External reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Segmentation has strengthened internal traffic control and reduces lateral movement risks
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Illumio offers great features such as controlling east-west traffic within data centers and clouds, enforcing segmentation policies between workloads, and reducing the attack surface by limiting unauthorized lateral movement.
Illumio's segmentation rules without requiring anything are pretty unique. It also integrates well with other security tools, giving you a centralized view of policy enforcement across your environment. If you're looking for east-west traffic control and zero-trust architecture, it's a great fit.
From what I have seen, Illumio positively impacts organizations by giving them a much clearer picture of their internal traffic, allowing them to identify risky connections they didn't see before. It also speeds up compliance, as I have heard, since they can enforce least privilege rules across their environments much faster. By reducing lateral movement, it just makes their overall security posture a lot stronger.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement regarding Illumio might be making the policy management even more intuitive. Right now, it's powerful but can have a bit of a learning curve for some teams. Another thing could be deeper integrations with more third-party security tools. While they do integrate well, a broader set of APIs could make it even easier to slot into different stacks. It is already strong, but a bit more polish on usability and integration could take it further.
Another improvement might be around scalability, ensuring that as organizations grow, Illumio can handle even larger, more complex environments seamlessly. It would be great to see more advanced automation, such as AI-driven recommendations on segmentation rules or anomaly detection. That would really boost proactive security management.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Illumio for about six months now.
What other advice do I have?
One big outcome we saw after implementing Illumio was a notable drop in lateral movement incidents. Within the first few months, we had about a 40% reduction in potential attack paths. On the compliance side, we cut audit times in half. What used to take weeks to validate now takes just a few days. It has really helped us tighten up both security and operational efficiency.
Illumio delivers really solid results. Micro-segmentation is top-notch, and we saw real security improvements. Some of the finer automation and user experience aspects still require a bit of effort to get fully dialed in. Illumio is deployed in our organization in the public cloud, specifically AWS. We use AWS, which is Amazon Web Services, as our cloud provider. We did not purchase Illumio through the AWS Marketplace.
Illumio is definitely a good solution if you have a lot of network traffic that you're dealing with. I rate Illumio a solid eight out of ten.
Zero Trust Segmentation That Boosts Visibility and Limits Breach Impact
It uses Zero Trust segmentation to limit access without needing major network changes.
You get clear visibility into application traffic across data centers and cloud environments.
It’s quick to deploy, easy to manage, and scales well as your environment grows.
Overall, it reduces the blast radius of attacks, simplifies operations, and strengthens security with minimal disruption.
It focuses on segmentation, so it doesn’t replace other security tools like EDR or firewalls.
The value is highest in complex environments, which may limit impact for very small setups.
Licensing and cost can feel high compared to simpler controls.
Teams may also need training to get comfortable with the model and workflows.
It gives clear visibility into how systems and applications talk to each other.
This makes it easier to spot risky connections and unusual behavior.
It automates security policies, reducing manual work and mistakes.
Illumio works across on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments.
If a breach happens, the damage is contained instead of spreading everywhere.
Overall, it simplifies security operations while making the organization more resilient and compliant.
Illumio is helping us achieve Zero Trust by enforcing least- privilege access our workloads.
The dynamic laelling means we can deploy micro-segmentation quickly and at scale.
By implementing Selective Enforcement as a first phase we can achieve an initial level of segmentation quickly across our assets.
The move to a Unified console where one can have visibility and enforcement of policies across both on-premise adnd cloud assets.
By leveraging the Illumio API we have a robust integration with many internal systems for automation including our CMDB, IP Management tools, virtualization platform and directory services.
Some issues with performance of the SaaS console although this seems to have been improved since moving to a dedicated instance.
Some issues experienced with the visualization of logs in explorer.
Would like to see a clearer schedule on our move to the Unified console.
Visual traffic interface aids in network micro-segmentation while a streamlined update option enhances process efficiency
What is our primary use case?
We are using Illumio for network micro-segmentation to ensure that all applications comply with Dora compliance. This is an essential part of our infrastructure to ensure security and proper network segmentation.
What is most valuable?
The strongest aspect of Illumio is the visual traffic interface, which allows us to see all traffic that communicates with our servers and allied companies. We can write rules that can be embedded into the IP table, making it easy to handle.
