Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cato SASE Cloud Platform and Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 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 is quite simple and easy to use.""The solution is stable.""The solution is a simple WAN solution. We've onboarded the socket on the Cato platform, and it provides connectivity. There is no complex routing.""Cato offers all the functionality found in other solution. The life cycle management is always very stable.""It's a pretty straightforward solution.""I haven't had any trouble, and practically forget that I'm using it.""What I found most helpful in Cato Networks is that it works out of the box. One of its main advantages is that it's a simple product to deploy. You subscribe, and you're ready to run.""The feature that I find to be the most valuable is the bandwidth aggregation."

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"The solution offers sandboxing, which can be integrated at any time.""The simplicity of the solution is its most valuable asset. It's very user-friendly.""Technical support has been quite helpful in the past.""Forcepoint is a complete package because it has network and systems applications. Other firewalls are only for the network.""The most valuable feature is SD-WAN.""Next Generation Firewall's best feature is that it can be managed on one platform.""I like the Firewall and the IPS.""The people we deal with is a local partner in Cambodia and we can get good support from them."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall Pros →

Cons
"Cato Networks security could be better.""They can't do one-to-one NAT (Network Address Translation) in AP (their access point), and that is something that Palo Alto can do.""The tool needs to be more granular. Its reports are not very in-depth.""The product must evolve into the endpoint domain.""Web application firewalling (WAF) is a feature we would like to have in this solution and does not exist yet.""Modifying or incorporating Cato Network to work with a third-party platform, such as Microsoft, or other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings would be beneficial. Having more integration partners would help the users implement the solution.""For a packaged solution, needing external intervention or a system integrator to get other features not offered by Cato Networks could be an area for improvement. Cato Networks does what it's meant to do and is even overstretching capabilities when introducing new features. The product can only have very few features added on top of what its currently doing. Managed service providers can deliver the extra features you'd need. It's a set of managed services, and what Cato Networks does is very comprehensive. So, for the time being, when the actual incarnation of the SASE solution is deployed, Cato Networks is a very effective product. Naturally, technology will evolve, so everybody knows that in three, four, or five years, there will be a new kid on the block, a new game. Still, at the moment, Cato Networks only needs to improve a little regarding SASE delivery. The product is doing very well, but one feature the Cato Networks team is doing right is preparing for the future through deploying the SSE 360, so the security service is at that edge. It's an excellent strategy to prepare for the future. SSE 360 is what Cato Networks should invest in the most to keep prospering.""They should add more sophisticated security features. It should also be integrated into the cloud."

