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Check Point Harmony Mobile vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point Harmony Mobile
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Threat Defense (1st)
Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (3rd), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (1st), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (5th), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. Check Point Harmony Mobile is designed for Mobile Threat Defense and holds a mindshare of 17.0%, down 19.8% compared to last year.
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), holds 17.1% mindshare, down 19.3% since last year.
Mobile Threat Defense
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
 

Featured Reviews

Anuraj Nair - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides good threat detection and prevention, but it lacks MDM capabilities present in other MDM products
Check Point Harmony Mobile is not so attractive and provides security only for mobile devices. Customers can use Check Point Harmony Mobile to secure their mobile devices, such as Android or Mac smartphones. However, it has less capability than an MDM (Mobile device management). Check Point Harmony Mobile has a good advantage in terms of security posture and security threat detection and prevention. Check Point Harmony Mobile will help prevent 99% of attacks on mobile devices. It is easy to manage Check Point Harmony Mobile. People bring their own devices and connect them to all the other unwanted networks. This causes traffic to flow to these devices from any network source, such as Wi-Fi, LAN, or other public networks. Deploying Check Point Harmony Mobile can ensure the endpoint is sanitized and clean for use at home and the workplace. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.
Partha Dash - PeerSpot reviewer
Makes us part of a bigger security ecosystem with updates taken care of for us, but pricing and support need work
There are definitely a number of things that could be improved. One of them is geographic coverage. China is still an issue because the solution does not operate there properly due to government regulations. I believe Palo Alto is trying pretty hard to get into partnerships with Alibaba and other cloud providers, but they do not have the same compelling offering in China that they have in the rest of the world. Businesses that are operating within China have to be very sure to evaluate the solution before making a buying decision. It is not an issue with Palo Alto, rather it is predominantly the result of government rules, but it's something that Palo Alto needs to work on. There is also room for improvement when it comes to latency in a couple of regions, including India and South America. They might have to increase their presence in those locations and come up with more modern cloud architectures. The third area is that, while Palo Alto has understood the essence of building capabilities around cloud technology and have come up with a CASB offering, that is a very new product. There are other companies that have better offerings for understanding cloud applications and have more graceful controls. That's something that Palo Alto needs to work on.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution was easy to deploy and provided a useful security enhancement for mobile devices."
"Harmony Mobile's most valuable feature is the variety of capabilities in the platform, including allowing you to track device status."
"It monitors all the URLs that a user goes to on their phone and so we can see what they're looking at and we can limit that. Certain topics are not allowed to be accessed. They're monitoring their apps and they rate them based upon how big of a security risk that individual app is based on their ratings. And so we're able to limit those as well and allow people to have some that may be a low risk, but still a risk, but we may allow that for our users whereas we block medium and high risk."
"Management can see all devices on one panel and easily highlight any devices under threat."
"It is very easy for my company to get information from the product's support team."
"The easy deployment is the key for us. I can simply send a link through email to a user, then they install the software and are protected."
"The simple navigation offered by the graphical user interface is excellent."
"We like Harmony's ability to encrypt transactions between mobile devices. All the user's transactions are encrypted. That's an excellent feature. We can detect, quarantine, and address any issues in the handset itself."
"Being able to use the user ID or Active Directory Group is one of the great features for control and providing more flexibility without worrying about IP addresses."
"It's very stable. Sometimes after installing the boxes, we leave them for one or two years. We would just touch the box in the case of the customer needing new requirements or changes to the setup."
"Overall, the cost savings, ease of deployment, and better VPN user experience and performance are valuable."
"Prisma integrates well with Cortex XDR and Cortex Data Lake. My company has been also using Prisma Access in-house for nearly a year, and it integrates seamlessly."
"The solution improved the consistency of our security controls and the BCP. There has been a 20 percent reduction in TCO. Prisma Access also enabled us to deliver better applications by centralizing security management."
"The solution has all its capabilities in a single cloud delivery platform which is great and it provides overall good protection."
"The stacked policies, event policies, and routing policies are easy to understand for someone with general knowledge."
"Prisma Access is very stable, and I am very much satisfied with its stability, rating it nine to ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"We had some issues with loopback VPN DNS filtering stopping working periodically, however, this is something that we could probably iron out with support."
"Compatibility with other Mobile Device Management (MDM) products on the market should be improved, ensuring correct operation between SandBlast Mobile and MDM."
