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FireMon Security Manager vs Palo Alto Networks Panorama comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.9
FireMon Security Manager optimizes firewall management by automating tasks, reducing errors, and improving efficiency and ROI.
Sentiment score
3.2
URL filtering and a single interface enhance efficiency, with quick benefits for large networks, despite high pricing challenges.
It significantly reduced the time spent on manual firewall policy review and audit preparation.
Cyber Security Consultant at ProTechmanize
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
9.5
FireMon Security Manager boasts great customer support, though improvements are needed in response times and communication with development.
Sentiment score
6.5
Palo Alto Networks Panorama support is responsive and knowledgeable, but some users experience delays, especially for complex issues.
An eight signifies they are doing a good job.
Digital Workforce Initiatives Leader at Galway
The technical support is good, but sometimes it takes some time.
Senior Network Specialist at Tech Mahindra Limited
The technical support from Palo Alto is rated around nine out of ten.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The technical support by Palo Alto Networks is great because the response time is solid.
Application Support Administrator at Meridian Port Services
The tech support I've encountered has been good, prompt, and fast.
Senior Principal Solutions Architect, HPE Aruba Networking - Full Stack Platform Expert at Danoffice IT ApS
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.6
FireMon Security Manager integrates well across environments, efficiently managing large-scale operations, though licensing and reporting may slow performance.
Sentiment score
7.3
Palo Alto Networks Panorama offers adaptability and scalability for managing large networks, praised for flexibility despite some cost concerns.
If it can see and interpret everything correctly, it would do exactly what I want, and it would be very helpful.
Digital Workforce Initiatives Leader at Galway
It offers extensive scalability options, providing more flexibility than other vendors.
Senior Network Specialist at Tech Mahindra Limited
As the environment grew, FireMon Security Manager continued to handle policy analysis, reporting, and change tracking reliably without performance issues.
Cyber Security Consultant at ProTechmanize
Scalability is primarily enhanced by Strata Cloud Manager as it is much easier to scale in the cloud than in an on-premises installation.
Senior Principal Solutions Architect, HPE Aruba Networking - Full Stack Platform Expert at Danoffice IT ApS
Scalability depends on whether it's a hardware or virtual machine model.
IT Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
FireMon Security Manager is generally stable, with occasional issues swiftly resolved, offering reliable performance and minimal downtime.
Sentiment score
7.5
Palo Alto Networks Panorama is praised for its stability, reliability under load, and performs well on cloud platforms like AWS.
If we have many devices added or if the firewall complexity is huge, we might experience some lag in processing.
Network security consultant at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Palo Alto Networks Panorama is very stable.
Consultant at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

FireMon Security Manager needs enhancements in integration, usability, device support, automation, stability, and user-friendly features.
Palo Alto Networks Panorama needs improvements in updates, integration, user interface, pricing, analytics, security, and storage for efficiency.
FireMon can see everything much better and provides me with a fuller report when using Meraki as a firewall system.
Digital Workforce Initiatives Leader at Galway
Simplifying some workflows and dashboards would help teams get value more quickly, especially in large environments.
Cyber Security Consultant at ProTechmanize
A basic understanding of cloud computing and firewall principles is necessary for successful implementation.
Senior Network Specialist at Tech Mahindra Limited
In terms of operation, it is quite important that the staff managing the Panorama should be technically sound enough, and they should know exactly what they are doing.
Sr. Staff Network Engineer at Blackhawk Network India
The AI module should be on-premises, not in the cloud.
Senior Network Engineer at UPS
I would like to improve the dashboards on Palo Alto Networks Panorama, especially because I work in an environment where my managers are not really that technical.
Application Support Administrator at Meridian Port Services
 

Setup Cost

FireMon Security Manager's pricing is justified by features and benefits, though concerns about renewal costs exist.
Palo Alto Networks Panorama is costly but offers robust, reliable features, with negotiable pricing and possible discounts for bulk purchases.
Comparatively, FireMon has a very good price and is below the general competition in cost.
Digital Workforce Initiatives Leader at Galway
Compared to others, it is not so expensive.
Network security consultant at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Our experience with FireMon Security Manager's pricing and licensing is that it is on the higher side, but justified for a large, regulated environment.
Cyber Security Consultant at ProTechmanize
Virtual Panorama is well-priced and is sold every time there's a solution.
Senior Principal Solutions Architect, HPE Aruba Networking - Full Stack Platform Expert at Danoffice IT ApS
Commercially, compared to Fortinet, Palo Alto is more expensive.
Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Palo Alto Networks Panorama is expensive but provides good value for money.
Consultant at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

