What is our primary use case?
I am a system integrator. We integrate SG, XG, and XGS.
We are also deploying it on Azure on-premises for our clients.
Sophos XG is a firewall. It can protect your internal users if it is on-premises. It can publish applications such as websites, it can also protect your internal networks like IPS, and IDS. It provides you with VPN Access, and it gives you reports on the consumption of the internet.
If you have deployed the endpoint between the antivirus in Sophos, it can also communicate with your endpoint and protect your users if infected.
What is most valuable?
It's a complete firewall solution that has everything.
It is very useful.
It competes with the majority of the market's products, including Palo Alto and Fortinet.
What needs improvement?
We always strive for more features.
We could see the bandwidth use right away with the prior version, which was the SG version. The current bandwidth consumption is no longer shown in the XG and XGS.
They are nearly a complete solution. However, they are missing this feature with the ability to view the current bandwidth usage. We have requested this, but have not had a reply yet. It was in SG before but it was removed in XG.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with Sophos XG for six years.
We started with SG, then XG, and now XGS nine years ago.
It can be deployed both on the cloud and on-premises.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XG is very stable. We haven't had a single issue with stability in the nine years we have been using Sophos.
All electric appliances rely on a stable electric current, which requires the use of a UPS, and a backup power supply. The main issue is the stability of the power.
All Sophos appliances are SSD-based, which means the hard drive in the appliance is solid-state.
we have deployed more than 50, 60 for our customers in Kuwait and we haven't had an issue or, any RMA.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
When purchasing a firewall, as a customer, you must first plan, consult with your partner(s), and decide on the sizing. If you buy an XGS 230, for example, it can support up to 200 users and 50 VPNs. If you buy the wrong product, you won't be able to scale it up.
You should always size upfront. If you have a hundred users, you buy an appliance that can support 150. The license is the license.
It's all about the hardware. If you purchase small hardware and you know that after one year you're going to have more employees then it is wrong.
It's not a server, where you can just add more drives, It only has expansion units for the network. If you need to add fiber, for example, you can. There are expansion units, but you can't expand the architecture of the firewall.
We have more than 50 customers.
How are customer service and support?
We haven't required any technical support. I have however heard from my peers that they have not had any issues with the customer support.
They have offices in India, Dubai, and even in the United Kingdom. As we are certified Gold partners in Kuwait, we haven't had any issues with the Sophos team. They are quite responsive when you have a tender to submit. I have no complaints at all.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
in the past, we also integrated Palo Alto.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy and straightforward. As certified partners, this is something that we do every week. If the customers provide you with the network details, you can have it up and running in 30 minutes with no issues.
It's a problem if you don't know your firewall, or how to deploy it, or know how to put the proper rule in place. It is very important that in any firewall if the customer doesn't know what rule should be in place, it is possible they will create the wrong rule and expose the network.
You have to have a certified person to maintain the solution. How many you will need depends on the number of customers. If you have a lot of customers, you will need two technical people. It also depends on the size of your business. One is fine but as you grow with more customers, you will need at least two to deploy and maintain the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't have any issues with the price. The price varies depending on the market. The price of Sophos in Europe differs from that in our region, GCG, and from that in the United States. You will notice that each region has a different pricing structure.
Customers will always try to minimize the cost. When compared to other products, Sophos licensing is very affordable.
What other advice do I have?
They have already released the XGS. If you are referring to the previous version, XG. It is still in production and available for purchase. They have already released the XGS, which is the next generation of the XG. It has a more advanced architecture. Now that we have passed XG, there's XGS on the market.
Remember to size your customers. You'll need to know how many web applications you will be publishing, how many end customers the company has, and how many of them will need to connect to the VPN. It's a formula that, based on the data, that will determine which appliance you require. You can start with a little one, but it's best to understand the requirements first.
We are very happy with Sophos products.
I would rate Sophos XG a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator