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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
36th
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
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Change Auditor for Windows File Servers is 0.1%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 2.0%, down from 2.9% 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

"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it can be fully integrated with Microsoft solutions and it doesn't impact the productivity order."
"In terms of features, the querying is great."
"I completely recommend Fortinet FortiAnalyzer to others."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to report for several management tasks in a very short time."
"Its robust security and performance are the two main features. We also use the log reporting feature."
"The solution is easy to use and easy to integrate."
"The solution provides good standardized reports and is easy to troubleshoot."
"We use the solution for enterprise firewalls, URL filtering, and SD-WAN."
"The most important feature is to be able to get reports or information about the state of all firewalls."
"It gives us reporting features, which are helpful in the case of troubleshooting and audit purposes."
 

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."
"When it comes to pushing logs to a SIEM, most of the time we have some issues when it comes to filtering."
"It's possible that they could add some advanced analytics and some proactive controls for logging analytics. That will help a lot."
"We are concerned about the compliance of our policy and institutional philosophy."
"Fortinet has a new bug every month, which needs to be improved."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer needs to improve its pricing flexibility."
"The support could be better for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer here in Mexico."
"The technical support is not very reliable."
"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."
 

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 price is quite expensive. Fortinet products are very expensive. That is something which they should also look at, because if you compare Fortinet product to, say, Sophos for example, Fortinet is really high and that's the only thing which is a drawback for most users."
"Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is very expensive."
"We have several products including Fortinet Wireless, FortiGate Firewalls, and FortiAnalyzer, which are bundled together and cost approximately $50,000 USD annually."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"I rate FortiAnalyzer six out of 10 for affordability. FortiAnalyzer pricing isn't steady. It changes each quarter or year. That's one of the main problems in West Abaco because most businesses here are small or medium-sized enterprises. It makes budgeting complicated. You always want to pay the same price on the subscription."
"t varies depending on your needs. However, after-sales support is expensive."
"Its price is okay for us. Fortinet products are cheaper than other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
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?
In the Indian market, Fortinet's pricing is very competitive, allowing us to win most of our deals. It is supportive in terms of pricing, offering a good balance for mid-sized enterprises.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
Currently, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer provides a very basic level of correlation facilities. I would like to see improvements in the integration of better correlation capabilities. This would help in a...
 

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: April 2025.
850,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.