Fortinet FortiManager Reviews

FortiManager
Automation-Driven Centralized Management
Manage all your Fortinet devices in a singleconsole
central management system.
FortiManager provides full visibility of your
network, offering streamlined provisioning and
innovative automation tools.
Integrated with Fortinet’s Security Fabric, the
security architecture and FortiManager’s
Automation Driven Network Operations
capabilities provide a foundation to secure and
optimize network security, such as
provisioning and monitoring SD-WAN.

FortiManager VM-S
The new FortiManager Subscription license model consolidates the VM product SKU and the FortiCare Support SKU into one single SKU,
to simplify the product purchase, upgrade and renewal.
The FortiManager S-Series SKUs come in stackable subscriptions to manager 10, 100 and 1000 devices/vdoms, so that multiple units of
this SKU can be purchased at a time to increase the number of devices/vdoms as needed. This SKU can also be purchased together with
other FMG VM-S SKUs to expand the total number of devices/vdoms.

FortiManager VM
Fortinet offers the FortiManager VM in a stackable license model. This software-based version of the FortiManager hardware appliance
allows you to expand your virtual solution as your environment expands and is designed to run on many virtualization platforms. The
FortiManager virtual appliance family minimizes the effort required to monitor and maintain your network and offers all the features of the
FortiManager hardware appliance.

Key Features

Single console management

§ Manage all Fortinet products, including firewalls,

FortiAnalyzers, switches, wireless infrastructure and Endpoints

Security automation

§ Reduces complexity and costs by leveraging automated REST

API, scripts, connectors, and automation stitches

Centralized policy and device management

§ Centrally manage up to 100,000+ devices and policies such as

firewalls, switches, and access points

Zero-touch provisioning

§ Automate workflows and configurations for Fortinet firewalls,

switches and wireless infrastructure

Secure SD-WAN provisioning and monitoring

§ Provision and monitor Secure SD-WAN from one console

across your network, branch offices or campuses

Multi-tenancy and administrative domains (ADOMs)

§ Separate customer data and manage domains leveraging

ADOMs to be compliant and operationally effective

Enterprise-grade high availability and integration

§ Automated backups to up to 5 nodes (1 Primary, and 4

secondary) with streamlined software and security updates for

all managed devices

Feature Highlights

Single Pane Automation and Orchestration

FortiManager provides insight into network traffic and threats through a single-pane-of-glass and offers enterprise-class features and

sophisticated security management for unified, end-to-end protection to contain advanced threats. FortiManager also delivers the industry’s

best scalability to manage up to 100,000 Fortinet devices. FortiManager, coupled with the FortiAnalyzer family of centralized logging and

reporting appliances, provides a comprehensive and powerful centralized management solution for your organization.

Central Management of Network Infrastructure
Centrally manage FortiGate, FortiSwitch, FortiExtender & FortiAP.
The VPN manager simplifies the deployment and enables centrallyprovisioned
VPN community and connection monitoring. FortiAP
Manager allows configuring, deploying and monitoring FortiAPs
from a single console.

Configuration and Settings Management
Collectively configure the device settings - using the provisioning
templates and advance CLI templates improves management of a
large number of devices. Automatic device configuration backup
with revision control and change audit make it easier for daily
administrative tasks. Use Management extensions to add SD-WAN
Orchestrator, Wireless Manager and other modules.

API for Automation and Orchestration
RESTful API allows MSSPs/large enterprises to create customized,
branded web portals for policy and object administration. Automate
common tasks such as provisioning FortiGates and configuring
existing devices. Join Fortinet Developer Network (FNDN) to
access exclusive articles, how-to content for automation and
customization, community-built tools, scripts and sample code.

Management Extensions
FortiManager’s management extensions allow rapid expansion of
Single Pane to manage more Security Fabric products. The built-in
engine runs containerized extensions to support trusted containers,
which are pulled from the FortiGuard. FortiManager is notified when
new containers are made available and users can easily choose to
opt in our out of each of the management extensions. It includes
modules like SD-WAN Orchestrator, Wireless Manager and more.

Security Policy Management
Per Policy Lock has been added to 6.4, which allows admins to
control the policy change by implicitly lock a policy rule when he/
she does the change to the policy. Group commonly used security
policies in a policy block and insert as needed in different Policy
Packages. Global policy feature that allows companies such as:
Telecom, MSSP and SAAS providers to apply a header/footer
policy at the ADOM level to all policy packages or select packages.

