A firewall enables organizations to monitor, filter, and control network traffic and prevent unauthorized access. As an organization grows and expands its cloud footprint, its network grows, making it essential that the firewall has the capacity to expand accordingly.
The challenge for CISOs and SecOps teams is finding the right firewall solution without breaking the budget. The key is identifying a product that meets security needs while staying cost-effective, with customer insights helping to inform the decision-making process.
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Tips for finding the right firewall solution
So, how do you go about choosing a firewall? There are several key criteria to keep in mind when evaluating your options:
1. Assess Your Needs
Begin by assessing your needs. Take into consideration the size of your organization and the likely number of users; the size of your network and the types of devices involved; special device requirements, e.g., does your organization have a bring-your-own-device policy; traffic patterns.
2. Network Alignment
Next, you need to assess the ability of the product to unify all elements of your network. Are there multiple sites involved? Does the network include different geographical regions? Will the firewall involve OT and IoT devices?
3. Cybersecurity Mesh
Your firewalls should not only be able to be centrally managed, but they should be able to be woven into a broader Cybersecurity Mesh, sometimes called a Security Fabric where security products not only share security event information but are able to initiate automated response in the event of a security incident. Product integration is the next concern: consider any software and other security solutions you already have, and ensure that your shortlist offers the correct integrations.
4. Security Features
The trickiest part is balancing features with budget. It helps to have a separate list of features which are a must, and features which are nice-to-haves, and these will differ from business to business according to your specific needs and specialist knowledge.
5. Ease of Use
All new products will involve set-up and maintenance, so it is worth considering your SOC team’s knowledge level and ensuring that the solution provider can support deployment and implementation.
6. Scalability
Choosing a solution provider with whom you can build a long-term relationship will ensure stability and consistency and help you build up knowledge of the product. So, take your company growth projections into consideration, and either choose a solution which offers multiple product levels or one that offers a cloud-native product
7. Do your own research
Vendors may have partnerships with specific solution providers, who they will automatically recommend, without necessarily taking your network needs and budget into consideration. It’s worth putting in the time to research the different options for yourself, which includes asking other professionals within your network, checking consumer report, and reading user reviews on a buying-intelligence platform.
8. Try it out
The best way to get a sense as to whether a product is the right fit for your needs is to test it, so it’s worth limiting your shortlist to products that offer a free trial, demo, or PoC,
With these criteria in mind, Fortinet’s FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) stands out as a solution that meets (and even exceeds) many of these requirements according to user reviews, offering a robust, scalable firewall solution trusted by industry professionals worldwide.
Fortinet FortiGate
Fortinet is a popular network firewall provider, with the highest level of deployment globally. The FortiGate-VM utilizes the power of AI-based threat intelligence to prevent cyberattacks and mitigate security risks with consistent, real-time protection and responses against even the newest and most sophisticated threats.
FortiGate-VM offers a robust suite of features, including cutting-edge threat protection, advanced unauthorized-access prevention, SD-WAN, and built-in Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) capabilities. Its intuitive single-pane management interface streamlines operations, and provides comprehensive network automation and visibility across multi-cloud and hybrid environments. Available on AWS Marketplace,
What Makes Fortinet FortiGate the Best Choice for You?
Having explored key considerations for selecting a firewall solution, it’s clear that finding a provider who aligns with these criteria is crucial. This is where FortiGate stands out. Users report a high level of satisfaction including the following top five benefits:
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Wishlist vs. Budget Constraints: Being feature-rich, easy-to-use, and competitively priced, it is likely to fit your business requirements whilst keeping within budget.
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Support and Maintenance: A comprehensive knowledge base, including videos, guides and user community together with a specialist customer support team, means that you will have all the assistance you need to implement, deploy and maintain the solution.
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ROI: Users report an array of benefits, including time savings, cost savings, improved SOC efficiency, and of course, excellent network security capabilities.
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Market Comparison: It is considered a market leader by SecOps teams who have tried and tested both FortiGate and other similar products, offering a robust solution at a competitive price.
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Analyst Validation: Gartner placed Fortinet FortiGate in the leader’s quadrant for network firewalls 13 years in a row – a nearly unmatched record of success.
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Test-Driving the Solution:
You can request a customized demo of FortiGate-VM , making it simple to test and evaluate the solution for yourself. -
Flexible purchase options: Fortinet offers flexible options for the purchase of FortiGate firewalls, including consumption-based licensing (PAYG), Upfront license purchase (BYOL), and FortiFlex, a points-based program allowing on-demand provisioning of solutions and services.
To further illustrate these advantages, let’s explore how real user reviews highlight FortiGate’s effectiveness and alignment with organizational needs. Utilizing real user reviews is essential when selecting a tech solution because these insights provide an authentic perspective on the product’s functionality and ability to meet the users’ needs. Reviews also reveal how well a solution addresses specific needs and challenges, offering valuable context that can confirm if the product is the best fit for their organization.
Wishlist vs. Budget Constraints
Selecting a firewall that offers the features you need is a top priority. FortiGate-VM has proven to be the right choice for a wide variety of businesses, due to its high level of functionality and feature-rich capabilities.
CDAC Project Engineer Shubham Bhingarde, values FortiGate-VM for the high level of security it provides, even in a cloud environment:
“The tool improved the security in our company’s virtualized environment, as it was helpful in creating an additional layer of security for the organization and for the use of the internet. The tool was the most important product to be implemented in the organization.”
Viraj Fernandopulle, General Manager Group IT at Dart Global Logistics, explains that FortiGate is a known and trusted brand, and offers an easy-to-use solution, making it the right choice for his team:
“We previously used an open-source firewall, but we were looking for a solution that was more proactive, easier to manage, and continuously improved. FortiGate was a major competitor at the time and has since become one of the market leaders.”
