AWS Direct Connect vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Aug 1, 2023

We compared Prisma Access and AWS Direct Connect across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

  • Features: Prisma Access stands out for its ease of use, advanced security features, and global performance. AWS Direct Connect is recognized for its top-notch security, speedy connectivity, smooth migration process, and intuitive interface.

  • Room for Improvement: Prisma Access could benefit from enhancements in error handling, latency, and integration with other cloud architectures. AWS Direct Connect could use more precise terminology in its documentation and improve the patching and upgrading process.

  • Ease of Deployment: The setup process for Prisma Access varied in complexity and duration based on the size and requirements of the organization. While some users found it straightforward, others mentioned the need for expertise and assistance. Setting up AWS Direct Connect is considered challenging, particularly when integrating with an existing data center, and it can take several months to fully set up. Initial training is required and usually lasts about a week.

  • Service and Support: Prisma Access's customer service has received mixed reviews. Some customers expressed a desire for better technical support, while others have had positive experiences with prompt responses and knowledgeable engineers. AWS Direct Connect's customer service has been criticized for its speed and could be improved.

  • Pricing: Prisma Access is a more expensive solution, but users say the price is justified by its quality and features. AWS Direct Connect is also expensive, as licenses are acquired on a monthly or yearly basis.

  • ROI: Prisma Access excels in identifying security concerns, seamlessly integrating with various products, and delivering instant value. The return on investment for AWS Direct Connect is influenced by factors such as use case and data transfer.

Comparison Results: Prisma Access provides enhanced security options, convenient user access, and worldwide performance, but some users said it was challenging to use or configure, and it is relatively expensive.  AWS Direct Connect is highly secure, has fast connectivity, and is commended for its ease of migration and user-friendly interface. However, the solution could benefit from a simplified setup and improved documentation.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Direct Connect vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,476 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
"It's an ideal gateway solution for small and medium businesses, i.e., around 300 devices can be easily handled.""The solution has good performance."

More Netgate TNSR Pros →

"It is a stable solution.""AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet.""It is a highly scalable solution.""AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."

More AWS Direct Connect Pros →

"The features I find most valuable is WildFire, user integration, and the basic technology features.""There are plenty of features this solution provides and the most valuable would be the complete security protection we are receiving. We are provided with similar security that the Palo Alto AWS solution has. This includes features such as a firewall and machine learning AI.""The Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM) offered by Palo Alto is a good reporting tool. It gives insights into how things are going within the network. It takes all the data from the users' endpoints and does an analysis, and it suggests changes as well.""Overall, the cost savings, ease of deployment, and better VPN user experience and performance are valuable.""The most valuable feature is the ability to join your network and provide access through the VPN.""Prisma's most valuable feature would be its ability to identify bad or risky configurations.""Monitoring is the most valuable feature because we can easily monitor all kinds of stuff coming over the network. We can check the dashboard and work accordingly.""Its frontend is user-friendly. It is easy to use for us."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Pros →

Cons
"There must be a more easy-to-use GUI."

More Netgate TNSR Cons →

"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret.""It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks.""It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs.""It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."

