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Prisma SD-WAN vs Steelhead comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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
8.4
Prisma SD-WAN reduces costs and improves network stability, security, and scalability, with ROI estimated within two years.
Sentiment score
8.5
Steelhead enhanced bandwidth efficiency, resulting in substantial cost savings and improved user experience without additional tools or upgrades.
Without Steelhead, we would have spent much more on bandwidth costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Prisma SD-WAN's support is knowledgeable but inconsistent, with delayed response times affecting overall satisfaction since CloudGenix transitioned.
Sentiment score
6.4
Steelhead's customer service and technical support are efficient, knowledgeable, and responsive, though complex issues may face slower resolution.
Overall, I would rate their customer service or support around a four out of ten.
I am satisfied with Palo Alto's customer service and support.
I rate the technical support from Palo Alto as nine out of ten.
Steelhead's support is generally good for typical issues yet can be time-consuming during complex problem-solving across teams, particularly for Active Directory integration.
Riverbed's customer service and technical support would be rated an eight.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Prisma SD-WAN excels in scalability and management, supporting complex networks despite documentation challenges, contingent on proper licensing.
Sentiment score
8.4
Steelhead efficiently scales for SMBs and enterprises, managing up to 20,000 users with effective traffic handling and deployment support.
Everything is managed by the service provider, Palo Alto Networks, allowing me to manage my infrastructure without overheads or extra costs to adapt the management infrastructure to the actual needs of the field.
I rate it a ten out of ten since we can easily scale by just paying for additional licenses as needed.
Scalability is a significant concern for us due to the poor documentation that limits our ability to understand and utilize their system effectively.
It allows us to maximize use from our MPLS providers by handling traffic efficiently across phased deployments.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Prisma SD-WAN's stability has improved, with minimal downtime and effective management, earning high user ratings for performance.
Sentiment score
8.5
Steelhead offers stable, efficient network operations with minimal downtime, robust performance, and reliable support, ensuring continuous traffic flow.
Our engineers make the system appear stable through effective management.
Prisma SD-WAN is an absolutely stable solution.
Stability is high, I rate it 9.8 out of ten.
It's quite stable and provides all necessary alerts if something is wrong.
Steelhead helps significantly with large data transfers.
 

Room For Improvement

Prisma SD-WAN struggles with event correlation, third-party integration, routing issues, high costs, limited support, and outdated documentation.
Steelhead needs improved traffic handling, encryption optimization, enhanced response times, better integration, and user support with fewer scaling limitations.
Scalability is a significant concern for us due to the poor documentation that limits our ability to understand and utilize their system effectively.
If there were an option to extend management to other firewalls, users could perform staggered migrations.
We initially had challenges with AIOps, which was overwhelming, and could benefit from simplification or improved training.
It could still be useful in places with satellite communications, such as the south of Chile, or in the mining industry.
It would help if Riverbed could prevent such drastic impacts during updates.
 

Setup Cost

Prisma SD-WAN is costly but valued for its advanced features, ideal for larger companies needing detailed network control.
Enterprise users find Steelhead costly yet valuable for TCP optimization, with complex licensing and comparable alternatives like SolarWinds.
The solution is not cost-effective for smaller environments and is more suitable for medium to large companies.
The price for Prisma is a bit high.
The product could be a bit cheaper for the services it provides.
Buying the hardware initially is costly, but yearly maintenance and licenses are not as expensive.
Steelhead is considered an expensive solution in our country.
 

Valuable Features

Prisma SD-WAN offers seamless integration, strong security, and advanced management with automation, analytics, and efficient connectivity features.
Steelhead optimizes WAN with compression and caching, enhancing network efficiency and reducing costs in bandwidth-limited environments.
By reducing the need for expensive internet connections, Prisma SD-WAN allows customers to achieve cost savings.
The biggest benefit for us is that we've seen a reduction in incidents.
Prisma is a mature platform in terms of security.
Functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP, and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency.
Steelhead's most valuable feature is its ability to hash and send only the important parts of the information, avoiding the resending of data.
 

Categories and Ranking

Prisma SD-WAN
Ranking in WAN Edge
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (5th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th)
Steelhead
Ranking in WAN Edge
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the WAN Edge category, the mindshare of Prisma SD-WAN is 6.1%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Steelhead is 1.2%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
WAN Edge
 

Featured Reviews

Engineerinfosec67 - PeerSpot reviewer
Centralized management streamlines global network traffic control
Prisma SD-WAN requires a more seamless integration with other Palo Alto solutions, like Prisma Access. Although there has been improvement, further steps can be taken. Additionally, it would be beneficial if the solution integrated the SD-WAN features of Prisma SD-WAN with the security features of Palo Alto's next-generation firewalls, as they currently do not align.
Raj Metkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency & bandwidth saving, best layer 7 QoS shaping policy can be achieved with ease
There are several features specific to branches, like keeping data hot and active on Steelhead devices. These features prevent unnecessary data travel across the international MPLS. Additionally, functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP for branches and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency along with really good QoS for bandwidth shaping.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Prisma SD-WAN?
The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma SD-WAN?
The pricing through AT&T is not a pain point, though direct pricing from Palo Alto appeared more expensive. Comparatively, the pricing shows AT&T offers a better deal.
What needs improvement with Prisma SD-WAN?
We initially had challenges with AIOps ( /categories/aiops ), which was overwhelming, and could benefit from simplification or improved training. Additionally, the app ID creates more granular diff...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We just did an assessment for our 47 datacenters around North America. The top two enterprise-level network monitoring solutions were ExtraHop first, Riverbed SteelCenter second. Their negotiated c...
What do you like most about Riverbed Steelhead?
One of our most valuable features is Steelhead's cloud migration optimization. Moving to the cloud helped optimize our workflow, improving performance for end-users.
What is your primary use case for Riverbed Steelhead?
In the past, we have sold a lot of Steelhead ( /products/steelhead-reviews ) for retail companies, insurance companies, some finance companies, and some engineering companies. Steelhead ( /products...
 

Also Known As

CloudGenix
RIverbed Steelhead
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Open Networking User Group, Columbia Sportswear Company, Coca Cola
ElAraby, SFK Leblanc, Bobst Group, Northwest Pipe Company, Halkbank, Tradebridge, EFG Hermes
Find out what your peers are saying about Prisma SD-WAN vs. Steelhead and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.