Ahmed Hawana - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Engineer at IDSC
Real User
Easy to use with good pricing and security
Pros and Cons
  • "Its performance is very good and it is stable."
  • "It is not easy to install."

What is our primary use case?

The product is the main gateway to protect us from spam and/or malicious mail activities.

What is most valuable?

It is a great product.

The product is easy to use.

Its performance is very good and it is stable.

We've found the product offers fair, reasonable pricing.

The security is quite good overall.

What needs improvement?

It could continue to improve the user experience.

It is not easy to install.

For how long have I used the solution?

In terms of FortiMail, we have been using it for about five years. 

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiMail
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiMail. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
769,599 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have found the solution to be very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It is reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have about 1,000 users on the solution currently.

I'm not sure if we plan to increase usage. I don't have visibility on those types of decisions.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is good. We depend on them a lot and contact them often. We contact them approximately once a month.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not easy to handle on your own. I, for example, required the assistance of a vendor.

The initial deployment took about 14 working days, about half a month or so.

We have two technical people, engineers, that can manage the product.

What about the implementation team?

I needed help from the vendor. I did not implement the solution myself. 

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

The pricing is very good. It's not overly expensive. 

We pay a yearly licensing fee.

What other advice do I have?

We are using the latest version of the solution.

I would rate the solution ten out of ten. We've had a good experience with the product.

I'd recommend the solution to other users and organizations.

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.
PeerSpot user
SomaiaNabil - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cybersecurity Presales at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Reseller
Top 20
Easy to manage but issues with the current email search functionality
Pros and Cons
  • "One major benefit of the Fortinet FortiMail product is its ease of management."
  • "Issues with the current email search functionality."

What is our primary use case?

Email is a major part of communication in most organizations, and Fortinet FortiMail is used to protect the mail system from attacks and unwanted commercial emails. It is also used for authenticating the sender and ensuring secure communication.

What is most valuable?

One major benefit of the Fortinet FortiMail product is its ease of management. Second, it offers a sender authentication feature that can be used at the gateway or with third-party applications. These are some of the valuable features.

What needs improvement?

I would like to have an indicator for compromised features, also known as an IOC. My clients have issues with the current email search functionality. They have to search for emails and sometimes cannot find them because they don't have the current timestamp.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with FortiMail for around seven years now, and it's one of the solutions that I use in my designs.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate stability an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate scalability a six out of ten. It has a flexible model, and it is effective for small, medium, or large companies.

How was the initial setup?

All Fortinet products are easy to implement. I haven't worked in a technical role for a while. But I have worked with FortiGate, FortiADC, and sometimes with FortiManager for the customer. It's not a complex solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have used Cisco products. Fortinet model does not depend on users, whereas for Cisco, the licensing is dependent on the number of users. I do know that Cisco is more expensive for us than FortiMail.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate Fortinet FortiMail a seven 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: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiMail
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiMail. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
769,599 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Owner at Ampec Data Service srl
Real User
Top 10
Has a good anti-spam feature, competitive pricing, and easy to scale on VMs, even when there's a dramatic increase in client requirements
Pros and Cons
  • "The biggest implementation my team has done for Fortinet FortiMail was for more than five thousand people, and the most valuable feature was its anti-spam feature."
  • "It's difficult for me to talk about areas for improvement in Fortinet FortiMail because I'm the general manager of the company and I'm an engineer with knowledge about the solution, but I'm not deeply involved in its implementation. As I mentioned previously, Fortinet FortiMail is also being used within the company, and I'm happy with its functionality, but sometimes, attacks pass and avoid the Fortinet FortiMail filters, but those could be very sophisticated attacks. There could still be an improvement in the filtering feature of the solution, though the security of Fortinet FortiMail is okay for me because I believe you can't implement one hundred percent security in any solution. The initial setup for the solution also needs improvement. The setup is supposed to be simple, but then the customer starts to complain that some of the false positive emails are reaching quarantine, so my team has to configure it again. There have been instances when Fortinet FortiMail rejects valid emails because some of the service partners of the customer have not been configured accurately, so the system considered valid mails as attacks to be quarantined, so aside from improving the filters, there should also be an improvement in the categorization of emails in the server. My team has to modify the configuration so that valid emails could pass and for Fortinet FortiMail to correctly filter the SPAM traffic. A feature that could be added to Fortinet FortiMail in its next release is advanced AI, so it can analyze and decide accurately on which mail is valid and which mail is SPAM."