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"Configuration is not easy because it has an old-fashioned interface. The configuration interface is highly complex, and it's been the same for years. They have to change the interface.""The ability to dynamically change policies could be improved.""The network interface could be better, and it could be cheaper.""You do need knowledge of the solution in order to set the product up properly.""Management could be better. They can improve the management. I think all our customers can't accept firewalls that have standalone management. So, they prefer Fortinet or Palo Alto. But overall, inspection and other features are working fine.""Its management center should be easier to use. The management interface of Forcepoint is unique and a little bit different from some of the firewall solutions on which people might have worked before. Sometimes, the customers say that it is not very friendly, and we help them with how to use this management interface. It just takes a little bit of time, and after some time, it gets easy to manage or use. It is quite similar to Palo Alto, Fortinet, and legacy Juniper solutions. Their support should be faster. We have received complaints that they are not responding fast, which is not good for the vendor and us.""The security features need to be improved.""This solution would be improved with the inclusion of custom reporting."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The price is not an issue for us, as it is priced more competitively than some other vendors."
  • "If you compare with VeloCloud, the price is the same or even cheaper."
  • "You pay yearly based on the speed of your network. If you increase the speed of your network, you increase the cost for your throughput. It is by bandwidth for the most part and then licenses for VPN. There is some per-seat licensing for VPN access, but the majority of it is minimal. It is like $30 a year per client. The rest is based on how much bandwidth you'll use. You pay for that upfront for the year, and if you have to increase it, you increase it, and then they let you send more data through. There are no additional costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
  • "Cato Networks seems more expensive than Cisco Meraki."
  • "The pricing of this solution depends on what you need. It is based on bandwidth."
  • "I rate the price of Cato Networks a four out of five."
  • "Cato Networks is an expensive product, but it works out of the box, so that's the usual trade-off, make versus buy. If you decide to buy a product that doesn't require much programming, then you'd want to go for Cato Networks, which will work naturally, and immediately without any complex setup. However, the product is a little bit more expensive than the competitors. On a scale of one to five, I'd rate the pricing for Cato Networks as four."
  • "The product is very competitively priced, and that's compelling. They don't charge the customer based on the operational cost like other brands such as Palo Alto. Cato has its own fully-fledged cloud, with their own data centers, equipment, and so on, which is an advantage. I rate the solution five out of five for affordability."
  • More Cato SASE Cloud Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The big advantage of this solution is that we can select the right model for our requirements, which is not too expensive."
  • "I believe the licensing fee is for one year, three years, and five years, or something like that. If you wants to increase the support level from a simpler level to platinum, I think that there's a cost. There are differences between every kind of support, but I don't know the numbers."
  • "We would love to take other solution from Forcepoint, but unfortunately the price is too high. That's why we are not considering using Forcepoing for our proxy and DLB. They have a very good DLB, but the matter in the end is the cost."
  • "Forcepoint is very expensive but it's really secure."
  • "It is expensive."
  • "The training that they offer to their end-customers. It's quite expensive, I believe it costs roughly $11,000"
  • "Everything in Forcepoint comes with an individual license, which is kind of a problem. In our last meeting, they said that it may change at the beginning of 2021, and they will try to merge some licenses together. Customers will get more features than what they got previously. We will wait and see."
  • "We have found the price could be reduced. It is a little expensive."
  • More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The solution is a simple WAN solution. We've onboarded the socket on the Cato platform, and it provides connectivity. There is no complex routing.
    Top Answer:We use the solution as a WAN, but we plan to optimize it by incorporating security features like zero trust for enhanced insights.
    Top Answer:In terms of security, we are planning to deploy more features and our current usage is primarily focused on branch networking. I rate the tool a nine out of ten. I rate the product a nine out of ten… more »
    Top Answer:The solution offers sandboxing, which can be integrated at any time.
    Top Answer:Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall could change its interface, allowing standard or direct connect modes to be configured. While group design and configuration generally function well, there are… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    4,800
    Comparisons
    2,668
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    500
    Rating
    8.8
    Views
    1,516
    Comparisons
    1,243
    Reviews
    9
    Average Words per Review
    363
    Rating
    7.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cato Networks
    Forcepoint NGFW, Stonesoft Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Network Security Platform, Intel Security Network Security Platform
    Learn More
    Overview

    Cato Networks is a leading SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) platform, combining SD-WAN and network security to obtain a cloud-native service. Cato Networks optimizes and secures application access for users and identities. The platform delivers a next-generation secure networking architecture that minimizes legacy IT infrastructures’ complexity, costs, and risks. The goal of Cato Suite is to connect any user to any application securely and optimally.

    Cato Suite runs on a private global network of more than 65 PoPs (points of presence) connected via SLA-backed network providers. The service can connect branches, data centers, users, and clouds. Cato can be deployed in stages to augment legacy network services.

    Cato Suite delivers end-to-end route optimization for WAN and cloud traffic. The architecture is self-healing, enabling a high service uptime.

    Cato Features

    Cato Cloud has a global backbone to deliver a reliable, global network. Here are some key SD-WAN features of Cato Cloud.

