Versa FlexVNF Reviews

We primarily use the solution for SD-WAN with the built-in firewall, the NG firewall.

They are pretty transparent on every layer of the networking to build the SD-WAN. Troubleshooting is easier due to that. They, it seems like, do not try to cover or wrap the SD-WAN into my interface, which would make it difficult to troubleshoot. They really open up every part of the technology so that if there is an issue, it would be easier to troubleshoot.

It's very powerful, especially for engineering teams. And yet, they manage also to keep it from being too complex.

The initial setup is straightforward. 

It has very good reliability.

The product is scalable. 

The interface could be simpler. There have been improvements over time, however, it could be improved further. While nothing is lacking in terms of information, if they could make it simpler for non-technical users, it would be easier to understand and could be used by more people. 

We started using the solution about a year ago.

It's stable. The cloud basically is only for orchestration. Once the equipment has been set up it's going to be running well, and quite independently. Even if there is an update in the cloud,  for example, the path to the cloud is gone, it will still suffice. It would still run. It's very reliable. 

The scalability is pretty good, actually. The internal processing is light. It could scale much bigger than compared to the other SD-WAN solutions that I'm aware of. Even the small unit actually could scale for 1,000 branches already. 

They're helpful, however, we actually rarely use them. It's almost never happened, in terms of having any issues. 

The initial setup is straightforward. 

Mostly, customers rely on the engineering team. They just start to run it once it is deployed. Normally, the setup is headed by the engineering team.

The deployment really depends on how fast the rollout would be needed. The deployment is easy, however, it depends on the location. We could deploy a few units a day, for example, as it all can be handled and secured on the cloud from the orchestrator. We could easily deploy 20 a week unless we are talking about moving to different locations.

The value of SD-WAN is that it can cover a wide area. Therefore, in most cases, the delay is actually about the delivery of the unit to the location.

Once the hardware arrives at the location and the network connectivity from the provider is ready, it would take just minutes to turn it up. The readiness of the place, the readiness of the connection, and any delays in the delivery due to the courier or the shipper all play a role in how long the deployment will be.

Normally we have two or three people handle deployment.

Usually, we deploy to small branches of ten to 30, depending on the office size.

The ROI is not really calculated. I would say the experience of the user improves a lot. This means that always come combining the MPLS plus the internet, for example, users would enjoy bigger bandwidth. Their application or file transfer is faster. It's not only about something that could be quantified. The better experience on the user side is definitely something we can see, however.

Price-wise, it's quite fair with the list of capabilities on offer. If we use the features a lot that enables the NG firewall for SMO. It's much cheaper than having a separate SD-WAN unit and an external firewall. All the package features if all put in together and enabled, make it more competitive compared to the other brands. 

The price can be negotiable. The cost depends on the size. It includes firewall features. It includes tech support from the vendor's side. The licensing system with the subscription, it's all included.

I really like the option to include the NG firewall due to the fact that, in total, that would be cheaper compared to having an external firewall and the SD-WAN unit.

We're a Versa partner.

I don't recall which version we are using. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

I would recommend a field test to new users. Don't just look at the paper. Try to experience it in the live network. Most of the time, that could really make a difference. If customers would like to know about it, the better way is to have a proof of concept or live demo in their network running for a certain period, with their network running on top of this SD-WAN as that's what really actually makes the difference. They could see the improvement firsthand. They could see that the bandwidth is increased. Or find out if it really could replace the MPLS with the internet. Those are the things that on paper, sometimes we could not really feel or know. 

We use the solution for SD-WAN as well as SD-WAN plus security NGFW, UTM. We use the combination of these three as they relate to multi-sites. 

I especially like the flexibility of being able to choose the license based on customer application requirements. Also, when it comes to the hardware, certain support or different switches will apply. However, the software's flexibility does come with a price for the customer. There is flexibility when it comes to upgrading to a higher bandwidth or license, as well as when combining with the security solution, NGFW and UTM. 

To sum up, the flexibility is a great feature. 

I don't have issues with the hardware, as the requisite capacity is visible in the data sheets. All the details in the data sheets are accounted for. But, I find myself confused when it comes to combining this with the software. I have not come across documentation on the Versa website which would provide information about the parameters for selecting the appropriate license. For this we are assisted by the solution's design engineer and the Versa team. I do what I can as a project manager and make the best suggestions I am capable of concerning the competition. 

Future releases should contain AI for the voice feature. SSL VPN is lacking in the solution. I wish to see this in the near future. 

I have been with Tata Communications for approximately two years respect this product. I have made a good contribution to the onboarding of Versa FlexVNF and the development of SD-WAN products in Tata Communications. As I have been working with Spectra on the same product, I can say that I have been doing so with the solution for this length of time. 

I have not encountered bugs in the solution. 

I have not come across limitations in the solution. I have worked on the 300 series, the 700 series and the 1000 series, but there are no limitation within the box. The important thing is that the combination of the box and the license provide the correct solution. That's what comes with this. Otherwise, we must consider the hardware and configuration details in respect of the throughput authorization when it comes to 100 Mbps for NGFW or 400 for UTM. These are especially present in terms of the configuration of the box against the bandwidth.

