Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Fortinet FortiSIEM vs NetWitness Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiSIEM
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetWitness Platform
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
29th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (37th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSIEM is 3.3%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetWitness Platform is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Oliver Jackson - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems monitoring enhanced by firewall and intrusion detection features
My primary use case for Fortinet FortiSIEM is systems monitoring and alerting. I use it for standard functions like log monitoring, incident detection, and notification.  My customers are mostly medium-sized enterprises ranging from engineering companies, mining companies, independent schools, and…
MOTASHIM Al Razi - PeerSpot reviewer
It is a stable solution, but they should make the user interface easier to understand
The solution's initial setup takes work. We have to organize multiple paths and many features. The deployment process takes less than a week. But it takes a month to complete if we want to make the solution smarter by integrating it with various devices. I rate the process as a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"We have found the most important features in Fortinet FortiSIEM to be the correlation, file utility check, latest file, and hash changes. These features are important for us."
"It works well with medium to large-scale enterprises."
"FortiSIEM sends an email or SMS notifications to admins when there are significant incidents. It's a highly efficient way of responding to incidents."
"The advanced agents used to collect logs have been most valuable. We have also made use of the advanced intelligence this solution offers."
"The product is quite well-organized. The GUI makes it easy to navigate."
"This solution offers extensive customization options, making it possible to adapt it precisely to their requirements."
"The most valuable features for us are the built-in reports and alerts, along with the extreme flexibility in reporting and rule generation."
"The newer 11.5 version that my team is using has found it to have good mapping."
"The software is scalable to whatever is required, and you can also put a lot of resources in the cloud."
"The most valuable features are the threat prediction and network forensics."
"Setting up NetWitness is straightforward. There are multiple connectors, including standard and specialized connectors. One purpose of the connectors is the enhanced capability integrate the custom applications. NetWitness comes with E6 appliances and application images that we use for the initial configurations and for the OS stack information. From there, you can consider the correlation rules, integrate the different log sources, and easily create correlation rules and backlog reports."
"Incident management is its most valuable feature."
"Their technical support responds quickly and are knowledgable."
"The most valuable features are its ingestion of logs and raising of alerts based on those logs."
"The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult."
 

Cons

"If there is a configuration on the wrong side of the network or there are changes that result in harm to our IT infrastructure, the solution should immediately fix it."
"An improvement would be if FortiSIEM's licensing was based on the number of nodes rather than the EPS."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM could improve to extend to several locations or sites."
"The performance can be improved. Sometimes it takes a long time to fetch data."
"When our team tried configuring logs for Microsoft SQL, it did not work."
"The policy editing should be easier. Right now, it's too hard."
"The process of installing Fortinet FortiSIEM and the customization of the alerts take too long."
"Areas for improvement would be the ease of use and the integration with Fortinet's own products."
"The system looks like it is a mix of a bunch of different systems, and nothing looked like it was quite together."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets can improve the threat level aspect, it is lacking compared to other solutions. Whenever any hacking activity or any other threat factor occurred they used to provide the coverages very fast when comparing RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets. I heard the other three solutions, from a discussion with my team members who had experience in other solutions, they used to say that. Whenever any issues happened across the globe RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets are a little bit slow improving those detection mechanisms."
"More customizability is required, which is something that they need to improve on."
"They should implement algorithms to digest that data and produce additional, more advanced reporting, alerting and support of internal security teams."
"We have encountered issues with unresolved crashes."
"The documentation is not as structured as I would like, personally, and I think that it can be improved and made much more user-friendly."
"The initial setup was complex because it takes a lot of time to complete the implementation."
"The solution should have more integration capabilities with different platforms."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price can be better. We are Fortinet partners, so we can get discounts, but its price can be an issue at the beginning for others. There is a licensing scheme for every case. There are three licensing schemes that we can choose from."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM is cheaper compared to other products."
"Fortinet FortiSIEM is not an expensive solution."
"Manageable, however would be better as pay as you go versus CapEX."
"Pricing is acceptable for more than 90% of our customers, as they normally get discounts."
"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The free version license of the product is available for two months."
"The price is competitive."
"FortiSIEM's licensing is based on EPS, and its pricing is competitive in the market."
"The product is expensive."
"There is a licensing fee and the customer can choose whether he wishes this to be subscription-based or perpetual."
"This is a pricey solution; it's not cheap."
"The new pricing and licensing mechanisms are fair. I would advise always to get the full solution (i.e., not only Logs)."
"RSA NetWitness Logs and Packets do not have a subscription model, it's a one-time purchase. There is only a perpetual license."
"We are on an annual license for the use of the solution."
"It’s cheaper to run virtual machines in a VMware environment."
"The product price was reasonable for my region and the market."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions are best for your needs.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

VS
Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM needs to provide better API integrations to users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSIEM?
The pricing is reasonable, which is why it is preferred by government customers. Windows agent licenses cost around 3,000 Rupees per device per year.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSIEM?
Fortinet FortiSIEM should broaden its remediation part to include more features for incident management. Currently, to manage repetitive incidents or for remediation, I need to use a separate softw...
What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to me.
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.
 

Also Known As

FortiSIEM, AccelOps
RSA Security Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

FortiSIEM has hundreds of customers worldwide in markets including managed services, technology, financial services, healthcare, and government. Customers include Aruba Networks, Compushare, Port of San Diego, Cleveland Indians, Infoblox, Healthways, and Referentia.
Los Angeles World Airports, Reply
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSIEM vs. NetWitness Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.