Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Symantec Data Center Security comparison

Check Point Software Technologies and Broadcom are both solutions in the Cloud and Data Center Security category. Check Point Software Technologies is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.6, while Broadcom is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.0. Check Point Software Technologies holds a 1.6% mindshare in CDCS, compared to Broadcom’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Check Point Software Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Check Point CloudGuard Netw...

Read 152 Check Point CloudGuard Network Security reviews

4,261 Views
1,023 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Symantec Data Center Security

Read 11 Symantec Data Center Security reviews

782 Views
469 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Check Point CloudGuard Netw...

Symantec Data Center Security

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 14, 2024

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security and Symantec Data Center Security compete in the realm of cloud and data center protection. In terms of features and scalability, Check Point seems to have the upper hand with its extensive offerings and integration capabilities, while Symantec is more robust in hardening and permission control.

Features: Check Point CloudGuard Network Security offers auto-scaling, centralized management, and comprehensive integration with major public cloud providers such as AWS, GCP, and Azure. It is highly scalable and focused on threat prevention. Symantec Data Center Security provides robust hardening capabilities and effective permission control, though it lacks the flexibility and feature range suitable for cloud environments.

Room for Improvement: Check Point CloudGuard Network Security users identify complexities in deployment and reporting, as well as challenges with integrations and the need for enhanced technical documentation and support. Symantec Data Center Security is noted for its complex policy structures and limited management flexibility, with calls for better integration with other solutions and more intuitive user interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Check Point CloudGuard Network Security offers flexibility across on-premises, private, and public cloud environments, making it suitable for hybrid setups. Its customer service is generally positive, albeit with some inconsistencies in support quality. Symantec Data Center Security excels in private and on-premises deployments, but is less adaptable to public and hybrid cloud settings. Customer service is praised for prompt support and vendor engagement.

Pricing and ROI: Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is positioned at a higher price point with customizable licensing options like pay-as-you-go and bring-your-own-license models, offering competitive yet premium pricing. Users report significant ROI through operational efficiencies. Symantec Data Center Security, although frequently seen as more expensive compared to competitors like CrowdStrike, has mixed perceptions regarding ROI, with some deeming its costs reasonable and others finding it less cost-effective.

To learn more, read our detailed Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. Symantec Data Center Security Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. Symantec Data Center Security

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

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

Check Point CloudGuard Netw...

Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

152

Ranking in other categories

Firewalls (8th), Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (4th), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)

Symantec Data Center Security

Ranking in Cloud and Data Center Security

11th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Cloud and Data Center Security category, the mindshare of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is 1.6%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Data Center Security is 1.6%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud and Data Center Security

Featured Reviews

Martin Raška

Senior Security Engineer & Instructor at Arrow Electronics

Unification of security features strengthens network protection

The overall network security is good. It's big-picture, all in one bundle. It's valuable to have everything in one place instead of spreading across different products. Unified security management positively affects a company's security operations. They have one unified view of the security. I can connect multiple gateways to the management and have it in one place. I can have reporting and views in a single pane of glass on the consolidated platform. It's easy to use. The management is the best on the market. It's very easy to work with, read, understand, and navigate. It helps increase our customer's security posture. We can see in some cases CloudGuard improves our customers' posture overall.

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Shahram Dehghani

Security Technical Manager at Modaberan Fanavari Pasargad

A robust solution that provides comprehensive protection for data centers, offering agentless security, powerful intrusion prevention, and a wide range of security features

The primary focus of data center security often revolves around serving customers who offer services to other clients within the data center. For example, if I operate a data center and provide security services, third-party customers might purchase virtual machine products within my data center. These products are automatically deployed, and we safeguard these virtual machines using intrusion prevention system features. This aspect is considered the most valuable part because when we set up these security policies, it's as if we're fortifying the entire infrastructure. It's not just about having good technical support; it's about having a robust IPS and comprehensive DOS prevention system on those operating systems. The advantage of Data Center Security is its ease of use and that it serves as a single unified platform, where I can apply all my security policies to protect that server.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The number of options it gives for deployment or security is valuable. When it comes to security, it has a feature that is super awesome for zero-day-based attacks. Their IPS is also very capable. We tested other firewalls, and we understood that it is the best one in the market."

