Cato SASE Cloud Platform Reviews

We are a reseller of this solution and propose it to our clients. We combine it with vertical sockets in our office. We deploy the whole stack including capability, data leak prevention and CASB.

This solution is good for large organizations that have many people working around the world with many branches who want to combine policies and networks. Cato have a global presence that is increasing around the world. 

There are less than two milliseconds of latency to the nearest pop. Cato have a back end connection to the grid that is very stable offers good performance. 

This solution has allowed us to have more points of presence around the world. The bandwidth has also improved across different areas. This solution has offered us data leak prevention, CASB and a better dashboard. 

Using this solution, we are able to drill down into security problems in a few clicks. We also use it for the IPsec connection with our clients that allows us to make the right policies that restricts access to certain users.

Cato offers all the functionality found in other solutions. The life cycle management is always very stable.

Web application firewalling (WAF) is a feature we would like to have in this solution. 

I have been using this solution for four years. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. Cato have contracts with backend infrastructure. During COVID, there has been an exponential growth of VPN connections and related bandwidth. We have 25 people using this solution in our organisation and we support seven clients in the healthcare and offshore sectors. There are up to 5,000 people in each organization. 

The customer service and support for this solution is really good although we have noticed that, due to their growth as a business, support is not as consistent. Sometimes you get a more junior person to assist and then it takes a little bit longer to get the right answer. I would rate their support a four and a half out of five. 

Positive

We have previously used Cisco VPN and Fortinet VPN.

The initial setup and implementation is straightforward and can be done in a few hours.

When you compare Cato to normal firewalling and all the costs and effort to maintain changes, the return on investment can be seen in one year. 

The pricing of this solution depends on what you need. It is based on bandwidth. You can opt for between 10 megabits to 10 gigabits per month, as well as select virtual sockets or physical sockets. A virtual socket is X1500 and can be extended to 500 megabits. Using these, you can have different levels of security. 

We have six environments and we integrate them with the directory services of Microsoft Azure. Authentication of credentials is done automatically, including for new employees. Maintenance is also done automatically. 

This solution is very easy to implement and is very intuitive. When we do demos with our clients, they say, "Wow, is it that easy?" Cato offer a full package that can cover online, offline and whatever the customer needs.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

We are a reseller and partner. We are not the user of the system.

The product provides a single platform and a convergence of the various technologies from a WAN perspective. The visibility control and security aspects are amazing. It is a very robust platform. It's evolving slowly enough that what it brings out is always quick to market, but it takes the right time to get the right solution. There’s been a big move forward in DLP and CASB.

The product must evolve into the endpoint domain.

I have been working with the solution for nine years.

I rate the tool’s stability a ten out of ten.

I rate the tool’s scalability a ten out of ten.

The initial setup is brilliant. I rate the ease of setup a ten out of ten. The time taken for deployment depends on the type of customer. The mean time to value is very short. It is quick.

The number of people required for the deployment depends on whether the deployment is done within the country or globally.

I rate the pricing a seven out of ten on a scale where one is expensive, and ten is cheap.

We looked through Zscaler back in the day. We also considered firewall vendors like Palo Alto and Fortinet. We chose Cato because it had a single vendor.

We don't have any clients. We're a new partner. People wanting to use the solution must forget about their current architecture and take a step back. Cato Networks is one of the best platforms that I work with. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

The optimization and acceleration of traffic from difficult countries like China, India and South America are very valuable. Cato Networks is highly likely to win the deal if the customer has branch sites in countries with complex connections. On the other hand, if the customer has many difficulties, they may prefer other well-known solutions they already have installed.

In addition, we appreciate the optimization and acceleration of the performance of SDP users, especially those who work from home. The possibility of activating the IPS/TLS inspection without changing the device is also great.

The different languages in the user interface should be enhanced to include other languages. Currently, it's only in English, which would be an advantage in Italian for some small customers.

We have been using this solution for two years.

The solution is scalable because the possibility to scale depends mainly on the PoP. The PoP has no limitation in scalability, and there are two kinds of sockets. Still, there are a lot of differences in the suggested maximum throughput. One socket for under 500 megabits and the largest one has more slots for NICs. But the scalability doesn't depend on the appliance, it depends on the PoP.

