Sign in Agent Mode
Categories
Your Saved List Become a Channel Partner Sell in AWS Marketplace Amazon Web Services Home Help

Reviews from AWS customer

25 AWS reviews

External reviews

231 reviews
from and

External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.


4-star reviews ( Show all reviews )

    Elvis Mahadeo

Has good ECC management feature and a single GUI with excellent monitoring capabilities

  • June 12, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

What is our primary use case?

Our company uses this solution for endpoint network security.

What is most valuable?

The ECC management and the GUI that offers single interface management are the most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate.

What needs improvement?

The documentation available for Fortinet FortiGate should be improved. Often, I find documentation of older models and not the latest version of Fortinet FortiGate. I have to often utilize the older documentation and reengineer the information for the latest model of Fortinet FortiGate.

There are competitor products in the market that can monitor all logs, which are referred to as SOC; Fortinet FortiGate should have such in-built features. The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for more than a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is used daily in our organization. I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate the tech support an eight out of ten. Our company needs to contact customer support on certain issues. The support team is usually able to resolve the issues by communication over call a few times. Sometimes, there was quite some back-and-forth through support tickets with the vendor team before the issues got resolved.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Our company previously worked with Juniper, NETGEAR, and Cisco. The devices from the aforementioned vendors reached the End of Life, and their support was expiring in our company, so we switched to Fortinet FortiGate to have visibility and manage all devices through a single vendor.

How was the initial setup?

I would rate the initial setup a nine out of ten. Due to some network complexities, we had to schedule the downtime of our organization's business, so the initial deployment of Fortinet FortiGate took more time than anticipated. But the setup process was seamless and our company didn't face any abrupt down time.

At our company, first, we prepared a deployment plan and then divided the services into varying areas based on which the deployment was performed in phases. Only two professionals, a system engineer, and an infrastructure manager, are required to deploy Fortinet FortiGate.

Another two individuals are needed to maintain the solution with the same aforementioned professional job designations. In our company, we didn't face any issues while integrating Fortinet FortiGate with our existing infrastructure and even with other tools.

What about the implementation team?

A third-party team deployed the solution for our organization.

What was our ROI?

In our company, we haven't realized an ROI yet, as the solution was implemented just a year ago. There are some devices that I need in addition to other area devices of my company, we are in process of renewing all old devices with newer versions.

In the next few months, our company will be able to obtain the actual capex purchase with at least ten switches. Fortinet FortiGate is worth the money, offers multiple solutions under one roof.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I would rate the pricing a five out of ten. Our company onboarded the solution through a traditional capex purchase of the standard license with three years of customer support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Our company has been using Fortinet FortiGate since 2009 at the firewall level, due to familiarity with the RTO and FortiGate environment, complete adoption of Fortinet FortiGate was an easier choice than other solutions for a single clear management.

Fortinet FortiGate also had all the features that our company was expecting, and in terms of ease of management, opting for the same vendor from firewall to edge device was a comfortable option.

What other advice do I have?

Previously, in our organization, we didn't have a network monitoring tool. With the adoption of Fortinet FortiGate, we can now check the port level of the switches that can be witnessed at the EP end, where all devices remain connected to the network. The management and monitoring are the major benefits of Fortinet FortiGate.

I would advise others to consider adopting the solution without hesitation. I read the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant report, and it mentioned that, based on its track record, Fortinet can compete with the best in terms of network and security solutions.

For the last five years I believe Fortinet has dominated the market. I recently attended a Fortinet event where I met all the local and regional support team; I learned that the vendor is continually expanding, and in our region, we can easily avail support and guidance regarding Fortinet solutions whenever required.

The monitoring subscription that is provided with the Fortinet FortiGate has built-in AI features for the past three years. I believe Fortinet is in the sixth generation of their AI and ML utilizing the native infrastructure. Thus, the AI features have been available for a long time in Fortinet FortiGate, but they are promoting it now due to the market trends. I would overall rate the solution an eight out of ten.


    VINAY GUJARATHI

Has an initial setup phase that is easy to handle

  • June 12, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

What is our primary use case?

My company's customers use the solution for VPNs, specifically for SSL VPNs, IPSec VPNs, and other areas like web filters and application filters.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of the solution revolves around SSL VPN. SSL VPN is good since I stay in a family where we use some other servers with port forwarding features, and so there is a lot of risk with it. Last time, my server got hacked with a ransomware attack. After that, we got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.

