We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Firewall and Fortinet FortiOS based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The tool is a nice product and easy to handle. The software's user interface is also good. You can easily implement remote access in the solution."
"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."
"In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable."
"The pipe filter application is an outstanding feature."
"It is quite easy to handle."
"We purchased Fortinet because of the pricing, its functionality, because it met our requirements, and the total cost of ownership over five years was quite reasonable. In the market, Fortinet is rated quite well."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle."
"The most important features with FortiGate are the web filter and application controls. We can control our internet usage and use the web filter for application purposes."
"I like that Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is reliable. Support is also good."
"One of the most valuable features is the AMP. It's very good and very reliable when it comes to malicious activities, websites, and viruses."
"The Firepower IPS, based on Snort technology, has an amazing detection engine and historical analysis capability of files that eases threat investigations a lot."
"I would say the Firepower module is most valuable. I'm trying more to transition to this kind firewall. I had to study a little on Palo Alto Networks equipment. There is a lot I have to learn about the difference."
"Protecting our landscape in general and being able to see logging when things aren't going as set out in policies are valuable features. Our security department is keen on seeing the logging."
"The most important feature is the VPN connection."
"The most valuable feature is the access control list (ACL)."
"Previously, our customers had to always utilize hand-to-hand delivery. Now, they are able to move completely to a secure digital method. They use a strictly dark fiber optics connection from a central location to the endpoint."
"I like that the firewall gives me a lot of control in terms of outgoing and inbound traffic, and it scores better in deep packet inspections when compared with the Azure Firewall."
"The solution is very easy to configure and has a good interface, plus it offers more configuration options than other vendors."
"The solution constantly adds features that are useful and user-friendly such as the ability to tweak firewalls through the CLI."
"The information security features are the most valuable."
"The stability of Fortinet meets our requirements and I'm satisfied with it."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are its constant updates and definitions."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are its simplicity, highly user-centric, and performs well. The line speed and for heavy traffic, is helpful for us."
"We have expanded the wireless access point and switches using Fortinet FortiOS."
"They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs."
"I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate."
"It would be good if they had fewer updates."
"We would like to have the ability to disable some of the security functionalities."
"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."
"One of the features that I would like to have is to do with endpoint production, it should be integrated. For example, the firewall gets notified of any kind of forensic event that needs to be done, such as if there is a ransomware attack and how it originated, all those records have to be available from the firewall, which is not."
"Technical support could be better. You don't always get the level of help you need right away."
"If they had better integration with security products, such as Cisco ISE or Rapid Threat Containment, then it would be an improvement."
"They need a user-friendly interface that we could easily configure."
"An area of improvement for this solution is the console visualization."
"The solution’s GUI could be better."
"Cisco missed the mark with all the configuration steps. They are a pain and, when doing them, it looks as if we're using a very old technology — yet the technology itself is not old, it's very good. But the front-end configuration is very tough."
"At times the product is sluggish and slow"
"The relatively new Firepower Threat Defense image (mix of ASA and Sourcefire network security) fills a lot of gaps and features that were missing on ASA."
"I would like to see more configurable feature parity with Cisco ASA, which is the legacy product that Cisco is moving away from. When configuring remote access VPN, not all of the options are there. You have to download another tool, which means that the configuration takes a little bit longer with Cisco Secure Firewall. Though it's getting there, there are still some features lagging behind."
"It seems very clunky and slow. I would like to be able to tune it to be a more efficient product."
"Fortinet's central management needs to be improved. FortiManager's technical tool provider ability should manage all Fortinet security products. Right now, FortiManager only manages the configuration of FortiGate."
"Lacks flexibility for different scenario configurations."
"It would be great if they can push the Microsoft updates through Fortinet OS and provide a centralized patch management system. They should also include the data loss prevention (DLP) and data leakage prevention features. They could also add network monitoring more effectively."
"The solution needs to adjust its pricing models. With the way they are structured, everything is very disparate and sold separately, and, depending on the solution, it can get quite pricey."
"There is no flexibility."
"It could more scalable for the lower end users."
"The product needs a feature that allows users to create another site on a VPN."
"The solution is good, but they have poor marketing in Nigeria. They need to market their product better."
Cisco Secure Firewall is ranked 4th in Firewalls with 404 reviews while Fortinet FortiOS is ranked 15th in Firewalls with 73 reviews. Cisco Secure Firewall is rated 8.2, while Fortinet FortiOS is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Firewall writes "Highlights and helps us catch Zero-day vulnerabilities traveling across our network". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiOS writes "Provides effective filtering features, good stability but initial setup is moderately challenging". Cisco Secure Firewall is most compared with Palo Alto Networks WildFire, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, Sophos XG and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, whereas Fortinet FortiOS is most compared with Fortinet FortiManager, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Fortinet FortiWeb, Darktrace and Sangfor NGAF. See our Cisco Secure Firewall vs. Fortinet FortiOS report.
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