Improves security management and simplifies remote access
What is our primary use case?
Most of my customers have more than one or two sites which are connected with the IPsec tunnel. For some people, they need VPN to enter the particular main HO site and access all other remote site subnets, such as when there is a file server hosted on another site. This was a simple use case: from one site, they will enter from SSL VPN to one site and access all their remote sites using this VPN policy only. We don't need to require the VPN for all particular single sites; we create only one single VPN, and from that single console, they can access all these sites as well.
Currently I am working at AVH, which is a system integrator that provides solutions such as security and UTM solutions to clients. My task is the complete installation and implementation of these firewalls and, apart from that, post-support calls. If clients are facing any issues, they reach out to our company, and the company assigns me to their tech solutions.
For the initial setup, we create an SSL VPN portal for this customer's public IP, and we make some local subnet so that the user will get some local subnet IP after connecting with Sophos UTM. After that, we allow the security policy, which determines which resources they can access after connecting with Sophos UTM. They access Sophos UTM VPN using the public IP, and then when they enter the site, they can access the limited resources we have allowed in the policies.
What is most valuable?
The most useful features I have worked with in Sophos UTM mostly involve the DNATing process and their web filters. Many customers require these web filters to be aligned, such as when they need to access resources over the VPN or over the DNATing process.
Application control reduces their bandwidth consumption. When users consume large amounts of bandwidth, this application filter can limit their usage, ensuring they won't face bandwidth failures. Users are limited to a particular bandwidth for a specific application only.
When connecting to Sophos UTM VPN, certain applications can be restricted from being accessible using this VPN policy. It is more secure with more granular security, allowing the user to only access specific, allowed applications.
I can very easily manage my Sophos UTM VPN users and get all the logs, details, and traffic monitoring over my single dashboard console.
What needs improvement?
For the challenges I've faced, zero trust is one area where I haven't worked much or have sufficient experience.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have around 2.5 years of experience in this particular domain.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
I currently don't have experience with deployment issues.
How are customer service and support?
I have connected with the Sophos UTM technical team one or two times.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
It is user-friendly and straightforward, so there are no certain challenges to configuring this VPN with Sophos UTM.
What other advice do I have?
Compared to other OEMs and other vendors' firewalls, Sophos UTM is very user-friendly. It has a user-friendly dashboard so that anyone, even a new beginner, can easily learn where the options are and how to configure UTM profiles. Different industries such as hospitality and manufacturing can have customized UTM profiles. The UTM is a granular and easy step, and non-standard categories can be manually added.
Regarding pricing, it's affordable for the features that Sophos UTM provides; there is no higher price, it is affordable.
When deploying on-premises, all customers have suggested this deployment type. Occasionally, there are certain failures; however, it's mostly user-friendly and reliable, with no major challenges in configuration. I definitely suggest checking it out.
On a scale from one to ten, I rate Sophos UTM a nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Enhances security by providing intuitive firewall policy settings
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case for the solution is as a perimeter protection firewall, which includes functionalities such as VPN, web control, and traffic inspection. It is used in various customer environments, providing comprehensive security management and network protection.
What is most valuable?
The platform's most valuable features include the integrated multifactor authentication (OTP) for VPNs, which enhances security, and the flexible and intuitive firewall policy settings that simplify management.
What needs improvement?
Enhancing the user interface to achieve the same level of flexibility as the older UTM interface could improve the product. The current XG interface needs to be more consistent during configuration.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos UTM for 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. I rate it a ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is highly scalable, especially with VM offerings, though it can be pricey. I rate scalability as eight or nine.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support for Sophos UTM have been exceptional. The developer community is also valuable, offering substantial support and insights.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used solutions like FireGuard and WatchGuard but switched to Sophos for its comprehensive features and superior user interface.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for basic functions is very straightforward and can be completed in less than an hour. However, advanced configurations can become challenging.
What about the implementation team?
Our in-house team manages the deployment. We seek help from third-party MSPs with expertise in complex configurations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product pricing and licensing are higher, but they offer good value for the features and stability provided.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated other options including Fortinet FortiGate, but found Sophos to be more suited to our needs at the time due to its ease of use and robust feature set.
