Senior Network Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Top 20
I like automated tool for migrating user data from other systems
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the closed VPN connection, which provides better performance than traditional VPN boxes. For example, let's say a user in New York State normally connects in the East, but if they travel to the UK, they can connect to the same portal, which automatically redirects to any VPN gateway. We can control traffic based on Active Directory groups instead of the user's IP. That means a user in New York can access his application based on his user ID and AD group access when he travels to the UK or anywhere else."
  • "Sometimes, when you assign subnets to regions, the IP address will jump from one location to another because it will automatically change substantially. Then, we need to add those IP subnets to our firewall for existing access. The need to update those subnets potentially causes maintenance or access issues. So far, we can only provide bigger customers with six subnets, and a small company may not be able to access those services."

What is our primary use case?

Financial companies want to restrict user access, which means the users need to go through a subnet to access their services. When the user connects to the internet via the Prisma Cloud VPN, they can use different types of IP addresses globally. The changing IP addresses can be pretty complex. It costs a lot for the application site to apply for access.  

We negotiated with Palo Alto to get 20 servers, and the customers will be added to those 20 subnets. On the Spectrum Access side, we only need a white list of those twenty subnets, and we won't have issues in the future. 

The solution is managed by Palo Alto. We're using Panorama, a popular management tool, for managing the connection between the physical portal, firewall, and VPN, as well as Prisma Cloud.

How has it helped my organization?

The user experience is better than our previous solution. It gives us visibility into all the traffic. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the closed VPN connection, which provides better performance than traditional VPN boxes. For example,  let's say a user in New York State normally connects in the East, but if they travel to the UK, they can connect to the same portal, which automatically redirects to any VPN gateway. We can control traffic based on Active Directory groups instead of the user's IP. That means a user in New York can access his application based on his user ID and AD group access when he travels to the UK or anywhere else.

Prisma Cloud can provide decent security across cloud environments, depending on how each company sets security policies. Prisma Cloud makes adding new users and managing access more flexible.  

I like Palo Alto's automated tool for migrating user data from other systems. We previously did this manually most of the time, but now we can update twice hourly automatically. 

What needs improvement?

During deployment, we created a tunnel from the cloud to our gateway in the data center because the users need some way to connect with the resources there, but all other traffic goes directly to the Palo Alto cloud. When the traffic goes to the Internet, sometimes it will come up with different IPs, causing some financial websites to be blocked. We needed to work with Palo Alto closely to solve this problem. 

Sometimes, when you assign subnets to regions, the IP address will jump from one location to another because it will automatically change substantially. Then, we need to add those IP subnets to our firewall for existing access. The need to update those subnets potentially causes maintenance or access issues. So far, we can only provide bigger customers with six subnets, and a small company may not be able to access those services. 

Buyer's Guide
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
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How are customer service and support?

I rate Palo Alto customer service 10 out of 10. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The migration takes time because we're typically not starting from scratch. We need to migrate everything from the existing VPN. I've used Prisma Cloud for a large financial enterprise with a complex infrastructure, and we worked on that for almost two years. It's less complicated for a mid-sized company, but the migration might take six to nine months.

What was our ROI?

It's hard to tell if there is an ROI in the short term. It may take a long time before you realize a return because there is a substantial initial investment. You can see a significant improvement in performance, but it may not necessarily save money. However, you'll ultimately improve service.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Prisma Cloud nine out of 10. We would recommend it to any large global enterprise because it improves performance and offers a better user experience. It also gives you application-level control instead of regular IP address control. The latest version has many new features. So they can use the in-app Application ID and point to MAC applications instead of regular TCP/IP ports.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Senior System Engineer Network Manager at Veneto Banca
Real User
Provides the visibility and control we need, regardless of how complex or distributed our cloud environments become
Pros and Cons
  • "We found it to be easy and flexible. We could easily configure it for our needs, and we could spread the Prisma Cloud platform to 16 countries without encountering any kind of problem."
  • "It can be too expensive for small companies."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for mobile access, and we probably will also adopt a direct connection to our small branch offices across Europe.

How has it helped my organization?

Prisma Cloud has improved the response time and the availability of our applications on-premises and on the cloud for our users in many different countries in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the United States.

We use it for our mobile users. Prisma Cloud is a very strong and robust platform that improves endpoint security. The COVID-19 pandemic made us realize that we should be able to permit more or less 50% of our employees to work confidently and securely from home.

Prisma Cloud provides security across multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud environments. We already have developed a direct connection between the Prisma Cloud platform and the Azure Cloud solution. We also have integration with the AWS cloud where most of our servers are now located. It was absolutely a strategic choice for us.

We have decided to adopt almost all the security features that Prisma Cloud offers, such as DNS security, threat prevention, vulnerability analysis, anti-phishing, email, and so on. We did not use Prisma Cloud for security automation capabilities. We have a very specific application for the OTC environment, and we prefer to maintain this environment completely separate from the other world of traditional information technology applications.

Prisma Cloud helps with cloud security, but we are also managing security at many different levels. We have endpoint protection, firewalls, SIEM, and log collectors. We also have dedicated probes that work silently to discover any anomalies, such as zero-day threats, that could be there. We have a Palo Alto firewall, and this cloud solution also has some predefined level of security managed by the cloud provider.

Prisma Cloud provides the visibility and control we need, regardless of how complex or distributed our cloud environments become. We can very quickly and easily analyze the clusters, the connections, and so on. We have very good control over the data flow and any possible security problems. It increases our confidence in our security and compliance postures.

About 50% of our people work from a private network, not inside the company. The protection of the endpoints is more difficult than the protection inside the office. Prisma Cloud can elevate the level of security for people who are working from home or are traveling to another country and so on.

Prisma Cloud provides us with a single tool to protect all of our cloud resources and applications, without having to manage and reconcile disparate security and compliance reports. Prisma Cloud is used by remote users that are working from home, and that is it. It makes our operations easier.

I have daily evidence of any possible new threats that could appear. I get to know how often a threat was blocked and from which client these threats were blocked. We can then very quickly contact the user if there is a compromised endpoint.

Prisma Cloud sends the email and data to the administrative IT staff in case a very severe threat appears. So far, we have not received any alerts related to severe threats.

Prisma Cloud has reduced a lot of our alert investigation time. We have perfect visibility of every single connection from our colleagues who are working from home, a hotel, or any other place. We have activated a mechanism by which the VPN connection is mandatory as soon as the end users switch their computers on. If I have a severe alert, I could investigate the related bad behavior and node in 10 to 15 minutes.

