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Change Auditor for Windows File Servers vs Fortinet FortiAnalyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

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

Change Auditor for Windows ...
Ranking in Log Management
34th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Change Auditor for Windows File Servers is 0.1%, down from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 1.9%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

KF
Provides granular queries of security logs and real-time alerting helps me mitigate risks
The real-time alerting helps me mitigate risks. For example, someone adds a member to the domain admin group. We have an alert set up, so if someone does this unexpectedly, we get notified. Then, we can check and verify if the action is legitimate or a potential threat to the environment.
Manikandan Kannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplifying log management by displaying detailed access information
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to simplify and display logs clearly, providing details like which IPs are accessing the system, the destination, and the policies applied. This visualization and detail make managing logs more straightforward. In conjunction with our VMware setup, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer enhances organizational efficiency, meeting the standard log retention period for up to a year.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In terms of features, the querying is great."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it can be fully integrated with Microsoft solutions and it doesn't impact the productivity order."
"The log events are quite useful for us."
"The most valuable feature of FortiAnalyzer is its visibility, especially in network investigations."
"The analyzer is the most valuable feature."
"I like its simplicity. It is straightforward. We get reports and emails about the logs, and that's it."
"Initial setup is ok."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is the capturing of traffic for reports."
"The solution is quite easy to deploy."
"The solution allows for a lot of customization."
 

Cons

"The customer service and support could improve their approach to questioning issues. They tend to ask questions one at a time, which creates a lot of back-and-forth communication."
"The pricing could be improved. It needs to be reduced."
"Our organization wants the solution to be able to provide us access to a centralized dashboard that displays a log view for all firewalls under Fortinet FortiAnalyzer."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer cannot receive any queries. They should add this feature in the future to help manage solutions."
"I need some improvements in the support team since it is an area where there are certain shortcomings."
"The solution does not function well with third-party tools"
"We should be able to do the patch upgrades in a centralized manner. This functionality is currently not there. It would be good to be able to do the firmware updates from one place and at the same time. Currently, if we want to update all appliances, we require FortiManager, which is another solution from Fortinet. Its documentation can be improved. It will be helpful for implementing the product and gaining knowledge for management purposes."
"They could always improve the interface and the user experience."
"Their pricing model is not the best and needs work."
"The cost of FortiAnalyzer could be cheaper, especially when you are installing to a VM. For 90 percent of customers, the VM solution is enough."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is per user. The cost is approximately $15/user on a yearly basis. If you need to, you can always upgrade as well."
"The product's prices are a bit higher than the other solutions available in the market, but I would say that the tool's quality and support are areas that are good."
"The enterprise version of this solution is costly. We have considered FortiAuthenticator for network control, but the pricing was focused on the larger companies and didn't suit our needs as a smaller business."
"The cost and pricing should be in accordance with the calculation of log storage capacity for a time period required for historical analysis."
"There is a license needed to use this solution."
"I won't say the solution is too costly since it is available at a fair price."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"We pay for an annual license."
"The price of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Change Auditor for Windows File Servers?
They've already made improvements! They have a tool called IT Security Search, which lets you perform queries outside of Change Auditor. It's much faster. This is a really good addition and helps u...
What is your primary use case for Change Auditor for Windows File Servers?
I use Change Auditor for Windows File Servers to log history. It's helpful when we have critical changes in Active Directory, like adding or removing items. I use it extensively for monitoring.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The reporting features, which offer customization, real-time insights, and compliance support, are particularly noteworthy aspects.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
There are no extra expenses included aside from the licensing fee for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer, which I am paying annually.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The UI needs to be improved in future updates.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dragon Capital, Howard County MD
General Directorate of Information Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Change Auditor for Windows File Servers vs. Fortinet FortiAnalyzer and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,533 professionals have used our research since 2012.