We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."There are great templates, so you don't have to customize them if you don't want to. You do have the option to custom create some folders and some reports, however, with what is there, you don't really need to go through extra effort, as they already give you a lot of predefined views of reports and so forth."
"Fortinet FortiGate appears to be scalable."
"It is easy to use and performs very well."
"The most important features of Fortinet FortiGate are the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and firewall control applications."
"The most valuable feature is the FortiManager for centralized management."
"We are very happy with the general bandwidth agility we have seen from one website to another website."
"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."
"The CLI and GUI do a good job of putting a lot at your fingertips."
"Cisco IOS Security has many good features, but compared to other solutions, it has a more user-friendly interface with steps to apply and manage rules. Another good part of the solution is that it's more straightforward."
"The solution is easy to use."
"Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Threat Containment feature. Its deployment and configuration are straightforward."
"It covers everything we need it to without looking to secondary solutions."
"Cisco is head-and-shoulders above all of the competition when it comes to technical support."
"The product's stability is good."
"I've found their network routing to be very good."
"The solution effectively integrates with Umbrella."
"The most valuable aspects of FortiGate NGFW are its top-notch reputation in peer reviews, user-friendly interface, and excellent support."
"There are multiple features I have found to be valuable, such as encryption and integrated security features."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a simple configuration."
"The usability of the solution is its best feature."
"The product is user-friendly and not complex."
"The most valuable features we found are the SD-WAN, FortiGate SD-WAN, and the standard UTM protection, among others."
"Overall, I am satisfied with the product."
"FortiGate NGF is simple compared to other firewalls. It is easy to use and you don't need any training. Any person with basic firewall knowledge can use it."
"Fortinet currently has many products bundled with FortiGate including the basic firewall and load balancer, and I think that that they need to have separate product portfolios for each of these specialized services."
"A lack of integration between our data centers."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."
"It is very expensive, and their support is not very good. I hope that their technical support will be better in the future."
"The performance and speed are aspects of the solution that could always be improved upon."
"While FortiGate is cheaper than most other solutions, we're seeing increased license renewal costs. Most of our clients are asking for more significant discounts because the price is going up."
"It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics."
"My only complaint about FortiGate is a lack of QinQ VLAN tunneling. I haven't found this feature in any Fortinet product. You can do this on all Cisco routers, including the smaller models. However, QinQ isn't available on the biggest, most expensive Fortinet units. They still don't have that. I think now we're on software version 6.0, and they still haven't found a solution for QinQ. It isn't a dealbreaker, but that's my main complaint."
"The initial setup is complicated."
"Cisco very slowly introduces and implements the products, unlike other brands."
"An area for improvement in Cisco IOS Security is the performance because it's not as stable sometimes. There's also some latency in the solution, which could be improved. Cisco IOS Security integrates with other solutions, but you'll encounter many errors after integration, so this is another area for improvement. I'd like to see enhanced performance and a simplified setup in the next version of Cisco IOS Security."
"The routers, don't have like long-term tendency features, or higher availability features available for the IOS. It could also use a better user interface."
"Cisco IOS Security could improve its security features. There are competitors that have some additional security features, such as Fortinet FortiGate. Additionally, there should be better synchronization with Cisco IOS Security and other vendors, and improved AI features would be beneficial."
"With respect to user-friendliness, it is a command-line interface and those with such experience will get along just fine, whereas others may struggle."
"The solution’s setup process could be better."
"Signatures and other critical definitions need to be updated more frequently."
"The solution must improve the support provided for customers around the globe, considering the time differences in different places."
"Someone without certification and experience with other firewalls might find it a bit more challenging to grasp the FortiGate format and its platform layout."
"FortiGate NGFW can improve technical support. The engineer who answers the technical support call, email, or phone call, whatever the medium may be. The response time is very bad."
"I see problems with the licensing. If I have to add a new feature, we need to add a license."
"The management consoles can be improved."
"One of the weaknesses of the solution is something we noticed, especially after comparing the tool with SD-WAN features, since, unfortunately, in a massive scale size environment, the solution is not good. I"
"The room for improvement is to have more flexibility on the virtual machines of their next-generation platforms."
"Its load balancing feature could be easy to configure."
More FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 22nd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is ranked 14th in Firewalls with 37 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco IOS Security writes "User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) writes "Easy to set up but needs better pricing and more helpful support". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiOS, Netgate pfSense and OPNsense, whereas FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is most compared with OPNsense, Netgate pfSense, Tailscale, Twingate and Fortinet FortiGate-VM. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) report.
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