Why TAC Wins

Most access platforms force you into their cloud, their identity system, and their pricing model. TAC gives you freedom, control, and long-term flexibility — without cloud lock-in.

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Easier for Everyone

Powerful Access Control. Simply Delivered.

That’s not just a tagline — it’s the experience. Most access platforms make security stronger by making daily life harder: new logins, new clients, retraining every time something moves. TAC does the opposite. The same architecture that locks your environment down also makes it simpler to use and simpler to run.

For Your Users

One portal. Sign in once. Everything you’re allowed to reach.

After a single sign-on, every user lands on a personalized portal of tiles — one for each application and resource they’re authorized to use, scoped to their identity and device posture right now. They click a tile; they’re in. No password juggling, no VPN to connect, no bookmarks to manage.

And because TAC abstracts where things live, a resource can sit in your datacenter today and move to the cloud tomorrow — users click the same tile and it still works. Nobody has to know or care where anything runs.

✓True single sign-on across cloud, on-prem, and legacy apps alike
✓Tiles scoped automatically to what each user can access
✓Application location stays invisible — migrate freely, no user impact
✓Minimal-to-no end-user training required

For Your Admins

One console. One policy engine. One place to control it all.

Access is governed centrally — not scattered across every individual application. Grant a user the right permissions once, and the right tiles appear for them automatically. There’s no per-app configuration to chase and no separate consoles to reconcile.

When infrastructure changes, admins handle it at the TAC layer — migrate an app, move to a new cloud, re-platform a system — without touching a single user or pushing out new instructions. The back end can change all it wants; the front end never flinches.

✓Single admin console and single policy engine
✓Grant once — correct access appears for the user automatically
✓Backend migrations handled centrally, invisibly to users
✓No opaque AI — every policy is explicit and customer-controlled

The Offboarding Superpower

Cut off all access in moments — from one place.

Because every door runs through TAC and ties back to your user repository, revoking access is instant and total. Remove a user’s permissions at the repository, and every application, every resource, every session closes to them at once.

No chasing a departing employee’s access across a dozen separate systems hoping you found them all. No window where a compromised account still has a way in. One change, and they’re out — everywhere.

ONE

change revokes all access — for offboarding, compromised accounts, and contractor wrap-ups

Feature Comparison

TAC vs. The Alternatives

Capability	TAC	Zscaler	Okta	Cisco Duo	Microsoft Entra
Single-tenant isolated deployment	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
On-prem / private cloud / hybrid deployment	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
Close all inbound ports (single port only)	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
Thick-client & legacy app support	✓	Partial	✗	✗	✗
Forms-based auth injection	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
IoT & OT device access control	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
SSO abstracts application location	✓	Partial	Cloud only	Partial	Cloud only
Any identity directory (AD, LDAP, SQL…)	✓	Partial	Own IdP	Partial	Azure AD only
Real-time device posture enforcement	✓	Agent req.	MDM req.	Premier tier	Intune req.
FIDO2 & all MFA methods included	✓	Add-on	Add-on	Premier tier	Add-on
AI agent access governance	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
No endpoint agents required	✓	✗	✗	Partial	✗
Customer-controlled policy (no opaque AI)	✓	Partial	Partial	✓	Partial
All-inclusive per-user licence	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
24×7 support included	✓	Extra cost	Extra cost	Extra cost	Extra cost

Partial / Add-on / Extra cost = available but requires additional products, tiers, or licensing cost. Based on publicly available vendor information.

Total Cost of Ownership

The Hidden Cost of “Cheaper” Platforms

Competitors advertise low entry prices then layer on module fees, tier upgrades, and add-ons. TAC is all-inclusive from day one.

Zscaler

Adds up fast

▪ ZIA / ZPA base licence
+ + Sandbox module
+ + DLP module
+ + ZDX digital experience monitoring
+ + Premium data centre fees
+ + Bandwidth overage fees
+ Reported 35% YoY price increases

Okta

Every feature costs more

▪ Workforce Identity base
+ + Adaptive MFA (separate SKU)
+ + API Access Management
+ + Identity Governance
+ + Privileged Access
+ + Access Gateway for on-prem
+ Each add-on compounds per-user cost

Cisco Duo

Three products for full ZTA

▪ Duo Essentials or Advantage base
+ Premier tier required for device trust
+ ($9/user/mo for full features)
+ + Duo Secure Access (separate)
+ + Cisco ISE for network policy
+ Multiple consoles, overlapping policies

Microsoft Entra

Four to six products

▪ Entra ID P1 or P2 base
+ + Intune for device trust ($8/user/mo)
+ + Defender suite for endpoint
+ + Purview for data governance
+ + Global Secure Access
+ M365 E5 can exceed $57/user/mo
+ 4–6 separate admin centers

TAC: One licence. Everything included.

