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reviewer1506144 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infra Head at a consumer goods company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Good performance, centrally managed, and scales well
Pros and Cons
    • "The security features need to be improved."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use this product to improve our security, as part of our overall solution that includes antivirus, IPS, and other products.

    What is most valuable?

    The centralized management is very good.

    Performance is a good point.

    What needs improvement?

    The security features need to be improved.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall for a few months.

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    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This is a stable product.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution scales well and the performance is not degraded. We have 35 registered users in the organization.

    How are customer service and support?

    We are satisfied with the support.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Prior to this solution, we were using SonicWall. We switched because we wanted to have a centralized management platform, and we also wanted to increase diversity in our firewall products.

    How was the initial setup?

    This firewall is easy to install, as well as configure.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The pricing should be more competitive against other vendors in the market. We are looking at putting firewalls across all of our locations and want to get a better price so that we can do so. This would be great because we would like to have the same firewall at all of our locations.

    What other advice do I have?

    This is a good product and I have already recommended it to one of my friends that is now implementing it in the educational sector.

    I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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      Senior IT Operations Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
      Real User
      Characterization features captures a lot of threats and they have great support
      Pros and Cons
      • "The support is great. They also have very good categorization. It's very good. It captures a lot of threats."

        What is our primary use case?

        We just use this firewall for security in terms of network access.

        What is most valuable?

        The support is great. They also have very good categorization. It's very good. It captures a lot of threats.

        What needs improvement?

        The first point to improve is just a matter of updates. We are moving to the cloud, so we want to use virtual licenses on the cloud. We need to move from on-premises to the cloud.

        We would love to take another solution from Forcepoint, but unfortunately, the price is too high. That's why we are not considering using Forcepoing for our proxy and DLB. They have a very good DLB, but the matter, in the end, is the cost.

        For how long have I used the solution?

        We have been using this solution for over five years.

        What do I think about the stability of the solution?

        It is very stable, especially the front end.

        What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

        Yes, this solution is scalable.

        What other advice do I have?

        I recommended Forcepoint to be implemented.

        I would rate this solution as nine out of ten. It would be a full ten if it had integration with endpoints.

        Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

        On-premises
        Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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          Buyer's Guide
          Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall
          May 2025
          Learn what your peers think about Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
          851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
          Senior Solutions Architect at Infort
          Real User
          A next-generation firewall solution with a useful IPS feature
          Pros and Cons
          • "I like the IPS. IPS is the master feature. I depend on the firewall and sandbox."
          • "Management could be better. They can improve the management. I think all our customers can't accept firewalls that have standalone management. So, they prefer Fortinet or Palo Alto. But overall, inspection and other features are working fine."

          What is our primary use case?

          We use it for SD-WAN, IPS, VPN, and subscription keys on the cloud or have an MDM on-premises. 

          What is most valuable?

          I like the IPS. IPS is the master feature. I depend on the firewall and sandbox.

          What needs improvement?

          Management could be better. They can improve the management. I think all our customers can't accept firewalls that have standalone management. So, they prefer Fortinet or Palo Alto. But overall, inspection and other features are working fine.

          For how long have I used the solution?

          I have been working with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall for four years.

          What do I think about the stability of the solution?

          With Forcepoint, we can cluster as a team firewall, and we can do great without downtime. Our sales team can sell Forcepoint because of this feature.

          How are customer service and technical support?

          I would give technical support an eight out of ten. We had an issue with them because we had only support level one for each case we opened. We want them to improve their technical support because I still have three cases open from this year. From January until now, technical support didn't solve it. I feel like it's an easy case like the client's VPN and user ID, and it shouldn't take around five months. 

          How was the initial setup?

          The initial configuration is straightforward, and we can use it with the cloud. But sometimes, there are network issues we can't see when we're using the ethernet cable. I think you need an engineer with some experience before implementing the first implementation by yourself.

          The time it takes to deploy this solution depends on the features I have to implement or configure. Normally, it takes five or six working days, but it might take another week if I have issues with the VPN or user IDs.

          What about the implementation team?

          We are an integrator. 

          What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

          We have just a subscription for the cloud, and this license is great. The license is so good.

          What other advice do I have?

          On a scale from one to ten, I would give Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall an eight.

          Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

          On-premises
          Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator

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            Senior Manager - ICT Technical at CNS Engineering
            Real User
            Excellent customer service, good reporting and user management and easy to use overall
            Pros and Cons
            • "When comparing this solution to others this one has better reporting, user management, and is easy to use."
            • "They need to work on stability, it has not been the best in our experience."

            What is our primary use case?

            We use the solution in a data center for security. 

            What is most valuable?

            When comparing this solution to others this one has better reporting, user management, and is easy to use.

            What needs improvement?

            No firewall is perfect but they could improve on the detections of threats.

            What do I think about the stability of the solution?

            They need to work on stability, it has not been the best in our experience.

            How are customer service and technical support?

            We have been very satisfied with the customer service.

            Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

            We have used other solutions in the past.

            How was the initial setup?

            The installation was not easy at first but then after a while of doing installations, it became easy.

            What about the implementation team?

            We do the implementation of the solutions, we have a team that does it.

            What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

            We have found the price could be reduced. It is a little expensive.

            What other advice do I have?

            I recommend this solution, we are going to continue using it.

            I rate Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall a ten out of ten.

            Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

            On-premises
            Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

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              it_user1220196 - PeerSpot reviewer
              Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
              Real User
              Enhances security, facilitates file sharing, and has good SD-WAN capabilities
              Pros and Cons
              • "The most valuable feature is SD-WAN."
              • "Forcepoint would be improved if there were more training available."

              What is our primary use case?

              Our primary uses for Forcepoint are internet access, filtering, and intruder detection. We also use it for file sharing.

              What is most valuable?

              The most valuable feature is SD-WAN.

              What needs improvement?

              There is no support available in Fiji, and it would make it easier to have local support and somebody that we can speak with.

              The pricing for this solution should be more competitive.

              Forcepoint would be improved if there were more training available.

              The vendor should make loaner units available for test and evaluation in test environments.

              For how long have I used the solution?

              I've been using this solution for three to four months.

              What do I think about the stability of the solution?

              This solution is very stable.

              What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

              With the SD-WAN capabilities, it is very scalable. We have about 6,000 users.

              Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

              We were previously using a combination of Fortinet and Cisco, but have now upgraded entirely to Forcepoint. Fortinet did not have the same package available as Forcepoint that includes end-point security.

              How was the initial setup?

              The initial setup is really easy. It is user-friendly and straightforward.

              What about the implementation team?

              We had assistance from consultants when we deployed Forcepoint.

              What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

              Forcepoint is very expensive but it's really secure.

              What other advice do I have?

              My advice to anybody who is researching this solution is to consider the company's budget. Forcepoint is a very expensive solution but it is also very secure. For smaller companies, I would recommend Fortinet and Cisco, but if you have the money then you can look at Forcepoint.

              I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

              Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

              On-premises
              Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

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                Security Pre-Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
                Real User
                Has good performance and security and offers everything in one package
                Pros and Cons
                • "When our customer needs some optimization, along with performance and security. If they want everything in one package, I recommend Forcepoint because they have everything."
                • "The optimization is not really ready. If you want very good optimization, you have to add it to the network."

                What is our primary use case?

                Our customers use Forcepoint like a cluster, which is standby active and passive. They also use it for the perimeter firewall, so it's on-premises.

                The primary use case for this solution is when a customer asks for something that does automatic optimization, as well as security at the same time. It also has high performance capabilities, including enabling the SSL decryption feature. I recommend Forcepoint for these customers. If the customer has another solution for deep packet inspection of SSL encrypted traffic, I recommend Palo Alto, because they already have a solution for deep packet inspection for the kind of traffic in the network. From my point of view, at this point they do not need Forcepoint, so I would recommend Palo Alto.

                What needs improvement?

                They are great in every single area except for the optimization feature. The optimization is not really ready. If you want very good optimization, you have to add it to the network. I think if they make some enhancements in that area, they will replace every other product in no time.

                We also need more IPS detection rules.

                For how long have I used the solution?

                We've been using this solution for about one year.

                What do I think about the stability of the solution?

                I have a very good impression of this stability. 

                What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

                After three or five years, if you want to change the model with a bigger model because of the network expansion, I think they support that. Our clients are huge enterprise businesses.

                How are customer service and technical support?

                I've never actually contact technical support because I'm not the person who is responsible for that. I heard that they are okay.

                How was the initial setup?

                The initial setup is straightforward. The installation is very easy. With full functions, it takes about five days to deploy.