What is most valuable?

We found it to be easy and flexible. We could easily configure it for our needs, and we could spread the Prisma Cloud platform to 16 countries without encountering any kind of problem.

What needs improvement?

It can be too expensive for small companies.

In terms of features, I wouldn't add anything specific. They did a major improvement in the field of reporting. It can automatically produce statistics on usage and so on. This aspect was not very well developed at the beginning of the project, but now, there is a very big improvement in this specific field. Reporting is better than the previous versions, so at the moment, for our needs, the solution is good enough. We might need something in the future, but at the moment, we are not asking Palo Alto for any new developments.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for half a year. We started the project at the beginning of this year, and at the moment, we have about 2,100 people who use this solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. The platform is quite robust and available. From the time the project was released to other countries, we received one or two tickets for a sporadic problem for some users.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 4,000 licenses. We have Prisma Cloud in 16 different countries with a total of about 2,100 people. We do not have a large presence in the Extreme East or Middle East, but we have people connecting from Europe and also from Russia. It works perfectly.

Its usage will increase when there is a new acquisition or there is a new office somewhere in the world. 

How are customer service and support?

The customer support is good and professional. I would rate them a ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not use any similar solution before. We adopted the same VPN technology based on the on-premise firewall that we already had, but there was a very big consumption of bandwidth. It was sometimes a little bit difficult to manage a high number of remote users, and this problem was completely solved by Prisma Cloud.

How was the initial setup?

I was involved in its deployment. It took us about nine months to implement it.

In terms of the implementation strategy, we started with deciding about the site of our company that should be directly connected to Prisma Cloud. We produced an inventory of the applications and identified whether they are located on-premise, on Azure cloud, or on AWS cloud. We then started to configure the server and endpoints inside Prisma Cloud. We established the service connection between the site and Prisma Cloud, and we started to develop the solution for the end users. We selected a subset of users. We selected about 100 people from different departments in different countries to be sure that the solution was working properly in every country and every application environment.

What about the implementation team?

We received very professional and qualified support from both Palo Alto technicians and a platinum partner that normally assists us in developing Palo Alto technologies.

We had two people from Palo Alto for implementation. We had one senior engineer and one junior engineer from Palo Alto. We had two engineers from our partner. We did not have a lot of staff.

In terms of maintenance, Prisma Cloud is subject to periodic updates, and we follow what is required by Palo Alto. For maintenance, we have a colleague of mine and one person from our partner.

What was our ROI?

It was a good investment because now we can manage so many remote users without any problems.

The platform is not famous for being cheap. It is quite expensive, but we know that we have the protection, so there is enough value for what we pay for. It is worth the money.

It takes more or less nine months to realize its benefits.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This solution is good for a company with at least 400 people that must be connected remotely. For smaller companies, it can be too expensive.

There are no costs in addition to standard licensing. We pay based on the number of users. We have 4,000 user licenses, and we use more or less 60% of our licenses.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated solutions from Cato Networks and Palo Alto. Because we have quite a large installation of Palo Alto's firewall and in-depth knowledge of this technology, we decided to adopt Prisma Cloud.

What other advice do I have?

I am very satisfied with Prisma Cloud, and we do not have any plans to change to anything else. I am confident that we will retain this solution for a long time.

Overall, I would rate Prisma Cloud a ten out of ten. We have received very positive feedback regarding this solution. I would recommend it to others.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Has straightforward security automation capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution will streamline and minimize manual efforts."
  • "We have discovered that Prisma is not functioning properly with GCP."

What is our primary use case?

In terms of use cases, we had a single client. This client belonged to the insurance sector here in India, specifically a large insurance chain. We discovered that they had migrated to a cloud environment and had some security controls in place. However, they lacked expertise in understanding the threats associated with the cloud. From a resource and organizational perspective, they didn't possess the necessary skill set to implement a comprehensive governance framework. This client operates within the insurance industry, regulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in India, which has revised some pipelines for the current financial year. The IRDA also serves as a regulatory authority for Indian banks. As a result, the client needed to strengthen their controls, particularly those with higher significance.
Their objective was to implement a few security controls to successfully pass an upcoming audit. We recommended that they integrate Prisma into their infrastructure. This would allow them to generate reports promptly whenever required and help fine-tune existing policies or guide the infrastructure development team in implementing new ones. Prisma would scan the entire infrastructure and provide the best recommendations. It was a challenging use case in terms of implementation, as only a few clients were familiar with Prisma's capabilities. Prisma is a cloud service that enables the hosting of applications and infrastructure.

We wanted to address vulnerabilities that we identified from a logging and monitoring perspective, which is why we implemented Prisma Cloud.

How has it helped my organization?

If we discuss a multi-cloud environment or a multi-fleet architecture or implement it as a fleet architecture, Prisma Cloud offers comprehensive functionality. It enables us to obtain complete reports or scanning reports from the tool on an enterprise scale. However, this process takes time. Although it is completed within seconds, if we have a larger infrastructure with multiple running instances, the tool will require more time. Nevertheless, the resulting report will be accurate and provide a comprehensive perspective.

In terms of a multi-cloud environment, our observations indicate that if we implement and configure Prisma Cloud with Azure and AWS, the tool performs well. On the other hand, when performing checks on AWS and GCP, the tool exhibits better performance on AWS. It does not meet the same standards on the GCP side, but it remains accurate. Azure is compatible with AWS and shows promising results. Additionally, we are currently conducting tests on the Azure environment.

Regarding the entire infrastructure, whether it follows an SAP model, PaaS model, or a previous model based on infrastructure, our testing has yielded positive results, particularly when using the SaaS model. AWS achieves 100 percent accuracy. From larger clients to smaller ones, even within internal GCP corridors where Prisma is connected, they are effectively protected.

Prisma's security automation capabilities are straightforward. We need to ensure that we have a clear understanding of our intended automation actions before proceeding. I was engaged with a company in the oil and gas sector that utilizes AWS infrastructure. They adopted Prisma Cloud and we implemented some automation. During testing, the alerts were satisfactory. However, in subsequent attempts, vulnerabilities were detected after the automation was executed. I wouldn't describe it as difficult, but rather as tricky.

Prisma Cloud assists us in adopting a proactive approach to cloud security. It provides us with a comprehensive view of areas that require fine-tuning. This perspective encompasses not only governance and threats but also the overall security landscape.

