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Fortinet FortiSIEM vs NetWitness Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiSIEM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetWitness Platform
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
29th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (38th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSIEM is 3.3%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetWitness Platform is 0.6%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Oliver Jackson - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems monitoring enhanced by firewall and intrusion detection features
My primary use case for Fortinet FortiSIEM is systems monitoring and alerting. I use it for standard functions like log monitoring, incident detection, and notification.  My customers are mostly medium-sized enterprises ranging from engineering companies, mining companies, independent schools, and…
MOTASHIM Al Razi - PeerSpot reviewer
It is a stable solution, but they should make the user interface easier to understand
The solution's initial setup takes work. We have to organize multiple paths and many features. The deployment process takes less than a week. But it takes a month to complete if we want to make the solution smarter by integrating it with various devices. I rate the process as a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Fortinet FortiSIEM needs to provide better API integrations to users."
"The solution’s IP database is awesome."
"The most valuable feature is the anomaly-reporting alarms."
"Real-time monitoring makes life quite easy for me."
"The ability to write my own parsers for the devices that are not supported by Fortinet is the most valuable feature."
"Its automated response feature has benefited our customer communication. Analysts feel more confident in providing timely responses."
"It's easy to manage. There's a web interface and a command line, depending on what the user is comfortable with. There's a large knowledge base available, and the support is timely."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM has its own validated and authentic IP database that marks malicious IP attacks against the firewall and generates an alert for the same."
"The most valuable feature is that we can create our own connectors for any application, and NetWitness provides the training and tools to do it."
"The solution is really scalable for the high-end power, enterprise customer."
"The most valuable features are the packet decoder, log decoder, and concentrator."
"The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult."
"The most valuable features are the integration and ease of use."
"It gives the ability to investigate into network traffic in the Net and the organization what we couldn't do before."
"The most valuable features are its ingestion of logs and raising of alerts based on those logs."
"It's fully scalable. There is no limit. Of course, the license limits per day the number of terabytes. In my opinion, it's very flexible."
 

Cons

"The backup and recovery process for this solution needs improvement."
"The log collection and configuration management are not great."
"The process of installing Fortinet FortiSIEM and the customization of the alerts take too long."
"The product does not have Security Orchestration and Automation Response, I would recommend adding this feature."
"The solution needs to do a better job with third party integration. Right now, that's lacking on the solution. I specifically am talking about the AWS environment. Most of the AWS environment products do not have that capability to integrate."
"The interface needs some improvements because it's a bit cumbersome when you're trying to view items. It takes some time to get used to. Additionally, sometimes the scrolling does not work."
"When compared with some competitors, in terms of performance, the CPU and RAM requirements and the capability of coordination with development all need some improvement."
"Creating parsers to try make unknown events or currently unsupported devices produce meaningful information is extremely cumbersome."
"The initial setup is complex. There are other solutions that are easier to implement."
"It should have a monitoring feature. It would help us analyze the current state of attacks faster from a single platform."
"There are instances where you try to run the reports and then it does not give you the desired outcome."
"The system architecture is complex and sometimes it’s hard to troubleshoot potential problems."
"An area for improvement would be better automation and more inbuilt use cases."
"Lots of competing products have vulnerability protection built into their products, and this solution would be improved by including that support."
"The tool's integration capability isn't so great."
"The documentation is not as structured as I would like, personally, and I think that it can be improved and made much more user-friendly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Fortinet FortiSIEM is a lot less when compared to other solutions."
"Pricing is acceptable for more than 90% of our customers, as they normally get discounts."
"Its price can be better. We are Fortinet partners, so we can get discounts, but its price can be an issue at the beginning for others. There is a licensing scheme for every case. There are three licensing schemes that we can choose from."
"The solution is available for both, perpetual and subscription licenses."
"We pay for a license for FortiSIEM. We pay for the license and renewal."
"FortiSIEM's licensing is based on EPS, and its pricing is competitive in the market."
"The price of Fortinet FortiSIEM was reasonable compared to other solutions."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive. I rate the tool's price as an eight out of ten. Compared with Splunk or Oracle, Fortinet is cheap."
"Compared to the competition, the is price is not that high."
"The new pricing and licensing mechanisms are fair. I would advise always to get the full solution (i.e., not only Logs)."
"It’s cheaper to run virtual machines in a VMware environment."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets do not have a subscription model, it's a one-time purchase. There is only a perpetual license."
"It is cheap."
"There is a licensing fee and the customer can choose whether he wishes this to be subscription-based or perpetual."
"We have a perpetual license, so the total cost of ownership is not very expensive. It's a good investment."
"The licenses are good but the cost is very expensive."
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Comparison Review

VS
Feb 26, 2015
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We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
6%
Energy/Utilities Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM needs to provide better API integrations to users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSIEM?
The pricing is reasonable, which is why it is preferred by government customers. Windows agent licenses cost around 3,000 Rupees per device per year.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM should broaden its remediation part to include more features for incident management. Currently, to manage repetitive incidents or for remediation, I need to use a separate softw...
What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to me.
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.
 

Also Known As

FortiSIEM, AccelOps
RSA Security Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

FortiSIEM has hundreds of customers worldwide in markets including managed services, technology, financial services, healthcare, and government. Customers include Aruba Networks, Compushare, Port of San Diego, Cleveland Indians, Infoblox, Healthways, and Referentia.
Los Angeles World Airports, Reply
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSIEM vs. NetWitness Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.