What is our primary use case?

We're using Fortinet FortiMail for general purposes. It's for analyzing mail, stopping attacks, and stopping all SPAM.

What is most valuable?

The biggest implementation my team has done for Fortinet FortiMail was for more than five thousand people, and the most valuable feature was its anti-spam feature.

What needs improvement?

It's difficult for me to talk about areas for improvement in Fortinet FortiMail because I'm the general manager of the company and I'm an engineer with knowledge about the solution, but I'm not deeply involved in its implementation. As I mentioned previously, Fortinet FortiMail is also being used within the company, and I'm happy with its functionality, but sometimes, attacks pass and avoid the Fortinet FortiMail filters, but those could be very sophisticated attacks. There could still be an improvement in the filtering feature of the solution, though the security of Fortinet FortiMail is okay for me because I believe you can't implement one hundred percent security in any solution.

The initial setup for the solution also needs improvement. The setup is supposed to be simple, but then the customer starts to complain that some of the false positive emails are reaching quarantine, so my team has to configure it again. 

There have been instances when Fortinet FortiMail rejects valid emails because some of the service partners of the customer have not been configured accurately, so the system considered valid mails as attacks to be quarantined, so aside from improving the filters, there should also be an improvement in the categorization of emails in the server. My team has to modify the configuration so that valid emails could pass and for Fortinet FortiMail to correctly filter the SPAM traffic.

A feature that could be added to Fortinet FortiMail in its next release is advanced AI, so it can analyze and decide accurately on which mail is valid and which mail is SPAM.

For how long have I used the solution?

My company has two projects with Fortinet FortiMail. One project is three years, and the other is a big project that's been running for one year now. The solution is also being used in-house within my company.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiMail is a stable product, particularly based on functionality.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of the scalability of Fortinet FortiMail, it depends on the implementation because you have two types of implementation, the virtual machine, and the appliance.

If you're using the appliance, you have to think about the future, for example, maybe now the customer needs a certain level of traffic to be filtered, then in two or three years, the level of traffic needs to increase, so you have to propose a bigger machine that can handle the evolution in traffic.

In the VM implementation, you also need to take some steps, for example, you have to figure out the server type, number of CPUs, RAMs, and OPS requirements, based on the level of traffic and request level.

It's easier to upgrade or scale on VMs, even if the client requirements increase dramatically.

How are customer service and support?

Fortinet FortiMail offers two types of support, standard and elite. Standard support is paid annually. My company has the elite type of support which means there's a dedicated person to solve issues.

The standard support team usually recommends upgrades to solve the problem instead of doing a deep dive into it, even if you give them sufficient information about the problem.

The elite support team responds quickly and gives you higher-level and more professional support, but you have to pay extra for it, on top of the standard fees.

On a scale of one to five, with one being the worst, and five being the best, my rating for Fortinet FortiMail support is a four.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for Fortinet FortiMail was complex. It was complex because you have to collect all the right information from the customer, then you need to put it into the equipment as rules, so it's complex. The solution also evolves, and from time to time, you have to fine-tune it to implement the new features and increase the level of security.

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

I have no information on pricing for the competition because right now, my company is working only with Fortinet, but I can say that in general, the price for Fortinet FortiMail was accepted by the customers easily. The POC is also important when a customer is buying a solution. The customer wants to see how the product runs, and as Fortinet FortiMail is a stable product that runs without big issues, it has a bigger chance of getting chosen by customers over its competitors, even if its price may be a little higher. Pricing for the solution is competitive. Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's a little bit higher, but it isn't far from what other solutions charge.

