


WatchGuard Firebox and Microsoft Defender XDR are both renowned in the cybersecurity market, competing in comprehensive security solutions. While WatchGuard Firebox stands out in network management with its Geolocation service and pricing, Microsoft Defender XDR, integrated into the Microsoft environment, offers a cohesive security package, excelling in endpoint and cloud security.
Features: WatchGuard Firebox offers Geolocation services to block traffic from specific countries, advanced adaptability, and user-friendly management with dashboards and alerts. Microsoft Defender XDR, on the other hand, provides seamless integration into the Windows ecosystem, advanced threat detection, and identity protection, alongside its integration with other Microsoft products for cohesive security.
Room for Improvement: WatchGuard Firebox needs better reporting capabilities, simplified configuration, enhanced integration with third-party products, and cloud capability expansion. Microsoft Defender XDR could improve its licensing structure and pricing clarity, simplify its user interface, enhance automation capabilities, and improve integration with non-Microsoft products.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WatchGuard Firebox is easy to deploy and has accessible support, although technical support can be bureaucratic at times. Microsoft Defender XDR benefits from its native integration within the Microsoft ecosystem, though customer support can be slow in addressing technical queries.
Pricing and ROI: WatchGuard Firebox is competitively priced, offering significant ROI through efficient network management and IT cost savings. Microsoft Defender XDR, while perceived as expensive, provides value through wide security coverage and seamless integration, despite needing improved pricing transparency.
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.
We can quarantine and isolate a device within minutes.
Microsoft Defender XDR has saved me at least 50% of my time.
It helped stop multiple intrusion points where we would have had millions in lost revenue if the attackers got in.
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.
You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain.
It's critical to escalate SEV B issues immediately to a domestic engineer.
Once issues are escalated to the second or third layer, the support is much better.
On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the technical support of the WatchGuard Firebox a 10.
Finally, we connected with someone, and I would rate their support as eight or nine out of ten once we were able to speak with them.
The technical support is good.
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.
My concern is about the scale of events and alerts being generated, and the product is doing a very good job of only surfacing the important items for us.
Microsoft Defender XDR shows tremendous scalability, much more so than on-premises solutions.
Microsoft Defender XDR scales pretty well.
The user interface and features compared to newer firewalls are not up to the mark, which includes functionalities such as filtering, web filtering, threat protection, user identity, and UTM features that need improvement.
If we're going for more concurrent users, we need to change the entire box.
I find the WatchGuard Firebox scalable, as it's easy to change configurations from this product to another one.
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 service has remained consistently online, with any issues isolated to specific components, suggesting a well-designed and modular architecture.
The services within our ecosystem have been reliable, meeting their SLAs.
It provides high-fidelity signals.
There are issues with traffic hitting the firewall, which could indicate performance problems related to throughput.
When considering Sophos XG, which we also use, the logging and reporting functionality is notably more efficient.
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.
The licensing process needs improvement and clarification.
Improvements are needed in automated response capabilities.
Some inconsistencies exist between blades, which could be improved for a more seamless user and UI experience.
The cost for renewal after three years is 75% of the hardware cost, which is a significant problem.
When implementing a rule using a group of IPs, it is not possible to do that directly.
It is also difficult to diagnose issues if any devices get compromised; for example, if someone hacks our system, it becomes hard to trace who made changes or accessed the firewall.
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.
There are certainly savings when using Microsoft Defender XDR, which can range from 30%, 40%, and even up to 50%.
I would rate the pricing as eight out of ten, indicating it is a reasonable cost for the product.
Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs.
When we tried to renew the Palo Alto license, the cost was beyond any reasonable range.
It's expensive us here.
I have faced challenges with the WatchGuard Firebox regarding price since we work with customers who use the Stormshield product, which is less expensive and French-made.
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.
With Microsoft threat intelligence information, it detects various types of threats, including insider attacks, malicious content, and data exfiltration.
This allows us to secure our systems in advance and proactively improve security, rather than waiting for incidents to occur.
Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline.
The Firebox offers valuable features such as network security, URL filtering, UTM features, intrusion prevention and detection, and authentication.
Basically, we have received a good return on investment.
I utilize AI within the WatchGuard Firebox, as we use the interconnection with threat syncs, and AI is implemented.


| Company Size | Count |
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| Small Business | 357 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 132 |
| Large Enterprise | 188 |
| Company Size | Count |
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| Small Business | 47 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 25 |
| Large Enterprise | 38 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 92 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 25 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
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.
Microsoft Defender XDR is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect against threats in the Microsoft 365 environment.
It offers robust security measures, comprehensive threat detection capabilities, and an efficient incident response system. With seamless integration with other Microsoft products and a user-friendly interface, it simplifies security management tasks.
Users have found it effective in detecting and preventing various types of attacks, such as phishing attempts, malware infections, and data breaches.
Watch the Microsoft demo video here: Microsoft Defender XDR demo video.
WatchGuard Firebox is a high-performance firewall known for its ease of setup, offering robust security with layered protection and centralized management capabilities.
WatchGuard Firebox stands out for its intuitive management and high throughput, addressing security needs with features like VPN, web filtering, and threat detection. Its centralized control and reporting abilities, along with Active Directory integration, make it popular among varied organizations. Its user-friendly interface and ongoing updates enhance usability and reliability. However, there's a call for better cloud-based administration, scalability, and improved integration with third-party vendors.
What are the key features of WatchGuard Firebox?WatchGuard Firebox is implemented across industries to secure internet gateways and protect data in multi-site businesses. Its applications span from Unified Threat Management (UTM) and intrusion prevention to compliance support in business environments requiring secure connectivity through VPNs.
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