

Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and IRONSCALES both compete in the cybersecurity domain, focusing on network security and email security respectively. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series seems to have the upper hand in comprehensive threat management with extensive application and content filtering features, while IRONSCALES leads in automated email security solutions leveraging AI for real-time threat detection.
Features: Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is known for comprehensive threat management capabilities such as application filtering, App-ID, and Content-ID. Its integration with VMware NSX and advanced IDS/IPS features make it robust for cloud environments. IRONSCALES excels in email security with AI-driven phishing detection, crowd-sourced intelligence, and automated response features for efficient threat mitigation in email services.
Room for Improvement: Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs better integration with cloud services like AWS and Azure, as well as improved reporting and a simpler user interface. Users suggest more intuitive configurations and performance enhancements. IRONSCALES can refine its user training, interface design, and reporting functions. The simulation and campaign management require intuitive enhancements, and pricing needs transparency.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is recognized for its ease of deployment across Public, Private, and Hybrid Clouds but has inconsistent support experiences. IRONSCALES offers efficient deployment primarily in Public and Hybrid Clouds with highly praised responsive customer service, providing professional and prompt support.
Pricing and ROI: Pricing for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is high compared to alternatives such as Fortinet, with noted complexity in its licensing structure. Despite this, the extensive feature set justifies the investment for many. IRONSCALES, while expensive, offers significant time and resource savings, delivering worthwhile ROI in managing large email traffic volumes. Both products provide strong ROI, with Palo Alto reducing operational stress and IRONSCALES enhancing email security efficiency.
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
Customer support for IRONSCALES is outstanding.
I would rate their technical support as very good, as they respond promptly when my team opens a ticket.
The support quality could be improved.
Resolving issues promptly.
They are responsive and provide high-quality assistance.
They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
The solution is scalable and can easily handle an increase in the number of users.
It is easy to use with an excellent graphical user interface and extensive documentation, which contributes to its high scalability.
Hardware is generally very stable.
I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.
Perfection is unlikely as the dynamic nature of traffic and constant changes can result in occasional bugs despite regular updates.
If there were clickable drill downs on specific users or specific correspondence to relate them to certain types of mails, that would be beneficial.
Having a more user-friendly UI would make it easier to identify features and options when using the tool.
Though this isn't problematic for our users, the content could be updated more frequently.
Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.
Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays.
Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers.
While I don't specifically oversee the pricing details, I understand that IRONSCALES is in the range of similar solutions while offering better results.
Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost.
The cost involves purchasing through a vendor, which might mark up due to the supply chain.
Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust.
IRONSCALES has positively impacted my organization by making email security simple in terms of controlling mails, understanding where the threats are, and protecting the organization itself.
The best features of IRONSCALES are that most alerts are validated through AI, which reduces the fatigue of alerts that need to be worked on by the team handling the alerts investigation part.
IRONSCALES excels at analyzing the intention, not just the content itself, but the sender's attempt to gain user attention.
We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.
Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.
The DNS security significantly enhances security through visibility and detection, allowing control over crucial traffic like DNS, which is often exploited by ransomware.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks VM-Series | 2.3% |
| IRONSCALES | 2.9% |
| Other | 94.8% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 7 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 4 |
| Large Enterprise | 4 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 29 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 17 |
| Large Enterprise | 24 |
IRONSCALES delivers cutting-edge AI-driven email phishing detection and prevention, seamlessly integrating with Microsoft 365 for enhanced security.
IRONSCALES, with its advanced AI capabilities, focuses on email security by detecting phishing threats, mitigating business email compromises, and preventing impersonation. Its integration with Microsoft 365 strengthens spam filters, automatically responding to suspicious emails. The platform is used globally for threat inspection, quarantine, and end-user incident reporting. Staff training is enhanced through simulated phishing campaigns, offering an extra layer of protection beyond Microsoft's spam filters. Areas for improvement include better Google Suite integration, pricing adjustments, and enhanced reporting features.
What features make IRONSCALES stand out?In finance, IRONSCALES plays an essential role in safeguarding sensitive data from phishing attacks, ensuring compliance with industry standards. Educational institutions use IRONSCALES for training faculty and students on recognizing phishing attempts, thereby enhancing overall cybersecurity awareness. IT sectors leverage its capabilities for managing complex threat landscapes.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a highly effective advanced threat protection (ATP) solution and firewall that can be hosted on cloud computing technologies designed by many different companies. It decreases the amount of time that it will take administrators to respond to threats. Users that deploy VM-series have 70% less downtime than those who use similar firewalls. Neither protection nor efficiency are concerns when this next-generation firewall is in play.
VM-Series is being deployed to protect both public and private cloud environments. This level of flexibility empowers organizations to run the environment or environments that best meet their needs without worrying that they are going to be exposed to digital threats due to the environment that they choose.
In the public cloud, users of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series can automate their deployment and dynamically scale up their environment while experiencing a consistent level of protection. This dynamic scalability means that they also integrate their security into their DevOps workflows so that their security can keep up with their activities and requirements. Users of private cloud environments can set up security policies that can be automated to be provisioned as the need arises. Organizations don’t need to slow down when they deploy VM-Series because it makes the task of defending them so simple that they can set their defenses and forget that they are even there.
Users gain a deep level of visibility when they deploy Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. App-ID technology enables organizations to see their network traffic on the application level and spot threats that might be trying to sneak in through vulnerable points in their defenses. It also leverages Palo Alto Networks WildFire and advanced threat protection to block the threats before they can escalate.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Features:
Reviews from Real Users:
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a solution that stands out when compared to other similar solutions. Two major advantages that it offers are its ability to protect users without degrading the efficiency with which their networks perform and its centralized management system.
Jason H., the director of information technology at Tavoca Inc, writes, “There is no noticeable trade-off between security and network performance. In fact, so far, we've not seen any negative network performance with it. We're very impressed in that regard.”
An information technology manager at a tech services company says, “We use Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system. We have an on-prem firewall where Panorama is very good for pulling logs in from the cloud so we can see what is going on. It gives us visibility into that as well as shows us what attacks are coming in. Palo Alto’s Panorama centralized management system simplifies our security posture based on our requirements. Instead of manually pulling logs, then generating them into readable formats, it gives us the console in a readable format to view.”
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