"The most valuable feature I have found in CloudGuard Network Security is the flexibility to rebuild the firewall as needed."

"The most valuable feature is the automation and the APIs, making our life much easier for integration."

"We are using gateways, and I appreciate the high-availability gateways they have. They stand out more than the competitors."

"Auto Scaling is one of the features that make me want to choose CloudGuard over actual HW."

"Moving into the cloud without having to change a lot of our internal processes and retrain staff is one of the biggest benefits of this solution."

"It's valuable to have everything in one place instead of spreading across different products."

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

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security pros

"The most valuable feature is the endpoint protection system."

"The ability to finely control permissions and restrictions on servers or assets through a customizable rule set is a key strength."

"The monitoring in the management console allows us to find out what is going wrong, and it gets reports even before the user reports it."

"The real strength lies in its straightforward approach, offering just two key policies: prevention and detection."

"Good file integrity monitoring features."

"The tool will then detect any anomalies, such as an intruder who has breached the network, which can trigger the system lockdown feature if it's enabled and meets the defined threshold."

"We use the product to prevent unauthorized access to data, systems, and servers. It provides essential features for data center security."

"The most valuable feature is the centralized console, which can handle different products that we have."

More Symantec Data Center Security pros

Cons

"I haven't used CloudGuard Network Security in the past couple of years as I moved out of the network security role. However, based on my previous experience, there were improvements, especially in in-place upgrades. Regarding cost, it might be potentially cheaper considering resource utilization in Azure and VM costs, but licensing could be improved, possibly moving towards a simpler model."

"I'm quite satisfied with the solution. I don't have any notes for improvements."

"I would focus on the implementation in the cloud, as it relies on third-party vendors like Azure and AWS. It's not seamless; the solution should be more straightforward for complicated environments."

"There is room for improvement in addressing bugs and support issues."

"I believe that presentations on artificial intelligence indicate that analyzing logs via SmartEvent and SmartLog Security Event Information Management can offer insights into emerging trends and potential next steps. By correlating logs related to BYOD, BYOL, and Shadow IT, it will become easier to manage and hopefully mitigate or understand risks."

"Check Point CloudGuard Network Security needs to improve the management of the actual firewalls. Improvement is also needed for the consolidated UI of different security aspects."

"The reporting needs enhancement. Currently, we are not always aware of the gateways' status, like CPU and RAM usage."

"Check Point could show us use cases that would help us in Czech and could help us with security threats in our specific country."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security cons

"The support is very bad. They're not fast at all. Trend Micro's support is much better."

"They need to develop a more flexible product that can be scaled such that it fits well into a small business or a bigger, enterprise-level solution."

"It would be advantageous if Symantec or Broadcom, given the rebranding, could simplify the process, enabling users to leverage the antivirus functionality more easily."

"The product blocks certain processes, even after allowlisting them."

"There is plenty of room for improvement with this product, and it could start with platform metrics."

"This solution clashes with Microsoft defender, which results in performance degradation on the machine."

"Agent management is a challenging task."

"Could have better reporting capabilities and better support."

More Symantec Data Center Security cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"As a partner and solution provider for the last fifteen years, I have distanced myself from specific numbers. However, customer trust in the product is evident due to its comprehensive protective capabilities."

"My experience has been extremely positive. It was not a concern because I had an account team that fought for pricing for our company. They were not pushing me to professional services for certain help. I was instantly getting a CloudGuard architect to help us out."

"Every project needs different pricing. I believe that when we talk with the particular guys, we will find a price for the customer. They are flexible in terms of that because we need to be flexible, and we have many companies who are aggressive with discounts."

"The tool's pricing is been higher than other solutions, but it seems like it's turning downwards."

"It is expensive."

"Pricing of CloudGuard is pretty fair when you have a single account. It's comparable with other cloud providers. But for our use case, it got really pricey when we had to deploy multiple CloudGuards on multiple accounts in different regions, because you can't have CloudGuard protecting multiple regions. That's the big thing."