MFA (FIDO2, SMS, OTP, SafeLogin, TOTP, push, hardware tokens), SSO, device posture, AI agent governance, reverse-proxy enforcement, identity federation with any directory, and 24×7 support — no add-ons, no bandwidth fees, no tier upgrades, no redundancy surcharges.

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Key Differentiators

Eight Advantages Competitors Cannot Match

Single-Tenant SVA Architecture

TAC deploys as a dedicated Secure Virtual Appliance — a true single-tenant architecture where every customer gets their own isolated instance. This scales from a single SVA to a high-availability array to a global array spanning worldwide locations for enterprise deployments.

Unlike multi-tenant SaaS platforms where all customers share infrastructure, TAC provides complete data isolation, no noisy-neighbour performance issues, and full customer control over updates, configuration, and data residency. Zscaler, Okta, Duo, and Microsoft all run on shared vendor-controlled clouds — your policies sit beside thousands of other customers, and a single incident can cascade across the entire platform.

Close All Inbound Ports — Every One

TAC’s reverse-proxy architecture requires only a single encrypted port (up to TLS 1.3) for all application traffic. Organisations can close every other inbound firewall port entirely, eliminating the whole category of unauthenticated remote exploitation. Applications like SharePoint, RDP, and VPN concentrators all require open ports — with TAC, they don’t.

No competitor offers this. Zscaler uses connector tunnels that still create network exposure. Okta has no reverse proxy capability. Duo’s Network Gateway still requires its own exposed ports. Microsoft Application Proxy uses connectors with open ports. TAC is the only platform that can take an organisation from 47+ open inbound ports to one.

True Deployment Freedom — Any Environment

TAC deploys on-premises, in a private cloud, in a public cloud, or in any hybrid combination. The customer chooses where their security infrastructure lives — including air-gapped environments. A single SVA, a local HA array, or a globally distributed array for enterprise scale: the architecture adapts to the requirement.

Zscaler, Okta, Duo, and Microsoft are vendor-controlled cloud solutions running on the vendor’s multi-tenant infrastructure. Customers have no choice over data location, infrastructure control, or deployment model. For regulated industries, government environments, or organisations with data residency requirements, this is not acceptable — TAC is the only platform that addresses it.

Protects Every App — Legacy, Thick-Client, IoT

TAC’s reverse proxy provides full access control for thick-client applications, RDP, SSH, legacy web apps, forms-based authentication apps, and IoT devices — all without any application modifications. This is the biggest gap in the zero-trust market.

Zscaler ZPA handles TCP/UDP traffic but cannot inject authentication in front of applications. Okta requires SAML/OIDC-compatible apps and a separate Access Gateway. Duo’s VPN-less access is limited to web applications. Microsoft Application Proxy supports only web apps with no thick-client or forms-based auth support. Mission-critical legacy systems are simply unprotected by these platforms. TAC protects all of them.

SSO That Abstracts Application Location

TAC provides built-in SSO across every protected application — cloud, on-prem, legacy, anything — from a single portal. An application running in a datacenter today can be migrated to the cloud tomorrow and users won’t notice. Same menu. Same icon. Same login. This eliminates user disruption during cloud migrations entirely.

Competitors tie SSO to specific protocols (SAML/OIDC) and deployment locations. Moving an application means reconfiguring policies, updating URLs, and retraining users. TAC abstracts application location from the user experience entirely — making it the only platform that gives genuine application portability without user impact.

Continuous Real-Time Device Posture

TAC continuously validates device posture — checking certificates, OS version, patch level, antivirus status, firewall state, disk encryption, domain join, and geolocation — and enforces policy in real time. If a device falls out of compliance mid-session, access is revoked immediately, not at next login.

Zscaler checks posture only via its Client Connector agent (required on every device). Okta requires third-party MDM integration. Cisco Duo’s full device trust is locked behind the Premier tier at $9/user/mo. Microsoft requires a separate Intune licence at $8/user/mo plus Conditional Access P1. TAC delivers all of this as standard — with no agent required.

Works With Your Identity — Any Directory

TAC integrates natively with Active Directory, LDAP, SQL databases, Azure AD, multiple directories simultaneously, and custom identity sources — with no migration required. You keep your existing identity infrastructure exactly as it is.

Competitors require you to adopt their identity model. Okta wants to become your identity provider. Microsoft requires Azure AD for full Entra functionality. Zscaler’s identity integrations are limited in scope. TAC adapts to your environment rather than forcing your environment to adapt to it — removing one of the largest barriers to zero-trust adoption.

All-Inclusive Licensing — No Add-On Fees

TAC bundles MFA (all seven methods: FIDO2, SMS, OTP, SafeLogin, TOTP, push, hardware tokens), SSO, device posture, AI agent governance, reverse-proxy enforcement, identity federation, and 24×7 support into a single per-user licence. No add-on modules. No bandwidth fees. No redundancy surcharges.

