Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) Reviews

I like the tool's ability to manage cloud traffic locally without routing it through our data centers.

The product needs to improve technical support.

I have been using the product for four years. 

The tool's support has been excellent. We can maintain our Check Point Firewalls effectively, both on-premises and in the cloud.

The tool's monthly costs have undergone a significant reduction, dropping from approximately 12,000 euros to around 4,000. This represents a cost reduction of over 60 percent. However, it's essential to note that while costs decreased in some areas, they increased in others due to shifts in our environment. As our overall environment has grown, currently connecting 50 accounts to the cloud, it's challenging to directly compare costs with the state of our setup three years ago.

Initially, we faced some challenges, especially with the AWS transit gateway, involving manual routing configurations and complex setup tasks. I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. 

For the Azure platform, especially Azure endpoint protections and other network aspects, we utilize CloudGuard Network Security to secure the egress connection. This includes configuring and maintaining express route connectivity between on-premises and Azure.

The Identity Awareness blade and dynamic tagging in Azure are valuable because they make access management automatic. Instead of manually setting up access for each new resource, it happens automatically based on the same access policy. This dynamic setup is scalable. 

The tool is cloud-based and scalable. As our resources scale up or down, the system automatically adapts. This reduces the need for manual work, allowing us to manage the entire cloud infrastructure with a smaller workforce. It helps with automation. 

Regarding CloudGuard Network Security's integration with various resources like application gateways and application-based security groups, there's room for exploring dynamic access in those areas. A significant concern is the upgrade process. Unlike an in-place upgrade, upgrading the tool in Azure requires deploying a new resource, which can be hectic and less reliable. We have to spend something new to have the tool's latest version. 

I have been using the product for four years. 

Stability is generally good, and I don't have many complaints due to its scalability. When there are hardware issues, it automatically sets up a new, healthy instance. Overall, it contributes to a stable environment for us.

The solution's scalability is excellent, but we do encounter some restrictions with the API on the cloud platform. This occasionally causes issues with the frequent pulling up of new resources.

Our deployment model involves VM scale sets. We have set up instances across three environments: production, staging, and development. This structure allows for easy testing in the development environment before moving on to the production environment. We utilize Check Point's professional services to integrate, deploy, and build a cloud platform for CloudGuard Network Security.

We have seen a return on investment from CloudGuard Network Security. As more workloads shift from on-premises to the product, the costs associated with on-premises infrastructure decrease. Additionally, its dynamic and scalable nature in Azure allows us to maintain control. 

The solution's licensing is based on the number of users of the VMs. We follow a pay-as-you-go model. Its pricing is competitive. 

CloudGuard Network Security can manage security for both our hybrid cloud and on-premises systems. Currently, we have separate solutions for on-premises and the cloud. We also use Smart-1 Cloud from the Infinity portal. We haven't integrated the tool with both Azure and on-prem environments. 

I have about an eight out of ten confidence level in our cloud network security with the product. It is because of Azurre's robust and dynamic nature. It is easy to incorporate anything new that comes up. We can integrate any new steps in Azure concerning the blades, CloudGuard Network Security, and Check Point. 

Cloud-native firewalls lack functionalities such as IPS, which are exclusive to products like Check Point or other vendor-specific solutions. This is why we opted for CloudGuard Network Security as an additional layer, complementing the limitations of Azure's native or any cloud-native firewalls.

We are already using Check Point for our on-prem environment. The cloud solution was easy to integrate with our existing infrastructure. 

I rate the overall product a six out of ten. Due to certain limitations in the integration between Azure and CloudGuard Network Security, I currently rate the experience as a six. However, I'm hopeful that Check Point is working on its new release. 

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security helps to ensure the security and protection of IT systems. We have many API integrations and want to ensure its protection. 

The product gives analytic reports. 

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security should give productive reports as per business requirements. It needs to improve support since the time-limit extended beyond a day. It should include more seamless API integrations. 

I have been using the product for four years. 

The product's stability is good. 

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very much scalable. My company has 1000 users. 

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security's deployment is easy and takes one day to complete. You need four resources to handle it. 

The product's licensing costs are yearly. 

I rate the product an eight out of ten. 

In my company, we use the solution just to secure my AWS Network Insights and inside production. We use it for security purposes.

With the solution, we just need to filter the traffic coming from the internet and Direct Connect. So it filters the traffic, basically. It permits access. In short, it just filters the traffic and permits the traffic. The aforementioned details are the purposes for which we use the tool.

We use the tool as a basic firewall. It's a technical firewall. As a technical firewall, we use SmartConsole or Check Point Firewall.

The deployment phase takes too much time. I would like the deployment to be faster.

I have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for two and a half years. We are using Check Point R80.10 SmartConsole in our organization.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten since it takes too much time for deployment. However, it is flexible since we used to push the policy normally. It takes hardly ten seconds to install the policy. It's much easier.