SD-WAN Orchestration & Analytics
Powerful SD-WAN management capabilities using intuitive
workflow and simplified provisioning at scale. Enhanced SD-WAN
analytics to monitor application performance and bandwidth
utilization per WAN link. Leverage application centric SD-WAN
business policies to fine-tune traffic steering decisions based on
performance SLA targets for each WAN provider. Provide flexible
deployment options for SD-WAN orchestrator, an add-on to

Multi-Tenancy & Role Based Administration
FortiManager equips admins with granular device and role based
administration for deploying zero-trust, multi-tenancy architecture
to large enterprises, with a hierarchical objects database to
facilitate re-use of common configurations and serve multiple
customers. ADOMs are used to manage independent security
environments, each with its own security policies and configuration
database, and the intuitive GUI makes it easy to view, create, clone
and manage ADOMs. The zero-touch deployment uses templates
to provision devices for quick mass deployment, and also supports
firmware version enforcement. Define global objects such as
Firewall Objects, Policies and Security Profiles to share across
multiple ADOMs. Granular permissions allow assigning ADOMs,
devices and policies to users based on role and responsibilities.
FortiManager’s new IPS admin is a restricted user role for
performing only IPS related object configuration and install.

The solution is very good; I'm not sure if I can think of any features that are lacking.

The GUI could be updated. It's not as good as it could be and is something the solution should improve in an upcoming release.

It would be nice if there could be more reporting included in the solution so that we could get more details about an individual user's profile.

I've been working with the solution for about six years now.

In terms of stability, the solution is very good. We haven't faced any bugs or glitches. It's quite reliable.

The licensing is very easy, which makes it quite scalable. A company shouldn't have any trouble expanding the solution. If they have, for example, 50 devices and suddenly need 100, they just need to scale up.

Whether the solution is used regularly depends on the organization. 

We've been in touch with technical support on the past. In India, they're quite good. We've found them to be very helpful and have been satisfied with their level of support.

The solution is easy to set up. Users shouldn't have any problems doing so.

FortiManager is for the syncing of devices. Therefore, when companies are using multiple devices from Fortinet, such as FortiGate, FortiSwitches, FortiAP, etc., then it's required to have FortiManager. That way, companies can manage central lines in all of the devices via a single person. It's a very useful application.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. It's got all of the features we need to manage our FortiGate products and doesn't seem to be lacking anything. It does exactly what we need it to do and we find it quite easy to use.

We're a Fortinet distributor. My clients are the ones that actually use the product. Most of our clients are SMEs or large businesses. This solution, however, is more suited to large and medium-sized businesses.

FortiManager is used for centrally managing many FortiGate firewalls. It is a very good solution if you are using several of them.

The most valuable feature is the central configuration for firewall policies. This simplifies the management of many devices and acts as a central firewall policy object. It is sometimes used to deploy a VPN, where that is used to connect many FortiGate instances.

You don't need to log in to the devices many times. Instead, you can locally manage and copy the configuration to several of them.

Fortinet develops many different solutions but only some of them can be managed using FortiManager. For example, if you have a load balancer then you have to have a separate manager. Having FortiManager work with all of the Fortinet products would be a good improvement.

Some older versions of FortiManager, perhaps three or four years ago, had some issues with instability due to bugs. However, now, it is a very stable product.

It is easy to scale, although it can be costly. There is a limit to the number of devices that it can support, but additional FortiManagers can be used in this case.

I have been in contact with the Fortinet technical support several times, and the support is good. The people are nice and they will also help you online.

Until you have experience with it, this device is not simple to set up. You have to spend perhaps five to seven days to configure it properly, including the automation of certain tasks.

If you have a single person for the implementation, it will take approximately two weeks to deploy.

Overall, I find that this is a good solution and it gives me everything that I want. I would recommend it and people should definitely try it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Our primary use case is to analyze the internal traffic to see what's happening in the network. We can analyze the logs and push policies. In case something happens, after rebooting it, we can push the configuration back into the appliance. 

The most valuable feature is analyzing the traffic. When we call ISP and we do an upgrade, the performance is down and we can look into it and see where we're lacking and analyze the data and decide how to go about it - if it is from the firewall or the connection. 

We look at the traffic to segment the network and it improves and increases the performance. When we have a mobile connection and local laptops are on the same network. We have seen a big performance upgrade.  

Performance issues should be improved. We have problems when we have more mobile connections than local devices. Most of us have two to three devices. 

Finetuning and performance tuning need improvement.

I have been working with FortiManager for around fifteen years. 

The stability is very good. Throughout my career, my failure rates have been low. Some models have bugs on the flash drive. But it's usually from carelessness from the client's side. It's very stable.

