User-friendly features boost network security and threat prevention
What is our primary use case?
We put FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) after the ISP; we use the internet, and before we put our server through the internet, we put FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) as a firewall in our internal network.
We follow ISO 27001, which includes web filtering, spam, and IPS functionality.
What is most valuable?
We sometimes face challenges if we have new server configurations and need to consider compatibility with FortiGate.
We hope that FortiGate uses AI to carefully identify something abnormal, and we believe that will be helpful.
The multi-threat protection feature helps us secure our organization.
What needs improvement?
We understand that FortiGate cannot be standalone without others, such as FortiManager, so for small businesses, if FortiGate can provide something similar to FortiManager, it will be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) for about nine years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) as a nine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability as a nine also.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the technical support as a seven.
How was the initial setup?
The installation of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is actually moderate; it depends on the needs, so it's not so easy but it's not so difficult.
The installation requires a couple of days, and actually, it takes about one day because some parameters need to be set, especially if there are a lot of users.
What about the implementation team?
I have a person in charge of that.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
From a cost perspective, I think it's quite reasonable, not so cheap, but I think it's quite similar compared to others.
What other advice do I have?
Two people are involved in the maintenance.
We use many FortiGates. We are using the 60F and 100F, which are the newest versions.
Our staff handles maintenance ourselves; we are not using a third-party service.
About 30 people are using this product in our organization.
We are payroll outsourcing consultants, so basically they calculate payroll.
I would recommend FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) to others.
I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) in general as an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Implementation improves efficiency and provides greater visibility over issues
What is our primary use case?
In our organization,
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) serves as the main security system for our firewall needs. I have utilized it to manage the firewalls and some other security appliances, such as VPNs. Currently, my usage focuses primarily on firewall management. I set up rules, search for logs, and consult logs when issues arise. This approach covers most of our security management tasks.
What is most valuable?
One of the most valuable features of
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is the ease of usability it offers. It is quite easy for me to learn to use. Additionally, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has improved our efficiency in setting up security and provided us with more visibility over some issues and incidents we previously faced.
What needs improvement?
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) could be improved by including more templates for setting rules or regular jobs. I do not recall if the software includes any AI features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have had experience with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) for about five or six years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
When deploying FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), it required one week for the initial setup and just two hours for effective deployment. There were no significant issues during this process.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, there are usually no significant stability issues with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW). However, updating the software during issues can be quite convoluted, especially if there is an unexpected attack, such as on a Saturday.
How are customer service and support?
Customer service with Fortinet for FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has been quite good. We experienced a major issue during one of the upgrades, and it took about an hour to reach support and rectify the problem.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), we used Cisco for our firewall needs. Cisco presented a lot of usability challenges. Setting up firewalls and rules with Cisco was difficult and required extensive knowledge of their system, which led us to switch to FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW).
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) was relatively smooth. It took about one week for the complete setup and two hours for the actual deployment.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment involved two people from my side, and we also had assistance from a vendor during the setup.
What was our ROI?
In terms of return on investment, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has been straightforward. It has notably improved our efficiency and visibility.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is reasonably affordable. It is suitable for mid-level and high-level companies, though it might not be cheap for small companies.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) to others. Despite some issues with upgrades and vulnerabilities, Fortinet quickly addresses concerns. Overall, on a scale of one to ten, I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) as an eight.
Firewall functions have improved security with threat prevention and VPN capabilities
What is our primary use case?
I use the FortiGate firewall for ordinary firewall functions, including SSL inspection, VPN, and site-to-site VPN.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the FortiGate firewall include SSL inspection, VPN functionality, and threat intelligence features for preventing threats. These features are essential and provide significant functionality for our organization.
What needs improvement?
There should be more testing before releasing software since it can be a little buggy sometimes when new features come out after updates.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the FortiGate firewall for many years.
How are customer service and support?
I am satisfied with Fortinet support. Usually, it is fast and provides advice effectively.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of FortiGate was an easy process. It took about three months for a full deployment across the entire organization.
