


Cisco Secure Firewall and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls compete in the network security category. While Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are preferred for advanced features, Cisco Secure Firewall is appreciated for its pricing and support.
Features: Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls offer versatile threat detection and prevention, robust cloud-delivered security services, and integrated IoT security. Cisco Secure Firewall includes next-generation intrusion prevention, advanced malware protection, and secure access. Enterprises often find Palo Alto's options more comprehensive for almost unparalleled protection.
Room for Improvement: Palo Alto Networks' user interface and detailed logging might benefit from enhanced clarity and simplicity. Customers also desire advanced automation features for easier policy management and implementation. Cisco Secure Firewall could improve by reducing hardware costs and enhancing integration with other platforms. Additionally, streamlining the user interface could alleviate navigation issues for less experienced users.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deployment with Palo Alto Networks is streamlined with excellent documentation and proactive customer service. Cisco Secure Firewall has a steeper learning curve but offers reliable support. Users report finding Palo Alto Networks more intuitive and responsive to implementation queries.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Secure Firewall is praised for cost-effectiveness, providing security benefits at a favorable price. Palo Alto Networks, while having a higher setup cost, offers a strong ROI due to comprehensive security capabilities. Customers weigh immediate budget constraints against long-term security investments, with Palo Alto seen as a worthy investment for robust security infrastructure.
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.
There is always a return on investment because you find you invest heavily, but your environment is secure and then you are at rest; you do not need to panic.
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.
Their user-friendly interface and Panorama central management, which provides a comprehensive overview, make them an ideal investment.
The solution helped reduce downtime, which is crucial in time-sensitive industries like manufacturing.
Although the costs for Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are on the higher side compared to other vendors, the features and security capabilities justify the investment.
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.
Palo Alto's network support is excellent, and I would rate it a ten out of ten.
Their response time is within one hour.
They offer fast and competent assistance.
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.
When something happens in the device, the failover happens very quickly without any interruption.
Cisco Secure Cloud now allows us to potentially take the management functions of Cisco Secure Firewall, move it into the cloud, and integrate it with other Cisco security products, managing everything from one single pane.
I rate the scalability as a number 10.
Cloud deployments benefit from auto-scaling, allowing for automatic adjustments to firewall capacity based on demand.
They support scaling across different environments, allowing you to start with the smallest hardware model for branch offices and scale up to high-end appliances for data centers, such as the PA-700 series, which supports very high throughput.
It is important to assess the infrastructure size before choosing a model.
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.
With appropriately configured policies, these firewalls can provide robust network security.
After the upgrade, we are experiencing performance issues.
I have not experienced any outages or issues.
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.
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
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.
The GUI is useless for me and frustrates me to a very high degree, which led me to switch to the CLI for configuration.
Firewall as a Service can scale to a very large extent because it is a cloud-based offering that can scale up to a very large number, which is not a problem.
When performance degrades due to full packet inspection, the solution should be to increase the computing power within the same firewall, not to recommend upgrading to a larger, more expensive model.
Further integration into a unified system could improve usability.
One of the main challenges we face is the high cost, especially for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs), with licensing for features such as threat prevention, URL filtering, and WildFire being quite expensive.
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.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are expensive.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls come at a premium, exceeding the cost of most competitors by 45 percent.
Colleagues looking for the cheapest and fastest firewall can still use Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls because they are affordable.
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.
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
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.
The most valuable features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are DNS sync calls, enabled security features, and Wildfire.
Threat Vault allows us access to a comprehensive threat database, enabling us to get detailed information on threats and how to mitigate them.
The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is Cortex Data Lake.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Fortinet FortiGate | 17.2% |
| Cisco Secure Firewall | 7.5% |
| Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls | 5.2% |
| Other | 70.1% |





| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 365 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 135 |
| Large Enterprise | 191 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 186 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 129 |
| Large Enterprise | 231 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 75 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 56 |
| Large Enterprise | 85 |
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.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls deliver advanced threat protection with machine learning, enhancing security through real-time attack prevention. Known for application visibility and a user-friendly interface, they offer robust network protection and flexibility in rule creation.
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are designed to secure environments with features like GlobalProtect VPN, WildFire malware detection, and unified platform integration. Their strong firewall capabilities and high-performance throughput make them suitable for perimeter and data center protection, VPN configurations, application control, and network segmentation. Users consistently highlight the ease of managing network security policies and integrating third-party tools, ensuring a comprehensive protection strategy. While enhancements in support, training resources, and configuration simplicity are needed, these firewalls are integral for securing both on-prem and cloud environments, aligning with platforms like Azure and AWS.
What are the key features of Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls?Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are commonly implemented across industries for securing LAN environments, URL filtering, and ensuring Zero Trust security. They secure both on-premises and cloud infrastructures, often becoming integral parts of security frameworks within enterprises. Leveraging these firewalls in conjunction with Azure or AWS enhances the overall network protection strategies employed by organizations.
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