"We have a pretty good partnership with Check Point. We have a global subscription and agreement. They give us a pretty good corporate discount."

"Licensing is simply by the number of hosts that you are looking to protect within your environment. It makes it much easier to ensure that you are covering your environment."

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security pricing and cost advice

"Compared to some other solutions, such as CrowdStrike, Symantec is more expensive."

"It is notably more expensive when compared to other solutions."

"The product is a bit costly."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

Performing Arts

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

The tool's most valuable feature is its management console.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Pricing in Jamaica is a major issue, with users often citing it as a reason for not using Check Point.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

They could improve the documentation. The interface is fine for me since I have been using it for some time.

See all answers

What do you like most about Symantec Data Center Security?

The granularity of applying the policies is valuable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Symantec Data Center Security?

Agent management is a challenging task. We cannot do it from the console. We will have to use other tools.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Symantec Data Center Security?

One key use case for data center security is protecting files within the data center. This is especially important for Linux systems, where locking down specific files is essential to prevent unaut...

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiGate vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 12% of the time

Azure Firewall vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 11% of the time

Trend Micro Deep Security vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 5% of the time

VMware NSX vs Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

Compared 5% of the time

More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security Competitors

Trend Micro Deep Security vs Symantec Data Center Security

Compared 65% of the time

Symantec Endpoint Security vs Symantec Data Center Security

Compared 24% of the time

VMware NSX vs Symantec Data Center Security

Compared 11% of the time

More Symantec Data Center Security Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

August 2025

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security report

Download Check Point CloudGuard Network Security product report

Buyer's Guide

Symantec Data Center Security

July 2025

Download Symantec Data Center Security product report

Also Known As

CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security

No data available

Overview

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security offers centralized management, robust threat prevention, and seamless integration with major public clouds, ensuring consistent security for cloud and on-premises environments. It combines ease of use with flexibility across diverse IT infrastructure.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security provides comprehensive protection for IT infrastructures in AWS, Azure, and hybrid environments. It ensures firewall security, managing traffic and securing cloud infrastructures while maintaining network protection and compliance enforcement. Organizations benefit from its centralized security governance, enhanced visibility, and threat prevention for both perimeter and internal security. It offers seamless integration with leading cloud platforms, allowing for efficient deployment and scalability, aligning with modern cloud requirements.

What are the key features of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Ease of Setup and Use: Provides a user-friendly setup process and intuitive operation.
Robust Threat Prevention: Offers advanced capabilities to safeguard against potential threats.
Auto-Scaling: Adjusts resources dynamically to meet demand without manual intervention.
Centralized Management: Ensures uniform security policies across cloud and on-premises environments.
Integration with Major Public Clouds: Seamlessly works with AWS, Azure, and other leading platforms.
Intuitive ACL Menu: Simplifies access control list management with an easy-to-navigate interface.
Customizable Policy Options: Allows for personalized security settings suited to specific requirements.

What benefits should companies look for in Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?

Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Through automation and comprehensive reporting, organizations streamline operations.
Consistent Security Management: Offers uniform policies across different environments, reducing complexity.
Improved Threat Detection: Increases the ability to identify and respond to threats quickly.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing or changing infrastructure needs without compromising security.

In industries such as finance, healthcare, and tech, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is vital for protecting sensitive data, managing compliance, and safeguarding daily operations. Its robust integration capabilities support diverse infrastructure setups, assisting companies in maintaining high-security standards efficiently.

Check Point Software Technologies

Docker containers make it easy to develop, deploy, and deliver applications where containers can be deployed and brought down in a matter of seconds. This flexibility makes it very useful for DevOps to automate deployment of containers. Symantec Data Center Security: Server Advanced provides agentless Docker container protection that allows you to achieve the performance benefits of Docker without sacrificing security. Full application control enables administrator privilege de-escalation, patch mitigation, and protection against zero day threats in today's heterogeneous data centers.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. Symantec Data Center Security

July 2025

Free Report: Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. Symantec Data Center Security

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