If you go above your box, you have to update it. It's not so scalable. But most firewalls are like this. Throughput makes a difference. We have to upgrade boxes every three to four years. 

Their support is good. They respond well. Their response time is good and they can usually resolve the problem. 

The initial setup is not very complex. I've been in this field for a long so I don't find it very complex. 

The pricing is reasonable. It's not very expensive, it is reasonably priced. 

I would rate it a seven out of ten. 

In the next release, I would like to see more performance-tuning. If they could work on that, that would be great. 

The primary use case of this solution is the management of firewalls.

The most valuable features are the centralized management of the firewalls. By unifying the deployment process of the policies among many of the firewalls, or virtual domains that you have, and it is very easy to install and use.

The user interface itself has areas that need improvement.

It would be very useful if they come up with a feature or a process that makes the transition of the interfaces between virtual domains easier. It's a difficult process to transfer one interface from one virtual domain to another.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiManager for a few years.

We are using the latest version.

It's a very good solution. It's a stable and reliable product.

It's a very scalable solution. It has been designed for a large environment. 

The concept of using a FortiManager is when you have a scalable modular infrastructure and several firewalls or Fortinet devices that you want to manage in a centralized environment.

We have three people using this solution and they are infrastructure engineers.

In our type of business, there is no plan or place for more expansion or improvement as we have a certain set of business services. The firewall is protecting our network and Fortinet devices are very limited in our company.

In our business, we cannot see a future for improving or expanding the use of FortiManager for some time.

The Fortinet technical support is very good. It's a good team.

Previously, we did not use a different solution.

The initial setup is easy and took less than an hour to deploy.

I did not use a vendor. I did it myself.

We are not yet at a point where we can see a return of investment. It's going to take some time for our new project, which is still in the deployment process, to start paying back the investment.

The licensing costs depend on how many devices you want to use. It's based on the licensing model and the number of devices you add to the system.

The more devices you add to FortiManager, the more you need to pay.

I am not aware of any additional costs.

We did not evaluate other options as we already had FortiGate devices. FortiManager was the only option.

You have to plan everything with very specific details before deploying the FortiManager, otherwise, it will be complex.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The user interface is very easy to navigate. It is comfortable to use.

Regional support in African countries needs to be improved.

I have been using FortiManager for less than a year.

So far, FortiManager has been really stable.

We have not pushed our usage to the point where we have had to scale, yet.

The platform does not have proper support for Africans.

The initial setup is straightforward and not as cumbersome as some other products.

Our deployment took a month or two because of the change management. 

My advice to anybody who is researching this product is that it is quite easy to use and the learning curve is not steep.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

It is used to manage several firewalls, primarily for setting policies and as a central management point for all the firewalls.

The central management feature is the most valuable to me.

We find that several vulnerabilities are showing up every week, so we have to check every time with the customer to make sure everything is okay and to apply patches when needed. The frequency is a little disarming. So, the product is not very stable. 

I have been working with Fortinet FortiManager for a year. We are currently using the latest release, version 7.

I would rate the stability a four out of ten. 

There is not an issue with the technical team. It's more about the product itself.

The pricing model is affordable. Largely, customers opt for this solution because it has a low price. 

Overall, I would rate the product a five out of ten, mainly because of its stability and also because the technology is not as advanced as some of its competitors, such as Palo Alto and Check Point.

It is used for the standardized configuration of all the firewalls that we have installed for our customers.

The capability of centralized management is valuable. We can configure all firewall boxes with the same configuration.

The compatibility with legacy products should be better. It would also be nice if the software could manage other devices from Fortinet and third parties.

We have been using it for a short period. It has been almost six months. We are a reseller, and currently, we have six to eight technicians who are using it.

It is fine for us. I would rate it a ten out of ten.

Fortinet FortiManager can be used to manage all your Fortinet solutions. We are using it as a VM solution.

Fortinet FortiManager allows a full view of all the devices on the network from one location.

Fortinet FortiManager integrates will with other Fortinet solutions, such as FortiAnalyzer.

The solution could improve by having better integration with other solutions other than Fortinet.

I have been using Fortinet FortiManager for years.

The solution is very stable.

The solution is scalable, it is good for large companies to manage their devices.

We have six customers using this solution.

The technical support is very good.

We have one engineer that does the implementation and maintenance of the solution.

The license model they use depends on the size and is not limited to the users.

The solution is good but we want to move to the cloud at some point to save money on infrastructure. For example, on the cloud, we would not need a server room or data center building.

I would recommend this solution to others. 

I rate Fortinet FortiManager a ten out of ten.