                We have a technical team that does deployment for Forcepoint, Palo Alto, etc. We do the  implementations of every security product that we provide. We use two people to deploy Forecpoint NGF: a senior engineer and junior engineer.

                What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

                I believe the licensing fee is for one year, three years, and five years, or something like that. If you want to increase the support level from a simpler level to platinum, I think that there's a cost. There are differences between every kind of support, but I don't know the numbers.

                What other advice do I have?

                They just need to make sure that their environment is ready for implementing the firewall. They have to prepare for about two hours of downtime because we need some downtime to do the initial configuration. They need to be prepared for the deployment plan. That's all.

                The biggest lesson I learned is that you cannot provide everything in one box. You can provide everything in one box, but you cannot provide everything deeply with the same quality all in one box. You need to give up on something to gain another. I'm always telling the customer, what's your biggest issue? Is it security or performance? Is it task optimization? What is your biggest concern? Based on their answer, I recommend one of the vendors that we work with.

                If he said that he does not have any problems with anything, he just wants to get everything, then I provide them with Forcepoint and tell them that they will have some issues in a certain area. If he is okay with that, we go with the product. If he isn't okay and cannot accept that risk or that point, then we go with another vendor.

                What I learned from them is that you can provide everything in one box, but you cannot provide everything with the same quality in that box.

                They have really good capabilities if you want to use it. So I do recommend them in some cases, when the customer needs some optimization, along with performance and security. If they want everything in one package, I recommend Forcepoint because they have everything. That's why I recommend Forcepoint in that situation.

                I would rate the solution as eight out of ten. If they solve the problem of optimization and added those IPS rules, I believe that they would deserve nine of ten. Nothing is perfect, though.

                Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.

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                  reviewer898881 - PeerSpot reviewer
                  Security Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
                  Real User
                  Centralized security management eases configuration to help prevent attacks
                  Pros and Cons
                  • "The central security management center and the content management center are very good."
                  • "This solution would be improved with the inclusion of custom reporting."

                  What is our primary use case?

                  Our primary use case for this solution is as a perimeter between our internal and external networks. It is a critical security firewall.

                  We have an on-premises deployment.

                  What is most valuable?

                  The Security management console is fantastic.

                  The central security management center and the content management center are very good.

                  What needs improvement?

                  This solution would be improved with the inclusion of custom reporting. The pre-prepared reports are ok, but sometimes, perhaps once a month, I would like to create some custom reports.

                  In the next release of this solution, I would like to have an application proxy. In our previous solution, Sidewinder, we had this capability. For example, if you want to allow SSH traffic then you can set or restrict some features of this protocol, and you can look into the traffic using SSH Insight. Some examples of applications that I would like to see are Oracle and RDP.

                  For how long have I used the solution?

                  We have been using this solution since 2015.

                  What do I think about the stability of the solution?

                  The stability of this solution is absolutely fantastic. There have been no problems since we implemented this solution in 2015. It acts as the edge between our internal and external networks, and we see many attacks from the outside. They have all been blocked. There is no problem with this solution.

                  What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

                  Scalability is fantastic. We are using an active-active cluster and there is no problem with adding another node. Currently, we have a two-node cluster, but there is no problem in adding a third node.

                  This solution protects approximately three hundred users.

                  How are customer service and technical support?

                  The technical support for this solution is great. We have a support contract and we can create a ticket when required. They have solved our problems.

                  Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

                  Prior to this solution, we used Sidewinder. That solution was discontinued and we were at the end of support for our hardware.

                  How was the initial setup?

                  The initial setup of this solution is not easy. It is an enterprise solution that is very complex and not easy to set up.

                  When we replaced our previous solution, the process took approximately two days. However, there was a period of analysis after this that took about one month. The analysis involved our current system, our network infrastructure, and our data center.

                  We have three administrators who maintain this solution. One of them is on-premises and two of them administer remotely. It is not possible to manage the security system using only one person because it is too complicated. It requires a team to discuss problems when they arise, including how they should be solved, or how attacks should be blocked. Cooperation on these matters is necessary.

                  What about the implementation team?

                  We involved our security partner for the implementation of this solution because it is very complex. Three people were required for the deployment, including a network specialist, our partner, and myself.

                  What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

                  This is not a very expensive solution. The big advantage of this solution is that we can select the right model for our requirements, which is not too expensive. There are many hardware models and different appliances.