What needs improvement?

Though the tool's GUI is user-friendly, it can be considered as an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for five years. I am a reseller of the solution. I work with Fortinet FortiGate 40F and 60F.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The challenges faced by our company related to the product are associated with the activation part. Whenever my company tries to activate the product, there are some challenges. Previously, my company had given a new product to our customer who had used Fortinet FortiGate in the past. When my company tried registering the product on the portal and activating the trial license, we saw that only 30 days of use remained in the tool. We installed the product's license after all the trial licenses were activated.

I have seven to ten customers running medium-sized businesses using Fortinet FortiGate.

After connecting to Fortinet Firewall, I have not faced any complaints related to large-scale traffic or attacks.

How are customer service and support?

The solution's technical support needs to be fast since whenever my company raises a complaint, it takes almost two to three hours to get a callback from the customer support team. I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I don't have any experience with SonicWall because it is not very user-friendly. Fortinet FortiGate is more user-friendly than SonicWall, so we are currently working with Fortinet FortiGate and Sophos.

How was the initial setup?

The product's initial setup phase is easy. I rate it as an eight, where one is difficult, and ten is easy. Sometimes, when configuring the SD-WAN policies, I have seen issues with the tool not working properly. After updating the firmware, the tool worked properly, but there was some issue with the SD-WAN part.

For the product's deployment phase, I configured LAN and WAN, followed by the web filter policies. If a customer requires it, you can configure the VPNs.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

The solution can be deployed in half an hour.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is a bit expensive. On a scale of one being cheap and ten being expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight. The price is justified for the features and capabilities offered by the product.

What other advice do I have?

I can't describe how Fortinet FortiGate has been most effective for security posture since I haven't configured any security settings. It has a setting like in Outlook's configuration involving SMTP and POP. I didn't configure any security settings in the tool.

The tool's VPN functionality supports our company's customers' remote workforce since we have given an SSL VPN connection to support those working from outside the company. After connecting to the VPN, one needs to connect it to the server directly as it is better for security.

Whenever you upgrade firewall firmware, the user interface doesn't really change. If I upgrade to a new firmware with other tools, the user interface has slightly changed.

On the portal of Fortinet, there are VMs that are available for FortiGate. Our company can give the solution to the customer on a trial basis to check how it is working, so that there are no issues.

I rate the tool a nine out of ten.


    Shehzad Ali

Offers WAF and DDoS attack prevention systems and is outstandingly stable

  • June 12, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

What is our primary use case?

The solution is used to monitor daily network activities. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall acts as a security layer between public and private networks in our organization.

The solution successfully mitigates all types of advanced attacks by putting our company's production servers behind the firewall using a DDoS attack prevention system and WAF. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall handles our organization's internal network security. The solution is used mainly in IT companies, just like our organization.

What is most valuable?

The WAF and DDoS attack prevention system are the solution's most valuable features. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has IBS/IPS systems, which are vital for handling cyberattacks.

What needs improvement?

More SD-WAN features can be integrated into the FortiGate Next Generation Firewall. The vendor can make efforts to make the solution more budget-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall for seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. For each purpose, there are different products used in our company from the same vendor. For instance, our company has a dedicated subscription plan for log analytics. Fortinet should host bundle pack subscriptions for its products and add-ons.

There are more than 150 users of the product in our company. Our company is functional on a hybrid model for employees, and thus, there are not more than a hundred users of the solution in the office at any given time.

Due to the aforementioned work setup, our company is exploring more scalable solutions with end-to-end security features, as many employees are working from remote locations. At our company, for end point protection we use Microsoft Defender.

How are customer service and support?

At our company, we have Fortinet certified experts in-house, so most of the issues are solved without tech support from vendor. But whenever, an issue was escalated to the support team of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall, our company has received a response on time.

How was the initial setup?

FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall integrates perfectly with our organization's infrastructure. Our organization is using the solution for more than six years without any integration obstacles, even while integrating to Fortinet Access Points.

The initial setup process is easy for the solution. There are some configurations and policies that will facilitate routing among the varying traffic, dictating what to allow or block. I would rate the initial setup a nine out of ten. The setup duration depends upon the expertise of the deployment engineer, but on average it can be finished within a day.

What was our ROI?