What other advice do I have?

The Fortinet products I have experience with include FortiGate and FortiAnalyzer, and I especially work with Fortinet FortiMail.

My company is a partner and integrator for Fortinet FortiMail.

My rating for Fortinet FortiMail, on a scale of one to ten, is a nine.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner / Integrator
PeerSpot user
Fahad Zuberi - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy General Manager ICT Presales at Spartan tech
Real User
Top 5
An easy-to-use email solution with reasonable pricing and user-friendly interface
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has a user-friendly interface. It is easy to deploy and handle. You can easily troubleshoot the issues of the solution."
  • "The product should work on licensing and provide more detail once the license is selected for the customer."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution to put the server on the FortiMail server. Users acquire a domain, and use emails from the the FortiMail server.

What is most valuable?

The solution has a user-friendly interface. It is easy to deploy and handle. You can easily troubleshoot the issues of the solution.

What needs improvement?

The product should work on licensing and provide more detail once the license is selected for the customer.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiMail since last month. We are a partner of Fortinet.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet Fortimail is a very stable product. I have compared it with Barracuda devices, and they filter mail servers. Customers prefer Barracuda, but I propose the FortiMail server. Barracuda is expensive compared to FortiMail. I ensure support to customers during the deployment times if they go with Fortinet.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

Support is very good. They provide timely support to the customer. 

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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

I have used Barracuda but it is more expensive than FortiMail.

How was the initial setup?

The solution’s initial setup is configurable and easy to manage and handle.

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

Fortinet Fortimail has reasonable pricing.

What other advice do I have?

FortiMail is easy to integrate, deploy and troubleshoot the issue. I always recommend it to the customer.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Senior Security Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Good logging, and reporting capabilities, a large number of features, and has good technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "The integration with FortiSandbox is good, and something that we utilize often."
  • "High Availability needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use Fortinet FortiMail for our email gateway. It's an anti-spam. It secures emails from all anti-spam emails, as well as Malware, which is an email from phishing attacks, from whatever Malware is in the email, that are sent to the company as well as outbound emails. 

We are using InPost to secure both inbound and outbound emails. As a result, no one, not even from within the company, can send an anti-spam message to the outside world.

What is most valuable?

It's a very good product.

The integration with FortiSandbox is good, and something that we utilize often.

FortiSandbox refers to any files that are sent via email. FortiMail takes the file and forwards it to the FortiSandbox to analyze the file and sends the report to the FortiMail, who can then release or stop the email.

Both logging and reporting are very good, as well as the antivirus profiles, content emails, content profile, and application profile.

They have good transparency of customizations.

We use all of the product's features, including anti-spam profiles, content profiles, and antivirus profiles.

What needs improvement?

High Availability needs improvement. It doesn't have good HA.

It has a lot of flexibility and customizations, but it's a lot. If you don't know what was done, you will be lost, you know that one. As a result, the customization possibly affected the complexity of the configuration.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Fortinet FortiMail for six years.

We are working with version 6.0.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiMail is a very stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We didn't need to think about scalability because we didn't have a use case.

We have 250 users in our company.

We are now using it for more than just email security. It functions as the SMCB Gateway, which is in another mode.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very straightforward.

We don't require a lot of staff to maintain this solution.

This solution is used extensively. We rely on it to keep our emails secure.

What about the implementation team?

The first installation was done through FortiMail, and we then deployed it two or three times more.

The vendor assisted us the first time it was deployed.

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

The pricing is good.

Licensing fees are paid yearly.

There are no additional costs.

What other advice do I have?

I believe that the only thing you may require in the initial deployment is assistance from Fortinet itself to show you how to deploy it. It is better t have a good experience and gain knowledge to avoid false positives.

I would rate Fortinet FortiMail a nine out of ten. It has most of all of the features that we need.