                  We have a license for an unlimited number of users because it is necessary for our solution. If it were not unlimited then we would have a problem. This is probably dependent on the appliance model.

                  Which other solutions did I evaluate?

                  Before choosing this solution we evaluated Check Point.

                  What other advice do I have?

                  Forcepoint is my favorite enterprise firewall.

                  The security management center is the best part of this solution. It is always very simple to see the state of the firewall and to configure it to look for faults. The quality of this component is very high. Previous solutions were not very good with respect to the management center, but now, in this solution, it is very good. This is the main reason that I recommend this solution to others. This feature is absolutely necessary if you want to configure devices to prevent attacks.

                  I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

                  Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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                    reviewer1319712 - PeerSpot reviewer
                    Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
                    Real User
                    Top 5Leaderboard
                    A stable solution that has improved a lot
                    Pros and Cons
                    • "It is a stable solution, and there are no issues so far."
                    • "Its management center should be easier to use. The management interface of Forcepoint is unique and a little bit different from some of the firewall solutions on which people might have worked before. Sometimes, the customers say that it is not very friendly, and we help them with how to use this management interface. It just takes a little bit of time, and after some time, it gets easy to manage or use. It is quite similar to Palo Alto, Fortinet, and legacy Juniper solutions. Their support should be faster. We have received complaints that they are not responding fast, which is not good for the vendor and us."

                    What is our primary use case?

                    We are a platinum partner of Forcepoint. We work on most of the Forcepoint portfolio, such as web security, event security, and DLP at the endpoint level as well as at the laptop level. 

                    This solution can be used for different use cases. You can deploy it as an IPS near the data center zone. You can also put it in-line, which is recommended most of the time not only for Forcepoint but also for many other next-generation firewall vendors. Otherwise, you need to deploy it as a normal next-generation firewall and enable some specific IPS policies on the firewall itself. One of our customers needed encryption between remote sites.

                    We have a professional services team that handles the implementation of these solutions. We install the latest version of this solution. Most of the customers ask for an on-premises deployment. There are some customers who ask for a private cloud deployment.

                    What is most valuable?

                    It is a stable solution, and there are no issues so far.

                    What needs improvement?

                    Its management center should be easier to use. The management interface of Forcepoint is unique and a little bit different from some of the firewall solutions on which people might have worked before. Sometimes, the customers say that it is not very friendly, and we help them with how to use this management interface. It just takes a little bit of time, and after some time, it gets easy to manage or use. It is quite similar to Palo Alto, Fortinet, and legacy Juniper solutions. 

                    Their support should be faster. We have received complaints that they are not responding fast, which is not good for the vendor and us.

                    For how long have I used the solution?

                    I have been working with this solution for almost five years.

                    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

                    It is stable.

                    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

                    We have around 50 users of this solution in our company.

                    How are customer service and technical support?

                    Their technical support is not bad, but it is also not good at the same time. It should be faster, especially for the RMA. We understand the situation related to the pandemic, but their response wasn't good even prior to that. I believe it is something related to logistics.

                    How was the initial setup?

                    The initial setup is of medium complexity. It is neither straightforward nor complex. If you want to implement a new firewall, you need to connect it to something called SMC or security management center, which is the main thing. It is the brain of the firewall, and without that, you cannot manage the firewalls. There are certain steps that need to be done on the SMC to do the configuration of the firewall. 

                    What about the implementation team?

                    We are not a big company. We have two post-sales people who provide professional service. We have two to three pre-sales people as well as technicians.

                    What other advice do I have?

                    I would recommend this solution in general. We have collected a lot of feedback from customers related to the management, which we will forward to Forcepoint, and then after some time, they will take action on that.

                    They have improved a lot since they were acquired from McAfee. Earlier, if you wanted to access SMC, you needed remote desktop access to the server or you had to install a small software from the SMC as a client to control the firewall. Customers used to ask us about why they cannot access the firewall management by UI or browser when most of the other firewalls already have such access. We received a lot of such feedback from customers, and when we escalated this to Forcepoint, they took a serious note of it. After some time, they released that option. You can now access the management center through UI, which is a good improvement.

                    I would rate Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall an eight out of ten.

                    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner

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                      Buyer's Guide
                      Download our free Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
                      Updated: May 2025
                      Buyer's Guide
                      Download our free Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
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