Aruba Orchestrator vs SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Riverbed are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.6, while Riverbed is ranked #26. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 1.5% mindshare in SDW, compared to Riverbed’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of Riverbed users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Aruba Orchestrator and SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

December 2025

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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 FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 13.9%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Aruba Orchestrator is 1.5%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN is 0.9%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortinet FortiGate	13.9%
Aruba Orchestrator	1.5%
SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN	0.9%
Other	83.7%

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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reviewer2733462

Senior IT Officer at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees

User interface boosts network management efficiency

I use Aruba Orchestrator's advanced analytics tools. Aruba Orchestrator's analytics tools are great tools to use. We were using Cisco, but when comparing it with Cisco, Aruba is far better. The security features of Aruba Orchestrator are really good; I don't think there is any issue with security. It's a good tool in terms of the security aspects. My experience with Aruba Orchestrator is that it's a great tool to use to manage the network. Its user interface is very user-friendly; in fact, the management interface is very user-friendly. It also gives a lot of troubleshooting ideas when we are trying to troubleshoot any issues with the wireless network or the wired network. It's a very useful tool. I can say that 100% the ROI from Aruba Orchestrator is really good because we have reduced the number of people needed. There is no need to have a team of people to manage the huge network, and with a relatively smaller number of resources, we are able to manage.

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Jason Best

Data center network architect at Cloudwire

Analytics feature is very granular and comprehensive, although complicated to use

It's like an SD-WAN project basically. You really need to make sure that the product matches the needs of what the customer's trying to achieve and their overall strategy to meet their core business requirements. I think a certain customer made a mistake in choosing this solution because a large part of their network was Cisco and they had firewalls that were from Fortinet. I think they would have been better off and it would have been better from a CAPEX, OPEX point of view. It would've been more advantageous for them to have maybe chosen a Cisco or Fortinet solution based on their existing environment. Make sure you understand your network correctly before you try to implement any SD-WAN solution. That was one of the good lessons I learned about SD-WANs with this specific product. I wouldn't say it was a fault of the product. I would say it's more a fault of the CTO who tries to do things quickly without taking into account the existing environment or give the internal faculties the time to provide real low-level design implementation. It was more of a management mistake than from their technical team. In the next release, I would like to see things like integrated security but with local internet breakout instead of using third party solutions like NetScaler or Palo Alto. I would also like to see the integration of things like a VPN so that if you have remote sites where you might have remote workers that need to access the site from home or something, there's a VPN solution. Those are two key features and hotspots in the sort of global crisis. I would rate Riverbed a seven out of ten. I could never give any solution a 10 cause they all have good and bad points. To get any solution to a ten is pretty much impossible. If I was to rate it against others like Fortinet, I would probably give Fortinet an eight or nine. Again, I think you have to be careful because it's very subjective. I think it really depends on the type of environment, the type of customer you're deploying the SD-WAN solution for, and from which perspective you're looking at like if you an operator, if you're a large enterprise, if you're looking for a plug and play type solution. If you're looking for more of a security solution, I would go for Fortinet. It's kind of tough to say. I'd probably put the clouds a little bit ahead of the game because it does what it's supposed to do and easily. It's a little more of a plug and play type solution. Fortinet, for example, is more complex. I put it in a close second place, it's better from a security perspective. It has integration with FortiGuard. After that, I would put Riverbed in third place.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."

"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."

"I would recommend using Fortinet FortiGate because of its usability."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The IPsec tunnels are very easily created, and quite interoperable with devices from other vendors."

"Allows for firewall rules to be programmed and named in a way that makes it “readable”"

"Fortinet FortiGate is a very good next-generation firewall."

"Fortinet FortiGate is used to prevent security failures. Since implementing the solution, we have seen improvements in security and in the distribution of our network."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable feature is optimization."

"The solution has a single pane of glass view that allows you to see everything happening in your SD-WAN world."

"We had to deal with separate management models for Wi-Fi and switches. With Aruba Orchestrator, it's now a unified solution, making things much easier for us. We log in and manage everything from a single console. It provides complete internal visibility from LAN to Wi-Fi, resulting in higher stability and easier troubleshooting. The management process is much quicker and more streamlined."

"I rate Aruba Orchestrator ten out of ten."

"I can say that 100% the ROI from Aruba Orchestrator is really good because we have reduced the number of people needed; there is no need to have a team of people to manage the huge network, and with a relatively smaller number of resources, we are able to manage."

"The technical support services are excellent."

"The best features of Aruba Orchestrator are that it's basically a management product, so it's everything that is integrated in the SD-WAN in SASE; it's really great that it connects today all the gateways and SD-WAN solution with the SASE and the zero trust network access."

"The most important feature is WAN optimization."

