What is our primary use case?
Our company suggests Fortinet FortiAP depending on the client's requirements. My company is involved in generating the heat map for FortiGate. Based on the requirements of our company's customers, we suggest the product's models to them.
What is most valuable?
The valuable feature of the solution that stands out from The Other products in the market is the fact that with Fortinet FortiAP, users can manage everything using a single console, especially if they use Fortinet-related equipment. With a single dashboard, users can manage everything very easily. Even the management of alert correlations is easy with the tool. If you use different vendors, managing the configurations and all the differences will be difficult, as you will have to manage different consoles.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiAP is a scalable solution. Nowadays, all vendors provide scalability. If you are upgrading any Wi-Fi switch to a higher model, then the switch needs to be replaced, which is one of the only problems for the existing customers.
SQL is an area in the product that needs improvement. The support offered by the solution has certain shortcomings, making it in areas where improvements are required. Considering the product's support available in India, people mostly go for the premium support, which is considered to be the best. Despite going for premium support services, it is very difficult to get help from Fortinet's technical team since it may take up to 48 hours and may involve emails, making it a cumbersome process.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiAP for more than ten years. My company has a partnership with Fortinet.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
A few months ago, Fortinet found some vulnerabilities in FortiOS, after which they suggested all the users upgrade to FortiOS, and at that particular point in time, I saw that the OS was not stable. Whenever our company upgraded all the access points, switches or the firewall, we saw some fluctuations.
When Fortinet came out with the new version of the solution, everything became stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My company mainly provides the product to SMBs and also to one entity that focuses on an enterprise-level customer.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the technical support a four out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Nowadays, nobody uses WLC since everything is all about cloud-based solutions. People mostly prefer Aruba and Meraki for wireless solutions. I have worked with Aruba and Meraki. Meraki is far better than Fortinet FortiAP since we can manage the previously mentioned tool from anywhere. With Meraki, access points are available. Even with mobile phones, my company can configure and manage Meraki products while getting access to logs. Aruba has been coming up with some AI technology that can help us with minor areas where troubleshooting is required. I work with Meraki SD-WAN. All products from Meraki support Meraki SD-WAN. My company uses Unified Threat Management, but it is handled by a different team.
How was the initial setup?
The product's deployment phase is very easy since its documentation part is available in the public domain.
One access point can be deployed in 30 minutes.
The number of people required to deploy the product depends on the size of the project. If it is a big project, there will be more people involved in the deployment process. At least two engineers are required to take care of any of the tool's implementations.
What was our ROI?
Speaking about Fortinet FortiAP's impact on our company's operational costs or productivity, I would say that the tool is cost-effective, especially when compared to Meraki or Aruba.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is available at a very comfortable price for my company compared to the other products available in the market. The prices of products from Meraki and Aruba are high compared to those of Fortinet. There are many competitors of Fortinet in the market attempting to offer their products at a better price.
What other advice do I have?
In terms of the challenges I have faced with the integration of Fortinet FortiAP into our company's infrastructure consisting of other systems problems, I would say that the problem arises when you try to configure WiFi switches, and the integration part becomes very difficult.
In India, people prefer other products over Fortinet FortiAP since people look at the budget first and then the technology part. Users will have to opt for the paid support services offered by Fortinet.
I rate the solution a six out of ten.
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner