Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access Reviews

We sell a lot of solutions in the educational sector. School boards, universities, colleges, and community colleges are good customers for the Fortinet solution overall and Fortinet switching.

I'm usually working with clients who have between 500 to 1,500 users. That's the average commercial enterprise count. About 50 to 60 customers use the product end to end or in some capacity. We've had significant growth in Fortinet business annually. It seems to go up by 10 to 15 clients every year.

It's easier to deploy and operate in the education space than other solutions. With Cisco, you probably need a full-time employee or two in those environments to manage daily once it's deployed. Fortinet requires maybe a third or a half a person.

I like that everything flows back to FortiGate, which is the controller, management console, and firewall. There's one central point for the entire network, so the security, switching, wireless, etc., flows back to the FortiGate. The ease of management is what customers like. They don't need separate solutions like Cisco.

While Fortinet is good for school boards and mid-sized businesses, enterprise-class networks require a zero-trust solution. If you're building a zero-trust network with end-to-end security, that's where Fortinet falls behind Cisco, HPE, and Aruba. 

I have been using FortiSwitch for seven years.

FortiSwitch is stable. 

The scalability is strong because everything resides in FortiGate, so the switching and wireless itself is all fine. You can scale the network to twice the size it is today with no problem. However, you need to upgrade the FortiGate back end. It's not like the current FortiGate will allow you to do all those extra switches and wireless access points without an upgrade on the back end. 

Fortinet support is decent. It's behind Cisco's TAC, which is the industry leader. Customers don't need as much support as they would with Cisco because Cisco's stuff is a little more complex, so you have to open more cases. When they open the cases, they normally get a resolution, but the support isn't on the same level of technical ability as Cisco's.

When they switched to Fortinet, they did so for a couple of reasons, the main one being operational simplicity. Most of the customers have fewer people available to support their networks. 

They can't have something complex because they don't have enough people, and there's turnover, too. They need something simpler so a new person can come in and easily pick it up. Fortinet is by no means simple, but it's easier to manage than Cisco and Aruba. Fortinet is 30 to 40 percent cheaper than Cisco or Aruba, and that's a significant issue in IT budgets today.

Setting up FortiSwitch is pretty straightforward. The complex part is correctly configuring FortiGate. You might want to get a professional to help you or a partner. After that, deploying the switching and the wireless access layer is rinse and repeat. Customers can do that once they have the methodology.

The deployment time depends on the number of campuses or remote sites. A $500,000 contract would probably involve 10 to 15 days of service. The customer can deploy parts of it. You have someone like us come in to deploy FortiGate and the core switching and do the rest on your own. 

The average customer may need some professional help with the initial installation. As you buy more equipment over the next three or four years, you shouldn't need any professional assistance. If the people who were there during the initial install are still around, they should be able to deploy it and integrate it into the network without any help.

Fortinet costs 30 to 40 percent less than Cisco, HPE, and Aruba while the company has made great strides in technical ability. A lot of customers look at the Gartner quadrant and say, Fortinet's less expensive, but it's down in the left corner of the quadrant. It's nowhere near Cisco and Aruba, so you're getting what you pay for." That used to be the case four or five years ago because it wasn't on the same level.

Fortinet's come up a lot, so they're closing in on the leaders. They're not there yet, but they've made progress. So now customers are saying, "Okay, it's getting closer. Although it's not there, it's close enough that we can justify 30 to 40 percent less, and it can accommodate our network well enough."  

However, a large enterprise like a bank or commercial manufacturer isn't going to adopt that because the gaps still exist in the technology. There's still a limit on the markets they can penetrate. 

There isn't much cost because it's not a subscription-based model. The software's embedded. It's not like Cisco and Aruba, where you have a subscription in addition to a piece of hardware. You're paying for two components with those manufacturers. Fortinet doesn't work that way. The only added cost is FortiCare support.

I rate Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access eight out of 10. It's a strong product that's easy to manage. Everything runs through FortiGate, so you've got to have FortiGate within your network. You can do it without it, but I wouldn't recommend it. 

The FortiGate is the piece that allows the switching, wireless, and firewall to perform the best. I wouldn't buy switching from Fortinet on its own and put it in. I certainly wouldn't put it in a hybrid network where you've got a mix of another manufacturer and Fortinet. 

We use the product to connect devices to the network.

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access benefits our organization by providing an easy-to-use interface. Comparatively, deploying policies on FortiSwitch is significantly faster and more efficient than on other platforms. In comparison, it takes only around ten minutes to deploy numerous policies on FortiSwitch; the same task could take days to complete when performed on other platforms. It is a more economical choice in terms of time and resource utilization.

The most valuable feature of FortiSwitch is its user-friendly interface, which facilitates easy management and propagation of rules throughout the network. Deploying rules based on various criteria, such as device type or manufacturer, is easy.

They could provide integration with Fortinet Authenticator.

We have been using Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access for one year. At present, we use the latest version.

I rate the platform's stability a nine out of ten.

We have around 100 Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access users in our organization. It needs to be more scalable. It is challenging in terms of expansion and requires purchasing additional units. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten.

We have a local team providing technical support. It is quite easy to reach them and raise the queries.

Positive

I have worked with Cisco and HP. We switched to Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access for better pricing.

Deploying FortiSwitch in our network for secure access is facilitated through the FortiSwitch interface. Within the web interface, we can create the necessary rules, which are automatically deployed across all devices in the network.

It is straightforward to deploy and integrate with other systems. We have a team of five engineers working on it. I rate the setup process a ten out of ten.

The platform's most valuable feature in terms of network security is the ability to utilize network access control to identify the device you connect and apply policies directly to the device.

We can link the FortiSwitch with other Fortinet security solutions to create a resilient network. If one device encounters downtime, the traffic is rerouted to another, ensuring continuous operation.

It's a comprehensive solution, and one needs to transition all the infrastructure to Fortinet's ecosystem. Later, managing all the aspects becomes straightforward, with a unified view across the entire network.

I rate it an eight out of ten.

We use the solution for internal networking in an office environment.

FortiSwitch scans for viruses on the network easily. I was using another firewall, but after Fortinet, I don't use any other.

Fortinet infuses the updates regularly. If you get updated, then you are secured. The updates did not cover all the threats. I use the solution in both the field and the main office. It centralizes everything. We had to dig deeper than the graphs or manually check if that device performed well. You can check the server so that you can access it easily. It provides us with the protection that we need.

Fortinet FortiSwitch is easy to configure and simple to use with support.

The product could have better prices, analytics, and better graphs.

I have been using Fortinet FortiSwitch for two years.

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

We have 250 users using this solution.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

We have used Cisco and Ubiquiti switches. FortiSwitch frees you every time you set the switches or configure them over and over again. It is much better than other solutions.

The initial setup is simple and takes a few hours to complete.

We have achieved 10% ROI.

The solution is reliable and is working well. It has been a generation of investment. It is not very expensive, not much cheaper.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We are mainly in the SMB market. Our primary use case are for on-site for secure access to the infrastructure. 

For us, visibility is the best feature, with integration to various things. We are pretty happy with it as it is.

The integration with the whole platform, so there's one dashboard for everything. It is one of the most valuable features. 

There is a bit of a learning curve with the initial setup. 

For data centers and large enterprises, Cisco has advantages, but FortiSwitches make a lot of sense for certain applications.

We have been using this product for a couple of years. It has been around three to four years. 

This solution has been very stable.

For us in the SMB market, everything has been working very well. So, we are not doing very big deployments.

e had some support tickets, but they were solved pretty quickly. I haven't had much contact with them, but our issues were resolved well.

Positive

We have worked with Cisco and a few other vendors. The deployment is easier with Fortinet.

In very complex environments, there is an advantage with Cisco switching, but that doesn't affect us much because we are not in that specific market.

We have good experience with setting it up. The initial setup is pretty easy; we have built a knowledge base. But there's a learning curve for beginners.

