


Sophos Firewall and Fortinet FortiGate-VM are competitors in network security. Sophos is known for competitive pricing and extensive features, appealing to budget-sensitive buyers, whereas Fortinet offers strong scalability and integration options, suitable for businesses seeking those advantages.
Features: Sophos Firewall provides comprehensive protection with its Enterprise Guard license, including Network and Web Protection, and offers flexible pricing with significant discounts for competitive upgrades. Fortinet FortiGate-VM provides excellent value with flexible bundle and licensing options, offering robust security and integration capabilities that justify its pricing.
Room for Improvement: Sophos Firewall can improve in areas such as email protection, VPN capabilities, and simplifying user interfaces. Fortinet FortiGate-VM could enhance user-friendly integration with third-party tools and provide better GUI functionality to improve competitiveness in pricing.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both solutions offer reliable customer service, with Fortinet noted for professional and responsive technical support. Sophos receives mixed deployment reviews, but its documentation and local support are appreciated. Fortinet is recognized for ease in complex environments with straightforward deployment.
Pricing and ROI: Sophos Firewall's pricing model, with options for longer-term contracts and full-feature licenses, provides significant cost savings and strong ROI. Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers a solid ROI with slightly higher licensing costs, justified by extensive features and flexible licensing options suitable for varied 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.
I observed a fifty to sixty percent reduction in operational costs after migrating to FortiGate VM.
They have a platform that organizes their networks and access effectively.
We haven't used MPLS for over five years now, and it was extremely beneficial to see the changes from MPLS to SD-WAN using Fortinet FortiGate.
The costs have increased with Sophos XGS in the last few years, with license prices going up by 30%, doubling from $2,500 to about $5,000, which is a big challenge for us.
The graphical interface of Sophos XG simplifies configurations, saving time in support and troubleshooting compared to the Linux-based solution I previously used.
We purchased endpoint security for the first time last year, and even without endpoint security, it provides comprehensive security.
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 would rate the technical support by Fortinet at a 10.
You can open a ticket and expect a reply and problem-solving from effective engineers in just one hour, which no other vendor can offer.
Their support is helpful and effective.
I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.
Their team was quick to diagnose and resolve the problem by exchanging the equipment within two weeks.
Any issues are quickly addressed by their support team, which is not common among all OEM manufacturers.
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.
Fortinet FortiGate-VM adapts effectively; for example, you have a limited number of VPN connections on VM01, accommodating around 1,000 remote users, and if the customer needs another endpoint, we can deploy VM02 and manage that transition effectively.
Scalability is well-supported, with the notable ability to implement features easily.
It can start with a single core and scale up to a 32-core license for a robust deployment.
You can scale up to multiple firewalls with centralized management.
You can't upgrade memory or storage on a specific model, which limits scalability.
I rate the scalability a nine out of ten.
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.
The stability of Fortinet FortiGate is excellent.
The product has been very stable, based on my ten to eleven years of experience.
In the past couple of years, they started releasing numerous new features, and things have become somewhat unstable.
It is rated at nine out of ten for stability and is very reliable.
Sophos XG is very stable, even when serving as a DHCP server.
Sophos XGS is stable now, and I would rate its stability as a ten out of ten.
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.
The API needs better integration to match accounts and objects more effectively.
Now, these features require separate products like FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, and a FortiCloud subscription for reporting.
They lack a post-sale process; once the sale happens, they just vanish, and then you're on your own.
The solution should have the ability to be up to date with the most recent threats.
This suggests a vulnerability that needs addressing to ensure administrators can update patches without losing access.
Business cannot stop just because of issues with support.
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.
The license for Fortinet FortiGate-VM costs 100K to 150K Philippine pesos per year for VM1 or VM2.
I don't have this experience with Fortinet FortiGate-VM because my colleagues in Germany are reaching better prices than me.
We have a licensing module along with a next-generation firewall module, and its pricing compared to other vendors is one of the best features of Fortinet as it is cheaper than any vendor.
I rate the pricing a ten out of ten.
Currently, it costs about four million shillings in Kenya.
The cost depends on the package you are in, such as full threat management or basic.
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.
The more integrated we become, the less we spend on solving bugs and issues, allowing us to reduce time focusing on understanding and improving our network.
Fortinet is the only provider to have successfully set up a unified operating system on all its products in the network security ecosystem.
For what we need to do, which is setting up a VPN connection between both sides and using it for SSL VPN connections for remote users, it works effectively and we haven't encountered vulnerabilities.
The firewall feature of Sophos XG has been the most effective for threat prevention.
Integration with endpoint security products ensures seamless traffic flow and rule enforcement, even when endpoints are not directly connected to the firewall.
Visibility features are included in XDR. This provides information on user impact, potential threats on specific machines, source and destination IPs, setup firewall details, and unique identifiers for each machine.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Fortinet FortiGate | 18.7% |
| Sophos XG | 8.4% |
| Fortinet FortiGate-VM | 1.9% |
| Other | 71.0% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 357 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 133 |
| Large Enterprise | 188 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 71 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 34 |
| Large Enterprise | 36 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 203 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 62 |
| Large Enterprise | 52 |
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.
FortiGate Virtual Appliances allow you to mitigate blind spots by implementing critical security controls within your virtual infrastructure. They also allow you to rapidly provision security infrastructure whenever and wherever it is needed. FortiGate virtual appliances feature all of the security and networking services common to traditional hardware-based FortiGate appliances. With the addition of virtual appliances from Fortinet, you can deploy a mix of hardware and virtual appliances, operating together and managed from a common centralized management platform.
Sophos Firewall provides comprehensive network security with web filtering, VPN capabilities, and cloud integration. Users highlight its effective threat prevention and flexibility for customizable policies, enhancing network visibility and management.
Renowned for its robust security, Sophos Firewall simplifies network protection through advanced features like intrusion prevention and endpoint protection integration. Its user-friendly interface allows seamless remote management and tailored rule creation, making it ideal for varied environments like healthcare and education. While the system excels in threat detection, areas such as interface navigation, support response times, and VPN integration face challenges. Enhanced reporting and bandwidth management are essential for improved performance.
What are the standout features of Sophos Firewall?Industries such as healthcare, education, and finance implement Sophos Firewall for secure VPNs, improved threat management, and effective traffic monitoring. Its load balancing and email security features support compliance and governance, ensuring robust protection tailored to sector-specific requirements.
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