces intent to acquire astrix securityCisco · blogs.cisco.com · published May 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Making AI Trustworthy and Observable in Real-Time: Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire GalileoCisco Blogs · published April 9, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Cisco Security Services Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  13. [13]Cisco completes EzDubs acquisition - CiscoCisco · published November 25, 2025 · Tier A

SonicWall full record

  1. [1]sonicwall.comSonicWall · sonicwall.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Francisco partners and elliott management complete acquisition of dell software groupFrancisco Partners · franciscopartners.com · published November 1, 2016 · Tier A
  3. [3]Cybersecurity That Delivers Real Business Outcomes | SonicWallSonicWall · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Federal Government Cybersecurity | SonicWallSonicWall · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]SonicWall Next Generation Firewall Reviews & Product Details - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier C
  6. [6]SonicWall Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier C
  7. [7]Cybersecurity Solutions by Use Case | SonicWallSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Cybersecurity for Cloud Virtual and Hybrid Networks | SonicWallSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]SonicWall TZ Series: Advanced Protection for SMBs | Entry Level Next Generation FirewallsSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Firewall & Network Security Services | SonicwallSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Endpoint Security & Managed EDR Solutions | SonicWallSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Endpoint Security Solutions | EDR, NGAV & Ransomware Protection | SonicWallSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Cloud Secure Edge (CSE): ZTNA Solution | SonicWallSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]SonicWall VPN Clients | NetExtender & Mobile ConnectSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]SonicWall Unified Management | Cybersecurity PlatformSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)SonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]On-Premise ATP | SonicWall Capture Security applianceSonicWall · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]SonicWall Expands Gen 8 Platform to the Cloud with New NSv XS Virtual Firewall to Help MSPs and MSSPs Deliver Managed Security Wherever Workloads RunSonicWall · published May 12, 2026 · Tier A

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