It went pretty smoothly for us. We have documented the deployment steps in our onboarding procedure.

The deployment takes two to three hours. Normally, there's one technician who does that. We have some maintenance procedures, but it's not difficult. It's pretty straightforward.

For us, the technical training was helpful. We did that. It's not strictly necessary, but it makes things a lot easier, especially to understand best practices.

We are quite happy with it. There are some complaints from our technicians, but overall, we are satisfied. 

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

We are using those switches as our main switches on-site. Everything is FortiSwitch, and everything wireless is FortiAP.

The product is very secure. It's enterprise-level. Because we are always upgrading to the latest firmware and stuff, everything is very solid, and our network runs much better than before.

The pricing could be improved, and it could be easier to configure. As Fortinet comes up with different firmware and updates, I am sure these problems will decrease. They will finetune their upgrades and firmware to make upgrading to the next versions easy.

I've used the solution for about two years, and we're using the latest version.

The product is stable and reliable. It's an enterprise-grade switch. If you plug anything into any outlet in the office, it gets connected to a switch, and you'll be able to get analytics.

We used to get issues where people bring in their own devices, and once they get access to a network cable, they just plug into the network point and had access to browse the Internet. Now, even though all ports are connected to switches, you won't get anything if the port is not enabled.

About 500 people at our company use the solution.

We have managed service providers who have support licenses with Fortinet. We normally have a three-year support license with Fortinet, so anything beyond that is good. On-site, we are the first line of support, the managed service providers are the second line, and Fortinet will be the third line, in that order.

Before this, we were using Ubiquiti wireless access points. However, because that was not enterprise-level, the company policy changed that we should only use enterprise-level devices, and Fortinet was chosen over Cisco. We changed all the Ubiquiti access points to FortiAPs and all the switches that used to be HPE to FortiSwitches, and the firewall also is FortiGate so that they'll all work together to get alerts.

The setup is a bit complex, but it works once you get it right.

During deployment, we first deployed the firewalls before we came to the switches and the APs. We were fully set up for the firewalls and switches within three months. After that, it took a week to change all the APs to FortiAPs.

We have a managed service provider, so they are the ones we work with. They manage our backend systems, so they are the ones that did the deployment.

I have seen an ROI. My investment is very good because security is key for us. Our network is secure from the firewall down to the AP, and we have peace of mind.

We signed up for a three-year license for support and replacement. We've had one situation where one switch we were upgrading to the latest firmware failed after I rebooted. Fortinet came in to try and troubleshoot. They tried everything, but it still wasn't working, so they replaced the switch. The pricing is expensive.

We have cloud solutions as well, where we have FortiCloud, a cloud solution around our switches.

I rate the product a ten out of ten for reliability and scalability. It's sometimes a bit difficult to configure. If we want to add another FortiSwitch to uplink on another one, it is difficult to remember where we have to go to tell the other switch to also talk to the FortiLink. However, I am confident that that is a security feature because it means nobody can just get on and do anything. Overall, I rate the product a ten out of ten.

To anyone planning to use the product, we are scaling it to other mining sites as well. Because this is the first location, we've done everything here. Once everything is deployed here successfully, we will scale it onto the other sites. We are ready to install the product onto another site, which we have already put in the firewall. But instead of the switches, we went with the APs first and have deployed about 165 APs. Now, we are waiting for the switches to come in so we can also put in the switches to complete the work. We will then scale from there to the next site.

We are using FortiSwitch as a gateway for our FortiGate firewalls. 

We needed a large PoE switch to connect to the firewall. FortiSwitch is robust and cheaper than Cisco switches. 

We haven't had any problems with FortiSwitch. 

We have used FortiSwitch for three years.

I wouldn't say that FortiSwitch is stable because we've had situations when we lost ports, and I don't know what IP address to switch to or which environment has the lost ports. A storm knocked out the power to the devices, and every attempt to troubleshoot the in-line power didn't work. I think this also happens with Cisco switches. 