More AWS Direct Connect Cons →

"We are using the SaaS offering. We use our applications for microservices. We use Twistlock to scan containers, and it displays these results in Prisma, which is a good feature because we can see vulnerabilities with respect to these containers. We can see everything in a very detailed manner. However, when you have different environments for a single application, such as DEV, QA, PROD, and TEST, all these environments run multiple containers, which can lead to a very high number of containers. In such a scenario, it shows you the alerts for all those containers that have vulnerabilities. If you show the results of all the containers that share the same image, it is not going to add any value. Therefore, they should narrow down the alerts based on a container. It should show information for a single container. Otherwise, the person who is looking at the results gets the impression that he has to fix all these issues. This is something that they can improve.""The licensing model isn't flexible enough. It's an all-or-nothing model. Other providers in the market allow you to buy modules or add-ons separately. With Prisma Access, you have to purchase the same module for all users.""While Palo Alto has understood the essence of building capabilities around cloud technology and have come up with a CASB offering, that is a very new product. There are other companies that have better offerings for understanding cloud applications and have more graceful controls. That's something that Palo Alto needs to work on.""When it comes to the VPN, it uses the global protect VPN functionality to connect remotely, but it has a feature limitation for assigning multiple IP sub-links to different user groups. It would be much better if we are able to assign the current IP blocks for the sub-links based on the user groups.""Its integration with non-Palo Alto products can be improved. Currently, it is easy to integrate it with other Palo Alto products such as Cortex XDR. It integrates well with other Palo Alto products. A major part of our network is based on Palo Alto products, but for those companies that use multi-vendor products in their infrastructure, Palo Alto should optimize the integration of Prisma Access with the network devices from other vendors.""The tools' scalability is subject to some limitations when done on-premise due to the need for additional licenses. However, in other scenarios, increasing scalability involves expanding infrastructure to accommodate more third-party VPN access. It is scalable as long as you pay the money. Also, it needs to improve security.""Palo Alto Prisma 10 came out over a year ago. Palo Alto added this identity management feature. The legacy way Palo Alto selected which user is sitting on an IP address it passes through has been clunky.""They can add some new characteristics. For example, when an incident triggers, they can automatically send a template for a particular match that is related to the policy. We don't have that right now. It is something to improve. There could be more automation for certain actions. For example, for a particular group, it can send an administrator alert to their manager. It was one of the concerns of our customers."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "There is not a license required for this solution but the price should be less expensive."
  • More Netgate TNSR Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It is an expensive solution."
  • "It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
  • More AWS Direct Connect Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The licensing cost is about 18,000 euros."
  • "Actually the solution is very expensive. I don't know the particulars since the purchasing team dealt with it."
  • "The pricing for this solution is on the higher end."
  • "Compared to other products, the price is slightly high."
  • "This is not an expensive product and everything is included with one license."
  • "Prisma Access is a little bit expensive."
  • "The licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis and for what we get, the price is good."
  • "The solution requires a license and the technical support has extra costs. The licensing model could improve."
  • More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It's an ideal gateway solution for small and medium businesses, i.e., around 300 devices can be easily handled.
    Top Answer:The product is very cost-effective and has no requirement for additional licenses. The setup is not easy. Users need… more »
    Top Answer:THe solution is used as a primary gateway with two lease lines of 450 Mbps total. Around 200 users are under it. There… more »
    Top Answer:Here is how AWS Direct Connect compares with AWS PrivateLink AWS Direct Connect Pros: They say it provides a… more »
    Top Answer:AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet.
    Top Answer:It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks.
    Top Answer: We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure… more »
    Top Answer:Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has flexible licensing models with different categories. It comes with different… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    TNSR
    Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access
    Learn More
    Overview

    TNSR is an advanced open source-based secure networking software platform with highly-scalable packet processing, manageability, and service expansion capabilities. This video provides a high-level introduction. that address a number of commonly asked new product questions - in just a couple of minutes.

    AWS Direct Connect
    AWS Direct Connect is a cloud service solution that makes it easy to establish a dedicated network connection from your premises to AWS. Using AWS Direct Connect, you can establish private connectivity between AWS and your datacenter, office, or colocation environment, which in many cases can reduce your network costs, increase bandwidth throughput, and provide a more consistent network experience than Internet-based connections.

    AWS Direct Connect lets you establish a dedicated network connection between your network and one of the AWS Direct Connect locations. Using industry standard 802.1q VLANs, this dedicated connection can be partitioned into multiple virtual interfaces. This allows you to use the same connection to access public resources such as objects stored in Amazon S3 using public IP address space, and private resources such as Amazon EC2 instances running within an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) using private IP space, while maintaining network separation between the public and private environments. Virtual interfaces can be reconfigured at any time to meet your changing needs.