More Aruba Orchestrator pros

"The analytics is the most valuable feature because it was very granular and very comprehensive, although a little complicated to use. If you're really interested in knowing what's happening on your network, it's a very good solution. That was the .NET Profiler part of the solution."

Cons

"There should be some open-source training or free training for decision makers, or some webinars should be available. These would help understand the new product line and the existing product line features."

"We are not utilizing Fortinet FortiGate to its full capacity because we have to pay for every small feature."

"The solution’s stability could be improved."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution. However, my issue is the performance only. When I use all the profiles, this affects the performance. From the beginning, I should have had a better sizing of the box."

"It could use better throughput on some of the smaller boxes for the branch offices."

"The only issue that I have is with FortiNAC. The firewall is fine, but the FortiNAC interface is a little bit too jumbled or too complicated, not as straightforward as it is on the Fortinet FortiGate firewall and FortiAnalyzer."

"Its load balancing feature could be easy to configure."

"Some of the filtering is not robust, you can escape it with a VPN. Some of the users bypass some of the filters. It catches some but it also misses some, that area could be improved. It's functioning reasonably but there's room for improvement in that area."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"We don't see return on investment, but we love the technology, so we purchase because of the technology."

"The solution lacks sufficient security features."

"They could provide essential training to understand the product functionality."

"Aruba Orchestrator should implement dynamic certificate changes for security."

"The solution can be improved by lowering the cost and making it more user-friendly for first-time users."

"The management menu should be simplified."

"The initial setup is complex, depending on the overall planning for the entire environment."

"The price should be improved as it is very high. The Aruba products are expensive."

More Aruba Orchestrator cons

"The routing scalability needs improvement. We have run into a lot of limitations and also primarily from a routine perspective, things like RSPs line support. It was supportive but not really supportive."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"The solution is cheap."

"The pricing is justified. It's a little pricey, but what you pay for is what you get."

"The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting."

"FortiGate's pricing falls within the mid-range when compared to other leading firewall solutions."

"Pricing for Fortinet FortiGate SWG is more suitable for enterprise or large-sized organizations because they are the ones who can afford it versus small and medium-sized organizations."

"The price could be lower."

"I think price-wise, the solution is totally reasonable since it has many products to serve, starting from small homes to massive scale sites."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The solution's licensing costs are yearly. It is not expensive, and I rate it around three to four out of ten."

"Aruba Orchestrator is free to use."

"I think it is quite expensive compared to other vendors in the market because it depends on what kind of features you really want to acquire in the product."

"I rate the platform’s pricing a five out of ten."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	188

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

No data available

Questions from the Community

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When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

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What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

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What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?

As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

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What do you like most about Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

The most important feature is WAN optimization.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

Regarding my experience with the pricing and setup costs, I find it expensive software compared to others.

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What needs improvement with Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator?

It would be great if they would have a fully multi-tenant solution on their Orchestrator. Aruba SD-WAN solutions are ...

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Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 32% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 23% of the time

Cradlepoint NetCloud vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 14% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 13% of the time

Juniper Session Smart Router vs Aruba Orchestrator

Compared 11% of the time

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VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN

Compared 31% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN

Compared 31% of the time

Steelhead vs SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN

Compared 20% of the time

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall vs SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN

Compared 17% of the time

More SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Orchestrator

January 2026

Download Aruba Orchestrator product report

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

December 2025

SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN report

Download SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

Silver Peak Unity Orchestrator, Unity Orchestrator

SteelConnect, Riverbed SteelConnect

Overview

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?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

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.

Fortinet

Aruba Orchestrator has an intuitive interface that allows you to centrally define, assign, and enforce policies across the WAN. Network managers experience the highest quality of experience to:

Centrally define, assign and enforce policies based on business intent to secure and control all application traffic across the WAN.

Orchestrator dashboards provide real time visibility into SD-WAN health and performance in a single screen, monitoring traffic throughput along with loss, latency and jitter across overlays and underlays.

Maintain the highest levels of application performance by automatically assigning application and security policies across 100s or 1000s of sites, including automated orchestration with cloud security services.

Central orchestration of network functions including SD-WAN routing, firewall, segmentation, WAN optimization, application visibility and control, and automated orchestration with cloud security services.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Accelerate business velocity with enterprise-class SD-WAN. As enterprises and organizations adopt more cloud and SaaS applications to support an increasingly distributed workforce, the hybrid networks connecting it all have been more complex, less predictable and less secure.

Riverbed SteelConnect EX is a powerful enterprise SD-WAN solution that integrates best-in-class routing, application acceleration, network visibility, and security services – a flexible and complete WAN Edge platform that gives you what you need to modernize your network and propel your business in the digital age.

Riverbed

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Information Not Available

Roxtec, Software Solutions Company, Rignet

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

December 2025

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