As I am in product management, I have not had occasion to contact technical support. This would be in the purview of team delivery, support, provisioning or engineering teams. Occasionally, technical account managers also provide assistance. 

The installation process was complex. Templates are there and we can pretty much put those straight into the Versa director and push them for other sites. A single template spokes other templates. This would involve a change in bandwidth or configuration. We make the changes on the template and push for those particular sites. So, when it comes to Versa director and analytics, it's pretty simple.

While I cannot provide too much commentary on the price, I feel it to be fair for the moment. 

I should note that Citrix or Cisco Meraki are coming out with more competitive prices. The comparative pricing can pose an issue for us, as we are the ones who supply the solution. While we make adjustments to the solution, the majority of our customers have right templates and feel that they are able to get the same SD-WAN solution that fulfills our requirements for, perhaps, a price of 20 to 30 percent less than what we provide on Versa. 

My advice is that a person come with data that meets his needs, which would provide hima good basis for selecting the correct sizing.  

I rate Versa FlexVNF as an eight-and-a-half out of ten, owing to the issues concerning the size of the box configurations and licensing. But, this rating also reflects the flexibility of choice afforded by the solution, as well as its futuristic approach that allows one to upgrade it to the next level of technology. It is very close to the next level of technology and one can actually upgrade his solution anytime over the cloud and to the central processor without the need to visit the field. That's simplicity.

It's an SD-WAN solution. It's a feature-rich network router, which gives you, at the site, WAN optimization. 

It gives you firewall features, so security features, and it also gives you the capability of VPN as a feature, so all your services are hosted at the site, and you can access it remotely. These are some top features. There is QS, which it also offers. Basically, it is an all-in-one, feature-rich SD-WAN router.

It's multi-tenancy, which is an excellent feature. On the same CPE, we can have multiple organizations running simultaneously, which is nice. Everything is controlled centrally from the data center, from the head end, which can be remotely, and you can remotely push configs on it.

The Versa Director, which is the GUI, is what we mostly use to provision to do any type of configuration.

The initial setup is simple.

The solution is scalable.

It's stable. 

It's relatively new.  I'm primarily in the testing part. I find bugs day in and day out. There are a few particular bugs that could be improved and dealt with.

We don't get the performance value Versa has promised for one of the devices that Versa recommended, the CSG device. In the next release, they are saying they will fix that. However, most of my bugs already have a fixed version release, so they are going forward with it. 

The VPN feature is relatively new. It came out two releases ago, and they're still fixing that up. There are still some gaps there, so the RAS feature is definitely getting better, yet there are still some gaps.

I've been using the solution for two years. 

The solution is actually quite buggy as it is relatively new. 

However, it is stable. The older features, like the next-gen firewall, stateful firewall, application-aware routing, AAR, and SLA monitoring, these type of features were the first-gen features and are very stable. They work as expected.

It is very scalable. That is the main feature of SD-WAN. It's extremely scalable and it is very easy to reuse templates and bring up multiple sites at once.

Technical support is beneficial and very knowledgeable. They understand issues very well. They come back with the fixes. We are very satisfied with them. 

I have done the implementation multiple times. For me, it is quite easy. It is not so complex if you have the right people to do that initial training.

The deployment of the entire environment might take about two weeks or so if you have the right people, environment, and devices. Within a month, you'd be able to have everything set up if everything is in place.  

How many people you need to deploy the solution depends on the scale of how big you want it and how many customers you're going to have. With a server, I can just build the entire thing on my own. That said, it depends on the scale and the environment that you're going to build it on.

We did the entire deployment internally. There is documentation that can support you that and there is also the Versa support team that helps a lot.

I'm not aware of the licensing costs. 

We are a customer and an end-user. 

I was in a different company before working with SD-WAN before. This is a new company for me. We don't have live customers yet. 

If you're going to start using it, it's best to pick up a feature at a time and follow the documentation carefully. Try to configure it yourself and understand what's happening exactly. It's just a lot of hands-on work that really helps to understand what is going on with Versa with the CPE. That's how I learned that solution. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

I'm an IP access engineer and we are customers of Versa.

The product has a dynamic VPN feature for SD-WAN which our customers use for their network. Another valued feature is the application awareness with its VGA engine which enables visibility. Customers can see their network traffic with whatever application is being used. 

The solution lacks a mobile version where small, manageable platforms can be developed. Our customers sometimes want to collect analytical data on-premises, and we're unable to provide those features. Perhaps Versa can develop virtual appliances for site-available solutions, like analytics or management. Our customers would like to see a server VPN and mobile applications.

I've been using this solution for four years. 

We deployed the latest version last year but there were so many bugs that we quickly reverted to the previous version which is stable. When the vendor releases new features, we now test them and do a POC before implementing them.

The solution is scalable. We have 200 workers using Versa WAN solutions. They run the gamut from network admins to security admins, installation guys, field engineers, technical account managers, and more. They use the product to check endpoints or data analytics. 

Customer service is good. 

