We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security 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."Using this product makes the VPN seamless and almost invisible to me in the sense that I don't have to think about it."
"It performs very well."
"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."
"There are great templates, so you don't have to customize them if you don't want to. You do have the option to custom create some folders and some reports, however, with what is there, you don't really need to go through extra effort, as they already give you a lot of predefined views of reports and so forth."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."
"The SD-WAN is the most valuable feature."
"Fortinet offers the latest versions to cater to the needs of enterprises."
"I am "headache free" that I don't have to categorize all the websites and that security has been pre categorized by the people, and that the services are getting updated. At least one part of my problem is over."
"What I have used the most and received the most benefit from is the IPsec technology."
"Completely integrates branch offices with perimeter security."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"The product is easy to use."
"The most valuable features are DNS service and shell self-service within a network."
"The solution is stable."
"Technical support for this solution is very good."
"I've found their network routing to be very good."
"The stability of Fortinet meets our requirements and I'm satisfied with it."
"FortiOS allows us to set up alarms for blocked websites and SSL verifications. When someone tries to access a blocked site, the solution sends a notification to the IT manager's mailbox."
"Their classification inside of that database of the various threats is typically very, very good."
"It is more robust than SonicWall, particularly on the VPN from site to site."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiOS network segregation, UTM, and antivirus, freight management protection, such as DDoS. Additionally, the CLI and the GUI are easy to use. The architecture makes sense, and the command in the CLI are organized well. They have quite a lot of features are easy to use, and are user-friendly. Any novice can use Fortinet FortiOS without an issue."
"FortiOS' most valuable features are management, security, and easy updates with no downtime."
"The solution constantly adds features that are useful and user-friendly such as the ability to tweak firewalls through the CLI."
"It has a lot of scalability abilities which makes it easy to scale."
"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."
"NGN, reporting and controls."
"Fortinet doesn't provide multiple virtual firewalls which would facilitate end users and customers."
"It does not have key authentication for admin access."
"The solution could have licensing fees reduced in the future."
"With FortiGate, the main complaint that I have heard is about the technical support."
"The security of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"I need user-behavior analytics, to find threat scenarios from inside the organization, insider attacks. That would be very helpful for us. In addition, I would like next-generation features for small and medium businesses. These businesses require UTM, all in one product. Fortinet must include it."
"If they could increase the performance a little better because the device sometimes gets slow."
"I wish it would be more like the next generation firewall technology. There should be more selection between the application and filtering."
"The configuration and reporting interfaces need a lot of improvement. It needs to be more accessible forsolide without a strong technical background. If you had a simplified dashboard, the lower-level techs could manage the solution and provide services. Cisco IOS Security requires someone who is highly trained to operate it."
"The product's technical support services need improvement."
"I think setup could be one area for improvement, because sometimes we don't have people inside so we have to move to the place."
"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."
"Cisco very slowly introduces and implements the products, unlike other brands."
"I would like upgrading iOS to be a bit easier."
"There is some room for improvement in the support."
"There is no flexibility."
"It could more scalable for the lower end users."
"The solution needs improvement with DDoS protection."
"I would like to see the features of FortiAnalyzer included in Fortinet FortiOS. Right now, you're required to have an additional license and a different device for features such as processing the log, reporting, and analyzing traffic."
"It would be better if AWS instances were available. If I want to upgrade from T2.small to T2.medium, it should be available rather than having a big instance and paying a lot of money for that. The issue is that we had deployed in AWS Cloud, and we were using a very small instance. Recently we wanted to move in-house and deploy it on the big instance because it was struggling with the RAM. If we use T2.small, we cannot upgrade it to the T2.medium. It has predefined instances in the marketplace with a lot of cost differences. If I can increase the RAM, I have to choose the T3.large instance. If I'm paying $270 for the small instance, I have to pay more than double the cost for T3.large. It is about $850, and this is not good. So, it would be better if it was cheaper. I think both AWS and Fortinet should think about that. They should provide it on lower instances as well. If I want to upgrade it from T2.small to T2.medium, it should be available, but it's a problem."
"SD-WAN configuration could be easier."
"The reporting and monitoring could improve, they have a lot of limitations. The monitoring is not easy compared to the other firewall."
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 22nd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while Fortinet FortiOS is ranked 15th in Firewalls with 73 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while Fortinet FortiOS 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 FortiOS writes "Provides effective filtering features, good stability but initial setup is moderately challenging". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Meraki MX, Netgate pfSense, OPNsense and Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB, whereas Fortinet FortiOS is most compared with Fortinet FortiManager, Fortinet FortiWeb, Fortinet FortiGate-VM, Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection and Huawei NGFW. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. Fortinet FortiOS report.
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