

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) and Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks compete in the traffic management and security space. Prisma Access appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features and perceived value.
Features: F5 BIG-IP LTM is appreciated for advanced traffic management, load balancing, and enhanced application security. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is favored for robust cloud architecture, scalability, and extensive security features.
Room for Improvement: F5 BIG-IP LTM could enhance integration capabilities, simplify configuration process, and address documentation gaps. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks could improve its documentation, better integrate with third-party services, and address its complexities in configuration.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: F5 BIG-IP LTM's deployment is complex but has responsive customer service. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks offers simpler cloud-based deployment with mixed reviews on customer support responsiveness.
Pricing and ROI: F5 BIG-IP LTM has justifiable setup costs given reliability and support, though initial costs are high. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has premium pricing worth the extensive feature set and security, with positive ROI remarks.
The major return on investment is the security of our data.
There is a net positive return on investment
I would rate the technical support of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) nine out of ten.
Customer support is quite good but could be faster.
Overall, my experience with F5 is very good compared to Radware.
I usually need to raise the alarm and contact a couple of people within Palo Alto Networks to just respond quicker, so technical support should be much better.
The product is reliable, making customer support less frequently needed.
The service and technical support quality varies depending on the personnel.
Prisma Access provides significant scalability, allowing integration of different systems.
To scale, one would need to upgrade or acquire more hardware.
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is a cloud-based solution, and from my experience, there are no issues with scalability.
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks works efficiently during peak usage times.
I think the stability of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is excellent, and I would rate it ten out of ten.
GlobalProtect is a satisfying solution, and the product is robust without major stability issues.
I expect faster resolutions when providing contact numbers while raising cases, as other companies typically do.
The pricing of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is on the higher side compared to competitors, but it is worth it.
What Palo Alto Networks can do better for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is probably to have the point of presence available in more locations.
Sometimes a third-party outage could impact the whole operability.
There is a lack of integration with third-party solutions like CrowdStrike or SentinelOne in Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks.
The product is costly.
The pricing is on the higher side, rating it around eight to nine out of ten.
From my experience, Palo Alto is more expensive compared to solutions like Netskope and Triscale.
Pricing for Prisma Access and Prisma SD WAN is high due to the need for different hardware flavors like IONs.
The impact of SSL offloading on reducing server load and latency is very much positive because whatever traffic we receive, we encrypt at our F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) level, which has definitely reduced the additional load and SSL decryption load on the servers, so it has very much helped us and it is very smooth; it will not take much time and will not impact our regular traffic.
R-series has better CPU and memory, leading to higher throughput with minimal downtime, making it a significant improvement over the I-series.
One of the most beneficial features of F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is its ability to identify compromised traffic and its capabilities in authentication.
These features are security-driven, providing robust protection against increasing cyber threats by integrating NG Firewalls, SD WAN, and CASB, all within a fully cloud-native solution.
The HIP Check is the most valuable feature of Prisma Access, which is the feature usually used from GlobalProtect.
One of the most valuable features of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is the ability to manage on-premise firewalls.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) | 14.3% |
| NetScaler | 12.7% |
| Fortinet FortiADC | 9.7% |
| Other | 63.3% |
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks | 11.8% |
| Cato SASE Cloud Platform | 9.8% |
| Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform | 9.5% |
| Other | 68.9% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 62 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 32 |
| Large Enterprise | 86 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 24 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 21 |
| Large Enterprise | 27 |
F5 BIG-IP LTM optimizes the speed and reliability of your apps via both network and application layers. Using real-time protocol and traffic management decisions based on app and server and connection management conditions, and TCP and content offloading, BIG-IP LTM dramatically improves application and infrastructure responsiveness. BIG-IP LTM's architecture includes protocol awareness to control traffic for the most important applications. BIG-IP LTM tracks the dynamic performance levels of servers and delivers SSL performance and visibility for inbound and outbound traffic, to protect the user experience by encrypting everything from the client to the server.
BIG-IP LTM provides enterprise-class Application Delivery Controller (ADC). You get granular layer 7 control, SSL offloading and acceleration capabilities, and advanced scaling technologies that deliver performance and reliability on-demand. The highly optimized TCP/IP stack combines TCP/IP techniques and improvements in the latest RFCs with extensions to minimize the effect of congestion and packet loss and recovery. Independent testing tools and customer experiences show LTM's TCP stack delivers up to a 2x performance gain for users and a 4x increase in bandwidth efficiency.
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks provides consistent security for all users and applications across your remote networks. Prisma Access grants users safe access to the cloud and data center applications and the internet as well. In addition, the solution combines all of your security and networking capabilities into a single cloud-delivered platform, enabling flexible hybrid workforces.
Prisma Access can be managed two ways:
Prisma Access delivers both networking and security services, including:
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Features
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has many valuable key features including: App-ID, User-ID, Device-ID, SSL Decryption, Dynamic User Group (DUG) Monitoring, AI/ML-Based Detection, IoT Security, Reporting, URL Filtering, Enterprise Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)*, Logging, Policy Automation, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and many more.
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Benefits
Some of the benefits of using Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks include:
Reviews from Real Users
Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics
users who are currently using the solution.
PeerSpot user Partha D., Global Network Tech Lead at a computer software company, speaks about his experience using the product, saying, "It protects all app traffic so that users can gain access to all apps. Unlike other solutions that only work from ports 80 and 443, which are predominantly for web traffic, Prisma Access covers all protocols and works on all traffic patterns... The most sophisticated attacks can arise from sources that are not behind 80/443."
Tejas J., a Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a computer software company, mentions that "it is geographically dispersed, and it sits on top of Google and AWS platforms. Therefore, you don't face the standard issues, such as latency or bandwidth issues, that you usually face in the case of on-prem data centers.”
Another PeerSpot reviewer, Max I., Associate Director at Cognizant, comments that "Security is absolutely spot-on, really top-notch. It's the result of all the components that come together, such as the HIP [Host Information Profile] and components like Forcepoint, providing end-user content inspection, and antivirus. It incorporates DLP features and that's fantastic because Prisma Access makes sure that all of the essential prerequisites are in place before a user can log in or can be tunneled into."
We monitor all Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.