Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) Reviews

Our use case is simple. We utilize CloudGuard Network Security with a bridge to connect all components in the cloud directly to the on-premise. By establishing peering with the bridge, we route traffic to the Google Cloud-based cluster. We apply our standard on-premise environment rules to CloudGuard, utilizing threat prevention, EPS, etc.

The most valuable feature for us is the simplicity of creating this environment. Even though our current cloud usage is limited, the process of setting up machines in the product and establishing an HR system was straightforward. 

CloudGuard Network Security helped us create stable VPN connections from our Google Cloud to our data center. This was important because we had issues with dependencies between Google, the data center, etc.

We have an on-premise management system, and it's straightforward. We use it within the same management of our other files. 

In the past year, I noticed that the challenging part, especially in the cloud, is upgrading to the next release of the firewall. Unlike on-premise upgrades, it's not as simple in the cloud. You need to recreate the machine, which makes the process more complex.

We have been using CloudGuard Network Security for four years now. We initially adopted it when we began using the Google Cloud platform. It helps us enable connections between the cloud, data center, and hybrid infrastructure. 

The solution is stable. 

The tool's pricing is not cheap. 

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

We use the security gateways to protect the virtual data centers. 

The most valuable feature for us is the ability to run the gateways as virtual machines in our virtual data center. The tool protects the virtual data centers. 

The solution's integration with cloud providers has seen significant development in the past months, but there is room for improvement for better integration.

I have been using the product for two years. 

CloudGuard Network security is stable. 

Scaling up is straightforward, involving the purchase of additional licenses and allocating virtual CPUs to the client.

CloudGuard Network Security's support is good. I would like the support to be faster. However, it is not possible all the time. 

Positive

The tool's deployment is straightforward. 

My customers have experienced ROI with the tool's use. If there's a security issue, it can lead to downtime or loss of data, which means losing money. So, the main focus is on the financial aspect. Security is also one of the benefits of using the product. 

We have both cloud and on-premises deployment models. The solution offers protection and full visibility of traffic on cloud solutions. It is rock solid and comes with proven technology. We can benefit from its detection rates and security. I rate the overall product a ten out of ten. It is a straightforward solution that uses existing technology. We don't have to learn new technology. We can use what we know and deploy it on to the cloud. 

We use the solution for the ingress and egress, often for VMSS auto-scaling groups. This involves linking on-premises to the cloud and managing incoming traffic within the same cloud environment.

Customers appreciate the CME plugin for automatically understanding assets within the cloud. This information appears in the manager, allowing users to tag the assets and adjust policies and rules accordingly.

The IT personnel who transition from on-premises to the cloud experience the same understanding, knowledge, and comfort with the cloud environment, using the familiar interface they had on-premises.

People don't know about the tool's features. There's a lack of skill. Users require more knowledge on how to integrate it into the cloud environment and orchestrate routing. So, it's not necessarily a CloudGuard Network Security or Check Point issue but more about integration, knowledge, and understanding.

I have been using the product for six years. 

The product's stability is good. 

The solution's scalability is good. 

The solution's support is good. 

Neutral

The tool's pricing is good. Customers want it to be cheap. I consider the pricing to be elastic. CloudGuard Network Security is perceived as cost-effective compared to using the built-in tools provided by the cloud. Specifically, the VPN functionality is more economical in CloudGuard Network Security, where users can create multiple VPNs without additional charges for each VPN, paying only for the bandwidth. This is contrasted with cloud providers that may charge for each VPN on a per-minute basis, including Ingress and Egress costs.

Unified Security Management provides a consistent interface and knowledge base, allowing those who were trained in Check Point for on-premise use to apply that same understanding across various cloud environments such as Google, AWS, Alibaba, Oracle, and more.

I rate the product an eight out of ten. There is always work to be done. However, some customers may find other technologies more understandable, and there could be a perceived difficulty in the human-computer interaction with Check Point. This might create challenges in comparison to competitors, as customers may find competitors' solutions easier to use.

We offer a full security and connectivity solution leveraging SD-WAN and SASE technologies. We partner with service integrators and providers who, in turn, sell the solution to business customers. Our solution is built on SD-WAN and SASE, facilitating the connection of offices and home users to the organization through various WAN connections. By aggregating multiple connections over the Internet, we deliver security and connectivity to meet the needs of retail and finance. We can help any vertical that needs a connection between the branch and the cloud.

We primarily secure our network using CloudGuard Network Security's next-generation firewall features, including anti-spam, IPS, and URL filtering. Our chosen package for the go-to-market strategy is NGTP. For customers seeking more features, we provide options to upgrade to the tool's advanced packages.

The product serves as a complement to our solution. While we integrate some firewall functionality into our edge device, we do not develop complete security solutions for the cloud. The combination of CloudGuard Network Security with SD-WAN connectivity allows us to offer a holistic solution.

The product needs to offer multi-tenancy. 

Eight months ago, we initiated the integration with CloudGuard Network Security, and currently, we are taking it to the market and presenting it to customers. We have three customers who are on the verge of signing agreements with us.

Currently, the technical support we receive is from the US. While there is a team in the US supporting us, there is a need for this support to extend to other regions.

Positive

We got discounts on pricing. 

We utilize the tool's SmartConsole integrated into our management system. However, we encounter challenges with multi-tenancy. Since we integrate it as an application on the cloud we can integrate it with any other provider. We do think that the synergy with Check Point is very good because we also allow Check Point to move from the edge to the cloud while we provide security connectivity from the edge to the cloud. So we can support its transition from on-prem security solutions to the cloud. It looks like a very good win-win situation for both Check Point and BBT, and we see it in the market, bringing us big deals in Japan and France.

