Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Baffle vs NEXGEN Asset Management

Baffle logo

Baffle

Cybersecurity

Transparent proxy that encrypts, tokenises and masks database fields without application code changes

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
NEXGEN Asset Management logo

NEXGEN Asset Management

Government

Combined EAM and CMMS for utilities and municipalities with Esri GIS at the centre of the asset register

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Baffle the proxy sits in the production data path, so it becomes a latency contributor and a failure domain, and any deployment needs load and failover testing that customers routinely underestimate.; NEXGEN Asset Management pricing keys off asset count, so a routine GIS resegmentation that splits mains into more records can raise your subscription without adding a single user or work order.
  • They diverge on capability: Baffle covers Transparent proxy deployment, NEXGEN Asset Management covers Esri GIS integration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Baffle and NEXGEN Asset Management actually diverge.

Attributes where Baffle and NEXGEN Asset Management differ
AttributeBaffleNEXGEN Asset Management
PlatformsLinux, WebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryCybersecurityGovernment

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Baffle

  • Transparent proxy deployment
  • Field-level encryption
  • Tokenisation
  • Format-preserving de-identification
  • Dynamic data masking
  • Bring your own key
  • Analytics and pipeline support
  • AI pipeline protection

Only in NEXGEN Asset Management

  • Esri GIS integration
  • Risk and criticality
  • Condition assessment
  • Capital planning
  • Work orders
  • Mobile field app
  • Service requests
  • Inventory and purchasing

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Baffle

  • A bank with a legacy application it cannot safely refactor that has an audit finding requiring field-level encryption of account datanot NEXGEN Asset Management
  • A company wanting to take a reporting database out of PCI scope by tokenising card fields before they landnot NEXGEN Asset Management
  • A healthcare organisation that must ensure database administrators and cloud operators cannot read patient identifiers in the tables they administernot NEXGEN Asset Management
  • A team moving regulated data into a warehouse or an AI retrieval pipeline that needs identifiers de-identified in transit without rewriting the ingest jobsnot NEXGEN Asset Management

NEXGEN Asset Management

  • A water utility that must show a board why a specific main is being replaced this year rather than nextnot Baffle
  • A city public works department consolidating a GIS asset inventory and a paper work order process into one systemnot Baffle
  • An airport authority tracking condition assessments across airside and landside assets with capital forecastingnot Baffle
  • A district that needs citizen service requests to become tracked work orders with an auditable historynot Baffle

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Baffle

  • The proxy sits in the production data path, so it becomes a latency contributor and a failure domain, and any deployment needs load and failover testing that customers routinely underestimate.
  • What you can still do in SQL depends on the protection mode chosen, and stronger modes restrict comparisons, joins and aggregations on protected columns, which can quietly break existing reports and analytics.
  • Database and driver coverage is finite, so an organisation with an unusual engine, an old driver or heavy use of stored procedures may find its most important system is exactly the one not supported.
  • Pricing is unpublished and scales with protected data stores, which means an enterprise trying to protect a long tail of small databases pays disproportionately compared with protecting a handful of large ones.
  • Key management is your responsibility under bring your own key, and while that is the correct security posture, it moves a real operational burden and a genuine data-loss risk onto the customer.

NEXGEN Asset Management

  • Pricing keys off asset count, so a routine GIS resegmentation that splits mains into more records can raise your subscription without adding a single user or work order.
  • Nothing is published and the vendor is small, so the reference set you can call is limited and mostly Californian and North American public agencies.
  • The interface is dated compared with modern CMMS products, which hurts adoption among field crews who compare it to consumer apps on their own phones.
  • GIS integration is the product strength and also its dependency; agencies without a maintained ArcGIS asset layer face a data preparation project before NEXGEN is useful.
  • As a small vendor it carries acquisition risk, and in this segment acquisitions have repeatedly meant a product frozen while it is folded into a larger portfolio.

Pricing, plan by plan

Baffle

On request
  • Baffle Data Protection Services$undefined/year
    • Quoted by protected data stores and deployment scale
    • Self-managed and cloud marketplace deployment options
    • Annual subscription

NEXGEN Asset Management

On request
  • NEXGEN Asset Management$undefined/year
    • Tiered pricing based on the number of assets under management
    • Implementation, GIS integration and data migration quoted separately
    • Mobile module licensed alongside the core platform

Which should you pick?

Choose Baffle if

  • You need transparent proxy deployment.
  • You work on Linux, Web.
  • You also want field-level encryption.
Baffle review

Choose NEXGEN Asset Management if

  • You need esri gis integration.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want risk and criticality.
NEXGEN Asset Management review

Questions people ask

Is Baffle or NEXGEN Asset Management better?
Neither clearly leads. Baffle starts at On request and NEXGEN Asset Management at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Baffle or NEXGEN Asset Management?
Baffle starts at On request and NEXGEN Asset Management at On request.
Does Baffle or NEXGEN Asset Management run on more platforms?
Baffle runs on Linux, Web. NEXGEN Asset Management runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Baffle best used for?
Baffle is most often used for a bank with a legacy application it cannot safely refactor that has an audit finding requiring field-level encryption of account data, a company wanting to take a reporting database out of pci scope by tokenising card fields before they land, a healthcare organisation that must ensure database administrators and cloud operators cannot read patient identifiers in the tables they administer, a team moving regulated data into a warehouse or an ai retrieval pipeline that needs identifiers de-identified in transit without rewriting the ingest jobs. Of those, a bank with a legacy application it cannot safely refactor that has an audit finding requiring field-level encryption of account data and a company wanting to take a reporting database out of pci scope by tokenising card fields before they land are not what NEXGEN Asset Management is typically brought in for.
What can Baffle do that NEXGEN Asset Management cannot?
Baffle covers Transparent proxy deployment, Field-level encryption, Tokenisation, Format-preserving de-identification. NEXGEN Asset Management covers Esri GIS integration, Risk and criticality, Condition assessment, Capital planning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Baffle: Do applications need code changes?

No. That is the central design choice. Baffle intercepts traffic as a proxy rather than requiring an SDK call at every read and write.

NEXGEN Asset Management: How is NEXGEN priced?

On a tiered model based on the number of assets under management, quoted per agency. Nothing is published.

Baffle: Can you still query encrypted columns?

Partly, and it depends on the protection mode. Some modes preserve equality matching and format, stronger modes restrict what SQL operations remain possible, so this must be tested against your actual queries.

NEXGEN Asset Management: Do we need Esri ArcGIS?

Not strictly, but the product is designed around it and most of the value assumes a maintained GIS asset layer.

Baffle: Does it take systems out of PCI scope?

Tokenisation can reduce scope by ensuring card data never lands in the protected system, but scope reduction is an assessor judgement, not a product setting.

NEXGEN Asset Management: Does it handle capital planning?

Yes. Risk, criticality and condition scores feed multi-year renewal forecasts intended for board and council submissions.

Baffle: Who holds the encryption keys?

You do, through your own key management service. Baffle supports bring your own key rather than holding customer keys itself.

NEXGEN Asset Management: Is there a mobile app?

Yes, a map-based field application with offline capability, licensed alongside the core platform.

Share

Related pages

More on Baffle

More on NEXGEN Asset Management

Keep looking

Other head to heads