Our investment in security through FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is worth it as there are zero complains regarding the effectiveness of it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's an expensive solution. At our company, we updated the license every three years. I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten. Presently we are upgrading the hardware in our organization before the next license renewal date.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

In our company, we have used Sophos about six years ago. Compared to other solutions like Sophos, we found FortiGate Next Generation Firewall to be much more expensive for our organization.

But FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a more robust hardware and stable configuration, so our company prefers the solution over others. But as the license of the the solution is expiring soon in our company, we might explore some other firewall products from Fortinet as well.

What other advice do I have?

Our company found that in comparison to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a limited number of features and requires an ideal Fortinet environment or infrastructure to function. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall should enhance its endpoint capabilities and be less dependent on Fortinet infrastructure. The product should have cloud solution integration capabilities.

Since implementing FortiGate Next Generation Firewall, we have not experienced any attack or cyber threat on our company's network. With the solution, we have been able to proactively monitor the network and take preventive measures on time. Our company finds the product reliable in mitigating all kinds of threats.

Our company expects some AI capabilities from Fortinet solutions. I would advise FortiGate Next Generation Firewall to others as a reliable solution. I would also advise other professionals to run tests with the product as per their requirements before adopting it. The solution has excellent security policies. I would overall rate the product a nine out of ten.


    OmerBaig

Has an effective intrusion prevention system feature for maintaining security efficiently

  • June 11, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

How has it helped my organization?

Fortinet FortiGate offers a new official solution for SASE. This solution is more cost-effective for my organisation than the hardware. It doesn’t require renewals every year or every three years. With FortiGate, you get a firewall as a cloud service and optimal protection.

What is most valuable?

Fortinet FortiGate meets all the security demands of my industry. It covers endpoint security, including web interface, DNS security, and ELP. I'm currently using the latest version. The features that have most improved our network security are Web Control, filtering, application control, IDS, IPS policies, and Deep SSL inspection.

The intrusion prevention system (IPS) in FortiGate is highly effective. It detects and prevents intrusions, maintaining security efficiently. It works seamlessly with my environment and Google Analytics, providing robust protection.

What needs improvement?

The firmware updates are sometimes not stable. The stability issues can vary, sometimes happening once a month or quarterly. New firmware updates can occasionally introduce bugs, causing some policies to fail. We then have to raise a ticket, and Fortinet usually provides a fix within a few days.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for the past three to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For overall stability, I'd rate FortiGate an eight. It is stable, but there are sometimes issues with the software, so there's room for improvement.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are no scalability issues with Fortinet FortiGate. I haven't needed to scale it yet, but I have a relationship with the vendor, and they have a program to scale their hardware if required.

They also offer many solutions free of cost with the hardware, including advanced solutions. We have four branches of our organization, and they use these effectively.

How are customer service and support?

The support team is very effective.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously used Cisco for my environment, specifically Cisco ISE for access control, but I have shifted to Fortinet products due to their cost-effectiveness.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment process of Fortinet FortiGate was very straightforward. The installation took about twenty minutes, and fully configuring it with security features took about an hour. It was pretty fast, so I didn't need to spend days preparing and configuring.

I am involved in the maintenance of FortiGate, and I have five engineers with me. Three are on-site, handling different boxes, and two are remote.

What was our ROI?

I've noticed benefits in terms of performance and timing with Fortinet FortiGate. Its implementation and deployment are quick, and migration from other vendors to Fortinet is smooth and easy. Typically, we only have about fifteen minutes of downtime during the transition and gradually implement the policies.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

For the price, I'd rate it a ten because it's very cost-effective.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I chose Fortinet FortiGate because it is effortless to use compared to other vendors. Their customer support is excellent, with quick responses and qualified attack engineers. They provide relevant documentation and immediate engineer assistance if needed.

What other advice do I have?

Regarding AI capabilities, the product promises threat intelligence based on AI and machine learning, which I plan to explore. FortiGate integrates smoothly with other solutions.

I'd rate FortiGate a nine out of ten.


    Özden-Aydın

A user-friendly and reliable solution offering good performance at a reasonable cost

  • June 11, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

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?

The product is cheap.

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.


    Sammy Mukuna

Offers stateless balance featuresand provides excellent reports and API integration

  • June 11, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

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?

Positive

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.


    Luke_Smith

Easy to use and provides good visibility of network traffic

  • June 10, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

What is our primary use case?

It is just for firewalls and network security.

How has it helped my organization?

It's mostly compliance, like just meeting our security requirements to keep our data secure. We don't make money out of it. It just keeps our data safe.

