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Sophos UTM vs Zscaler Internet Access 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
6.9
Sophos UTM offers competitive pricing and extensive security coverage, leading to swift ROI and improved network management efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.5
Zscaler Internet Access offers cost and complexity reduction, improved security, and quick ROI, especially for SMBs, despite regional challenges.
The managed service aspect of Zscaler Internet Access has allowed for reduced staffing costs, resulting in a saving of approximately 20-25% compared to prior expenses.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Sophos UTM is praised for responsive, knowledgeable support, despite occasional complaints, earning high marks for customer service.
Sentiment score
7.1
Zscaler Internet Access support is strong and responsive, though some users seek quicker resolutions and better online resources.
The technical support by Sophos is amazing, especially when I pay for the enhanced support.
The technical support for Zscaler Internet Access is rated around seven out of ten due to some response time issues and the engagement model.
I find customer support to be quite adequate
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Sophos UTM scales well with proper sizing, enabling easy expansion in various environments from small setups to large networks.
Sentiment score
7.9
Zscaler Internet Access is highly scalable, cloud-based, and supports large user volumes with positive feedback on integration and performance.
I find Zscaler Internet Access to be highly scalable, which was one of the reasons for choosing it.
Zscaler Internet Access is scalable and has points of presence across the globe to ensure low latency and reliable connections.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Sophos UTM is stable and reliable, with minimal issues, though updates can occasionally cause temporary problems.
Sentiment score
7.7
Zscaler Internet Access offers stable performance globally, though regions like China and South Africa occasionally face latency challenges.
Zscaler Internet Access is stable and capable of building resilient architectures.
Zscaler Internet Access is very stable, and I would rate its stability as nine out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Sophos UTM users seek improved scalability, performance, VPN capabilities, interface usability, cost transparency, support, and simplified management features.
Zscaler Internet Access needs better integration, user-friendly features, improved support, and competitive pricing to enhance user experience.
I would love to see artificial intelligence capabilities integrated into Sophos UTM.
With artificial intelligence, there is room for improvement in all antivirus and security software.
The response time and engagement model for technical support could be improved to handle complex outages more efficiently.
One feature I am missing is the ability to connect automatically to internal monitoring systems.
 

Setup Cost

Sophos UTM offers competitive pricing with varied licensing options, though some users find it costly compared to alternatives.
Zscaler Internet Access is seen as costly but premium compared to traditional solutions, offering unmatched services and global coverage.
The value between what I receive and what I pay is the best in the industry.
Pricing has become expensive recently due to the dollar hike and naira value changes in Nigeria.
Zscaler Internet Access is recognized as an expensive solution.
Zscaler Internet Access is less expensive than competitors like Palo Alto, offering a premium service justified by security enhancements and cost-effective scalability.
 

Valuable Features

Sophos UTM provides scalable security with web protection, VPN, centralized management, and integration, suitable for all business sizes.
Zscaler Internet Access delivers comprehensive cloud-native security with threat protection, ease of use, and centralized management for remote users.
The zero-day protection and firewall rules are some of the most effective features for threat management.
This integration of the antivirus and the firewall works together to enhance security.
The SSL inspection also offers added security, facilitating the exchange of critical data.
Some of the most valuable features of Zscaler Internet Access include secure web gateways, URL filtering, data loss prevention, anti-malware defense, file extension blocking, and a comprehensive categorization system.
 

Categories and Ranking

Sophos UTM
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
Zscaler Internet Access
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Internet Security (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Sophos UTM and Zscaler Internet Access aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Sophos UTM is designed for Unified Threat Management (UTM) and holds a mindshare of 14.5%, up 13.6% compared to last year.
Zscaler Internet Access, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Web Gateways (SWG), holds 15.2% mindshare, down 17.2% since last year.
Unified Threat Management (UTM)
Secure Web Gateways (SWG)
 

Featured Reviews

Samaila Yusuf - PeerSpot reviewer
Network protection strengthens through effective threat management features and secure access control
The zero-day protection and firewall rules are some of the most effective features for threat management. I can set the rules and features, and also use IPsec to connect all my on-premises servers and link them to Sophos UTM so that they are protected even when in the cloud. Additionally, I use it to control access into the building through a captive portal integrated across all the PCs we have, ensuring secure access only for authenticated users.
ShanavasVK - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps maintain a consistent posture of internet security while getting rid of VPN and hovering into zero trust
There could be a better way for the tool to categorize the traffic. For example, the tool does exceptions and everything overall. If I want to give guest access or provide access to guest users or any other internet access and if it does not go through the SSL inspection because, in our company, we can't have the root certificate on a device that we don't manage, which can be called out as an exception or an exclusion, but that doesn't provide a proper reflection of the picture of what is happening in the environment. There are granularities bringing it down. The tool I used or still have is Zscaler Cloud Connector to protect the cloud environment, which can have a bit more user-friendly installation and setup, and it would help a lot. The deployment process of Zscaler Cloud Connector needs to be more user-friendly. Improvements are required in the exception category. For example, suppose I report on a monthly basis what the breaches and traffic violating the SSL inspection area are coming from. In that case, I may find that half of them may be coming through some guest network, meaning the tool doesn't differentiate between the guest or normal networks or the corporate networks. Having options to differentiate different networks would be ideal so that it can show a true picture of things to users, as half of the things in the tool are not in our control and are not of our concern.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Unified Threat Management (UTM) solutions are best for your needs.
850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Educational Organization
19%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
What do you like most about Sophos UTM?
The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the endpoint protection feature.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?
The value between what I receive and what I pay is the best in the industry.
Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?
Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zscaler Internet Access is a good option for carrying out multiple security functi...
Which is better, Zscaler internet access or Netsckope CASB?
We researched Netskope but ultimately chose Zscaler. Netskope is a cloud access security broker that helps identify and manage cloud applications, protecting your sensitive data from exfiltration....
 

Also Known As

Astaro
ZIA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

One Housing Group
Ulster-Greene ARC, BanRegio, HDFC, Ralcorp Holdings Inc., British American Tobacco, Med America Billing Services Inc., Lanco Group, Aquafil, Telefonica, Swisscom, Brigade Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Sophos UTM vs. Zscaler Internet Access and other solutions. Updated: July 2019.
850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.