Sr. IT Manager at a pharma/biotech company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Simple to use, great at blocking spam and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "The setup is pretty simple."
  • "In a later release, it would be nice if the messaging gateway supported the cluster feature."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use it as an email gateway for security. We use it for blocking spam.

How has it helped my organization?

Protect us form spam & virus emails' attack. 

What is most valuable?

The solution overall is quite good.

The solution is a leader in anti-spam email products.

The performance is great. You can block 99% of spam emails. It's very effective.

The solution runs quite well.

The setup is pretty simple.

What needs improvement?

The issue with the solution has more to do with China than the product itself. Since it was purchased by Broadcomm, we've found there's been a general slide in terms of the local services we have access to and we are considering replacing them.

In a later release, it would be nice if the messaging gateway supported the cluster feature. We'd really like clustering as an option.

If you have installed the two messaging gateways, you cannot use the high-availability features of the two products. There needs to be higher availability. Other products provide a cluster feature, however, Symantec for the most part does not offer this.

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Symantec Messaging Gateway
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about ten years now. It's been a decade.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. We don't have issues with glitches and there aren't really any bugs. I've never experienced it crash or fail. It's reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't needed to scale it, so I can't speak to the solution's level of scalability. It's not something we've attempted to do.

We have about 80 people in our organization using the product.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't opened a ticket from the technical support for a long time. We haven't really needed the support from assistance, to be honest. I can't really speak to their level of service at this time.

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

It was ten years ago, and I was at a different organization, however, I do recall that we used Fortigate at that time.

I also currently use Symantec's Mail Security for Exchange. I use that for my emails alongside the Messaging Gateway.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup isn't complex. It's quite straightforward. I find it quite simple, as I have a decade of experience using it under my belt.

Deployment to my virtual machine only took about 30 minutes.

I hand over the maintenance to another team.

What about the implementation team?

I handled the deployment myself. I have a wealth of experience with the product. I don't feed outside help from consultants or integrators.

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

If you would like to enable Symantec's Content Encryption, it's considered an extra feature. You need to buy it separately. I personally just have the anti-spam, antivirus and Premium Content Controller. These features are at no additional cost. New users just need to be aware that certain premium features will need to be purchased.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No.

What other advice do I have?

We're just an end-user and customer. We don't have a special business relationship with the company.

I have the solution running on my virtual machine.

The solution is a really good product as far as email security is concerned.

I'd recommend the solution.

Overall, I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Information Technology/ Cyber Security and Data Privacy Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
MSP
Good fingerprinting and keyword rules, but it needs to better support unstructured data discovery
Pros and Cons
  • "The feature that I like the best is the fingerprinting concept."
  • "It will provide Excel reports and PDF reports, but it would be great if they supported the concept of Crystal Reports."

What is our primary use case?

We are a consulting company and this is one of the solutions that we have implemented for our clients.

One of our clients is in the automobile industry and we implemented the entire suite that consisted of email security, network traffic security, and end-user security including the setting of permissions and restrictions. We were managing then entire security landscape for more than 100,000 users.

What is most valuable?

The feature that I like the best is the fingerprinting concept.

The keyword rules and mapping of the sequence rules are very effective and very good.

What needs improvement?

In the automobile industry, they have a research and development department where they create a lot of designs for new models. In order to maintain the confidentiality of those designs, we tried to use OCR technology. However, it was not very effective with Symantec. If this solution could manage image control restrictions for OCR-captured images then it would be very helpful.

This solution is not very efficient at discovering unstructured data, which is something that needs to be improved. Unstructured data discovery is something that is being focused on in many areas including the automobile industry, finance, banking, and elsewhere. Both Symantec and McAfee failed in this regard. When the data is structured, Symantec was very efficient because we used to get the data from the business stakeholders and the data could be scanned to map the information. Where it is not available, as is the case with unstructured data, this product fails miserably.