Prisma Cloud helped us reduce manual effort by up to eighty percent. It fine-tuned policies and implemented security controls for the cloud, including threat and vulnerability management. We no longer need to manually review these aspects. However, we still receive recommendations for mitigation. Prisma Cloud suggests actions to take from a governance and security perspective. For example, if we have an open port that is not in use, it advises disabling it. Previously, I or my team would spend around ten to twelve hours a day fine-tuning Azure or AWS services by accessing different dashboards. Now, with Prisma Cloud, we can accomplish all of this through a single console. We simply log on to the Prisma Cloud console and configure the services. Prisma Cloud integrates all the services and provides us with recommendations for remediation. As a result, our effort has been reduced by eighty percent since implementing Prisma. We were able to see all the benefits within a year and a half.

Prisma Cloud provides the 100 percent visibility and control we need regardless of how complex or distributed our cloud environments become. By utilizing Prisma Cloud, we have significantly reduced our manual effort to nearly eighty posts. Having everything consolidated on a single console greatly enhances the efficiency and productivity of our team. Moreover, from both a practical and financial perspective, it is undoubtedly a more advantageous approach.

Prisma Cloud offers risk clarity in real-time throughout our CI/CD pipeline infrastructure.

Prisma Cloud has reduced runtime alerts. I have only seen two alerts.

Prisma Cloud has reduced alert investigation times.

Prisma Cloud has saved our larger clients around $100,000 per month.

What is most valuable?


What needs improvement?

Prisma needs to regularly update itself because there are regulatory compliance requirements that have already been published, yet they have not been integrated into Prisma. This poses a challenge as we have to manually address these issues in our use cases.

We have discovered that Prisma is not functioning properly with GCP. I am unsure if this is due to the security policies being implemented by Google. There are restrictions in place, but from a GCP perspective, the security scanning is quite limited.

The deployment is a tricky task as it requires thorough configuration checks. There was a scenario where we discovered that the deployment had already been completed. However, during integration, we encountered a configuration issue. As a result, the logs from the cloud area were transformed into incidents, resembling an actual security breach. This caused concern among my team, and we were under the impression that an attack had occurred.

Palo Alto offers a different product, and they have introduced Prisma Cloud for a specific purpose, particularly for individuals who are new to the technology. The idea is, for example, to provide a single platform for accessing various Over-the-Top platforms for watching web series or movies. Instead of purchasing multiple OTT platforms, the concept is to offer one comprehensive platform. By paying for a single platform, users can obtain a subscription for services like Netflix or Amazon Prime, without having to spend thousands of dollars individually. Prisma Cloud follows a similar approach, which is perfectly acceptable. Consider the scenario where a client, using Microsoft or Azure environment, desires to use a third-party tool instead of investing in Microsoft Defender. In this case, Prisma Cloud comes into play. However, at some point, they may realize the need for Microsoft Defender as well, which would cost them a significant amount of fifty thousand dollars. To avoid such expenses, the idea of offering a complete package to the client arises. 

This complete package enables the client to use a single tool for scanning, obtaining reports and even automating the fine-tuning process. Consequently, the client can invest fifty thousand dollars to obtain the complete package, rather than searching for and purchasing three separate products, which would cost a significant amount of dollars. The complete package offers the same functionalities at half the price. From a product perspective, it is crucial to integrate certain services that assist clients in deciding to invest in Prisma Cloud. In the Indian market, where we have observed our clients, there is a lack of awareness regarding Prisma Cloud and its functionality. Clients are primarily concerned with whether Prisma Cloud can simply scan their products and provide recommendations. They question whether they can perform these tasks manually or use cloud-native services. This perspective influences the clients' decision-making process.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Prisma Cloud depends on how the infrastructure has been configured specifically for that tool, taking into account the load and architecture of our infrastructure. The tool responds well in small-scale infrastructures, functioning perfectly without any issues. However, in larger environments, I have not encountered any crashing or lagging problems but the time it takes to scan the infrastructure varies depending on its size. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Prisma Cloud is 100 percent scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I contacted technical support during deployment because we encountered some challenges. The support was excellent, and the conversation went well. It was crucial to address the issues promptly because the entire infrastructure was at stake due to its complexities. We were uncertain about the potential impact of deploying a new tool in the infrastructure. Unfortunately, we faced some issues at one point, but they were resolved within the designated timeframe.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

As an organization, we possess certain tools, some of which have been developed in-house. However, it is important to note that no tool can be entirely relied upon, as perfection is unattainable. Some abnormalities have arisen and subsequently been addressed. Our main focus in the previous year was on utilizing cloud-native tools. We are now using Prisma Cloud and also looking at Citrix.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup took some time. It was not straightforward. For a few of the clients we have implemented, it will be straightforward. However, in our organization, it conflicts because we have certain lines of business and restrictions, so it took a bit longer. The deployment took around one month and required 15 people.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In general, Prisma Cloud is much cheaper than cloud-native services.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are having conversations with Citrix to evaluate their solution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks a nine out of ten.

We are the aligned partner for Prisma. We recommend the same tool to our clients, and the entire team is actively involved in training on the Prisma Cloud. In my interactions with various clients and stakeholders, I have noticed that some of them are not familiar with Prisma. However, they prioritize security and want to secure their cloud infrastructure. While some clients may not have the capability to use cloud-native tools, based on my observations, most of them are gradually transitioning to the cloud infrastructure and showing interest in the Prisma Cloud.

From a cloud security standpoint, and specifically as an organization, we are not bound by any specific domain. Our focus lies in securing the infrastructure from the client's perspective. For instance, consider a client who is new to the cloud and has migrated their infrastructure. If we do not have any governance measures in place for this scenario, our recommendation would be to opt for the comprehensive package offered by Prisma Cloud. This ensures that in the future or upcoming days, the client won't need to explore numerous other modules. However, it is worth noting that some clients may prefer to use separate modules. In general, we tailor our governance, security, and threat detection solutions to meet the specific requirements of each client. Internally, we provide a complete package.

In the current scenario, where my team is performing the migration for Prisma Cloud or the deployment area, we haven't yet tested the tool. We are planning to proceed with that testing. However, based on our discussions with the Prisma partner, they will integrate some functionalities because, in the DevOps environment, we haven't achieved the expected results. I wouldn't claim it's a hundred percent comprehensive, but based on our discussions and experiences so far, it's still a work in progress. We have conducted two tests, but the results haven't met our expectations.