For example, if you have 50 SDP users for people that connect remote to the headquarters, you can scale to 300 because all the staff works remotely. You won't need any updates, only the licenses in Cato, because the PoP can support it. This is different if you have a VPN based on the appliance because you usually have to update.

The technical support team is very good. We used them for deployment and initial settings. After that, it wasn't problematic. They can also advise you about the configuration if you change something during the time.

The setup is very easy. You can also define the policies and all the configurations without the need to have the socket already available. For example, with the customer, we configured all the settings and sent the socket to the branch in China. When the socket arrived, they only needed to turn it on and connect to the internet.

We are satisfied with the pricing. However, I don't know what the competition is on the price. It is also convenient because if you dismiss the MPLS connection, you save a lot of money, but it depends on the customer's network and their advantage.

I rate the solution a ten out of ten. The solution is good but can be improved by including different language options in the user interface.

It's a network device that is used for WAN optimization and security.

It's a cloud-based solution that integrates well with everything. They are the classic SaaS solution.

We don't need to have a static IP from our provider, which saves us money.

I would like to see better integration with identity providers. Right now, they have Azure and they have Okta. 

For directory synchronization they use LDAP, and it would be better if they moved away from this. My understanding is that they are already working on removing LDAP completely and using web-based authentication for the VPN users and other users. This is not something that is critical for me. I just set up the main services in Azure and use that. This is okay because we don't have a lot of remote users, perhaps 10 or 20 at the maximum, with VPN access. This may change in the future.

We are in the testing phase of this solution. I have been testing Cato Networks for one month.

During the testing period, there were no outages. Everything was smooth and worked well.

This is absolutely scalable, which was the reason we decided to go with Cato Networks.

Technical support is excellent. Even during our testing phase, they were able to set up at least three hours to walk me through and answer my questions.

They were knowledgeable and I would rate them a five out of five.

The initial setup was straightforward.

It's easy to set up and we just connect to their network.

As we are still in the testing phase, we have not implemented it yet. There will be some implementation, but it's pretty basic. There is no complex setup like you would have with Versa for example. For the most part, it's plug and play.

There were some questions that I had to ask them, but for the most part, I set it up myself.

If you compare with VeloCloud, the price is the same or even cheaper. Also, they include all of the security features, unlike VeloCloud.

We had evaluated others such as VeloCloud and vScaler. 

The advantage of Cato Networks is that they have integrated steps, such as SD-WAN plus Network Security, plus VCNA altogether, in one management pane of glass. It's one place to manage everything. 

With VeloCloud it's SD-WAN, and there is no security. You would still have to get a dedicated endpoint like a firewall if you want added protection then it would be harder to manage it centrally.

vScaler can be integrated, but then it drives the price up significantly. Also, it's not an ideal solution.

One of the advantages of Cato is that they provide a static IP from their cloud and assign it to us. This is a service that comes with an additional cost, but it's cheap compared to if I get it from my service provider. 

Now that the trial period is almost over, I have decided that I am going to go with Cato Networks.

My advice for anybody who is looking into Cato is to consider their environment. If they have a scenario where it is 80% cloud-based and 20% internal traffic, then Cato is a good choice. If on the other hand, they have internal applications with a data center then other solutions may make more sense. For us, since we are fully cloud-based, it is a better choice.

In summary, it is easy to implement and easy to manage. That said, there are always ways to improve.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

The solution is used similarly to a VPN connection but using a cable network. It is used for the several branches of the company.

The most valuable feature of Cato Networks is the CASB and the documentation is useful.

Modifying or incorporating Cato Network to work with a third-party platform, such as Microsoft, or other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings would be beneficial. Having more integration partners would help the users implement the solution.

I have used Cato Networks within the past 12 months.

Cato Networks is stable.

The solution is scalable.

The support has been good overall.

I have used Zscaler and it is a better solution than Cato Networks because they are more aggressive and have many partners, such as Microsoft and Dell. The implementation of Zscaler would be a more resilient solution.

The initial setup of Cato Networks is straightforward. For 100 branched the implementation took six months to implement.