I have been using the solution in my company for the last year. Other than the employees in my company, more than 25,000 users are using the solution hosted on AWS.

Basically, the application, which is hosted, is used internally. It's the same user account because it's not exposed anywhere on the internet. If anyone wants to access the solution from the internet, the traffic comes from Direct Connect, and from Direct Connect, it goes to AWS.

The initial setup was not much complex. The setup phase was good enough to be able to navigate through it.

It took a long time to deploy it. We need to run this on EC2 instances, so it took almost two hours to deploy the solution. After deploying the solution slowly, and gradually, we have to push the policy on the firewall. It takes time to deploy, but it's a stable one.

The solution is deployed on the cloud. It's a software we install in EC2 instances on AWS, which we use as a firewall.

We currently have six to seven resources managing the deployments and maintenance.

During deployment, we took technical help from Check Point.

It is a good-to-use tool that is also flexible.

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

We are using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for protecting our Office 365 mail.

The solution has improved our company because our Office 365 solution is secure. Most of our Microsoft solutions are now more secure than before when they had spyware and malware. We no longer have these problems as before.

The most valuable feature of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is the increased mail protection including spam.

The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive.

I have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for approximately one year.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very stable.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security can scale but it will cost you more.

We have approximately 2,000 mailboxes using this solution.

The technical support from Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very good.

Positive

We did not use another solution prior to Check Point CloudGuard Network Security.

The initial setup of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is not difficult, it was simple. However, someone else might have difficulties. The whole implementation took approximately one day.

We had the Check Point CloudGuard Network Security team help us remotely with the implementation.

We have a service level agreement with some vendors for the maintenance, but we rarely call them, because we handle it mostly in-house.

The price of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very high compared to other solutions, such as Fortinet FortiMail. For the over 2,000 mailboxes we use with the solution it is very expensive.

Here in Kenya, the cost of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is approximately $160,000.

I rate the price of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security a three out of ten.

We evaluated Fortinet and Barracuda, but Check Point CloudGuard Network Security was better. I found it uses very few resources.

This is a good solution, but they have to be ready to pay the high costs.

I rate Check Point CloudGuard Network Security an eight out of ten.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is the best security software for protecting IT systems inside out. There is no compromise with system security if the CloudGuard Network solution is intact. It provides threat prevention and protection from malware and enables system and server security up to 100%.

We have numerous API integration of our internal IT systems with outside servers and network systems, where security lapses are a huge concern. CloudGuard helped in providing complete security and protected entry of threat entrants in our system from outside servers.

CloudGuard Network Security has enabled the security system to operate safely without any trouble. It has resulted in saving on huge expenses for organizations as it's a cost-effective and cheap alternative compared to its market competitors. It brings a secure IT environment for a workforce, which leads to boosting productivity and an increased revenue stream for the organization. This leads to increased productivity and prosperity.

Also, it's the one-stop solution for preventing systems from security threats and all kinds of endpoints in the IT space.

There are no security lapses and 100% restriction of threat entrants in the system or server.

It's a cost-effective solution with no false positive cases.

The product helps in bringing productivity and enhanced customer experience for users.

We have a happy workforce and more workforce retention and increased IT environment sustainability.

There is 100% proactive detection of root causes and root sources.

It is dynamic and agile, and its features and utilities continuously improve and evolve.

It's the best-unified endpoint management solution for IT systems globally. The product is available for all kinds of business users.

We really believe in ongoing improvements for emerging business needs. The business and product development team should introduce a high-end feedback collection mechanism and analyze the customer requirements constructively.

The feedback mechanism is best to understand the user and market needs. All kinds and sizes of businesses should be approached to provide feedback so that unanimous decisions and unbiased reviews/feedback can be collected.

Also, more customized strategic pricing can be involved and introduced so that more and more businesses can be attracted for trial and usage of the software. 

We've used the solution for almost a year now.

The product offers amazing stability and we had no discomfort or hassle in the setup.

The solution is scalable and attractive.

The solution has strong customer support and agile service experience.

Positive

We use McAfee solutions earlier due to the company and parent organization's long-term association with McAfee.

After subsequent years of usage, we felt a dire need of usage of advanced security solutions. After receiving continuous good feedback from peer organizations, we landed at Check Point.

It's been a great experience so far.

The setup is effortless and not complicated at all.

We implemented the solution through vendor team management.

We've seen an ROI of 80% to 85%.

In my book, Check Point comes as quite a handy and cost-effective alternative for the security enablement of IT systems. It's cheap and easy for deployment and is the best solution so far. Its signing of SLA and maintaining long-term key association and collaboration with service partners is really effortless and easy. We've had a highly professional partner experience.

Licensing is usually annual.

Setup and deployment costs are offered with discounts that are attractive and  sustainable.

We analyzed and did trials for Cisco Secure Firewall and other security solutions like Trend Micro, etc.

I would strongly recommend everyone to go for a trial of this security solution ASAP. It is one of the best experiences ever.

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.