From a DevOps standpoint, the CI/CD pipeline is still undergoing testing. I'm unsure about the time it will take, but initially, we are testing what we have learned from a CI/CD standpoint and a DevOps standpoint. We are currently investigating the best course of action and how we can integrate effectively. In some of our engagements, clients are requesting the integration of Prisma Cloud to optimize their DevOps area when deploying. However, currently, from a KPM perspective, this task is still manual. From a development standpoint, it will require time. It won't be accomplished in a single day or month, but rather, it will take time. This is because the configuration is still in progress. Moreover, from a security perspective, there are certain areas where we are uncertain. For instance, when considering GCP, it presents a gray area where we have been unable to identify any solutions from Prisma's standpoint. However, we need to determine how to effectively integrate the GCP infrastructure within the field.

Prisma Cloud can scan and monitor, depending on how it is configured. It can also trigger alerts, but it cannot stop an attack.

Prisma Cloud is maintained by Palo Alto.

Prisma Cloud will undoubtedly assist organizations in comprehending their infrastructure and identifying areas of uncertainty. The solution will streamline and minimize manual efforts. Users can obtain the comprehensive report with a single click, eliminating the need to access various services to retrieve logs. I highly recommend Prisma Cloud as it is cost-effective, and user-friendly, although its configuration can be a bit challenging.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
Top 20
Provides the visibility and control we need, regardless of how complex or distributed our cloud environment becomes
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is seamless."
  • "There needs to be a mechanism that allows me to manually configure compliance more easily."

What is our primary use case?

We use Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks for our cloud security posture management.

How has it helped my organization?

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks has multiple aspects that help protect the full cloud-native stack. We are not concerned with just one cloud at the enterprise level; we are focused on the multiple cloud environments we have. The solution provides us with a comprehensive dashboard and a comprehensive view of our cloud security posture. Furthermore, the solution not only covers the security posture but also informs us of our compliance with leading industry standards.

The solution does have security automation capabilities, but we do not use much of it in this case. We use automation for the alerts; if there are any misconfigurations, the alerts are automated. However, we do not mitigate any specific items using automation, as that is something we have not configured. We prefer to first look at the problem manually, and then take action against it.

There is no single comprehensive cloud security solution. We will need to use multiple tools, such as those offered by Palo Alto Networks and Check Point. Every security firm has a range of products, so if we consider all of them, we can have anti-virus, anti-malware, vulnerability assessment solutions, EDP software, and cloud security posture management. We need to evaluate each tool, and Prisma and Check Point both offer good solutions, including next-generation firewalls.

The solution provides the visibility and control we need, regardless of how complex or distributed our cloud environment becomes.

The solution can enable us to incorporate security into our CI/CD pipeline and add checkpoints to existing DevOps processes. From an automation standpoint, we enabled certain monitoring features. However, the remediation steps are still manual. This can be integrated into our DevOps pipeline, though some of the features are not being used as we prefer to keep it manual.

The solution provides us with a single tool to protect all of our cloud resources and applications, without having to manage and reconcile disparate security and compliance reports.

The solution reduced runtime alerts. We don't need to receive all the runtime alerts every time, as they will overwhelm us with messages. People often neglect this. Depending on the situation, generally, only very important alerts should be sent. I prefer that the solution be configured for when there is a major business impact. For minor alerts and notifications, we can still check the dashboard. Generally, we monitor the dashboards at certain times. We don't need to be alerted for everything, as this will defeat the purpose of this mechanism.

The solution significantly improved the time taken to investigate alerts by 40 percent with the alert monitoring and all its mechanisms, we receive our critical alerts quickly via email. We can even configure the remediation, although we have not done so yet. 

What is most valuable?

I appreciate the multi-cloud support that this solution provides; I can use it with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. I find the ability to configure alerts and monitor misconfigurations in the cloud to be particularly useful, and we take advantage of this feature as well.

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is an impressive solution. The solution continuously assesses our security posture, making it the ideal preventive measure. If any misconfigurations occur, I am immediately notified of any unnecessary ports that are open in my cloud. This alerting system allows me to take the necessary steps to secure it before any attack can occur, making it the best preventive measure for our cloud.

What needs improvement?

I now extensively use cloud security posture management. There needs to be a mechanism that allows me to manually configure compliance more easily. Currently, it requires programming knowledge, so if someone without hardware programming knowledge could customize certain features to their requirements, it would be very helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for five months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable because it is a SaaS offering.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Nowadays, all cloud solutions are scalable; scalability should be a given feature and does not need to be asked for.

A maximum of ten people have administrative-level access, which will be used by 50 to 60 Security Operations Center personnel. This personnel must log in with various role-based access rights. In total, we have around 70 people using the solution.

How are customer service and support?

In my previous project, we had a dedicated team associated with the account, so we did not have to pay for support. This was beneficial because, most of the time, we would go to our account team instead of the technical support, and our issues would be resolved quickly.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is seamless. We only need to integrate our API key and connect it.

The deployment took one hour.

What was our ROI?

I can see one return on investment due to continuous monitoring. Before, we had a few staff members who monitored our environment, but now the alerting and other processes happen automatically, so there is a good ROI in terms of resources. Additionally, the security posture of the environment is increased and fewer incidents occur, which improves our response time and resource efficiency. There are also indirect ROIs.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is competitive; for the most part, the security firms have similar prices. Therefore, I believe it is competitive and a good investment. The solution is good quality, so I would not hesitate to invest in Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

I absolutely recommend Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks at an enterprise level because the solution is an enterprise-grade product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Pinki Jaiswal - PeerSpot reviewer
IT engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 10
Has seamless integration into CI/CD pipelines, and effective risk management, providing a unified and user-friendly solution for securing diverse cloud environments
Pros and Cons
  • "It provides insights into potential vulnerabilities in our code, helping us identify and rectify issues before they can be exploited."
  • "While the code security feature has undergone recent enhancements, there is room for improvement in terms of its cost module."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to manage multiple AWS accounts within our platform. Our primary focus is on ensuring compliance across all accounts, aligning with specific standards such as GDPR. We conduct regular certifications of AWS accounts to assess the compliance of services and promptly address any non-compliance issues. In cases where services are found to be non-compliant, we notify the responsible teams and work collaboratively to remediate the identified alerts. In addition to code security, we also use Prisma Cloud to protect our workloads, including serverless functions and containers. This comprehensive approach ensures a robust security posture for our cloud infrastructure and applications.

It serves as a comprehensive solution for both proactive vulnerability management and reactive runtime threat detection.