FortiSwitch is scalable. You add switches to scale it up. It isn't difficult. 

I rate Fortinet support 10 out of 10. Their support is excellent and inexpensive. They respond immediately. 

Positive

Like most switches, FortiSwitch is plug-and-play. You don't need to do much configuration. You only need to connect it and put in an IP address. It doesn't take long, and one person can do the job alone. FortiSwitch requires periodic firmware updates. It can be a little difficult because the switches aren't connected to the internet, so you cannot upgrade the firmware remotely. You need to go to the site and do it manually because it's a closed network. 

We pay for a one-time cost for the hardware, but there isn't a license. We only pay for configuration and support. We need to periodically buy new switches and upgrade them. 

It's feasible to use FortiGate with Cisco switches, but it was simpler to buy everything from Fortinet. Cisco and Fortinet switches are both good, but FortiSwitch is cheaper. The Cisco hardware isn't too expensive, but we have to pay for ongoing support. For example, the switch might be 2,000 pounds, but you need to pay an additional 600 pounds for support. Cisco support is excellent but expensive. We end up paying a lot for things we don't need. 

I rate Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access six out of 10. I recommend different solutions depending on the use case. If a customer is using FortiGate firewalls, I would suggest FortiSwitch.

It is a multi-location solution used for security purposes.

The solution's most valuable features are ease of deployment and manageability.

They should enhance the solution's orchestration level. Also, they should integrate it with other Fortinet solutions. In addition, they should improve the cloud features and certain functionalities on the switching front.

I have been using the solution for more than eight years.

It is a stable solution from the security front. But there is still time to say for the switch as they are relatively new in the market. It may take a year or two for us to completely vouch for Fortinet from a switching or a wireless front, but they are working on it.

We have three to four customers using the solution.

The solution's technical support team is good. They provide round-the-clock support. But they need to scale up a bit more to reach the levels of tech support provided by LiveOps.

The solution is very straightforward to use and implement. The deployment takes 30-45 minutes. Once you plug it into the environment and remotely switch to FortiManager, it manages all the infrastructure.

We have to pay for the solution's subscription.

If someone is looking for a stable and cost-effective solution to secure the environment at the gateway, then Fortinet FortiSwitch is the right choice. It has a good lead time, is easy to deploy, and provides fast delivery. Also, locally certified resources are available for implementation purposes.

I rate the solution as a six.

The primary use case of the solution is for campus environments and their offices.

The solution has improved our organization by providing a single pane of glass for managing large networks. The solution improves our operational experience.

What stands out is the effective management and enhanced security provided by the solution's function as an extension of the firewall.

I have been using the solution for one year.

I give the stability a seven out of ten because we have noticed when we hook up phones the switching of ELANs et cetera doesn't work as it should. We have a workaround but we are not pleased with having to do this at the moment. They have a different approach to this method of working. We were used to a traditional environment and transitioning to this new environment requires learning and adapting to a new way of thinking. We haven't fully invested the necessary time and resources to fully understand how Fortinet's solution works. Therefore, we may need to allocate more time and seek guidance from Fortinet to fully understand certain aspects of the solution.

I give the scalability of the solution an eight out of ten.

We currently have 200 people using the solution.

Depending if opportunities arise we will consider expanding this implementation to include remote offices and other locations.

Technical support helps resolve our issues most of the time.

The initial setup is straightforward.

I give the deployment an eight out of ten. There is only one Gate with this and that can sometimes be a limitation, making it feel unusual at times.

I estimate the deployment would take around four hours to complete the process, given that the implementation involves more than ten switches, which is larger than a typical user setup.

The implementation was completed in-house. We are FortiGate-authorized resellers and do all the implementations ourselves.

We have seen a return on investment. The solution is more cost-effective in terms of operational expenses, as it is easier to operate compared to using multiple separate switches.

The solution is expensive but overall the cost makes sense. We acquire the license for a five-year period all at once, rather than incurring yearly license costs.

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

For new users, the only way to get the experience with the solution is by simply using it. The solution is simple and intuitive.