This solution provides good information, but the reporting is not very efficient and needs to be improved. It will provide Excel reports and PDF reports, but it would be great if they supported the concept of Crystal Reports. Alternatively, if they had a dashboard or could showcase reports on a monthly basis or a quarterly basis, it would be very good. In short, we would like a more enhanced reporting capability.

This solution should provide functionality for the classification of email. It should be automated, with a bit of manual intervention. Specifically, before a user can send an email, the solution should make sure that the classification has been set, otherwise, it should not leave the intranet. It will force the users to classify the information and only then will the email be authorized to go through the network.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Symantec Email Security.cloud for almost two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This product is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It was easy to scale in both Windows and Linux environments. We did not try Mac devices, but for us, scalability was good.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have reached out to technical support for a couple of issues, such as when we were trying to implement OCR technology. They did give us solutions, but unfortunately, they were not very effective.

With respect to the inbuilt capabilities, the support is pretty good. However, when trying something new, as expected we encountered some initial failures and they were not able to assist us with these.

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

We did not use other messaging security software prior to this solution.

How was the initial setup?

It was easy to set up the entire security suite. There were no constraints, which made it an easy installation for us.

The deployment was completed in two phases. We first had a week-long trial run on a small LAN segment to see how efficiently it would work. Once the trial run was successfully completed, it took two weeks for full implementation across the network.

What about the implementation team?

Initially, we sought support from a consultant because we had the entire Symantec security suite, and we were not well versed enough in DLP technology. We needed someone with a certain level of assurance in order to implement the complete solution, which included email security.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated McAfee and it was also unable to rectify the problem with OCR images.

What other advice do I have?

This is a good solution, but ultimately I would like to see OCR capabilities, mail classification, and unstructured data discovery. If Symantec could incorporate all of this in the DLP solution then I believe it would be the leading product in the DLP market.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Symantec Messaging Gateway
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Symantec Messaging Gateway. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
770,141 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Is easy to install and is stable and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "Symantec Messaging Gateway is stable and scalable. Installation is easy, and the deployment and maintenance can be done by one administrative person."
  • "It is a nice product but is not user friendly in terms of the graphical interface. It is poor and is not rich in terms of the human interface."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for content filtering and malware protection.

What is most valuable?

Symantec Messaging Gateway is stable and scalable.

Installation is easy, and the deployment and maintenance can be done by one administrative person.

What needs improvement?

It is a nice product but is not user friendly in terms of the graphical interface. It is poor and is not rich in terms of the human interface.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using it for a month.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable because we use a physical appliance.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability depends on how much you are willing to pay. You always have to pay if you have to scale the product or increase the number of machines. We have about 1,000 fixed users for Symantec Messaging Gateway.

How was the initial setup?

Installation is easy, but we needed some configurations, so it took a week.

For the deployment and maintenance, we have one administrative person.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it ourselves using remote assistance from our supplier.

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

The cost of Symantec Messaging Gateway is too expensive in general. However, the appliance also includes the price of the license in the same bundle.

What other advice do I have?

I haven't been using it for very long, and in my short experience, it has been a good product. I would rate it at nine on a scale from one to ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Technical Consultant & Programme Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Solid and stable product, great support, highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a solid and stable product."
  • "Sometimes the solution picks up false positive for viruses during scans."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for its advanced virus protection, phishing and other features.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for 1 year now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a solid and stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable product. We have deployed it for organizations with 200-5000 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

The support is really great.

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

I have used Sophos Email other than Symantec Messaging Gateway.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is pretty much straight forward.

What about the implementation team?

We did the deployment of the product ourselves and it was a quick one.

What was our ROI?

Sometimes the solution picks up false positive for viruses during scans. 

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

It's a bit expensive but they have licensing models to meet customer needs. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

It's a bit expensive compared to its competitor Barracuda Email Security Gateway but cheaper than Sophos Email.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this product.

I rate Symantec Messaging Gateway an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
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Updated: April 2024
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Symantec Messaging Gateway Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.