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks provides consistent security for all users and applications across your remote networks. Prisma Access grants users safe access to the cloud and data center applications and the internet as well. In addition, the solution combines all of your security and networking capabilities into a single cloud-delivered platform, enabling flexible hybrid workforces.

    Prisma Access can be managed two ways:

    1. Cloud Managed
    2. Panorama Managed

    Prisma Access delivers both networking and security services, including:

    • SD-WAN
    • VPN
    • Zero Trust network access (ZTNA)
    • Quality of service (QoS)
    • Clean Pipe
    • Firewall as a service (FWaaS)
    • DNS Security
    • Threat Prevention
    • Cloud secure web gateway (SWG)
    • Data loss prevention (DLP)
    • Cloud access security broker (CASB)

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Features

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has many valuable key features including: App-ID, User-ID, Device-ID, SSL Decryption, Dynamic User Group (DUG) Monitoring, AI/ML-Based Detection, IoT Security, Reporting, URL Filtering, Enterprise Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)*, Logging, Policy Automation, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and many more.

    Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks include:

    • Security: Prisma Access gives you consistent security to protect against cyberattacks, with enforcement of policy at every location. By implementing Prisma Access, you also gain protection that works to prevent known and unknown malware, exploits, credential theft, command and control, and many other attack vectors across all ports and protocols.

    • Global connectivity: Prisma Access provides global coverage through use of its connectivity layer.

    • Scalability: With Prisma Access, scaling is automatically managed and is scalable, flexible, and agile.

    • Instant deployment: Deployment is fast, eliminating wasted time that may otherwise be associated with setting up a solution, operating it, or shipping hardware in order to get started.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

    users who are currently using the solution.

    PeerSpot user Partha D., Global Network Tech Lead at a computer software company, speaks about his experience using the product, saying, "It protects all app traffic so that users can gain access to all apps. Unlike other solutions that only work from ports 80 and 443, which are predominantly for web traffic, Prisma Access covers all protocols and works on all traffic patterns... The most sophisticated attacks can arise from sources that are not behind 80/443."

    Tejas J., a Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a computer software company, mentions that "it is geographically dispersed, and it sits on top of Google and AWS platforms. Therefore, you don't face the standard issues, such as latency or bandwidth issues, that you usually face in the case of on-prem data centers.

    Another PeerSpot reviewer, Max I., Associate Director at Cognizant, comments that "Security is absolutely spot-on, really top-notch. It's the result of all the components that come together, such as the HIP [Host Information Profile] and components like Forcepoint, providing end-user content inspection, and antivirus. It incorporates DLP features and that's fantastic because Prisma Access makes sure that all of the essential prerequisites are in place before a user can log in or can be tunneled into."

    Sample Customers
    UCLA, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, shopify
    Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
    Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government5%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company46%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Logistics Company4%
    Pharma/Biotech Company4%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Government6%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise68%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise29%
    Large Enterprise44%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise68%
    Buyer's Guide
    AWS Direct Connect vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,476 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    AWS Direct Connect is ranked 12th in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN with 4 reviews while Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is ranked 5th in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN with 55 reviews. AWS Direct Connect is rated 8.8, while Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of AWS Direct Connect writes "Has low latency and provides good stability ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks writes "Integration with Palo Alto platforms such as Cortex Data Lake and Autofocus gives us visibility into our attack surface". AWS Direct Connect is most compared with AWS PrivateLink, Lumen MPLS IP VPN, Fortinet FortiClient, IBM Secure Gateway Service and Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, whereas Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is most compared with Netskope , Cisco Umbrella, Zscaler SASE and Zscaler Private Access. See our AWS Direct Connect vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks report.

    See our list of best Enterprise Infrastructure VPN vendors.

    We monitor all Enterprise Infrastructure VPN 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.