What was our ROI?
The FortiGate firewall provides good value for the money. It usually is cheaper than the competition, contributing to cost savings.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of the FortiGate firewall is good. It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Palo Alto is an alternative solution. While it may be better for filtering and category white-listing, especially in areas like banking, it is more expensive than FortiGate.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate FortiGate an eight out of ten.
For some use cases like banking, Palo Alto may perform better due to its filtering capabilities.
Enhancing network protection with advanced firewall and VPN features
What is our primary use case?
We use the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for our customers. We mainly utilize firewall and VPN features.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has helped us protect our customers' networks effectively due to its firewall and VPN capabilities.
What is most valuable?
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks. The stability of the product is also appreciated.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see improvements in the IPS/IDS feature to enhance protection against attacks from attackers, including ransomware protection.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We don't need scalability because our customers are small companies.
How are customer service and support?
We do not use FortiGate support directly; we must use distributor support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is competitive. The licensing cost is approximately thirteen thousand.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluate Palo Alto against FortiGate, and would be considering it if the price is lower.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall an eight out of ten. I would like to see AI capabilities in the future.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Reliable with enhanced threat detection with effective content filtering
What is our primary use case?
We are using the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall, and we are also providing this solution to our customers.
How has it helped my organization?
Customer is investing in this solution. We have observed a reduction in order value costs, approximately one lakh rupees per order, which contributes to reducing overall security costs.
What is most valuable?
In our territory, the most usable features include WAP content filtering, which is more utilized than IDS, sandbox license, and multiple internet connectivity. These are the primary features we are offering as a solution.
FortiGate's threat detection capability is excellent. Compared to other solutions, FortiGuard Lab has a very high capacity to detect malware and malicious content.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see improvements in some of the hard drive features on FortiGate so that we can generate reporting within a single box.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for the last ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's reliable and works well within our needs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
FortiGate is scalable. That said, you must change the hardware to scale in capacity.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has improved over the last two or three years, as Fortinet now operates 24/7 support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have also worked with SonicWall. Compared to SonicWall, FortiGate allows us to make a DNS server, which SonicWall cannot do. SonicWall offers the advantage of providing a free reporting solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is very aggressive in India as India is a rapidly growing market, the original equipment manufacturer offers competitive pricing.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have evaluated other solutions like SonicWall and Sophos.
What other advice do I have?
For very small companies, with five to ten users and where cost is a concern, I would not recommend going with FortiGate.
If only cost is a concern, then it would not be recommended. It is a little bit expensive - the entry-level model is the FZ FortiGate. At the same time, Sophos XZ 86 is an entry-level model, which is more suitable for very small networks.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Procures intelligence about the threats and incorporate the mitigation and protection against those threats
What is our primary use case?
Conventionally, the solution is used for perimeter security. Whenever we find our organization's customer without an existing firewall, we use FortiGate Next Generation Firewall both for perimeter security as a firewall and as a VPN appliance to allow work-from-home employees at the VPN end. In the aforementioned instance, our company also uses the solution to connect different branches.
If our organization is establishing the network for a company with different branches spread geographically, we will use the VPN in IP set and FortiGate. The solution is highly flexible and is available at a cost-effective price.
How has it helped my organization?
When using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall, availing the FortiGuard subscription is very important due to the vast threat intelligence with an international network.
Using the aforementioned network, FortiGate has been able to procure intelligence about the threats and incorporate the mitigation and protection against those threats in FortiGuard. So when you have FortiGuard integrated with the firewall, you have a robust perimeter solution to protect against malware.
What needs improvement?
The pricing of the solution should be more affordable.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has excellent stability. Fortinet is a top-tier IT security infrastructure company.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. The solution exhibits impressive stability. Once the solution is installed, it's used 24/7.
How are customer service and support?