I have FortiGate for SD-WAN and all access points here, which has helped with traffic shaping capabilities.

I also use AI (Rapid7) to improve my cybersecurity.

What is most valuable?

It's easy to use and provides good visibility of network traffic.

What needs improvement?

The SD-WAN functionality is a bit overly complicated and not fully documented.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for six years.

How are customer service and support?

The customer service and support are good. I can contact them online or over the phone.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

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 a good value and the possibility of using those features. We haven't used FortiSwitches yet; we're investigating them at the moment, but we haven't ordered any yet.

How was the initial setup?

The SD-WAN was certainly tricky and took a while to figure out, but the rest of the security features were straightforward.

The deployment took us six months.

What was our ROI?

It's hard to measure the return on investment, but it certainly helps us manage our security requirements easier than other solutions that I've used.

It's good value for the money.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It was worth the money overall. It's good value.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.


    AiméKouchade

Has a good network security feature with effective threat intelligence

  • June 06, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

What is our primary use case?

I'm managing security rules, bandwidth for the internet, switches, and fifty access points. Everything, including the network in Afghanistan, is managed from there, and it's something critical for us.

What is most valuable?

FortiGate's ability to perform as expected and fulfil our needs has been the most compelling feature for network security. FortiGate has proven to be secure and effective in terms of threat intelligence, as it alerts us about external login attempts and suspicious scripts, contributing to our system's overall security.

What needs improvement?

FortiGate can improve its token system, as it requires a purchase before use. Additionally, the VPN system could be more efficient, especially regarding VLAN passing through, which is currently a limitation. Another suggestion for improvement would be better timezone coordination for customer support. Currently, there are issues with calls coming at inconvenient times due to timezone differences. Another area for enhancement could be the response time for support tickets, as there is a delay of at least twelve hours, even for urgent tickets, which can be frustrating.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for the past three years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable as we expand our usage of FortiGate as our company grows. We're currently using one, but we plan to use two as our network expands.

How are customer service and support?

I open a ticket and communicate with the engineers when I encounter issues. Although it may take some time, they always get back to me with a resolution. There are mainly due to these issues with time zone coordination and response time.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The setup process for FortiGate depends on the complexity of your network. For simpler setups, a user-friendly interface is easy to use. However, for more advanced configurations, it may require expertise. Integration into the ecosystem is neither too easy nor too complex.

The maintenance process is relatively easy.

What was our ROI?

Regarding return on investment, I believe FortiGate is worth the money. It has helped us stay safe, and considering what we are paying for such a system and service aligns well with our expectations and financial goals.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of FortiGate is reasonable as I plan to buy new switches. The initial gadgets are already booted, and the pricing seems normal on the market. As for additional costs, I haven't subscribed to many extra features, so I'm only using what I need. Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.


    Chee Yuen Yap

A security solution with VPN and SSL supported

  • March 12, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for desk security.

How has it helped my organization?

The integration primarily occurs within the ONDAP server. We focus on integration with the log server, mainly the logs. There's integration with third-party software for log collection. Integration with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer within the FortiGate family shouldn't pose any issues.

Many protocols are not proprietary, except for H.A. It's easy to integrate.

What is most valuable?

Fortinet also supports different types of VPNs, with SSL VPN being one of the most commonly utilized options.

What needs improvement?

The solution's pricing could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate SWG for 5 years.

How are customer service and support?

You'll likely get the correct answer if you reach out to the right person or ask the right question. Sometimes, the engineer doesn't articulate their question correctly, and the answer received may not be relevant.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. It depends on the project. Complex projects are typically based on the implementation, which takes less than a week. The high-level and the low-level are correctly designed, and the stakeholders agree upon the features. FortiGate is a security and VPN device, so the implementation is pretty straightforward. The SD-WAN is pretty easy, and the routing features are solid because the firewall that we are using also acts as a router facing the Internet. You also use an IP site for that. If it's appropriately configured, the customer is pretty happy there.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The renewable is lower because the market doesn’t accept it publicly.

What other advice do I have?

It's easy to use. The interface and other reports are all user-friendly. The software is a bit expensive to renew.

The FortiGate product range is diverse and suitable for different types of enterprises. It is more geared towards meeting the needs of larger enterprises. In the financial services industry in Malaysia, it's often paired with Palo Alto. Most of the projects follow a similar pattern. It's all in one box. You can use it for switching, routing, firewall, VPN - everything you need can be integrated into the FortiGate. Essentially, it's only one device for smaller setups. FortiGate has a very good range, from small businesses to even larger ones.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.