The vendor helped implement the solution with us, and it was a seamless process

The price of Cato Networks is in the middle range compared to other solutions. NetFoundry is a less expensive solution than Cato Networks.

In the Philippines, there is a good market for this solution. There is a 50 percent SaaS implementation of this solution.

I rate Cato Networks an eight out of ten.

We're an implementer. We sell this solution to our customers. We've done some POCs with clients so far. 

The solution is stable and reliable. 

Our customers haven't had any complaints about its quality.

It is quite simple and easy to use. 

The support, overall, has been okay.

So far, we find the setup process to be simple. 

I haven't seen any issues so far. I might need to do another implementation and work on it longer before noting any flaws. 

They're not English. If they were English, I'd give them an overall rating of ten out of ten. 

There's no principal in Malaysia, only a distributor. 

I just recently started using the solution. I

I've used the solution for about six months. 

The solution has been stable and it is reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

On our POC we have about 300 users. 

Technical support has been good so far. We find them to be helpful and supportive. We're in Malaysia and our closest principal is in Singapore, and they always get back to us.

Positive

I'd rate the product's ease of setup at a 4.7 out of five. It's very straightforward and easy to implement. There isn't really any complexity. 

We deployed the product as a POC within a week.

It's too early to really analyze ROI. 

I have compared the pricing against other solutions and found it to be very reasonable. I'd rate the cost, in terms of affordability, eight out of ten. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. It's simple to use and easy to set up. On top of that, they are very supportive.

What I found most helpful in Cato Networks is that it works out of the box. One of its main advantages is that it's a simple product to deploy. You subscribe, and you're ready to run.

For a packaged solution, needing external intervention or a system integrator to get other features not offered by Cato Networks could be an area for improvement.

Cato Networks does what it's meant to do and is even overstretching capabilities when introducing new features. The product can only have very few features added on top of what its currently doing. Managed service providers can deliver the extra features you'd need. It's a set of managed services, and what Cato Networks does is very comprehensive.

So, for the time being, when the actual incarnation of the SASE solution is deployed, Cato Networks is a very effective product. Naturally, technology will evolve, so everybody knows that in three, four, or five years, there will be a new kid on the block, a new game. Still, at the moment, Cato Networks only needs to improve a little regarding SASE delivery. The product is doing very well, but one feature the Cato Networks team is doing right is preparing for the future through deploying the SSE 360, so the security service is at that edge. It's an excellent strategy to prepare for the future. SSE 360 is what Cato Networks should invest in the most to keep prospering.

I've been using Cato Networks for about three years.

Cato Networks is a very stable product. It's one of the top products in the SASE category, especially regarding stability.

Scalability-wise, Cato Networks is entirely scalable for what it does. I never found any problems scaling it. Apart from being very stable, Cato Networks is also very scalable.

The technical support team for Cato Networks has to be inevitably involved, especially in interfacing with other networks and data centers. I found the support very responsive. It's a very professional company, and I'd rate technical support as five out of five.

Cato Networks has a straightforward setup. There's very little to set up because it's a SASE solution, so there's no complexity in terms of programming it.

I'd rate its initial setup a five out of five.

Cato Networks is an expensive product, but it works out of the box, so that's the usual trade-off, make versus buy. If you decide to buy a product that doesn't require much programming, then you'd want to go for Cato Networks, which will work naturally, and immediately without any complex setup. However, the product is a little bit more expensive than the competitors.

On a scale of one to five, I'd rate the pricing for Cato Networks as four.

I have some experience with Cato Networks and its competitors.

My advice to anyone who wants to install or use Cato Networks is that the technical aspects would not be very relevant for a SASE solution because, today, you have outstanding solutions in the SASE realm. However, suppose you're undertaking a digital transformation effort. In that case, you must have an excellent consultant who can guide you in choosing among the myriad of products available in the market. You must define a clear digital strategy to understand if Cato Networks matches your digital strategy.

The next step involves checking if Cato Networks can meet your specific needs or use cases. The product is straightforward, but that also means it has some limitations. If you don't want to program as much, Cato Networks is for you, but that could also mean sacrificing other features, such as increased flexibility and total control of the system. Cato Networks is a black box, so you connect and use it, but you don't know what happens inside, though it's precisely what some clients want. Cato Networks is the perfect solution if the client wants to connect offices and premises in different regions.