Illumio enables us to see network flows, traffic sources, and destinations. The policy generation and enforcement capabilities are valuable, allowing for selective enforcement. Illumio helps in audit purposes by saving data and showing blocked traffic, ensuring no outside traffic is allowed.
What needs improvement?
There should be an option to upgrade from the console to the latest version instead of performing manual upgrades. This would be more helpful to streamline processes.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Illumio for more than four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Illumio is a stable solution with no glitches or bugs reported, making it a reliable product for us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Currently, we are working with an on-premises setup however, we plan to scale to cloud with Illumio's new product offerings.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is excellent. Even if we raise an issue on non-working days like Saturdays or Sundays, we receive prompt responses.
How was the initial setup?
The installation process is straightforward and does not require much time, however, finding server owners and explaining the process takes more time.
What about the implementation team?
We have professional support from Illumio and guidance for troubleshooting or implementation needs.
What was our ROI?
I cannot provide detailed information on ROI as it is handled by upper management. However, Illumio is known to be the cheapest solution among the security solutions we evaluated.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not have specific knowledge about pricing details as it is handled by upper management. I know that Illumio is the cheapest solution in the security area.
What other advice do I have?
For the overall product, I would rate Illumio eight out of ten points.
My advice is to consider Illumio as a strong option for visual traffic interface and network micro-segmentation needs.
Gathers critical insights with valuable dependency mapping
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The dependency map is most valuable aspect.
What needs improvement?
I need some further comparisons to point out the weaknesses. That's why I'm looking for comparisons with other products.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have not had the chance to experiment deeply with it.
How are customer service and support?
From my experience, they are very responsive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Illumio was my first micro-segmentation partner.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am trying to do some technical evaluations between Gandicore and other vendors, yet not any other vendors are being considered.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Illumio to all sizes of companies. Even though the whole micro-segmentation movement is pretty new in my region, I would rate Illumio about eight out of ten.
Offers real-time application dependency mapping that is useful
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution in my company to protect our environment and servers.
How has it helped my organization?
Illumio is the first new solution in our company's environment, but we need time to see the improvements from its use in our company. For three years, the tool was used by a different customer of our company, but recently, a new customer has been using it, and we have started to see improvements in their environment from the use of the product.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are the maps and the security build it offers. The tool helps with my company's security posture.
What needs improvement?
The log collection part needs improvement, and the tool should offer more details about the logs. We need more details on areas where there is an error or a traffic blockage. I would like the tool to offer a more detailed view.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Illumio for three years. I am a customer of Illumio.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase is not difficult. We are using a cloud version of the tool. Picking up the PC for the setup was difficult because Illumio's service provider took care of it. In our company, we only installed the tool on our devices, so it wasn't much of a difficult process. On a scale of one to ten, one is difficult, and ten is easy, I rate the setup phase as nine.
I didn't deploy Illumio. My company uses the cloud version of the tool. I created my account and paired my device, which was all that was required.
What other advice do I have?
Illumio's real-time application dependency mapping has impacted our company's security operations, and it is very useful because, as I said, it has helped us build our security policy.
The number of people required for the deployment of the tool depends on the environment where it is used. For me, only one or two people are required to maintain the tool. Only if the issue is important will we need Illumio's support.
I rate the tool an eight out of ten.
Finest security service provider!!
Pprevents attackers or threats from spreading or moving laterally
What is our primary use case?
The use cases were centered on microservices within the context of BNP Paribas. This was primarily due to the adoption of microservices and the hybrid cloud environment. The goal was to establish precise control over external network connections.
What is most valuable?
The feature that I have found most useful is the ability to centralize all the rules and then distribute them across various locations. However, I've encountered challenges related to tagging policies, which can be complex to devise. It's a matter that requires careful consideration and stakeholder involvement before implementing such policies.
What needs improvement?
Some of the features that can be improved is offer additional guidance on creating an effective and risk-free tagging policy would be highly beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for the past two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not worked with the solution directly, so I can’t comment on this aspect.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It scales effectively. To the best of my knowledge, we did not face any problems, despite having a large installation base. We did not encounter issues while expanding the project.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment itself was quite straightforward. It took at least one year.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution and rate it 9 out of 10.