We can go with others as well in terms of architecture because our architecture is very open. We are a small company and cannot engage with everyone. We have good connections with Check Point in Israel. We also have some connections abroad. So far, we are getting good support. 

We have an application that is running on our cloud. Normally, our main cloud provider is Google, but we can run over any cloud. It could be a private cloud or any data center that provides virtual machines and connectivity. We are agnostic.

We are in several POCs in France, Japan, and Thailand, and they are progressing well. However, we need more presales support. There is a lack of knowledge about the solution in the regions, and we are finding it challenging to get sufficient support from those regions. There seems to be a gap in support that needs to be addressed.

It seems that the product is the answer that we need. We haven't identified any missing components in the security suite, apart from the operational challenges related to working in a multi-tenancy environment. I rate the product an eight out of ten. 

We use the product to protect Azure workloads. 

The solution's most valuable feature is scalability. We can increase the number of CPUs, memory, and firewalls throughout easily. Using CloudGuard Network Security for managing cloud firewall rules is considered easier than using the normal security groups provided by Azure or AWS.

The solution needs to support more hypervisors. 

I have been using the product for two years. 

The solution's stability is good. 

The tool's scalability is good. 

Sometimes Check Point's technical support takes a long time when you need assistance with developing or fixing issues.

Positive

CloudGuard Network Security's deployment is straightforward. 

It took around a year to see the benefits of using CloudGuard Network Security. If you have CloudGuard Network Security managed by the same management server used for on-premises, you can control all policies in one management tool. I am confident in using the product. 

We are a Check Point partner, hence we trust the product and the company. I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. 

I can easily secure communication between our Azure Stack Hub and local Azure environments using CloudGuard gateways. This ensures that when I deploy applications in Azure, I can securely access databases and other resources in my local environment through a VPN channel. It is a straightforward way to keep everything protected as I work between the cloud and on-premises infrastructure.

The central management feature is a big plus, allowing us to manage both local and cloud gateways from one platform. Another advantage is the unified logging system, which makes it easy to track all communications. Index logs enable us to see all of the logs with all of the features in one place. Unlike other solutions like Palo Alto's Panorama, where checking logs can be cumbersome, CloudGuard's interface is user-friendly and efficient. I have to manually click on every log, one at a time. This helps streamline our deployment process, as I focus on the initial setup before handing it off to other departments for ongoing management.

CloudGuard's ease of policy creation and centralized logging are definite strengths.

There is room for improvement in addressing bugs and support issues. Communication with support, particularly with certain teams, can sometimes be challenging and slow, impacting problem resolution. 

I have been working with CloudGuard Cloud Network Security for almost eight years.

We use CloudGuard to manage 15,000 people. We have ten applications and 14 subscriptions.

The Israel tech support is better than other regions because they respond quickly and help us resolve our issues.

Neutral

Check Point's management interface is easier to use compared to products like Palo Alto's Panorama and FortiManager. 

Palo Alto and FortiManager are more complicated than CloudGuard.

When it comes to identifying security threats, CloudGuard is on par with other solutions. While Palo Alto doesn't have zero-day protection, it ultimately depends on how customers configure their security rules.

I'm quite pleased with CloudGuard because it is incredibly easy to deploy. Whether I'm using the marketplace or SmartConsole, setting up the gateway takes just a few seconds or minutes, and connecting to local or cloud management is seamless. 

Deploying Check Point CloudGuard has been generally straightforward, but we have encountered challenges with Azure Stack Hub due to feature discrepancies with public Azure. The absence of a console in Azure Stack Hub and outdated versions can pose issues. However, if project preparation and resource allocation are done correctly, deployments usually go smoothly. Typically, we purchase between two to six cores for our deployments.

If we prepare the right CPUs it's okay.

The pricing is okay. I know the cost for the competitors and CloudGuard pricing is fine. It is cheaper than other firewalls.

Overall, I would rate CloudGuard Cloud Network Security as a ten out of ten.

The tool's most valuable features are IPS and blades. These features are valuable for security. 

CloudGuard Network Security's pricing is expensive. We have encountered issues with its licensing. 

I have been using the product for six years. 

CloudGuard Network Security's stability is good. 

In terms of scalability in the cloud, manual deployment is straightforward. However, the challenge arises due to the pay-as-you-go model. The issue of buying licenses is not specific to the Check Point but is more related to our ordering process.

The tool's support is good. 

Positive

Check Point helped us with the deployment. 

CloudGuard Network Security is an efficient solution. I rate it an eight out of ten. 

We use CloudGuard Network Security to protect Azure's networking environment. 

The CloudGuard Network Security's most valuable feature is implementing IPS for accessing our data center and server environment in Azure. It helps us to prevent attacks. By protecting our environment with Check Point, which we were already familiar with, it provided a solution that extended into the cloud environment.

The product needs to improve support. They don't consider my case the number one priority even though I want a quick resolution. 

I have been using the product for three years. 

The solution is getting better. We faced issues a few years back. Its stability depends on Azure. 

The solution's scalability is not good. Our upgrade process was not straightforward. It took one day to complete. 

The solution's support is very good. We have Check Point certified engineers. At times, Check Point's support can take a day or two to respond. 

Positive

We opted for CloudGuard Network Security after evaluating what Azure had to offer. It proved easy to manage, and the crucial aspect for us was the ability to see the activities on our central log system. We can see everything in the environment. 

The solution's deployment is straightforward. We required some time to learn it. 

The tool's pricing is reasonable. 

CloudGuard Network Security provides unified security management across both our hybrid clouds and on-premises environments. I rate it a nine out of ten. I would recommend others to install the solution.