Zscaler layers sandbox, DLP, and ZDX modules on top of the base licence with reported 35% year-over-year price increases. Okta charges separately for Adaptive MFA, Identity Governance, API Access Management, and Privileged Access. Cisco Duo’s Premier tier is $9/user/mo for full device trust. Microsoft’s full zero-trust stack can reach $20+/user/mo or $57/user/mo for M365 E5. TAC eliminates the add-on game entirely.

Head-to-Head

TAC vs. Each Competitor

Zscaler

Zscaler ZIA / ZPA

Zscaler routes traffic through its multi-tenant cloud via lightweight connector agents that maintain persistent outbound tunnels. Zscaler ZPA handles TCP/UDP but cannot inject authentication in front of applications — it only tunnels traffic. Thick-client, legacy, and IoT applications fall entirely outside its scope. Pricing has seen reported 35% year-over-year increases with sandbox, DLP, ZDX, and premium DC fees layering on top.

✕No true port closure — connector tunnels remain
✕Cannot inject auth in front of applications
✕No thick-client, legacy, or IoT support
✕Shared multi-tenant cloud — no isolation
✕Reported 35% YoY price increases + module fees
△Device posture requires Client Connector on every endpoint

TAC protects what Zscaler cannot — with zero application changes and no add-on fees.

Okta

Okta Workforce Identity & Access Gateway

Okta is an identity platform, not a network proxy. It federates modern cloud applications via SAML and OIDC but has no capability to protect applications that don’t support those protocols. On-prem and legacy coverage requires the separate Access Gateway, which still needs direct network access to your applications and cannot reduce port exposure. Every advanced feature — Adaptive MFA, Identity Governance, API Access Management, Privileged Access — is a separate paid SKU.

✕No reverse proxy — cannot close inbound ports
✕Requires SAML/OIDC from the application
✕Legacy and thick-client apps unsupported natively
✕Access Gateway for on-prem is a separate product
✕Adaptive MFA, Governance, and PAM are all add-on SKUs
△Full zero-trust posture requires assembling multiple products

TAC protects what Okta cannot — with zero application changes and no add-on fees.

Cisco Duo

Cisco Duo + Network Gateway + Secure Access

Duo is strong on MFA but the Duo Network Gateway still requires its own exposed ports — there is no true port closure. Full device trust is gated behind the Premier tier at $9/user/mo. A complete zero-trust posture requires Duo + Secure Access + ISE: three separate products, multiple admin consoles, and compounding licence costs. Thick-client and legacy application support is minimal.

✕Duo Network Gateway still exposes inbound ports
✕Full device trust locked behind Premier tier ($9/user/mo)
✕Complete ZTA requires Duo + Secure Access + ISE
✕Three products, multiple consoles, overlapping policies
✕Minimal thick-client and legacy application coverage
△Licence costs stack significantly across the product suite

TAC protects what Cisco Duo cannot — with zero application changes and no add-on fees.

Microsoft Entra

Microsoft Entra + Intune + Defender + GSA

Microsoft’s platform is tightly coupled to Azure AD and the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Application Proxy and Global Secure Access use connector agents creating outbound tunnels — not true port closure. Real device trust requires a separate Intune licence at $8/user/mo. A complete zero-trust stack spans Entra, Intune, Defender, Purview, and Global Secure Access across 4–6 separate admin centers, with M365 E5 licensing exceeding $57/user/mo. Organisations outside the Microsoft ecosystem face a forced Azure AD migration.

✕Connector agents required — no true port closure
✕Real device trust requires Intune ($8/user/mo separate)
✕Tightly coupled to Azure AD — migration required
✕Thick-client and non-web apps need complex workarounds
✕Full ZTA: Entra + Intune + Defender + Purview + GSA
△M365 E5 can exceed $57/user/mo — 4–6 admin centers

TAC protects what Microsoft Entra cannot — with zero application changes and no add-on fees.

The Bottom Line

Where competitors lock you in, TAC sets you free

TAC is the only access platform that preserves your freedom — to choose your identity, your MFA, your deployment model, and where your applications live.

It protects you from the systemic risks of vendor-controlled multi-tenant clouds, secures the legacy and thick-client systems competitors cannot touch, and gives your users a unified experience that requires almost no training.

And it does all of this at a predictable, all-inclusive price — with 24×7 support included as standard, no tier upgrades required.

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Open Port

All traffic, all apps, no exceptions

Code Changes

To protect any legacy or thick-client app

100%

Policy Visibility

Every rule fully customer-controlled

MFA Methods

FIDO2, SMS, OTP, TOTP, push & more

Vendor Lock-In

Any identity, any deployment, any app

24×7

Support Included

No premium tier required

See the Difference for Yourself

Book a 30-minute session with a PortSys engineer. We’ll show you exactly what TAC can protect that your current stack cannot — and what it would cost to get the same capabilities from a competitor.

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Why TAC