Aruba Orchestrator vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Versa Networks are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.8, while Versa Networks is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.5. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 0.7% mindshare in SDW, compared to Versa Networks’s 4.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Versa Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform and Aruba Orchestrator compete in the networking and security domain. Versa demonstrates an advantage in flexibility and integration, while Aruba showcases strength in WAN optimization and unified management.

Features: Versa SASE excels with robust virtualization and application routing capabilities. Its support for multi-tenancy at the CPE level facilitates diverse use cases. The platform integrates seamlessly with third-party security vendors and allows flexible CPE selection, aiding in cost reduction. Aruba Orchestrator provides significant WAN optimization enhancements and a comprehensive management interface that unifies network management across LAN, Wi-Fi, and external access.

Room for Improvement: Versa SASE should enhance firewall and data protection features to meet competition. Improving interface usability, expanding analytics support, and increasing stability for multi-location connections are essential. Enhancements in expansion capabilities are needed. Aruba Orchestrator could benefit from a simpler management menu and improved training materials for better product comprehension. Enhancing flexibility in integration and offerings compared to competitors like Cisco is advisable.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Versa SASE offers flexible deployment across on-premises and cloud environments, supporting scalability and remote manageability. However, customer support could be faster and more knowledgeable. Aruba Orchestrator presents strong deployment frameworks but requires streamlined management processes. Faster support response times are necessary to improve customer satisfaction. Both platforms provide responsive technical support but may improve speed and scope of service.

Pricing and ROI: Versa SASE, priced in the medium range, offers competitive solutions that can justify its cost for larger enterprises. Pricing strategies may need adjustment to compete with alternatives like Cisco and Citrix. ROI is favorable but varies with feature utilization. Aruba Orchestrator's pricing, perceived as mid-range, can appear high compared to market alternatives. However, its attractive ROI prospects are due to a subscription model and easy integration with existing Aruba products, especially for complex network environments seeking comprehensive optimization and management solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Orchestrator vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Orchestrator vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 21.1%, up from 20.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Aruba Orchestrator is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform is 4.5%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

Featured Reviews

EhabAli

Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at BMB

Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

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Aneesh K

IT Solution Analyst II at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Provides complete internal visibility from LAN to Wi-Fi, resulting in higher stability and easier troubleshooting

Aruba has plenty of solutions showcased at this event. Perhaps they offer their firewall, which we are not currently utilizing—the LAN switching, ClearPass, and Wi-Fi. ClearPass is is still on-premises, but the switching, Wi-Fi, and security features are included. It has some capabilities, like automation intelligence, which they call AI operations. So it is helpful. Our time spent on troubleshooting will be significantly reduced with it. Another useful feature is that we can inquire about the health data from Aruba Central and receive the necessary answers. Aruba Central simplifies management. Yes, deployment will be much faster than on-premises setups, where you need many hardware gateways. With just an access point or minimal hardware, deployment will be quicker. Troubleshooting with it has also made it much more straightforward. A group of ten people should be more than sufficient to manage an extensive infrastructure. Aruba is providing better support. They are also improving their email services. They are up to market standards, so we choose to go with them. We were looking for a direct vendor, but they didn't meet our requirements. Aruba Orchestrator is meeting our current expectations and standards, so we are sticking with them. We don't have any issues because we have been with Aruba for many years. We don't mind moving from one vendor to another. We are simply transitioning from one rental type to another with Aruba. I prioritize enhancements in AI functionality over other features. There are several implementations, with AI being the primary focus. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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PriyankDubey

Product manager at Ernst & Young

A flexible, stable and scalable solution

I don't have issues with the hardware, as the requisite capacity is visible in the data sheets. All the details in the data sheets are accounted for. But, I find myself confused when it comes to combining this with the software. I have not come across documentation on the Versa website which would provide information about the parameters for selecting the appropriate license. For this we are assisted by the solution's design engineer and the Versa team. I do what I can as a project manager and make the best suggestions I am capable of concerning the competition. Future releases should contain AI for the voice feature. SSL VPN is lacking in the solution. I wish to see this in the near future.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Fortinet FortiGate is used to prevent security failures. Since implementing the solution, we have seen improvements in security and in the distribution of our network."