"I think that the pricing for the Check Point products should be reconsidered, as we found it to be quite expensive to purchase and to maintain."
"We can say that this is a very good solution but Check Point has to reduce the cost."
"The solution should improve passive scanning and provide regular updates. Also, during business hours, users should not experience any slowdown on their devices."
"Integration needs improvement. We use Check Point for email. We use Check Point Capsule Workspace and I wish that it tied into that better and was integrated with their email application so that when it's secure, then they're able to access their email and it could be deployed as one group instead of two separate applications. It's a little bit more work for us to deploy both of those so it'd be nice if they could be integrated."
"One thing that should be improved in the future of the ability to ensure that mobile devices are protected from connections in environments with unlimited connectivity."
"It could expand the functionalities to, in addition to security functionality, incorporate Mobile Device Management (MDM) functionalities such as remote device management, administration of installed applications, etc."
"I haven't seen any SD-WAN configuration capability. If Prisma Access would support SD-WAN, that would help... SD-WAN devices should be able to reach Prisma Access, and Palo Alto should support different, vendor-specific devices, not just Palo Alto devices, for SD-WAN configuration."
"It would be nice to manage Prisma Access through the cloud instead of through Panorama. You can use the cloud version to monitor Prisma Access, but it doesn't have all the features yet, and it's not 100% done."
"It is a managed firewall. When you run into issues and have to troubleshoot, there is a fair amount of restriction. You run into a couple of restrictions where you don't have any visibility on what is happening on the Palo Alto managed infrastructure, and you need to get on a call to get technical assistance from Palo Alto's technical support. You have to get them to work with you to fix the problem. I would definitely like them to work on the visibility into what happens inside Palo Alto's infrastructure. It is not about getting our hands onto their infrastructure to do troubleshooting or fixing problems; it is just about getting more visibility. This will help us in guiding technical support folks to the area where they need to work."
"The Cloud Management application has room for improvement. There are a lot of things on the roadmap for that application; things are going to happen soon."
"Better integration with the MDM solution would be useful."
"The BGP filtering options on Prisma Access should be improved."
"The price can be reduced to make it more competitive."
"We would like to see improvements in the licensing; currently, Palo Alto provides 500 to 1000 licenses for users, and we want to see 1500 to 2000 licenses for one version."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We didn't actually purchase the software. It was given to us by Check Point. We are using it as a test bed for possible future customers."
"Regarding the cost of licenses, each device consumes one, even if it has both professional and personal profiles."
"Check Point Harmony Mobile's pricing is good."
"The price is not so high. I would rate the pricing a three or four out of ten."
"Check Point pricing is better than Symantec."
"When I purchased the product for one of our company's clients, I realized that the price of the product was competitive."
"Choosing the correct set of licenses is essential because, without the additional software blade licenses, the Check Point gateways are just a stateful firewall."
"The quality, price, and support ratio are very good."
"In terms of pricing, considering that it is a two or three years old solution, they should apply big discounts for the next two or three years. This approach will be better for them to capture the market."
"It is a little expensive. Because it is one of the best in the market, it is a little bit more expensive than other vendors."
"Based on what I have heard from others, it is a pricey solution as compared to its peers, but I am not sure. However, considering the features that it offers, it is a break-even point. You get whatever they are promising."
"It is pretty expensive. We have to balance the cost of some features. They need to work on some of the services and products, price-wise."
"The licensing model for this product is complicated and changes all the time, making it very hard for the user to comprehend the configuration."
"Actually the solution is very expensive. I don't know the particulars since the purchasing team dealt with it."
"The licensing cost is about 18,000 euros."
"It's pricey, it's not cheap. But you get what you pay for."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
25%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point Harmony Mobile?
The most valuable features of the solution are threat emulation, threat extraction, URL detection, antimalware, antivirus, and IPS.
What needs improvement with Check Point Harmony Mobile?
The solution should improve passive scanning and provide regular updates. Also, during business hours, users should not experience any slowdown on their devices.
What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?
We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure access service edge (SASE) designed to deliver network security in a cloud-deliver...
What do you like most about Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
The most valuable features of the solution are in the areas of the secure remote access it provides while also being user-friendly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
The pricing is on the higher side, rating it around eight to nine out of ten. While it is justified for its value, there is room for price reduction.
 

Also Known As

Check Point Mobile Access, Check Point SandBlast Mobile
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Samsung Research America, Mississippi Office of the Secretary of State
Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack