F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Fortinet FortiNAC comparison

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801 views|661 comparisons
85% willing to recommend
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11,688 views|7,604 comparisons
87% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) and Fortinet FortiNAC based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Access Control (NAC) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC Report (Updated: May 2024).
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The performance of the solution is valuable.""Stickiness is the most valuable feature of the product.""In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.""This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use.""F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use.""The load balancing features are valuable.""The product allows us to create customized portals for your users.""The most valuable feature is the virtual IP creation. It's our most frequently used feature."

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"The network segmentation is the most important part of the solution. The integration with the Zero Trust Access solution is a crucial part of segmenting your network.""The most valuable features of the solution are the user-friendliness, the graphical interface, and the technical support. The interface is very nice and the customization is good.""Version 9.1 has been an improvement on previous versions. It's a good solution for SMB.""It's easy to connect to a VPN without any hassles.""When it works, it's great. It keeps things off the network which are supposed to be off the network.""Fortinet FortiNAC offers several valuable features, including data security, 99 percent uptime with VPN connections, MAC filtering, and traffic prioritization.""The device fingerprinting feature allowed for easy creation and enforcement of access policies.""The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiNAC are user device management and there are plenty of policies."

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Cons
"I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal.""The solution is quite costly.""Cloud services are something that F5 Access Policy Manager could do better""The initial setup was complex.""In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side.""F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating.""The technical support’s response time must be improved.""The operational deployment is not great."

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"The deployment of Fortinet FortiNAC could be better. When we are deploying the solution we have some level of dependencies with other vendors for their connection to Fortinet FortiNAC. Without these dependencies, it would be better.""Fortinet FortiNAC's device compatibility could be improved, particularly for VoIP devices.""The training from Fortinet FortiNAC could improve. Fortinet has to plan for better training for its partners. Additionally, device management should have more integration with other devices, such as new and third-party devices.""Fortinet FortiNAC could improve its hardware for use with cloud-based firewalls.""The technical support is bad. We've had to escalate to Tier 2 and Tier 3. My customer relationship manager on the other side of this has stopped returning phone calls and emails, because there has been such a constant back and forth.""Technical support could improve their response times.""The user interface and the product's intuitiveness could be improved.""Integration is hard in Fortinet FortiNAC, but they are evolving and getting better. For example, with Cisco, Aruba, Huawei, and Extreme devices, Fortinet FortiNAC is working properly, but some other devices have problems."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Recently, they have simplified the licensing"
  • "The product is very expensive."
  • "The tool is a little bit expensive."
  • More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It's a subscription-based license, which is based on the usage and number of concurrent users."
  • "The licensing fees are a little bit high."
  • "The pricing is similar to that of other solutions."
  • "The price of the license required is based on how many users are going to be using the solution. If you want more users you can upgrade your license."
  • "For the projects that we do the Fortinet FortiNAC is affordable."
  • "It's a pricey solution."
  • "The solution is expensive. However, it is not as expensive as other solutions, such as Cisco ISE."
  • "The price of Fortinet FortiNAC is less than Cisco's solution. However, the price could improve by being reduced."
  • More Fortinet FortiNAC Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.
    Top Answer:The tool is a little bit expensive. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.
    Top Answer:I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM… more »
    Top Answer:I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco ISE uses AI endpoint analytics to identify new devices based on their behavior. It will also notify you if someone plugs in with a device that is not allowed and will block it. The user… more »
    Top Answer:The support responds to our queries within two to four hours.
    Ranking
    Views
    801
    Comparisons
    661
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    372
    Rating
    8.1
    Views
    11,688
    Comparisons
    7,604
    Reviews
    20
    Average Words per Review
    388
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    F5 Access Policy Manager
    FortiNAC, Bradford Networks, Bradford Networks Sentry, Network Sentry Family
    Learn More
    Overview

    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access. 

    BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

    BIG-IP APM Benefits:

    • Ease of use
    • Flexibility
    • Ability to integrate with other systems
    • Security features
    • Granular access control
    • Responsive and helpful support team

    BIG-IP APM Features:

    • Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
    • Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
    • Integration with third-party MFA solutions
    • DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
    • SAML 2.0 identity federation support
    • Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
    • SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
    • AAA server authentication and high-availability
    • Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
    • BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
    • Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

    Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

    Clyde LivingstonSenior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

    Chris LamSenior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

    Fortinet's FortiNAC is a network access control solution that provides visibility, control, and automated response for everything that connects to the network, enhancing the security fabric. FortiNAC protects against Internet of Things (IoT) threats, extends control to third-party devices, and orchestrates automated responses to a variety of networking events.