    Viraj Fernandopulle

Includes built-in APIs, is easy to deploy, and provides good insight into our network

  • March 04, 2024
  • Review provided by PeerSpot

What is our primary use case?

For IPS, IDS, traffic management, SDWAN, high availability, we leverage Fortinet FortiGate as a virtual appliance to secure our data center, internal office infrastructure, and site-to-site VPNS Site to client VPNS for our internal lab controls, rather than using physical Fortinet FortiGate hardware.

We implemented Fortinet FortiGate as part of our compliance requirements to address the high volume of intrusion attempts we were experiencing. This solution provides us with a insight on Intrusion to block these attacks and gain insights into who is trying to access our network. Essentially, we aim to understand the nature of incoming and outgoing network traffic.

How has it helped my organization?

FortiGate offers visibility into the types, brands, versions, and users of connected devices. This visibility is crucial for our industrial devices, as their reliable operation is essential to our business.

Fortinet Security Fabric empowers us to comply with regulations, governance, and compliance requirements across regions like the US and Europe, ensuring smooth operations for our global business.

FortiGate's built-in APIs enable us to integrate with the vendors of our choice.

Fortinet's FortiGate is easy to deploy in our environment thanks to its well-written and easy-to-follow documentation.

FortiGate is a highly benchmarked product that improves efficiency and adds value to our organization.

Although we don't see a benefit overnight, we gradually see the benefits of FortiGate over the years. It has provided a lot of insight into our organization's activities.

FortiGate significantly helped reduce the risk of cyberattacks that could disrupt our production. This has protected us against financial losses.

Fortinet has its management suite so it helps to centralize the management of network and security operations in our company. This helps us easily manage the issues and solutions that are required.

Fortinet FortiGate provides us with actionable data to inform our decisions about the most appropriate course of action. It delivers insights into resource consumption and compromised hosts, helping us identify the source of unauthorized login attempts. This comprehensive view allows us to understand what's entering our network.

Fortinet Security Fabric improved security across our industrial control systems.

Fortinet FortiGate helped reduce our mean time to remediate.

Fortinet FortiGate helped to mature our approach to cybersecurity for protecting our industrial equipment. The level of detail we can see regarding incoming traffic and ongoing activities is quite high. This detailed visibility extends to host configuration and other such aspects, providing us with valuable insights. As a result, Fortinet can provide a clear understanding of how to manage our network and quickly mitigate any issues that may arise.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.

What needs improvement?

Ideally, I'd like to see most CLI configuration options exposed in the GUI to avoid manual command typing. However, there should be a more user-friendly approach than simply replicating everything in the GUI. Alternatively, some users might prefer scheduling tasks through commands for automation.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for over 12 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate ten out of ten. As long as we configure FortiGate properly.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support has improved over the years.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

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.

How was the initial setup?

Initially, there was a learning curve during the deployment. We did have the help of local vendors.

If our policies are already in place, we can have the solution up and running in less than a day using a script. However, if we need to determine our policies while implementing the solution, it can take over a month to complete.

What was our ROI?

Fortinet FortiGate mitigates an excessive amount of manpower requirements because it is easy to manage and this helps contribute to a return on investment.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price varies yearly and there could be additional costs to help manage the infrastructure.

In certain markets, if an organization subscribes to their internet service they get a Fortinet firewall included in the cost.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated some of the leading brands. At the time we found FortiGate easier to administrate and handle. The interface was intuitive and the solution was affordable.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate nine out of ten.

Fortinet FortiGate is one of the most user-friendly security appliances I've encountered. It has a gentle learning curve, and even beginners can configure it effectively. However, for a successful deployment, it's crucial to have a well-defined network layout, documented initial requirements, and a clear configuration strategy. While physical documentation isn't mandatory, a well-organized approach is essential. This includes using clear and consistent naming conventions for commands and rules, along with detailed descriptions within the configuration itself. This makes it easy for anyone to understand the overall logic and navigate the configuration from start to finish. It's important to note that my approach to policy management might involve unique syntax. This includes how I structure policy sets and identify which ones consume the most resources. Understanding how policies interact with other aspects, like implementation and rule execution, is also crucial. Ultimately, a well-defined naming standard is the foundation for a clear and maintainable configuration.