FireMon Security Manager enhances security and compliance with centralized management, automated changes, and comprehensive reporting across various vendors.
Palo Alto Networks Panorama centralizes firewall management, enhancing security with user-friendly interfaces, advanced reporting, and scalable integration features.
By eliminating loopholes between policies, it simplifies review and analysis, while also automating policy changes and supporting multiple vendors.
Senior Network Specialist at Tech Mahindra Limited
It provides a single view across all firewalls, helps quickly identify risks and unused rules, and generates audit-ready reports, which is extremely useful in large, regulated environments.
Cyber Security Consultant at ProTechmanize
It has helped me bring all the firewalls into better alignment with the compliance requirements in my environment.
Digital Workforce Initiatives Leader at Galway
I find this solution valuable for full monitoring, centralized control for reporting, and centralized management.
Senior Network Engineer at UPS
We do not currently have a SIEM solution, so we are heavily relying on the monitoring features of Palo Alto Networks Panorama to conduct our investigations and log reviews.
Application Support Administrator at Meridian Port Services
Palo Alto Networks Panorama has positively impacted our organization by allowing a couple of network engineers to use Panorama simultaneously with different templates or device groups, which helps us save time and reduce the complexity of the network.
Network Security Engineer at Cyberwell Solution
 

Categories and Ranking

FireMon Security Manager
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks Panorama
Ranking in Firewall Security Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Firewall Security Management category, the mindshare of FireMon Security Manager is 17.6%, up from 16.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Panorama is 7.0%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Firewall Security Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Palo Alto Networks Panorama7.0%
FireMon Security Manager17.6%
Other75.4%
Firewall Security Management
 

Featured Reviews

Kallamuddin Ansari - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Consultant at ProTechmanize
Centralized firewall oversight has transformed policy audits and now streamlines risk reviews
The best features of FireMon Security Manager are centralized firewall visibility, policy risk analysis, and compliance reporting. It provides a single view across all firewalls, helps quickly identify risks and unused rules, and generates audit-ready reports, which is extremely useful in large, regulated environments. Change tracking is also very helpful, as it shows who changed what and when, reducing the risk of misconfiguration. The change tracking feature has helped our team by giving clear visibility into what rule was changed, when it was changed, and whether it introduced any risk. This has reduced troubleshooting time and helped us quickly validate changes during audit and incident review. Policy risk analysis and unused rule identification are also very valuable, especially in large environments, as they have helped us continuously reduce risk and keep firewall policies clean. The reporting and dashboard visibility are worth highlighting. FireMon Security Manager makes it easy to share clear, understandable reports with auditors and management, which saves time and reduces back-and-forth during review. FireMon Security Manager has had a very positive impact on our organization by reducing manual effort and improving overall security posture. It helped us gain centralized visibility across a large firewall environment, reduce risk and unused rules, and significantly shorten the time required for audit and policy reviews. It has also improved change control and accountability, which reduced configuration errors and operational risk.
Richard Dombo - PeerSpot reviewer
Application Support Administrator at Meridian Port Services
Monitoring and managing multiple firewalls has become more efficient through centralized oversight and reliable logging
I would say that while Palo Alto Networks Panorama reporting capability is functional, it is not really intuitive. The presentation is not really as advanced as what an advanced solution would have provided. I would like to improve the dashboards on Palo Alto Networks Panorama, especially because I work in an environment where my managers are not really that technical. They do a great job leading us, but they do not have a technical background. If the dashboard could be improved to suit more executive use cases when it comes to reporting, that would be excellent. It is basic as far as I am concerned, and from an executive standpoint, it is not really that good. I would rate Palo Alto Networks Panorama as a product nine or 9.5 out of ten because there is always room for improvement, especially on the dashboard. I think if they could improve the dashboard, I would give them ten out of ten because from a technical standpoint, the dashboard is good, but at an executive level, it is not really that good. I usually struggle when doing presentations to my bosses because the dashboard and reporting from Palo Alto Networks Panorama are not as polished as they could be.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise46
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FireMon?
I like the Security Manager console where we can see any changes that have been made or pull the results of an assessment and control the policies that we implement.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FireMon?
Our experience with FireMon Security Manager's pricing and licensing is that it is on the higher side, but justified for a large, regulated environment. The setup cost and licensing made sense give...
What needs improvement with FireMon?
FireMon Security Manager is a strong platform. However, it could be improved with a more intuitive user interface and faster initial onboarding for new users. Simplifying some workflows and dashboa...
What do you like most about Palo Alto Networks Panorama?
The most valuable aspect of Palo Alto Networks Panorama for me is the centralized management of multiple firewalls.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Panorama?
If you go with the cloud-based deployment, it is pretty much affordable. If you go with the physical bare-metal hardware, then it is quite expensive.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Panorama?
I would say that while Palo Alto Networks Panorama reporting capability is functional, it is not really intuitive. The presentation is not really as advanced as what an advanced solution would have...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Convey, MGM Resorts International, Southwest Airlines, Alkami, Costco, Aetna, IBM, Verizon, Wells Fargo
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about FireMon Security Manager vs. Palo Alto Networks Panorama and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.