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Palo Alto Networks PA-Series vs Sophos Cyberoam UTM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series offers cost-effective security solutions with advanced features, providing significant ROI within three to five years.
Sentiment score
6.4
Sophos Cyberoam UTM is praised for cost-effectiveness, centralized management, and ROI in security, saving time and resources.
The return on investment with this product is a hard question because security tends to be a cost center rather than a profit center.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series will be more reliable and will save money, time, and multiple resources.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is definitely worth the investment a company is paying to use it.
Senior Network Security Engineer at UNITE HERE HEALTH
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series customer service is praised for knowledge but criticized for slower response times compared to Cisco.
Sentiment score
7.3
Sophos Cyberoam UTM customer service has mixed reviews, praised for expertise but criticized for occasional delays and communication issues.
They're constantly following up after a case has been opened to ensure that it has been resolved properly.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Cisco TAC support comes within five to ten minutes on the call.
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Initially, it took one or two hours to get a Palo Alto engineer, which is quite slow.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
They resolve issues timely once connected.
IT Manager at Jord International Pty Ltd
Technical support is effective and responsive.
Managing Consultant at Affordable IT
I would rate their technical support a solid nine out of ten.
Global IT Manager at Express KItchen
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
The PA-Series provides excellent scalability for enterprises, with virtual models offering adaptability for thousands of users and devices.
Sentiment score
6.4
Sophos Cyberoam UTM is scalable for medium enterprises, though scalability can depend on hardware, model, and integration choices.
If you talk about virtual firewall, it is easy to autoscale.
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The solution can handle more than ten thousand users in my organization.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
There are no restrictions in scalability.
Asisstant Manager at Yaskawa America, Inc
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is praised for stability due to consistent updates, high availability, and reliable long-term operation.
Sentiment score
8.4
Sophos Cyberoam UTM is praised for its high stability, minimal issues, and reliable performance compared to competitors.
I am giving stability a rating of 10 out of 10 because since implementation, we have not observed any issues with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series related to version, vulnerabilities, or anything else.
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
If the data plane hangs or gets stuck, then we can troubleshoot using the management plane.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
 

Room For Improvement

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series faces high costs, complex setup, slow support, and demands for better integration, UI, and features.
Sophos Cyberoam UTM struggles with high costs, scalability, outdated features, complex setup, and limited support for new technologies.
You can buy cheaper products, but I believe in the value they're giving us.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The interface of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series should be made much more user-friendly.
IT Coordinator at CSA Makati
For the next release of the Palo Alto Networks PA-Series firewall, I would like to see logs monitoring included.
Asisstant Manager at Yaskawa America, Inc
For Sophos Cyberoam UTM, you don't really have that access that can give you those network flexibilities that would allow you to do some other types of architectures.
Chief Technology Officer at Super Digital Highways Ltd
It would be beneficial if phone calls or SMS for two-factor authentication were available.
IT Manager at Jord International Pty Ltd
Sophos Cyberoam UTM should move in the direction of AI capabilities, as the world is moving toward AI.
Global IT Manager at Express KItchen
 

Setup Cost

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series provides high-end security and support valued by enterprises, despite its higher price compared to competitors.
Sophos Cyberoam UTM is competitively priced, with flexible licensing options, but costs vary based on features and network size.
The firewall is expensive for every company, but the cost is worth it to ensure maximum security.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
The price of Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is expensive.
IT Coordinator at CSA Makati
Overall, the pricing is good, but if they included GlobalProtect, it would be more valuable.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
The price is appropriate, but if you want the real truth, it's actually quite expensive.
Managing Consultant at Affordable IT
 

Valuable Features

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series offers advanced security features and simplified management for organizations prioritizing data security and flexibility.
Sophos Cyberoam UTM offers advanced protection with real-time features, centralized management, scalability, and user-friendly operations for all organizations.
Integrated threat intelligence has empowered my organization to adapt to threats by taking a lot of the burden off us; there's just no way we would see the same breadth of knowledge that a vendor or manufacturer would have.
Global Network Engineering Technical Lead at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Palo Alto Networks PA-Series has multiple security features, including antivirus, IPS, and behavior-based analysis.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
The most effective features of the solution are its Magic Quadrant positioning, making it a leading firewall on perimeter areas and internet edges.
Operations Specialist - MX Operations at Bank Alfalah Limited
It provides bandwidth management, category management of websites, blocking certain elements, IPS blocking, DDoS protection, and VPN management between sites and clients.
IT Manager at Jord International Pty Ltd
I assess the benefit of Sophos Cyberoam UTM's centralized management for multi-appliance handling as a welcome feature because you can manage all the devices at one location, giving you notifications of downtime and updates without necessarily logging into each appliance, so that central management is a very genius move.
Global IT Manager at Express KItchen
The way the rule sets are configured makes it an easily understandable way to manage.
Managing Consultant at Affordable IT
 

Categories and Ranking

Palo Alto Networks PA-Series
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (19th)
Sophos Cyberoam UTM
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (9th)
 

Featured Reviews

Rohit Ghorpade - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Network Engineer at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Identity-based perimeter control has improved security and supports reliable remote access
Currently, we are working with vendors such as Palo Alto Networks PA-Series, Cisco, Check Point, and Citrix. Palo Alto Networks PA-Series is a better firewall. Deep packet inspection and threat prevention basically comply with whatever traffic is incoming and outgoing through the firewall. I do not think anything improvement is required. The thing is that Palo Alto Networks PA-Series works mostly on a license-based model. If you want to utilize any feature, you have to purchase the license. For example, URL filtering requires a license purchase. It simplifies the implementation because LDAP server profile can be integrated. Basically, that simplifies the implementation of access rule or security policy.
SH
Global IT Manager at Express KItchen
Has transitioned fully to SD-WAN and centralized management simplifies appliance handling
As for areas where Sophos Cyberoam UTM can be improved, it's hard to say; I have not at the moment seen anything that I could not get a solution for, but if there's anything, I'll make sure to raise that with the Sophos team. Regarding the documentation, I find that it is still lacking, although the YouTube videos, user training, and knowledge forum are now better than they were before. Sophos Cyberoam UTM should move in the direction of AI capabilities, as the world is moving toward AI. Sophos Cyberoam UTM is not promoted enough. I see FortiGates organizing student competitions and Cisco doing CCNA classes, so Sophos should follow that route as well.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Construction Company
12%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business48
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?
If we look at the features, then the price is good, but they do charge for the GlobalProtect VPNs. Overall, the pricing is good, but if they included GlobalProtect, it would be more valuable.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?
There is room for improvement in Palo Alto Networks PA-Series in the areas where they can minimize applications and implement features that can be useful for us.
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks PA-Series?
I am using Palo Alto Networks PA-Series to ensure protection and cybersecurity by preventing and implementing network security features to safeguard networks against threats and malware. I have to ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
The price is appropriate, but if you want the real truth, it's actually quite expensive. The annual software licensing is reasonably pricey, with probably about four years' license annual.
What needs improvement with Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
There is room for improvement when it comes to their features and architectures they're trying to implement that they can't directly help with. But by and large, it's actually relatively good. More...
What is your primary use case for Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
I do work with clients that use both Cisco and Sophos products. My work is mostly with firewalls, storages, switches, and routers.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Gulf Corporation for Technology, Maridive & Oil Services, Fidelity Bank, Petra University, Capital FM Kenya, Safari Park Hotel and Casino, Mayfair Casino, Pacific International Lines, Mozambique Ministry of Education, University of Namibia, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, University of Hawai, New Delhi Municipal Council
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