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Paul Woods - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at SDWAN Clan
Real User
Provides good security, but flexibility and scalability needs to be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "The security offered by the solution is pretty good."
  • "Prisma SD-WAN should provide more flexibility and scalability on the hardware."

What is most valuable?

The security offered by the solution is pretty good.

What needs improvement?

Prisma SD-WAN should provide more flexibility and scalability on the hardware. The solution's conversions and failover need to be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Prisma SD-WAN for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Prisma SD-WAN is a stable solution.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our clients for Prisma SD-WAN are medium-sized businesses.

I rate the solution a four out of ten for scalability.

How was the initial setup?

On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a five out of ten.

What about the implementation team?

The solution’s deployment took a while.

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

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

The solution's security framework has enhanced our data protection. The solution offers really good security. We faced some challenges while integrating Prisma SD-WAN into our existing infrastructure. The key is to presage the SD-WAN ION boxes prior so you can do a simple cutover. Do as much groundwork as possible, and then you can cutover to the new boxes.

Prisma SD-WAN is aiding our AI-driven initiatives because we can push our policy updates across the board. Earlier, if you needed to provision a new IT service, you'd need several resources to implement via the command line interface to individual boxes. Now, it happens with the push of a button, and it works its magic. We're standardizing the networks first, building automation, and then looking at AI.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Solution Architect at Posteo
Real User
Top 20
Has automation features but provisioning new branches or making changes to the existing ones is difficult
Pros and Cons
  • "I've worked with several SD-WAN solutions over the past few years, and the product felt more like an automated provisioning tool. Unlike solutions from Palo Alto or other SD-WANs orchestrated by a SaaS solution, Juniper Contrail SD-WAN already had the files and built their SaaS to orchestrate the configuration. Initially, you didn't do much, but then it started adding some routing capabilities."
  • "Implementing new branches or changing existing ones in Juniper Contrail SD-WAN wasn't as straightforward as with other solutions like Meraki SD-WAN, which is almost plug-and-play with its zero-touch provisioning. In Juniper Contrail SD-WAN, it was more challenging."

What is most valuable?

I've worked with several SD-WAN solutions over the past few years, and the product felt more like an automated provisioning tool. Unlike solutions from Palo Alto or other SD-WANs orchestrated by a SaaS solution, Juniper Contrail SD-WAN already had the files and built their SaaS to orchestrate the configuration. Initially, you didn't do much, but then it started adding some routing capabilities.

The automation features do help with network operations. Manually configuring SD-WAN is complicated, so the automation simplifies that. However, the initial SD-WAN solution had many limitations, particularly regarding its features. At some point, the tool began looking for other solutions and bought the 128T, which led to implementing a different SD-WAN approach. It also acquired another company for its session smart router, and then it began to develop the exact SD-WAN solution on the Mist Cloud.

What needs improvement?

Implementing new branches or changing existing ones in Juniper Contrail SD-WAN wasn't as straightforward as with other solutions like Meraki SD-WAN, which is almost plug-and-play with its zero-touch provisioning. In Juniper Contrail SD-WAN, it was more challenging.

This difficulty stemmed from the orchestrator not handling the entire process. Sometimes, provisioning would depend heavily on devices, leading to issues and getting stuck. If something went wrong, you often had to reset the entire configuration. While I'm not sure if it's more stable now, making changes was quite hard during the time I was working with it. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The Juniper Contrail SD-WAN was highly scalable, especially because it was designed for service providers. From the beginning, they focused on scalability and availability, making it multi-tenant. However, the main issue was with the feature set, which lagged compared to competitors like Fortinet.

There were also challenges with scaling security features. It's unclear if the tool has since developed a faster solution to address this. Additionally, there may have been ongoing processes regarding security features, but the acquisition by HPE might have halted these efforts. With HPE having its own SD-WAN solutions

What was our ROI?

The return on investment with Juniper Contrail SD-WAN wasn't very good, mainly due to provisioning issues. Modern SD-WAN solutions provide users with abstraction, making it easier to implement new links with different service providers or make changes to the network. However, with Juniper Contrail SD-WAN, making such changes required involvement from Juniper engineers and wasn't as straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

The product was Juniper's first foray into the SD-WAN market. Initially, it was developed as a SaaS solution, though an on-premises option was also available, particularly for certain service providers.

I wouldn't recommend this product today due to its lack of features and stability issues, especially considering that it doesn't seem to be evolving towards more advanced solutions. I rate the overall product a five out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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