We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and Fortinet FortiGate-VM 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.
"It is very flexible to use."
"The simplicity of the configuration and the stability of the product are most valuable. The VPN concentrator is very useful."
"The solution is easy to configure and maintain remotely."
"The product is very stable, easy to troubleshoot, and configure, so it has reduced the time it takes for support."
"LinkGreat firewall capabilities"
"The scalability is good in Fortinet FortiGate."
"The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products."
"We use a lot of function on the IPS and it works well for us."
"You can scale it when you need to."
"In Pakistan, we only use Cisco because they have good local support infrastructure. Huawei and Fortinet don't offer direct support in Pakistan."
"What I have used the most and received the most benefit from is the IPsec technology."
"Technical support for this solution is very good."
"I'm able to transfer data over internet network security. With the GRE I'm able to transfer data within one bunch to another bunch in a public way, like the internet. The communication is encrypted and is private. It gives me added privacy."
"The most valuable feature is the scalability. The nice thing with the bigger vendors is that they're very good at scale."
"The most valuable features are DNS service and shell self-service within a network."
"The hardware is pretty stable. It's also a very good product performance-wise. Initially, it wasn't mature like a firewall and there were other leaders, but now they have included almost all the features of next-generation security. Basically, it's a good product to work with."
"The support is good. We don't have any issues with the technical support."
"Initial setup is very straightforward with a wizard, if needed."
"We are able to closely monitor the usages of individual users and see their usage habits and other items, including the data itself, which gives us quite a bit of visibility."
"I have worked on some of the largest and smallest solutions that Fortinet sells and they all scale really well."
"One top feature is the ability to use the appliance as a WLAN controller for up to 10 access points with the new 5.6 firmware."
"We use it to ensure that our network is properly protected from viruses and malware."
"Technical support has been super responsive and dedicated to getting any challenges resolved."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"The search tool needs improvement. It's very difficult to search for policies right now."
"One area for improvement is the performance on the bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
"Their software support needs improvement. I would prefer to have better support for bug fixes. Sometimes, we open a ticket, and it is very difficult to get a solution. Specifically, we are not at all happy with their support for load balancing."
"It claims it does DLP, but the degree and level of controls are very basic."
"The solution lacks multi-language support."
"The reporting in Fortinet FortiGate could improve. Customers are having to purchase additional reporting components. When I have used the Sophos solution it is a complete solution, in Fortinet FortiGate you have to use additional tools to have the features needed."
"They've become quite expensive."
"The feature which gives us a lot of pain is ASIC architecture."
"While Cisco IOS Security is stable and scalable, I would like to see it improved to be even better."
"Cisco IOS Security could improve by having more compatibility with other Cisco solutions."
"We cannot directly upgrade the system. The tool's deployment is also very difficult in legacy environments. The tool needs to have bigger ports as well."
"Cisco is an expensive firewall, so the pricing can be improved."
"An area for improvement in Cisco IOS Security is the performance because it's not as stable sometimes. There's also some latency in the solution, which could be improved. Cisco IOS Security integrates with other solutions, but you'll encounter many errors after integration, so this is another area for improvement. I'd like to see enhanced performance and a simplified setup in the next version of Cisco IOS Security."
"The routers, don't have like long-term tendency features, or higher availability features available for the IOS. It could also use a better user interface."
"There's a technology called SD-WAN that we would like to see. We are unable to handle multiple connections or to automatically load balance. I would like to have a feature that enables us to automatically prepare for load balancing."
"I would like upgrading iOS to be a bit easier."
"The product is satisfactory. I haven't identified any features to improve, and based on the number of deployments I've handled with FortiGate-VM, there haven't been any complaints from the customer's side."
"There should be more options to use lower-end models in a high availability configuration."
"The interface of the solution could be improved."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"The costs could be lowered."
"There were challenges during setup, and many of them were self-inflicted."
"They could simplify the troubleshooting process."
"The product's initial setup phase is a bit complex."
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 22nd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while Fortinet FortiGate-VM is ranked 9th in Firewalls with 113 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while Fortinet FortiGate-VM is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco IOS Security writes "User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate-VM writes "An easy-to-manage and configure tool that provides ample documentation to help with the setup phase". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiOS, Netgate pfSense and OPNsense, whereas Fortinet FortiGate-VM is most compared with Azure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, Fortinet FortiOS, OPNsense and Netgate pfSense. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. Fortinet FortiGate-VM report.
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