    Using many information and behavior sources, FortiNAC delivers extensive profiling of even headless devices on your network, allowing you to precisely identify what's on your network.

    You can change the configurations of switches and wireless equipment from more than 70 vendors to implement micro-segmentation regulations. You can also extend the security fabric's reach in diverse contexts.

    With FortiNac, you can respond in seconds to events in your network to stop attacks from spreading. When the relevant behavior is seen, FortiNAC offers a rich and customized set of automation policies that can rapidly trigger configuration changes.

    Fortinet FortiNAC Features

    Fortinet FortiNAC has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Agent or agentless (automated) scanning of the network for device detection and classification
    • Generates a list of all the devices on the network.
    • Evaluates the risk of each network endpoint.
    • Consolidates the architecture to make deployment and management easier
    • Gives wide support for third-party network devices to maintain compatibility with current network infrastructure,
    • Automates the process of onboarding a large number of endpoints, users, and visitors.
    • Enables network segmentation and enforces dynamic network access restriction.
    • Reduces the time it takes to contain a problem from days to seconds.
    • Reduces investigation time by reporting events to SIEM with detailed contextual data.

    Fortinet FortiNAC Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing DX Spectrum. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Automatic response: FortiNAC will continuously monitor the network, analyzing endpoints to ensure they meet their profile. FortiNAC will rescan devices to verify that MAC-address spoofing does not compromise the security of your network access. FortiNAC can also keep an eye out for unusual traffic patterns. The FortiGate appliances are used in conjunction with this passive anomaly detection. When a compromised or vulnerable endpoint is identified as a threat, FortiNAC initiates a real-time automatic response to confine the endpoint.

    • Total device visibility: FortiNAC monitors the entire network and provides total visibility. FortiNAC searches your network for users, applications, and devices. FortiNAC may then profile each element based on observed attributes and reactions, as well as drawing on FortiGuard's IoT Services, a cloud-based database for identification look-ups, using up to 21 distinct techniques.
    • Dynamic network management: Once the devices and users have been identified, FortiNAC allows for extensive network segmentation to allow devices and users access to critical resources while preventing unauthorized access. FortiNAC employs dynamic role-based network access control to conceptually establish network segments by grouping similar applications and data together to restrict access to a certain set of users and/or devices. If a device is compromised in this way, its capacity to travel through the network and target other assets is constrained. FortiNAC assists in the protection of sensitive data and assets while maintaining compliance with internal, industry, and government standards and directives. Assuring the integrity of devices before they join the network reduces the chance of malware spreading.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Fortinet FortiNAC stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its robust network segmentation and its device visibility. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

    A Senior Proposal Manager at a tech services company writes of the solution, “The network segmentation is the most important part of the solution. The integration with the Zero Trust Access solution is a crucial part of segmenting your network.”

    Eranjaya K., Security Engineer at Eguardian lanka, notes, “We use Fortinet FortiNAC to receive excellent visibility of our network for traffic and what devices are connected to prevent attacks.” He adds, “I have found Fortinet FortiNAC to be scalable.”

    Sample Customers
    City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
    Isavia, Pepperdine University, Medical University of South Carolina, Columbia University Medical Center, Utah Valley University
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider27%
    Media Company18%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider24%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization32%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company5%
    Comms Service Provider5%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Large Enterprise50%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise69%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business52%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise25%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise43%
    Large Enterprise38%
    Buyer's Guide
    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is ranked 6th in Network Access Control (NAC) with 13 reviews while Fortinet FortiNAC is ranked 3rd in Network Access Control (NAC) with 44 reviews. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is rated 8.2, while Fortinet FortiNAC is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) writes " Facilitates packet inspection, modification, and offloading and offers visibility and troubleshooting capabilities, allowing for pre-production server testing". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiNAC writes "I like the solution's native integration with other devices from the same vendor". F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is most compared with Citrix Gateway, CyberArk Privileged Access Manager, Ivanti Connect Secure, Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) and Okta Workforce Identity, whereas Fortinet FortiNAC is most compared with Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine), Aruba ClearPass, Forescout Platform, Fortinet FortiAuthenticator and Genian NAC. See our F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Fortinet FortiNAC report.

    See our list of best Network Access Control (NAC) vendors.

    We monitor all Network Access Control (NAC) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.