We manage this tool through a designated management account, handling all configurations within a limited account. At times, we find it necessary to customize scripts, such as when we encounter challenges with integrating Splunk. In this instance, the events are not being formatted as desired. To address this, we aim to create a script and Lambda functions to ensure the events are in the preferred format. It enhances our ability to respond effectively, allowing us to prioritize and focus on resolving any real or potential issues impacting system performance.

How has it helped my organization?

It offers security scanning capabilities for multi and hybrid-cloud environments. Currently, we support two clients, each with multiple sub-clients. Within these clients, we manage two DNS instances—one in the US region and the other in the UK region.

The comprehensiveness of the security features in Prisma Cloud is highly commendable. Occasionally, like any product, we encounter issues, and during such instances, we receive prompt and quality support from AWS. The collaborative nature of addressing and resolving issues enhances the overall convenience and effectiveness of using Prisma Cloud for our cloud production environment.

To proactively address cloud security, this tool has been instrumental. We've designed it as an offering for our sales department, enhancing our ability to cater to customer needs. Currently, our focus is primarily on container security, encompassing AWS, GCP, and Azure. This tool effectively identifies and manages vulnerabilities and compliance issues related to containers.

It offers the visibility and control we require, adapting seamlessly to the complexity and distribution of our cloud environment. With the Access Controller system, we can define multiple roles, granting specific access to workload environments, vulnerabilities, and compliance information. Leveraging these features, we efficiently manage access across our teams. This includes utilizing group connections to organize and simplify access, reducing the complexity associated with console and account access in our cloud environment.

It provided a strong confidence in the overall security and compliance posture of our workload.

It has empowered us to seamlessly integrate security into our CI/CD pipeline and align it with existing DevOps processes. Within our Jenkins pipeline, we leverage Checkmarx integration to conduct scans on our code repositories and jobs running through the pipeline. The introduction of numerous features with Prisma Cloud has significantly enhanced our security measures. While we haven't fully explored these features in the US region, as they are still in progress, we look forward to utilizing them once they go live in our pipeline.

It provides clear insights into runtime risks throughout the entire pipeline, presenting issues as they are uncovered during the build phase. This dual functionality includes both fixing and addressing runtime concerns. Within our categorized runtime alerts, we receive numerous notifications, acknowledging that some may be false positives. However, this abundance of alerts serves as a proactive measure to identify and investigate any suspicious activities occurring at runtime. We analyze each alert to determine its relevance and, if necessary, proceed with incident response actions. It ensures that legitimate issues are addressed promptly, while also minimizing the risk of overlooking potential threats.

To minimize runtime alerts, we have the flexibility to create custom rules, allowing us to bypass specific alerts that we are confident are expected and should not appear in our console. This customization is crucial for maintaining a streamlined team environment and ensuring our business operations are not unnecessarily disrupted.

It has significantly reduced the time spent on alert investigations, thanks to its built-in investigate feature. It allows us to efficiently query only the relevant alerts, enabling us to filter based on our release criteria. This streamlined approach has resulted in a notable reduction of about twenty to thirty percent in investigation times.

What is most valuable?

I find the code security feature in Prisma Cloud particularly valuable. It provides insights into potential vulnerabilities in our code, helping us identify and rectify issues before they can be exploited. Additionally, the emphasis on container security is notable, making it a key focal point within Prisma Cloud.

The security automation capabilities of the solution are quite effective. With numerous automated features, such as investigation acquisition, we can utilize queries to analyze our environment and review past activities. The overall automated functionality is impressive—we no longer need to create templates from scratch, as they are already available. It streamlines our processes, making it a notable and beneficial aspect of the product, particularly when a substantial portion of tasks are automated.

The solution's comprehensiveness in securing cloud-native development throughout the entire lifecycle—from build and deploy to run—is noteworthy. Specifically, we leverage the core security features, integrating them with Checkbox, a tool mandated by Prisma Cloud. The integration facilitates Software Composition Analysis scans and checks for license violations.

The standout feature of this tool is its ability to consolidate all the features we typically access from various sources, including AWS. While AWS and other services may require the use of multiple tools, Prisma Cloud excels by offering a comprehensive solution within a single dashboard. This unified approach addresses all our requirements, making it the most advantageous aspect of this tool.

What needs improvement?

While the code security feature has undergone recent enhancements, there is room for improvement in terms of its cost module. Presently, the pricing structure poses a challenge in convincing our customers to adopt this tool, especially since code security is a critical area of interest for many.

At times, we find certain features missing. In these instances, we engage with our support team, requesting them to submit feature requests on our behalf. Our clients have expressed a need for scanning application vulnerabilities on Windows servers, a feature currently available only for Linux.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with it for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It provides excellent stability capabilities. I would rate it nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is a strong aspect; we have never experienced issues with it. It consistently remains highly available. Our clients are large enterprises.

How are customer service and support?

Support is not just good; it's excellent. I find their assistance highly commendable, and I would rate it nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously relied on RapidFile and another tool for vulnerability detection, including analyzing subscription behavior. However, since adopting Prisma Cloud, with its advanced intelligence and machine learning capabilities, we've experienced a significant improvement. It not only efficiently detects vulnerabilities but also provides deep insights into our environment. This proactive understanding of our environment, including its nature, vulnerabilities, and potential threats, has proven to be a valuable aspect of using Prisma Cloud.

We previously used Qualys, a tool known for its diverse features. While Qualys encompassed various functionalities, including container security, I noticed a discrepancy in the vulnerabilities detected by Prisma compared to Qualys. Although Prisma exhibited robust features, there were instances where certain vulnerabilities highlighted by Qualys were not identified by Prisma.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was a straightforward process. The team was efficient, accommodating our requests and providing a trial without any cost. The entire process, from requesting the trial to obtaining our tenant, was completed smoothly within a month.

What about the implementation team?

We have a team of around six people in charge of the deployment process. Maintenance is essential. Occasionally, we observe issues with the UI, usually scheduled during weekends. Notifications are provided about the main areas affected, and the tool is temporarily unavailable during this period. Following the maintenance, the tool resumes normal operation.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I find the pricing to be expensive. I would rate it eight out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I highly recommend this solution, and I suggest anyone interested in it to explore a trial first. Once they see the benefits, they can proceed with full implementation. It enables you to consolidate everything under one control, making it a definite recommendation from my side. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Kevin Sorenson - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud DevOps Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 10
We could go into the dashboard and see all these notifications telling us which subscriptions didn't have TLS 1.2 enabled
Pros and Cons
  • "We were pleased with Prisma's custom and built-in reports. We could go into the dashboard and see all these notifications telling us which subscriptions didn't have TLS 1.2 enabled. The security controls were the most valuable features."
  • "The access controls for our bank roles were not granular enough. We needed specific people to do particular actions, and we often had to give some people way too much access for them to be able to do what they needed in Prisma. They couldn't do their jobs if they didn't have that level of access, so other people had to do that part for them. It would help to have more granular role-based access controls."