"Their proxy-based inspection is responsive and secure."

"Fortinet FortiGate is stable. It's used across all the countries, this is the way most multinationals run their system."

"Consolidated our network environment at all locations, but mainly at our datacenter."

"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."

"Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use. Anyone can easily maintain it."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are that it does the job effectively and protects our environment."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Aruba Orchestrator has notably reduced enrollment setup times from several hours to within an hour if prepared and planned."

"We had to deal with separate management models for Wi-Fi and switches. With Aruba Orchestrator, it's now a unified solution, making things much easier for us. We log in and manage everything from a single console. It provides complete internal visibility from LAN to Wi-Fi, resulting in higher stability and easier troubleshooting. The management process is much quicker and more streamlined."

"The product has reduced OpEx expenditure."

"The solution has a single pane of glass view that allows you to see everything happening in your SD-WAN world."

"The most important feature is WAN optimization."

"The Business Intent Overlay is a great feature."

"The technical support services are excellent."

"The most valuable feature is optimization."

"The product has a dynamic VPN feature for SD-WAN."

"Versa FlexVNF is a scalable product because it does not have any hardware dependencies. This makes it a versatile solution that can be easily integrated with any firewall."

"The most valuable features are the main steering and the firewall. The security features and SD-WAN features are also quite good."

"Their dashboard is also a good point for us and the customer. The solution is very clean and easy."

"The division of Control Plane and Data Plane is most valuable. It can be deployed anywhere, and you can control it and configure it from anywhere. This is one of the good features of this solution."

"Our organization finds the application routing features extremely useful."

"This integration between SASE and SD-WAN is beneficial, as we have tested it with various customers."

"The granularity when it comes to configuration and security features are valuable."

More Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform pros

Cons

"To some degree, it's almost a question as to why some of this stuff isn't simpler. For example, for an AP deployment, while it's integrated, the number of steps that you have to go through in order to get the AP up, seems like a lot."

"The support structure needs to be improved because every time we contact them, there is a delay in the response."

"Usually, we sell the bundle with the UTM or threat management piece with IPS, IDS. Other providers, such as Palo Alto, are ahead in terms of safe functionality. So, for me, delivering truly safe service is probably something that still needs to be improved."

"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."

"At this moment, we believe that Fortinet FortiGate should be improved by injecting more AI because the kind of threats we are seeing are more ransomware threats. Fortinet FortiGate is able to ensure these threats do not enter, but we would prefer to see more proactive alerting mechanisms come out."

"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."

"They have to just improve its performance when we enable all UTM features. When you enable all the features, the performance of FortiGate, as well as of Sophos and SonicWall, goes down."

"There can be more security in hybrid implementations. When a customer has a hybrid environment where some parts are in the cloud, we need a consistent security solution for such scenarios."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The solution lacks sufficient security features."

"The management menu should be simplified."

"The solution can be improved by lowering the cost and making it more user-friendly for first-time users."

"Aruba Orchestrator should implement dynamic certificate changes for security."

"The initial setup is complex, depending on the overall planning for the entire environment."

"They could provide essential training to understand the product functionality."

"The VPN feature is relatively new. It came out two releases ago, and they're still fixing that up."

"The smaller units lack a lot of functionality."

"We are thinking about how to make customers consolidate the loads to an SD-WAN network so that the customers can have bigger chunk from the SD-WAN side so that customers can have critical data be transferred with NPS VPN and non-critical data or some labeled traffic can be transferred by the SD-WAN network. I think it's a very important direction for digital transformation."

"We've had the odd occasional stability issue with software upgrades."

"The solution's current customer support is not that good. So, they need to improve that. Also, the solution's UI is quite complex, so they need to simplify it."

