We use FortiGate Next Generation Firewall mainly for network security.
The solution's application control is very powerful. Another valuable feature is the integration between the firewall and the switches we have. The FortiSwitch extended security fabric is one of the things that we like about the solution.
The solution's stability should be improved because it is extremely unstable.
I have been working with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) for eight years.
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a very scalable solution. Approximately 32 customers are working with the solution.
The solution's technical support team needs more improvement. The technical support team has a slow response and needs more experienced support agents to interact with the customers.
The solution's initial setup is easy and straightforward.
Since it's a security solution, it needs considerable time to deploy. We need to analyze the network, the customer requirements, and the policies we need to add, which can take a couple of days.
For any security solution, there is no straightforward deployment process. It depends on the survey on the customer side and what we are doing for the customer. One security engineer is required for the deployment and maintenance of the solution.
Since FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a slightly expensive solution, the use case determines the ROI. However, since it's quite expensive for general usage, it has a lower ROI.
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution with a yearly subscription. There are no extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.
The solution has a lot of features that we like. We don't need additional features because they compromise the solution's stability when they add more features. As a security gateway, we need to be much more stable than adding more features.
FortiGate Next Generation Firewall comes in two versions, namely, the hardware version and the cloud version. For the on-premises version, hardware is to be implemented on-site; for the cloud, it's a cloud security solution. So it depends on which version your customer is using. The licensing is very different for the on-prem and the cloud solution.
When it comes to complex solutions, I highly recommend FortiGate Next Generation Firewall.
Customers looking for SD-WAN and good application control should go for FortiGate Next Generation Firewall. Customers looking for high stability should avoid the solution.
Overall, I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall an eight out of ten.