You have to be fully aware that Cato Networks doesn't allow you complete control over it, but it's easy to use. There's no perfect solution in the market. It would be best if you had a system architect or consultant to guide you in your choice. If you make the wrong choice, you could have an excellent product that doesn't fit your needs. Making the right decision sometimes isn't based on the technology but on the IT strategy. This is what ninety-nine percent of companies miss today. Technology is all good, but you need a sound IT strategy for making your decision.

My rating for Cato Networks is eight out of ten because it's an excellent product, especially for what it offers. It isn't a ten for me, simply because when you deploy a SASE solution, especially in the environments my company serves, you need to implement additional features which aren't part and parcel of what Cato Networks is delivering, such as an integrated solution.

Suppose a client wants a perfect solution rated as ten out of ten. In that case, the client needs to employ a system integrator or a managed service provider that can add additional features to the top, as it's not the mission of Cato Networks to deliver other features. Cato Networks does an excellent job, but it wouldn't get a ten from me. However, no packaged SASE solution can cover all aspects and all client needs. You'll need an external intervention or someone adding features to what Cato Networks delivers. This is more of a category limitation rather than a company limitation. Cato Networks does an excellent job, so it gets the maximum score that can be assigned to the category for packaged solutions, which is an eight.

It is a primary router for the network. It is a cloud solution with on-prem routers. Basically, we got a router here, and we utilize our network connections to get to Cato Network's cloud. We route our traffic through their cloud for security and everything else.

It helps with network stability and reliability.

The WAN aggregation feature is the most valuable.

Its functionality is a bit limited in some areas as compared to a Cisco solution. It is not as granular. It doesn't have the manageability, feature set, and capabilities of a larger or an enterprise-level solution. It just needs a more robust feature set and granularity.

I have been using this solution since June, that is, about six months.

Its stability is pretty good so far. I had a couple of minor issues here and there, but not too bad.

It is hard to say because we don't have a lot of demands or requirements for that. We're not a large shop, so we're not looking to expand so much that we would have to replace them, upgrade them, or push the boundaries of the current system. It is expected to last us for a while at this capacity and configuration. We have 200 users, and it is just a typical office warehouse environment.

They are good and responsive. They solved all the issues.

We were using Palo Alto.

It was pretty basic. It is easy to manage.

You require one experienced IT person for its deployment and maintenance. It wasn't complicated for me, but I've been around. Somebody new to IT or a desktop support guy won't be able to deploy it. Somebody who is a network person and has a good network or IT experience can deploy and manage it with little or no assistance in a company of our size.

We had support from Cato Networks. They helped us with the deployment, and they were good.

It is going to give a return on investment. We have AT&T, Comcast, and a couple of others, but AT&T stability was hit or miss, and it would go down. The ability for this system to handle outages on one circuit out of four meant that we didn't have any downtime because of one of our circuits going down or having a performance issue. It kept our network up, whereas our previous solution, even at the cost of it, had to fail over, and even when it failed over, there were manual things you had to do for the other issues, which caused the downtime.

You pay yearly based on the speed of your network. If you increase the speed of your network, you increase the cost for your throughput. It is by bandwidth for the most part and then licenses for VPN. There is some per-seat licensing for VPN access, but the majority of it is minimal. It is like $30 a year per client. The rest is based on how much bandwidth you'll use. You pay for that upfront for the year, and if you have to increase it, you increase it, and then they let you send more data through. There are no additional costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

We looked at other SD-WAN solutions, such as Fellow Cloud, Palo Alto, and Cisco. There were a couple more in there. Price, capability, and ease of deployment and management made us go for Cato Networks.

It is worth looking at for a small to medium size environment, but it has got to fit your situation. We don't use it for what it was really made to do. It just has one feature that affects us, so we use it for that. In all honesty, it is not something that we are really using to its full potential.

I would rate Cato Networks an eight out of ten. It is fairly new, so there are some things that it should do, and they're working on it.