We never had to rely on or communicate much with the tech support. The free resources, documentation, training, and community feedback have been enough to resolve 99% of our company's issues with the product. In our organization, we directly interacted with the support team once or twice and had a positive experience. I would rate the tech support eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Cisco previously, but it was too expensive for our company. FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall was available at a better price and performance; it was a better fit for our company as a networking vendor.
How was the initial setup?
I would rate the initial setup an eight out of ten. Our company deals with only the on-premise version of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall. It took about half a day in our organization to deploy the solution.
Our company has several firewall projects. When our organization identifies a company that needs a firewall but doesn't have one, we contact them. Our company strongly advises potential customers to adopt a firewall, and we provide reasons why the company shouldn't operate without a firewall today, we try to sell them the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall and FortiGuard solutions.
If the potential customer doesn't have access points or the latest switches, our company tries to sell that as well in the form of an integrated solution.
What about the implementation team?
Our company prefers to program solutions as much as possible in-house before approaching the customers.
What was our ROI?
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a very high ROI. A customer can realize nearly 100% ROI when it is used along with FortiGuard to establish a robust perimeter firewall based on an international vendor with a global-level threat intelligence network.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten. There are penalties if you don't renew the FortiGuard subscription, and I think the vendor should've refrained from imposing such penalties. If a customer fails to renew for a year, there shouldn't be any penalties on Fortinet solutions, the vendor should eradicate such policies.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Palo Alto, but we still chose Fortinet because, as per our company's evaluation, Palo Alto doesn't offer switches or access points. Before adopting FortiGate Next Generation Firewall, we also concluded that Fortinet offered everything for networking infrastructure, including switches, access points, antivirus, and firewalls.
What other advice do I have?
FortiGate has end-to-end solutions, they have switches, access points, and a native antivirus and threat management solution. When you onboard FortiGate Next Generation Firewall, you choose a vendor that covers every aspect of the IT infrastructure.
So, if you avail yourself of other products from the same vendor later on, it makes the management processes easier, as the command interface is similar across all the products from Fortinet, including switches, access points, and firewalls. The aforementioned benefit removes the need for training your team when a new solution is onboarded in the organization.
I would advise others to do a proper assessment in terms of the sizing before onboarding FortiGate Next Generation Firewall. Before adopting the solution, one should know how many users need access to the Internet so that the firewall can be sized or scaled ideally.
A sizing chart is available online to assist users in procuring the correct firewall size. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall offers comprehensive reports on user activity; potential customers should also analyze the reporting aspect before choosing the solution.
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall handles new and latest security threats satisfyingly. FortiGuard has some AI influence in its threat intelligence features in its international network. I would overall rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Reliable and has a user-friendly interface
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution as a firewall device.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very stable and reliable in terms of security management. The solution has a user-friendly interface.
What needs improvement?
The solution’s pricing is high.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for four to five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is used in an enterprise company.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's deployment was very simple and took less than one day.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Although the solution's pricing is high, compared with other products, it may be cheap. We pay around 1,000 for the solution per year.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is worth the price we paid for it. It was pretty easy to integrate the solution with other tools for security. I would recommend the solution to other users.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
A user-friendly and reliable solution offering good performance at a reasonable cost
What is our primary use case?
FortiGate is a popular firewall in Turkey due to its widespread use and strong performance. Technical experts can easily be found for FortiGate, which is very important. Almost every company uses FortiGate internally. FortiGate is user-friendly and reliable, offering good performance at a reasonable cost.
What is most valuable?
You can integrate certain other services with FortiGate and use additional threat intelligence services because they allow you to combine various solutions, enhancing your overall security.
What needs improvement?
FortiGate may include AI capabilities and integrate external threat intelligence. However, version management and backup/restore operations could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall as a reseller for 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
With high availability, this FortiGate allows one device to take over for another seamlessly in case of failure.
I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
FortiGate is scalable because it supports various models that can accommodate different dimensions. It is suitable for all types of businesses.