Value for money was a key factor for Jim Morrill, Network admin at Penobscot Valley Hospital, when choosing FortiGate:
“It does a lot for you for intrusion protection and as an antivirus. The threat management bundle is worth the money. You don’t need another company to monitor your web traffic for you. You can do everything yourself on the firewall. You restrict your own black list for people on the firewall. You don’t need to pay some other company for another product to do that for you. The firewall can do that for you.”
Users appreciate Fortinet FortiGate’s reliability, cost-effectiveness, and substantial integration capabilities. Its strong performance in securing IT/OT networks, proactive management features, and valuable threat management tools make it a trusted and efficient choice for organizations.
Support and Maintenance
Once you have a firewall solution in place, you will hopefully build a long-term relationship with the provider, so you need a customer success team you can rely on, and resources which will help simplify the day-to-day maintenance.
Dinesh Kumar, Senior Manager at Cognizant, explains that straightforward deployment was one of the reasons FortiGate was a good choice:
“The initial setup was straightforward and easy, thanks to the support provided. I would rate the ease of setup ten out of ten.”
Some users prefer to implement their own upgrades and maintenance, which is the case for Will Alfaro, IT Consultant, Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera, who appreciates the comprehensive knowledge base:
“I very rarely contact technical support. If I need to scale, they have very knowledgeable sources and solid workbooks. The resources they offer ensure I always have a solution.”
For many businesses, ease of deployment, maintenance and upgrades can be a concern when selecting a tech product. FortiGate provides the support needed at each stage, and an active user community means that an answer can be found to even the most esoteric issues.
ROI
In addition to return on investment, users perceive a variety of benefits for their organizations, including low maintenance costs, lowered mean time to threat remediation, simplified scaling, and increased productivity.
Murali Nidiamanuri, Managing Director at Vipun Cognitive Solutions, not only reported a good ROI, but also a markedly reduced need for IT support:
“Operational costs for Fortinet FortiGate are pretty low because once it’s configured, no changes are needed. In terms of ROI, clients have seen benefits. After switching from other brands to Fortinet, they experienced fewer support calls. Initially, there were some support calls in the first one to two months, but after that, there were none. Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.”
Yazan Mashal, Presales Manager at Rayat Group, chose Fortinet both for its price point, and for its cloud integration capabilities:
“Fortinet’s pricing is competitive, making it an attractive option. In cloud environments, we recommend FortiGate-VM because it integrates well with cloud service providers. On-premises, many customers prefer physical FortiGate hardware, particularly with VMware setups. However, FortiGate-VM is more commonly used for service providers like SCC, Alibaba, and AWS.”
Syed Ali Waqas, Head of IT at Burraq Cyber Security Solutions, reports an ROI from increased productivity:
“Since implementing Fortinet FortiGate, we have observed an increase in user productivity, which translates to a positive return on investment.”
Users recognize a range of benefits from Fortinet FortiGate, including low maintenance costs, faster threat remediation, simplified scaling, and enhanced productivity. Many report a good return on investment, with reduced IT support needs after initial configuration. The platform’s centralized management and tools improve the identification and remediation of cyber threats, contributing to a stronger overall security posture and increased user productivity.
Market Comparison
When it comes to evaluating a product, one of the crucial questions that will come up is “how does it compare to other solutions on the market?” FortiGate has a head start in this respect, being a known and trusted firewall solution. But users report that it stands out, even when compared to other market leaders.
Luke Smith, IT Infrastructure Lead at Harmony Gold Australia chose FortiGate because of the value-added features:
“I have used Sophos XTM and Palo Alto. FortiGate is more feature-rich and has a broader range of hardware. They offer switches, access points, firewalls, and the whole network stack, whereas a lot of others only do firewalls. It’s just good value and the possibility of using those features.”
Jenesty Alissoutin, Project Manager at Expertsys Technologies Inc. researched several other options, and discovered that only FortiGate was able to offer the functionality they needed:
“I evaluated Palo Alto. They didn’t have the complete solution we wanted. Neither did Juniper, which we also looked at. When we looked at Cisco, we also evaluated Meraki, which is a part of Cisco. It did not have what we needed either.”
Users consistently find that Fortinet FortiGate not only has a strong reputation as a trusted firewall solution but also stands out among competitors due to its feature-rich capabilities, comprehensive functionality, and user-friendly interface, making it a valuable choice for various network needs.
Test-Driving the Solution
The ability to pilot a tech product, which represents a significant investment, is a helpful way to get an in-depth view of the solution, and to evaluate how well it fits the organization’s needs.
A.J, Operation Manager at a tech services company, recommends taking advantage of the free trial:
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Fortinet FortiGate offers a cloud trial that organizations can use in a test environment to evaluate the solution before making a purchase.”
Volodymyr Khorenzhyi, Network Engineer at Thunder Software Technology Co, explains why he would recommend trying FortiGate:
“I would recommend the solution to others. Fortinet has an education platform that is named Fortinet Training Institute and many courses are on there. All the video lessons are free. Users can view them to learn about the features that Fortinet has. It’s an excellent resource.”
Reviewers highlight the benefits of testing tech products like Fortinet’s FortiGate through free trials and educational resources, emphasizing the importance of evaluations and demos to ensure the solution fits organizational needs.
Conclusion
Fortinet FortiGate has established a firm place as a market leader on buying-intelligence sites, offering a complete package, including advanced security features, scalability, and ease of use that meets the diverse needs of businesses. With its focus on integration capabilities, comprehensive support, and robust performance, FortiGate ensures that organizations can adapt and grow without compromising security.
FortiGate’s reputation for reliability and effectiveness makes it a compelling choice for those looking to enhance their cybersecurity posture.