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.
PeerSpot user
Jean Youni - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre Sales Engineer at Triple C
Reseller
Top 10
Its anti-spam and security features complement each other; it has excellent technical support and reasonable pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the anti-spam and security features of Fortinet FortiMail, and that its features complement each other."
  • "A room for improvement in Fortinet FortiMail is that it only has a hardware version. I also didn't find the solution scalable, so that's another area for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We mainly use Fortinet FortiMail as an anti-spam solution.

What is most valuable?

Overall, I'm satisfied with Fortinet FortiMail.

I like that it has reasonable pricing. I also like that it's very good compared to its competitors and has many features.

I like the anti-spam and security features of Fortinet FortiMail, and that its features complement each other.

What needs improvement?

A room for improvement in Fortinet FortiMail is that it's hardware-based. It only has a hardware version.

I also didn't find the solution scalable, so that's another area for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

My experience with Fortinet FortiMail is ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiMail is a very stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiMail is not scalable because once you connect to a model, you're stuck with it. It isn't a good fit for enterprise companies.

How are customer service and support?

Fortinet FortiMail has excellent technical support.

How was the initial setup?

Fortinet FortiMail is easy to deploy.

What about the implementation team?

We deploy Fortinet FortiMail for customers. We have a technical team that handles the deployment.

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

I find Fortinet FortiMail pricing reasonable. 

There's no additional cost apart from its standard licensing fees.

What other advice do I have?

My company is a reseller for Fortinet.

I primarily work with Fortinet FortiMail and Fortinet FortiGate, but with FortiADC, not so much.

My customers use Fortinet FortiMail, but my company also uses it as a Fortinet partner.

I mainly deal with sales and scoping for Fortinet FortiMail and other Fortinet products.

My rating for the solution is a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner/Reseller
PeerSpot user
ElisoBrito - PeerSpot reviewer
Analista de Suporte at NCT Informática
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Easy to implement with good integration and lots of features
Pros and Cons
  • "I love the integration between Fortinet products."
  • "In the Latin America market, some spam messages use Portuguese language. Some clearly spam messages would be better identified by the anti-spam if not for the language."

What is most valuable?

The Fabric aspect of the solution is excellent. With it, we have more accuracy in the classification. All the other functions and features on FortiMail are great. I love them all. It's really solid. All of the principal features on the market can be found in this product. 

I love the integration between Fortinet products.

It's easy to set up.

What needs improvement?

The categorization of the emails, for example, from Brazil, could be better. In the Latin America market, some spam messages use Portuguese language. Some clearly spam messages would be better identified by the anti-spam if not for the language.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about five years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have three organizations on the solution. there might be as many as 1,000 people across them. 

How was the initial setup?

The solution is pretty simple to set up. It's fast to deploy. In six hours we can deploy it. If you have experience in access with another component of the company, you will be fine. We did not find it to be complex. 

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

Typically, we pay for the solution on a yearly basis. I cannot break down exact costs as another area of my organization deals with licensing. 

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. We are happy with its capabilities and its features. 

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
PeerSpot user
Network Security Engineer at netfiniti
Real User
Highly secure, easy installation, and effective endpoint defense features
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the endpoint defense features, it is very secure."
  • "The solution is user-friendly to a degree but the dashboard needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We are not using FortiMail as a mail server but we are using it only as a security gateway where it scans all the incoming and outgoing emails in our organization.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the granular features of antispam and strong antivirus database.

What needs improvement?

The solution is user-friendly to a degree but the dashboard needs improvement.

We would like to see in an upcoming release reports to show the amount of data a particular user has used.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for approximately six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiMail is very reliable and stable since the databases are very strong.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable, we are able to integrate other hardware, such as FortiGate 5, or other solutions we have in our organization.

We have approximately 2,000 people using this solution in my organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have support 24/hours a day, they are helpful and responsive.

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

No

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward.

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

There is a license required for this solution and it is on an annual basis. I am satisfied with the price.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have evaluated Barracuda.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others and advise them to use the 400F series or higher because lower models do not have the DLP feature which is very important to have.

I rate Fortinet FortiMail a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiMail Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2024
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiMail Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.