What is our primary use case?

We had Azure, AWS, and a little bit of GCP, so we gave Prisma read access to all those accounts, subscriptions, etc., and monitored the alerts to mitigate risks based on what popped up in the dashboard.

While it's not our only tool, Prisma is managing about 80 percent. We still occasionally go into cloud-native tools to ensure certain compliance standards are being met. Sometimes, urgent issues need to be fixed that haven't been reported in Prisma because the native tools will catch them first. As a third-party solution, Prisma might take a little longer to build a report directory.

We had around 30 to 40 users who were a mix of cloud and DevOps engineers. There were also members of the security team who made decisions about what kind of security policies we had to follow. We used it extensively within the public cloud across all our Azure, AWS, and GCP subscriptions and projects. There was interest in using it on-premises with our vSphere environment as well. I don't know if that ever happened.

How has it helped my organization?

Prisma enabled us to get up-to-speed on enforcing TLS 1.2. It helped us look at different types of resources, like storage accounts and app services. I'm thinking particularly of Azure because that was my focus. I found all the resources from the Prisma list and remedied those issues so that they were displayed as resolved in Prisma.

It gave us visibility into and control over complex cloud environments, which helped us feel better about our security and secure the environment with the clinical data. Our security team was pleased when we showed them clean Prisma reports. It boosted their confidence and their comfort level that we were being compliant.

Prisma made it much easier to ensure that all of the security pieces are handled. It simplified our security issue resolution. It cut down our investigation time by giving us one place to look. It cleaned up our operations considerably because finding what resources needed to be resolved, mitigated, or updated was easier. It probably saved us several hours every week. It also saved us some money, but I couldn't quantify the savings because other environments also used it.

It helped us develop a preventative approach to security. Nine out of ten times, we could find issues that needed to be fixed ahead of time. We had a monthly meeting where we would review the high-severity alerts on the dashboard and assign people to remedy them. Once we got through the high severity alerts, we looked at mediums and low severity alerts. Prisma enabled us to identify resources we needed to fix, which was quite handy.

What is most valuable?

We were pleased with Prisma's custom and built-in reports. We could go into the dashboard and see all these notifications telling us which subscriptions didn't have TLS 1.2 enabled. The security controls were the most valuable features. 

Prisma's multi-cloud capabilities were essential. We wouldn't have used it without them. We would have just used the native cloud vendors' security solutions. Its protection of our full cloud-native stack is pretty comprehensive. I would rate it at least an eight out of ten. It stacks up well compared to the security alerts and notifications we got from solutions like Defender.

What needs improvement?

It sometimes took Prisma a little while to build queries, so new services or features wouldn't appear. It wouldn't get flagged in Prisma for a bit. It would be helpful if they sped up how quickly they got their default notifications, queries, and alerts.

The access controls for our bank roles were not granular enough. We needed specific people to do particular actions, and we often had to give some people way too much access for them to be able to do what they needed in Prisma. They couldn't do their jobs if they didn't have that level of access, so other people had to do that part for them. It would help to have more granular role-based access controls.

For how long have I used the solution?

We used the solution for about three years at my previous company. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Prisma seemed highly stable, but I wasn't managing the solution. I was more of a user.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Prisma seemed to scale pretty well. It covered several large environments and didn't seem to struggle when loading information for us. I think it did well.

How are customer service and support?

I rate Palo Alto support a six out of ten. The support was adequate, but I can't say it was great. If we had an issue with a feature or a query, it could take them a little while to get back, especially if it was a feature improvement or a new alert. They were very slow to add new warnings and features.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The company never had a public cloud solution before Prisma, but they had something for on-prem. I don't know what it was. They also used cloud-native solutions like Defender for Cloud and the native tool for AWS.

We switched to Prisma because we wanted a single pane of glass that would allow the security team to see security issues across all of the public cloud vendors that we used, so they wouldn't have to jump to each individual cloud vendor's tool.

How was the initial setup?

I was involved in the POC several years ago. It was like a lab test. After we tested that for several months, we rolled out the official one. At that point, I was just helping them test as they tried out the product. I didn't actually install the software.

The setup seemed pretty straightforward. There were clear instructions on how we just needed to create service principles with specific permissions and then grant Prisma the credentials for the service. I think they only had about five people maintaining the Prisma environment, and each was responsible for bits and pieces of it.

What was our ROI?

I believe the company saw a return using Prisma.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I know that the guys who handled the pricing said Prisma was costly, but I don't know how that compares to other products.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I know the team evaluated other options, but I wasn't involved.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Prisma Cloud an eight out of ten. Having one place to go for all of your security alerts and notifications makes it easier to solve issues than going to each vendor's security tool.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Gideon Crous - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Manager at Cyberlinx
Real User
Top 20
Provides comprehensive security, enhances compliance, and integrates seamlessly
Pros and Cons
  • "The two most valuable features are container security and the capability to discover workloads."
  • "The regional cost of Prisma Cloud in South Africa is high and could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We utilize the entire Prisma Cloud suite for container security, API security, and CASB. Our primary focus is on the financial services industry, including banking and insurance.

We implemented Prisma Cloud mostly for compliance to protect against vulnerabilities and weaknesses.

How has it helped my organization?

Prisma Cloud's compliance is extremely important to our customers.

Prisma Cloud offers comprehensive security across multi-cloud environments. This is crucial due to the increasing trend of cloud adoption and digital migration. However, some clients still maintain a hybrid footprint across various platforms like Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. To address this, Prisma Cloud's technology extends to secure hybrid environments effectively. Its coverage goes beyond traditional one-size-fits-all solutions and encompasses both public and private cloud infrastructures.

It offers approximately 80 percent coverage for securing the entire cloud-native stack. While they boast a robust "shift left" component through their API, other products in this space are equally competitive. However, if seeking a single solution that addresses the majority of our needs, Prisma Cloud presents a strong option, especially considering the diverse technologies within our cloud footprint. Additionally, if we choose to standardize Palo Alto across our entire infrastructure, Prisma Cloud integrates seamlessly with other modules within their ecosystem. While not claiming to be the best-of-breed solution in every aspect, Prisma Cloud consistently ranks highly in Gartner reports for most of its functionalities, providing a solid foundation for technology consolidation.