    • Optimizes traffic flows: The Cato Suite can individually optimize traffic flows in the last mile - from the customer’s location to the point of presence, and also between PoPs. This feature eliminates the need for internet providers to hand off traffic to each other, avoiding the resulting latency and congestion.
    • Controls and manages bandwidth: The software-defined overlay is encrypted across the entire cloud infrastructure. This overlay uses application-aware routing, analyzing latency and loss data to choose the best route according to network conditions. These features, like protocol priority marking, enable the system to ensure the performance of real-time applications.
    • Delivers redundancy and failover: By connecting the points of presence with multiple Tier-1 IPs, Cato builds the redundancy needed to ensure security and highly available service.
    • Cloud-native: Cato is built as a scalable, resilient, and elastic cloud service.
    • Converged: The platform converges SD-WAN and network security into a single infrastructure framework.
    • Secures all edges: Cato Network can secure and optimize traffic from all users, locations, applications, and clouds.

    What challenges does Cato Network solve?

    • Migration to SD-WAN

    MPLS (multi-protocol label switching) networks are usually expensive and limited in their capacity. Cato simplifies migrating to a faster, higher-capacity internet and SASE cloud. Cato SD-WAN appliances enable customers to improve usable capacity and resiliency.

    • Global connectivity optimization

    Customers who suffer from the challenge of high latency and network inconsistency can use Cato to deliver a consistent connection and user experience to access on-premises and cloud applications.

    • Securing branch internet access

    Cato’s complete network security stack connects all branch locations to the Cato cloud, therefore protecting all traffic, both internet-bound and WAN, with enterprise-grade, cloud-based security services. This capability avoids having to backhaul internet traffic to a data center or hub or having to implement stand-alone cloud security solutions.

    • Cloud acceleration and control

    Organizations using Cato notice an acceleration of cloud traffic. Cato achieves this by routing all traffic from the edges to the PoP closest to the data center. Because of the close distance between the two, the latency is near zero.

    Reviews from Real Users

    An IT manager/project coordinator at a healthcare company says that “[Cato is] a cloud-based solution that integrates well with everything. They are the classic SaaS solution.”

    Yeong-Gi L., a network engineer at Snetsystems, notes that “The solution is very stable. The scalability is quite good. Technical support was always helpful and responsive. The integration capabilities are not a problem at all.”

    "The most valuable feature is that it also works as a next-gen firewall because it has security features," says Lorenzo S., senior solutions consultant Lead at MDI.

    Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is a versatile and comprehensive solution for perimeter security, offering features such as SD-WAN, IPS, VPN, and cloud or on-premises subscription keys. It is preferred by many clients over Cisco and is used for obligation redundancy, VPN access, and as the main point of security in infrastructure. 

    The product is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, complete feature set, scalability, and central management capabilities. Other valuable features include IPS, firewall, sandbox, application control, filtering, security management center, connectivity, and integration capabilities.

    Sample Customers
    Paysafe, AdRoll, Pet Lovers Centre, Arlington Orthopedics, Humphreys & Partners Architects
    California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Retailer18%
    Healthcare Company18%
    Insurance Company9%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company28%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Retailer6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Comms Service Provider24%
    University12%
    Integrator12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise35%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise29%
    Large Enterprise45%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business55%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise26%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise58%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cato SASE Cloud Platform is ranked 5th in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions with 21 reviews while Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is ranked 12th in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions with 37 reviews. Cato SASE Cloud Platform is rated 8.8, while Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of Cato SASE Cloud Platform writes "Useful remote worker VPN, centralized management, and simple on-boarding process". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall writes "Good URL filtering with helpful technical support and good scalability". Cato SASE Cloud Platform is most compared with Zscaler SASE, Cisco SD-WAN, Fortinet FortiGate, Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks and VMware SD-WAN, whereas Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate, Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention, Check Point NGFW, Cisco Secure Firewall and Sophos XG. See our Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall report.

    See our list of best Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions vendors and best WAN Edge vendors.

    We monitor all Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions 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.