What is our primary use case?
Our K-12 school district is currently leveraging the Check Point 6800 Gateway hardware appliance, which is running version R80.30.   
 The management station runs as a virtual machine in our VMWare environment with Cisco UCS & EMC (storage) hardware and Cisco networking architecture. In addition to the exceptional performance of the hardware and extensive Firewall abilities, we manage end-user traffic related to the applications. We use the solution primarily in the social media and entertainment arenas. This feature allows us to reduce unnecessary use of our already limited bandwidth.
 
How has it helped my organization?
Prior to the newer Application Control tools, from Check Point, we didn't have nearly as much in-depth access to manage traffic in the port 80 and 443 pathways.  
 As a result, we were regularly pushing the high end of our already limited bandwidth. Though we did have web/URL filtering technologies deployed, our users still had quite a bit more access to media resources that presented a distraction in our environment. The Application Control, allows us to better manage bandwidth at a more granular level.
 
What is most valuable?
Being able to choose specific applications in our policy rule base in order to better manage access and bandwidth utilization has had a significantly positive impact on our environment and saved a lot of management time. This feature allows us to apply all the relevant protocols from a single application "package."  
 In years past, we used to have to spend a lot of management time manually diagnosing the end-user traffic in an *attempt* to determine what sites, protocols, and ports were being used by the resource. Then, we would have to create specific rules to affect that traffic, before we could regularly monitor the traffic for any unexpected rouge behavior.
 
What needs improvement?
One of our continued challenges is having a more accurate, real-time view of how our bandwidth is actually being used at any given moment. A feature that could really offer a lot of insight into the live traffic would be a high-quality, real-time traffic graphical monitoring module. Administrators could then "mouse-over"  any point on the graph to reveal additional information at a very granular level. The information that could be presented would include data such as the service/app used, the specific network or IP, the date/time, etc.
 
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used Check Point since the late 1990s. I've used this solution for several years.
 
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've had zero issues. It's a solid product.
 
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My impression is that with all the recent features and abilities added to the application control section, it should be able to scale very nicely.  I would anticipate that managing traffic at the application level would be far more efficient than in the past, with the option of creating fewer rules to accomplish the same goal.  Being able to group or, "package," together a number of similar applications that contain all the relevant protocols, will be a big benefit over time.
 
How are customer service and support?
As the product has performed well, we have had little interaction with Check Point's customer support. We have been reasonably satisfied, during the limited times of engagement.
 
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have been using the Check Point firewall suite of products, since the floppy disk installation days.
 
How was the initial setup?
We had the guidance and aid of a partner vendor and it was not overly complicated.
 
What about the implementation team?
We have worked with a vendor for years and have been very pleased.
 
What was our ROI?
ROI is difficult to quantify in terms of money.  However,, we can easily say that our management time has decreased and end-user activities have been more on-task.
 
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing is a bit high for our K12 organization. The setup is not painful. That said, planning is crucial - as well as a thorough understanding of your network architecture and desired outcomes. 
 
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options.
 
What other advice do I have?
I'd advise users to go with Check Point.
 
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.