Positive

The solution is easily deployed on virtual machines, but the integration process takes time due to the service provider's requirements. The deployment is doable because the solution is developed for the service provider. It's a difficult question because the difficulty is service providers. We have to implement many systems to different platforms and if there are no integration systems, the development is simple.

This solution is relatively new in Turkey and despite them not increasing the license price, it's a relatively expensive solution. The solution has new features and if a company doesn't need those, they will find a cheaper option. We sell SD-WAN solutions as a premium VPN service, and the license is a little expensive for Turkish customers, but there is no real alternative.

We looked at some other solutions but couldn't find an alternative. We're now deploying Huawei SD-WAN solutions and will possibly deploy Cisco antenna because we are buying Cisco browsers but they lack sufficient security.

We use 21.2.1, which is the latest version of the solution.

The solution is already deployed and we use it for our customers.

The solution has different uses, depending on the customer, some using it for firewall protection and others only in its SD-WAN role. Different customers have different subscriptions.

We are talking about a managed solution. Say, for example, one has broadband linkage and 12X link. A separate structure would be required for these links. With our solution, we can create the traffic on both the links and it is auto-managed. We can select the best route. This way, if it seems that broadband link has dropped, the link will automatically be shifted to our next best route. There would be no need to deploy a firewall in it, as it is already embedded in our solution. This saves our customers from having to deploy the firewall. 

The security should be improved. 

The support could be more knowledgeable. 

While I joined this organization just two months ago, my company has been using Versa FlexVNF for around a year. 

The solution is stable and suitable. We have been using it for a number of years. 

The solution is scalable.

The tech support does not have familiarity with its product. They could be more knowledgeable. 

Installation took about an hour.

Only a single available person is needed, someone who will provide us with the internet over the site, the branch being used for the deployment. Otherwise, we need nothing at all, the internet at the branch sufficing for us to handle everything else on our own. 

We provide subscriptions for our customers on a yearly, not monthly, basis. 

In our organization, we lend support to almost 300 different customers. This is in contrast to Fortigate, in which the number we are talking about involves 100 customers. 

We do not use the product. We are its providers. 

I would definitely recommend this product to others. An SD-WAN solution is appropriate for everybody. 

I rate Versa FlexVNF as a six out of ten. 

We mainly implement this solution for SD-WAN service, a next-generation firewall, and UTM.

It has improved our organization because we use SD-WAN for optimizing connectivity, and it has helped lower our costs by replacing legacy WAN links with a modern WAN architecture.

The granularity when it comes to configuration and security features are valuable. It is more secure than its competitors.

The web interface can be improved. It is a bit outdated, so they need to make a more modern GUI. In the next release, they need to add capabilities to manage the LAN. Other competitors are moving towards the LAN and Network as a Service, and Versa is a bit behind in that.

We have been using the solution for two years, and we are using version 21.

I rate the stability an eight out of ten.

I rate the scalability a ten out of ten.

The technical support is good.

We used Nokia Nuage in the past.

I rate the setup an eight out of ten, and we completed it in-house.

There is a return on investment.

I rate the pricing a six out of ten, with one being the most expensive and ten being the cheapest. The price is mid-level, so they are not very expensive or very cheap. There are no hidden or extra costs.

We evaluated Nokia Nuage and Cisco, and then we chose Versa.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten. Versa is more suitable for customers who have large deployments because it doesn't compete well with the products suitable for small to medium customers. So they have a different product called Titan, and it's suitable. The solution is better for customers who have medium to large deployments.

We use it for MPLS connectivity, VPNs, etc.

I like all the features. We utilize different LAN, bandwidth transferring, bandwidth balancing, and mappings. We use it as a centralized solution, and use the same product at all our locations.

There are limitations when you connect from multiple locations. It does not work as expected.

If you have more than 400 users, then it will choke. It will not perform as expected.

I would like them to stabilize the wireless solution and have more security features in the next release.

I've been using Versa FlexVNF for almost three years.

The stability is okay. That is, it's stable when you have fewer locations. When it comes to multiple locations, I don't recommend this device.

It is scalable, but there might be some issues with scalability if you don't have an additional device.

On a scale from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I would rate technical support at six. They are knowledgeable, but they do not respond quickly; there have been many delays.

Neutral

The initial setup is easy, and I would rate it at 4.5 on a scale from one to five, with one being difficult and five being easy.

One person can handle the maintenance of Versa FlexVNF because hardly any maintenance is needed.

Price wise, it's more expensive than is the competition. I would give pricing a rating of three out of five.

Overall, I would rate Versa FlexVNF at eight on a scale from one to ten.

I primarily use FlexVNF for SD-WAN, connecting all our branches, and the main steering.

The most valuable features are the main steering and the firewall. The security features and SD-WAN features are also quite good.

The stability of FlexVNF's controller and devices could be improved.

The stability could be improved.

FlexVNF's scalability is quite good - they implement using a template configuration, which allows for good scalability.

Versa's technical support is good.

Positive

I've also used Forcepoint, and I prefer FlexVNF.

The setup was quite easy and took around a day.

I would give FlexVNF a rating of six out of ten.