It is a leading full automation product. Their SOAR technologies offer a vast array of integrations, all well-designed and ready to use out of the box. This suggests their overall automation capabilities are indeed top-notch.

Prisma Cloud excels in its field. I believe their solution covers detection and prevention in a world-leading manner. They largely deliver on their promises, demonstrating reliable performance. Additionally, they offer excellent support resources, including comprehensive online documentation, training programs, and a robust learning management system. Their onboarding and development programs are also commendable, providing users with the resources and support they need to succeed.

Our customers' organizations are enhanced because Prisma Cloud improves their compliance posture, particularly for those with SOC teams. It provides valuable insights and seamless integration, offering peace of mind that all security bases are covered.

Although the benefits of Prisma Cloud can be observed within three to six months after deployment, this timeframe may be extended for mature clients who prioritize rapid deployment. It is during the post-deployment phase, which typically lasts three to six months, that the full range of benefits becomes apparent.

Prisma Cloud does a good enough job of consolidating technology for our customers.

It integrates seamlessly with other Palo Alto products and provides one tool to protect all cloud resources.

Prisma Cloud helps provide clarity across our entire pipeline.

Prisma Cloud helps reduce runtime alerts by 50 percent and reduces investigation time for our customers by 40 to 50 percent. There is much less lifting for the operations team.  

What is most valuable?

The two most valuable features are container security and the capability to discover workloads. Many organizations struggle to track workloads that spin up and down frequently. This solution enables real-time evaluation and scanning of workloads as they come online and shut down.

What needs improvement?

The regional cost of Prisma Cloud in South Africa is high and could be improved. Since it is marketed based on a dollar base, it is primarily an enterprise product and may not be affordable for smaller organizations.

As a software development company looking to secure our cloud-hosted APIs before publishing them, we believe that Palo Alto might overstate its capabilities. We have identified competitive products in the market that offer better protection throughout the software development lifecycle. From a developer's perspective, especially for organizations like banks developing their applications, ensuring API security before deploying them to the cloud is crucial. While Palo Alto claims to excel in this area, we believe that other specialized products may offer a more comprehensive solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Prisma Cloud has excellent stability. From a product perspective, they strive to stay ahead of the curve regarding vulnerabilities and other issues. I receive regular email updates, approximately four times a week, informing me of any discovered vulnerabilities. Additionally, they provide articles on new releases or micro releases for patching these vulnerabilities.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability of Prisma Cloud nine out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support team has a well-developed portal with consistently updated online documentation. The forum articles are also well-maintained and provide a massive footprint of information. Additionally, the testing forum exhibits a high level of activity, further demonstrating the abundance of available resources.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

While the product itself is not complex, its implementation can be challenging due to factors such as the customer's existing environment, security posture, and understanding of their network and ecosystem. This lack of awareness can lead to unforeseen complexities during the scoping and planning stages. However, a more mature client who is well-versed in their environment will typically experience a smoother deployment.

The deployment time varies depending on the organization's size, but it typically takes one to three months from planning to launch. While further optimization is still required after launch, the initial setup is relatively quick.

We have a well-defined philosophy that is not complex. The first phase is the planning and design stage, where we uncover all the requirements and details of the project landscape. From there, we develop a comprehensive scope of work that includes the project architecture, deployment strategy, roles and responsibilities, and a risk assessment. The client then enters the site preparation phase, where they address any necessary repairs to their infrastructure. We then conduct a site readiness assessment to ensure that everything is prepared for deployment. The fourth step is the deployment phase, which we implement in phases depending on the specific project. We typically deploy, conduct a testing cycle, and obtain sign-off. In some cases, depending on the environment, a pilot phase may be necessary. After a successful pilot, the project goes to full deployment, followed by final testing and documentation. We also offer online training to the client during the deployment phase. Additionally, we provide ongoing knowledge transfer throughout the project and beyond. Finally, we close out the project with comprehensive documentation.

Our typical deployment team includes a subject matter expert or architect, a senior engineer, and a project manager. The subject matter expert or architect may be a cloud engineer or a network engineer, depending on the specific project requirements.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We are encountering some resistance in the African market regarding the cost of Prisma Cloud. The lack of a regional pricing model contributes to this concern, and we believe the current cost is slightly too high for the market.

It depends on our reseller or preferred solution provider. The deployment and support costs are also factors to consider. Additionally, they offer professional services for the SKUs we purchase, which includes assistance with planning, design, technology onboarding, and scoping. So, the cost goes beyond just the license fee. Typically, the additional cost for professional services to help with implementation ranges from 15 to 20 percent of the license cost.

What other advice do I have?

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks earns a solid eight out of ten from me. The licensing models are well-designed and the technology scales effectively. While the pricing makes it an enterprise-level solution, its capabilities are technically suitable for organizations of all sizes. However, the high cost may not be financially justifiable for small businesses. Despite this, the product's technical capabilities allow it to seamlessly scale down to cater to small footprints while remaining robust enough for large enterprises.

We find that some of our customers may stick some technologies together to build their confidence as a compromise.

Our customer environments vary from 500 users and a couple of hundred workloads to 32,000 users and 2,000 workloads across multiple clouds. We typically run Prisma Cloud at an enterprise scale because of the affordability.

There are two types of support: operational and product. Product support is dependent on the supplies provided by our license. However, we also offer solution support, which sometimes involves interpreting reports and explaining what customers see. The amount of maintenance required depends on the customer's maturity, but it generally only takes a couple of hours per week. Two cybersecurity engineers are required for maintenance.

In our region, we have seen some management changes, and we find that the pricing remains extremely high and aggressive. Specifically in South Africa, Check Point has lost significant market share to Palo Alto. However, this rapid growth phase is now decelerating. The market in South Africa is limited in size, encompassing only a finite number of banks, insurance companies, and large enterprises. Many of these players have already switched to Palo Alto, leaving fewer attractive targets for Check Point. This decreased market potential will likely force Palo Alto to re-evaluate its pricing models. From a business perspective, there is often a pressure to continually outperform the previous year. This, combined with the high operating costs associated with their teams, has arguably led to a level of greed within the company, driving the pursuit of ever-increasing profits. However, the limited market size in South Africa poses a challenge to this approach. While Palo Alto enjoyed easy market penetration and rapid growth over the past four to five years, the landscape is now changing. Their previous strategies are becoming less effective, forcing them to adapt and evolve their approach to gain a foothold.

I recommend confidently reviewing Prisma Cloud, understanding your environment, and ensuring it is properly configured. Additionally, budget allocation should be confirmed.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
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Aditya Thakur - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Security Engineer at eSec Forte® Technologies
Real User
Top 20
Helps reduce run-time alerts, and investigation time, and provides deep visibility
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Prisma Cloud are its cloud security posture management and cloud workload protection capabilities."
  • "We are encountering issues with the new permissions required for AWS integration with Prisma."

What is our primary use case?

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is a comprehensive cloud security platform that encompasses vulnerability management, container management, Kubernetes management, and serverless management. It utilizes modules, such as Cloud Workload Protection, to provide comprehensive cloud security. Before deploying any applications, Prisma Cloud performs cloud scans to identify and address vulnerabilities, minimizing potential threats. The solution provides visibility into our cloud environment, enabling us to effectively manage and monitor our infrastructure. This capability is particularly valuable in the financial industry, where hybrid multi-cloud environments are prevalent.

We use all the modules Prisma Cloud offers.

How has it helped my organization?

Prisma Cloud offers security scanning for multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments. This is crucial because managing multiple cloud accounts, such as AWS, GCP, and Azure, typically necessitates accessing each account individually to view the inventories of assets and services. Prisma Cloud eliminates this inconvenience by consolidating all of this information into a single unified interface, providing a comprehensive overview.

The comprehensiveness enhances threat protection by providing integrated and out-of-the-box policies, along with all the necessary components, to effectively secure cloud environments and achieve comprehensive visibility through Prisma's capabilities.

The security automation capabilities of Prisma Cloud are effective. We can automatically remediate some of the alerts using predefined policies. We utilize Defender to detect vulnerabilities in our containers, AKS, and GKE environments.

Prisma Cloud has benefited our organization in so many ways that we can't count them all on our fingers. The Cloud Security Posture Management module of Prisma provides a wide range of capabilities, including visibility, governance, compliance, auto-remediation, integration with hybrid cloud environments, vulnerability reporting, and blocking capabilities. It also offers compliance reports, integration with third-party tools for vulnerability and alert notifications, and Cloud Workload Protection capabilities for blocking, alerting, and specifying affected containers or servers. Additionally, it provides visibility into code security by monitoring the Infrastructure as a Code environment for unauthorized users.

It enables a proactive approach to cloud security, allowing us to prevent vulnerabilities, threats, and complications arising in cloud or hybrid cloud environments. We can easily investigate and obtain comprehensive reports.

We spent the first five months after implementing Prisma Cloud familiarizing ourselves with the solution and completing the training sessions provided by Palo Alto. During this time, we began to see the benefits that Prisma Cloud offered our organization.

Prisma Cloud works with the CIB. Therefore, when we build and deploy something, we can incorporate a Prisma scan, which assists us in scanning the images and gaining insights into the state of our environment. It provides us with comprehensive visibility and raises alerts or triggers notifications to inform us of any missing elements or potential issues. This is how Prisma can contribute to the build and deploy phases.

It provides deep visibility and control regardless of how complex our cloud environment becomes.

Prisma Cloud enables us to integrate security into our CI/CD pipeline and it provides us with a single tool to protect all of our cloud resources.

Prisma Cloud provides run-time risk clarity throughout the entire pipeline, revealing issues as they arise. This enables us to effectively block vulnerabilities and rectify identified problems.

We have reduced run-time alerts. The run-time protection has helped many of our clients protect their environments.

Prisma Cloud has significantly reduced our investigation time. The clear visibility it provides into our environment and the process flow has streamlined our investigations. Additionally, using Prisma to investigate issues rather than directly accessing our cloud accounts saves valuable time.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Prisma Cloud are its cloud security posture management and cloud workload protection capabilities. Integrating Prisma Cloud with our cloud service providers provides a comprehensive view of our multiple cloud environments through a single dashboard. This enhanced visibility improves vulnerability management and compliance. With CWP, we can gain complete visibility into all workloads within our environment.

What needs improvement?

We are encountering issues with the new permissions required for AWS integration with Prisma. Specifically, we need a mechanism to automatically identify and integrate the missing configuration permissions that are introduced on a biweekly or monthly basis. We have requested the Palo Alto team to develop this automation, and we are eagerly awaiting its implementation. We appreciate the efforts of the engineering team for their contributions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Prisma Cloud is a stable platform. The only downtime we experience is scheduled, and Palo Alto notifies us in advance of the scheduled outage and its duration.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability of Prisma Cloud a nine out of ten. I have received positive feedback from our clients indicating that Prisma Cloud is an excellent fit for their environment.

How are customer service and support?

We have repeatedly contacted technical support to address issues encountered by both ourselves and our clients. The support is helpful.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used AWS GuardDuty for vulnerability management and compliance visibility, but it was not user-friendly due to the requirement to log into separate accounts to access reports.

How was the initial setup?

When I first started using Prisma, I found it to be very easy to learn. Several of our engineers were already familiar with Prisma Cloud and were able to help me understand how it worked, including the UI, navigation, and integration with other tools. They also showed me how to make API calls and integrate Prisma with third-party tools. Additionally, the Prisma team was incredibly helpful whenever I contacted them for assistance. They were always willing to answer my questions and help me troubleshoot any issues I was having.

What about the implementation team?

I completed the implementation myself after completing the training sessions with the Palo Alto team and attending a lab session for the Prisma Cloud deployment.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't have direct access to financial information, so I'm not fully aware of the overall costs. However, I do work with clients and solution teams to provide relevant solutions. I also collaborate with the research team to explain Prisma's capabilities and its comprehensive range of features. When I see the credits and other similar programs may make Prisma's licensing costs appear lower than those of competing tools, it's important to consider the overall cost when evaluating cloud security solutions. For example, when implementing cloud security measures for CSPs or CWPs, other tools may be required, potentially leading to higher overall costs than Prisma Cloud's comprehensive solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks nine out of ten.

Prisma Cloud necessitates maintenance for both weekly and monthly updates.

My advice to new users and researchers is to delve into Prisma Cloud's capabilities and potential. Understanding the full scope of what it can do is crucial for new users. It's not just about visibility or the GUI; it's about the underlying work that engineers do, such as runtime protection, virus detection, and code security. New users should have a clear understanding of these capabilities. They should participate in sessions, practices, and labs to gain hands-on experience.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.