


Cisco Secure Firewall and Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall are leading products in the cybersecurity category, both providing advanced threat protection features. Cisco seems to have the upper hand with its unique integration of FirePOWER threat management, which provides comprehensive access control and high-level routing, making it stand out against its competitors.
Features: Cisco Secure Firewall offers FirePOWER threat management, layer 3 to layer 7 access control, and high-level routing. It excels with unique features such as advanced malware protection, URL filtering, and centralized management. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall provides robust perimeter network security, URL filtering, and incorporates advanced threat protection features such as IDS and DDoS prevention. Its SD-WAN capabilities enhance the flexibility and management of network security across multiple sites.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Secure Firewall faces challenges with its complex configuration, deployment times, and licensing model. The need for better integration capabilities and improvements in its graphical interface have been noted. Forcepoint’s complex interface and pricing are areas of criticism. Users suggest improvements in training materials and licensing processes for enhanced user experience and integration.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Secure Firewall offers versatility in deployment settings, being available for on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments. Its customer service is highly rated for responsiveness, although deployment complexity is a concern for some users. Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall also provides on-premises deployment favored for its technical support, though some users face management and configuration challenges.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Firewall has a higher pricing structure, justified by its extensive feature set providing substantial value and a strong ROI. Forcepoint is comparatively more affordable yet still in the mid-high range. Some users are concerned about Forcepoint’s cost-effectiveness versus other vendors, although its extensive features add notable value based on organizational needs.
Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
The biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is that there's no waste in any infrastructure cost and licensing costs for us.
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Cisco Secure Firewall is the single pane of glass, which is a huge plus for us.
The biggest return on investment for me when using Cisco Secure Firewall is reliability and robust network design.
Cybersecurity ROI could be $1 or $100 million, depending on the risk of data behind it.
It is easy and offers different solutions for each solution type with small, mid, and large scale options available.
I have seen a return on investment with time saved and also fewer employees needed.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
I have to provide many logs, yet problems remain unresolved, often requiring workarounds rather than solutions.
I have been working with them on firewalls, wireless, switching, and routing, and the support is the best.
They have expertise and provide solutions for the most difficult problems.
Unlike Fortinet where you can escalate an issue and quickly get responses from the development team, Forcepoint's process seems slow and challenging.
TAC engineers are very experienced and troubleshoot issues within the expected timeframe with no problems.
Technical support is sometimes slow to respond, and it takes longer to resolve issues.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
Scalability presents a challenge.
Compared to FortiGate and Palo Alto, it lags in configuration and other aspects.
Even with the highest one, the 4600, we still face issues, particularly when transitioning between screens; it becomes very slow.
There are restrictions in the firewall manager and limitations when deploying for cloud environments.
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is scalable and can grow with my organization's needs.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
We have often encountered split-brain scenarios during failover processes and code upgrades, which have been persistent problems for us.
We work with a cluster with high availability, so if something goes wrong, we have it functioning.
Cisco Secure Firewall offers exceptional performance and stability.
It has many freezes for no reason.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.
The solution should be able to implement machine learning and analytics of all the logs for threat detection and protection.
My ongoing complaint for the last six years has been the lack of CLI functionality, which hinders my ability to work on the firewall, alongside concerns regarding deployment time.
Firepower Management Center is quite out of date compared to other vendors.
The integration between Cisco products themselves presents difficulties, such as SD-WAN configuration.
Fast response and efficient handling of issues, similar to how Fortinet responds, would be great.
AI improvements could be beneficial, as having AI capabilities has become an important checkmark feature.
I recommend that additional features be included in a single license to avoid the need for extra licensing costs.
Last year, I renewed the support for three years, which can sometimes be expensive but depends on the security benefits and how it helps us.
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
It is about 20% cheaper.
It's good to have them, however, it costs us a lot.
It's considered a premium, but people pay that price for Cisco.
There are a lot of in-place contracts for us that provide the benefit of discounts.
The costs can be high since additional features require separate licenses.
In terms of pricing, I would place Forcepoint in the middle when compared to other firewalls like Fortinet and Palo Alto.
These features help reduce our downtime, manage the ISPs, and deploy SLAs for all the website traffic.
The most valuable feature of FortiGate is FortiView which provides proactive monitoring.
We got a firewall and gave an SSL VPN to my client to connect to their servers, after which, such kind of activities involving ransomware attacks stopped.
What stands out positively about Cisco is their training and support, which has effectively prepared engineers to work with their products.
This is very important to my organization, as we work extensively with security because we are a bank, so we can keep the data safe.
Cisco Secure Firewall allows me to safeguard Layer 7 or Layer 3 and manage the security rules with the business needs of my organization.
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has impacted my organization positively by making it very easy to work and offering a more competitive price compared to other vendors.
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall has positively impacted my organization by providing always-on perimeter security.
With Forcepoint, this process is simplified compared to others like Fortinet.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Fortinet FortiGate | 19.1% |
| Cisco Secure Firewall | 6.4% |
| Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall | 0.5% |
| Other | 74.0% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 357 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 132 |
| Large Enterprise | 188 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 180 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 126 |
| Large Enterprise | 212 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 27 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 10 |
| Large Enterprise | 11 |
Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.
Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.
What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.
Cisco Secure Firewall provides comprehensive network security with advanced features such as application visibility, URL filtering, and malware protection. It combines a user-friendly interface with robust VPN capabilities, making it a reliable choice for varying network environments and industry applications.
Cisco Secure Firewall offers exceptional protection with its integration into Cisco's broader ecosystem, ensuring enhanced threat detection and policy unification. Despite its complexity in command-line interfaces and management, Cisco Secure Firewall remains a potent tool for safeguarding data. It is widely adopted for edge security, VPN services, perimeter defense, and traffic segmentation, especially in hybrid settings. Essential sectors like banking and telecom benefit from its stable connectivity and centralized security management. Though there are challenges with costs and support for third-party APIs, the firewall's scalability and high availability provide comprehensive support for protecting network assets.
What are the key features of Cisco Secure Firewall?Cisco Secure Firewall is widely implemented across sectors like banking, education, ISPs, and telecoms. It fortifies data centers and network edge security, delivering strong protection for client access, hybrid environments, and intrusion prevention. In these industries, firewall solutions ensure secure connectivity and manage RTU traffic effectively, leveraging centralized management and integration with Cisco's security tools.
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is a versatile and comprehensive solution for perimeter security, offering features such as SD-WAN, IPS, VPN, and cloud or on-premises subscription keys. It is preferred by many clients over Cisco and is used for obligation redundancy, VPN access, and as the main point of security in infrastructure.
The product is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, complete feature set, scalability, and central management capabilities. Other valuable features include IPS, firewall, sandbox, application control, filtering, security management center, connectivity, and integration capabilities.
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