I rate the solution’s scalability a nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. The firewall setup involves more than just physical installation and basic configurations. It includes customizing specific policies and configurations tailored to the customer's needs, which can take up to two or three days for a single firewall. This process is resource-intensive both in terms of cost and time.
I rate the initial setup a nine out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
What other advice do I have?
FortiGate Firewall offers advanced threat intelligence capabilities. It allows integration with various threat services, such as Cisco Talos. If you are a customer of both FortiGate and Cisco for threat intelligence, you can integrate Cisco Talos with FortiGate, which enhances security effectiveness through Intelligence.
I recommend FortiGate for every company. It's a highly effective solution that can significantly enhance firewall security. You can easily find technical guides to help you understand its capabilities. FortiGate is known for its reliability and robust features.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Offers stateless balance featuresand provides excellent reports and API integration
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used as a perimeter firewall, and all traffic is routed through the appliances before accessing the Internet. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is also used in policy-based routing. The solution has features such as IPS and web filtering.
Presently I am carrying out a POC to evaluate where the SD-WAN functionality of the solution can be utilized by our company.
What is most valuable?
It's an out-of-the-box solution with impressive ratings. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a stateless balance proposition. The updates from the vendor ensure that the product remains up to date in terms of threat intelligence capabilities.
I personally go through reports on utilizing FortiGate Next Generation Firewall resources, bandwidth and applications that are present in the company's environment. The product has been capable of providing the aforementioned reports for the last 280 days, and such features are highly valuable for reporting purposes. The reports provided by FortiGate Next Generation Firewall also help in analyzing the traffic condition in a network.
What needs improvement?
When the SD-WAN is integrated with solutions like Citrix, it can appear complicated, which only tech professionals can implement. The solution should allow more user-friendly integrations or deployment.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. But recently, we needed to undergo regular patching of the network in our company, but that's probably due to increased hacking activities or attacks. At our company, we are still confident with the solution in spite of the recent breaches.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is highly scalable. I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. At our company, we can scale the solution effortlessly for enterprise networks. There are two professional users of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall in our company. The other solutions which are being evaluated in our company are FortiNAC and Fortinet SD-WAN.
How are customer service and support?
I have received satisfying support for every issue I raised with the team. The support team is responsive and helpful in resolving issues. I would rate the customer support an eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, Cyberoam was used in our organization. Our company has also used Check Point to deploy a multi-layered firewall solution. Check Point has numerous partners and offers satisfying support, which makes it a formidable competitor of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall.
There are various local partners of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall who offer effective support for the solution.
How was the initial setup?
While integrating FortiGate Next Generation Firewall in our company's infrastructure I faced an error while implementing a secure LDAP server. I had to roll back for the aforementioned issue and review the authentication certificates.
The learning curve of the solution varies depending on the use cases and the different features the user starts interacting with within a specific environment. The initial setup of the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall can be claimed to be straightforward. I would rate the setup a six out of ten. The deployer's CLI understanding will also be a major factor in the deployment process of the solution.
The solution's initial setup can be completed in a few days, but much more time is required to learn about the environment, evaluate the policies' interference with the services, and implement optimizations based on the insights. In total, the complete deployment takes a few weeks.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's an expensive solution. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall costs our company around $12000 per year. There are no additional costs involved with the product.
What other advice do I have?
I have confidence in the threat detection capabilities of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall. I haven't witnessed any downtime in the solution, even after using it for multiple years.
An automation API integration is available with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall. For instance, the solution allows integration with CrowdStrike and Darktrace to enhance the threat intelligence capabilities. I would recommend others to use FortiGate Next Generation Firewall.
It's a reliable solution for real-time threat intelligence. In the security industry, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a highly praised product and I am able to embed policies for effective operation. I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Fortigate Cloud is a blessing for medium enterprises
What do you like best about the product?
The UI and analytics feature is extremely helpful. Alongside, it aids into security monitoring which is essential.
What do you dislike about the product?
The analytics feature can add a few more dashboards and also some real time systems.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
In managing my cloud property and gaining visibility.