"With the pandemic and changing work models, it would be ideal if the product more accessibility options or more diversity within the solution itself."

"The support needs to be improved."

"The stability of FlexVNF's controller and devices could be improved."

More Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable for an SME."

"The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."

"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is better than Cisco, Check Point, and Palo Alto. In terms of pricing, it's probably a better-priced firewall solution overall."

"The price is really low. It's cheap in comparison to the cost of Cisco or CheckPoint, for example."

"The initial setup is super straight forward and as far as the licensing goes for the small product that we have, the pricing was pretty competitive. It wasn't as simple and as cheap as a SonicWall but for the service we would get it was a good price."

"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."

"The solution requires a license annually, it is not a user license, you can have as many users as your want. I must renew the license regularly per device."

"The price is fair compared to the other competitors."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"I think it is quite expensive compared to other vendors in the market because it depends on what kind of features you really want to acquire in the product."

"The solution's licensing costs are yearly. It is not expensive, and I rate it around three to four out of ten."

"Aruba Orchestrator is free to use."

"I rate the platform’s pricing a five out of ten."

"We provide subscriptions for our customers on a yearly, not monthly, basis."

"The price is expensive but it makes sense for the market."

"It is not very expensive because of the white box support. Its hardware is much cheaper than other products. With the support for x86 and white box, it is one of the most cost-effective platforms that are currently available."

"I find Versa a little more expensive than VMware in terms of remote access and secure web gateway elements."

"It is neither cheap nor expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten on a scale where one is cheap and ten is expensive."

"Price wise, it's more expensive than is the competition. I would give pricing a rating of three out of five."

"While I cannot provide too much commentary on the price, I feel it to be fair for the moment."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

20%

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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What do you like most about Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

The most important feature is WAN optimization.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

Aruba Orchestrator is free to use.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

The management menu should be simplified.

See all answers

What do you like most about Versa FlexVNF?

Versa is a good centralized solution, where you're setting up your infrastructure in a data center type thing.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Versa FlexVNF?

Both Versa and VMware are cheap in terms of the router. I find Versa a little more expensive than VMware in terms of ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Versa FlexVNF?

We've had the odd occasional stability issue with software upgrades, etcetera. They don't support certain other third...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 21% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 64% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 36% of the time

More Aruba Orchestrator Competitors

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Meraki SD-WAN vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 12% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 8% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

Compared 6% of the time

More Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

May 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Aruba Orchestrator

May 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

April 2025

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform report

Download Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator, Unity Orchestrator

Versa FlexVNF, FlexVNF, Versa Titan

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Aruba Orchestrator has an intuitive interface that allows you to centrally define, assign, and enforce policies across the WAN. Network managers experience the highest quality of experience to:

Centrally define, assign and enforce policies based on business intent to secure and control all application traffic across the WAN.

Orchestrator dashboards provide real time visibility into SD-WAN health and performance in a single screen, monitoring traffic throughput along with loss, latency and jitter across overlays and underlays.

Maintain the highest levels of application performance by automatically assigning application and security policies across 100s or 1000s of sites, including automated orchestration with cloud security services.

Central orchestration of network functions including SD-WAN routing, firewall, segmentation, WAN optimization, application visibility and control, and automated orchestration with cloud security services.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

The Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform is a comprehensive solution that provides secure access to cloud applications and services. It combines networking and security functions into a single platform, making it easier for organizations to manage their network infrastructure. The platform includes features such as SD-WAN, VPN, firewall, web filtering, and more. It also offers advanced security capabilities such as intrusion prevention, malware protection, and threat intelligence. With the Versa SASE Platform, organizations can ensure secure access to their cloud applications and services from any location, while also reducing costs and simplifying network management.

Versa Networks

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Information Not Available

CenturyLink, RCN Business, Colt Technology Services

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Orchestrator vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

April 2025

Free Report: Aruba Orchestrator vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform

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