What other advice do I have?
The platform requires regular monitoring. Overall, I rate it a ten.
Protects endpoint equipment and offers protection against any infiltration in the network
What is our primary use case?
We use Sophos UTM for our organization's network security.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the endpoint protection feature.
What needs improvement?
The technical support team’s response time could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos UTM since 2018.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution ten out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We use the solution daily in our organization.
I rate the solution ten out of ten for scalability.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Kaspersky. I switched to Sophos UTM because of the features that it is offering.
How was the initial setup?
On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution’s initial setup ten out of ten.
What about the implementation team?
The solution's deployment took a week for the first time because our organization is big and has over 300 endpoint equipment. It takes a few hours to do the renewals now. We deployed Sophos UTM from the Active Directory. Three people were involved when we deployed the solution for the first time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You cannot really say that the solution is expensive, given the protection it gives.
What other advice do I have?
Sophos UTM has improved our network's threat detection and response. It has been good so far because we don't have many attacks. We use the solution's web filtering feature for our organization's security. We use the firewall to protect our endpoint equipment and protect against any infiltration in our network. We also use the solution’s VPN feature.
Around one or two people are required for the solution’s maintenance. I would recommend the solution to other users because it has helped us. The solution's installation and deployment are seamless, and its protection is secure.
Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Best secure way
What do you like best about the product?
Ultimate edition for security to safe from any illegal activity.
What do you dislike about the product?
Neither any of them to dislike. Login process is different but all are 👍
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Cyber security is important to us for data security.
Don't even know it's there
What do you like best about the product?
Very unintrusive as a user, easy to install once instructions were provided. Provides security benefits every day without needing input by me.
What do you dislike about the product?
It can sometimes be challenging to interact with manually.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Security on laptop assets.
Solid Firewall/UTM Plattform
What do you like best about the product?
- Ease of use
- Easy to troubleshoot
- Great logging
- Fast and responsive
- No need for CLI/Console access
What do you dislike about the product?
- Discontinued / End of life
- No more functional updates
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Protect businesses from internal and external threats, very fast to implement and works as a hardware appliance as well as on many hypervisors.
Transparent solution that is easy to use
What is our primary use case?
It is used to protect the servers. It is a very transparent solution.
What is most valuable?
Sophos integrates seamlessly and we don't even feel it is running in the background.
What needs improvement?
I found just one instance of a virus on somebody's email, and Sophos cut it off immediately. Then the admin said, "Oh, this is a virus. That's a new one." They found out that I hadn't updated some virus information.
The virus updates will always depend on new viruses that are discovered. Maybe they can send a notification or a reminder for update time.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Sophos UTM for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have over 200 users in my company. We are planning on increasing the usage. We never faced any issue with scalability.
How are customer service and support?
We have local support and go through our company's tech support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It was implemented within five minutes.
What about the implementation team?
The central admin team deployed the solution. There were around three to four members of the team.
What other advice do I have?
It is easy to install and transparent solution. I would recommend using the solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten.
Regular use of the software in my job in a European software company
What do you like best about the product?
I use it in my software company.
It is one of the best in a wide range of products. Never disappointed and never a problem.
What do you dislike about the product?
Many blockades for security reasons
Sometimes you have to ask IT to unblock.
Lots of security to connect
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Prevents hacking and other external problems
Easy to use with wonderful security
What do you like best about the product?
User based policy are quite good..reporting part is very detailed and useful. Performace is awesome for mid level organization.. Administration is quite easy.
What do you dislike about the product?
Gui speed is bit slow, other than this all seems good.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I am controlling traffice to and from internet and having visibility on usage.
Sophos UTM
What do you like best about the product?
Its ease of functionality for configuring interfaces, network definitions, service definitions, acls or firewall rules, VPN users, and log monitoring.
What do you dislike about the product?
It does not allow an administrator to restrict access to just certain sections of the Sophos UTM box.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It is an excellent VPN box for strict AES encryption. It is very easy to manage and monitor system logs.
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Sophos needs to make user admin more restrictive for security purposes.
