Fortinet FortiManager Reviews

FortiManager is used to facilitate the administration of FortiGate equipment. There are many features to automate processes and make it easier to manage the devices. For example, we can push the same configuration to hundreds or thousands of devices, which helps us maintain a global version of the configuration and status of the devices. We also use scripts and templates to make it even easier.

The ZTP (Zero Touch Provisionning) helps us to reduce the implementation time and TCO of the remote sites.

The main function of FortiManager that makes it valuable to me is automation. I can automate the installation of configurations using different programming languages like Python or HPE, and it's a GUI solution, so it's pretty easy to use, even for basic users. It's also compatible with traditional programming languages, another feature I like about FortiManager.

There are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, for example, the ZTP. Automating and making it easier to understand devices is necessary, especially in terms of zero-touch provisioning. This mechanism needs more work as there are some bugs and some functions that do not work very well. Today, there are tickets with Fortinet regarding a problem with cluster devices. It means two devices can be configured to work like one device. In general, it is easy to configure manually, but when you want to do it automatically, Forti Manager should help, but today it didn't work.

FortiManager is a good tool, but there is a lack of really advanced documentation. While there are a lot of features available, for example, when working with Fortinet support, it can be challenging to find the right information. I work with Fortinet support every week as we have a partnership in my enterprise. However, for the public, it's not easy to access the kind of documentation we have access to. This level of partnership with Fortinet can be costly to attain for the general public.

Some learning websites and communities are available, but the documentation provided is not as advanced as what we have access to. It's challenging to find confirmation and recommendations for advanced admin settings based on complex configurations. To have access to this kind of information, a partnership or conversation with Fortinet support is required, which can be expensive for most users.
Fortinet need to work on the automation part because they are using now JINJA as programming languge without a real complicator behind to help resolve errors on the code which is very challenging.

I have been using this solution for six years.

The device itself is very stable, but it's not the main number when it comes to using FortiManager to manage other devices. However, when it connects to other devices for the gate or to manage them, some functions don't work. There are some problems, but it's only around 3-5%, while 95% of the time, there are no problems interacting with other devices.

It handles stability very well.

FortiManager's ability to scale is good as it's a virtual machine. You can raise the capacity as you go, and there is no limit for hardware. The basic ones support a lot of devices and offer a good defense. However, you need to raise the level of licensing every time to support more devices. So, in terms of scalability, it's really good.

The level of support for P2 and P1 is wonderful. However, for levels 3 and 4, they have to work on their computer capacity and numbers. I've worked with them many times, and sometimes I have a good engineer but not a good understanding of the program.

By default, when we open a ticket, we only have access to P3 and P4. If we need P2 or P1, we have to ask for it, but not every single ticket requires P2 or P1 priority.

I have had both good and bad experiences with technical support.

FortiManager is definitely better than Cisco, and it's easier to use and more stable. I remember finding FortiManager to be much more flexible and stable.

Meraki works very well but is cloud-based and lacks some administrative tasks and functions. FortiManager is better than Meraki for managing devices.

The initial setup is quite simple. Initially, I combined CentOS with other products, which took about five hours. However, It's not complicated at all. Moreover, I train some of our clients on how to use it, and they find it easy to understand. I can easily explain the technical aspects of the initial setup, like scripting, etc.

Fortinet FortiManager can be deployed both cloud-based and on-premise. There are various platforms available for on-premise deployment, such as hardware devices or VMs, that can be started on Hyper-V, NSR, or NSF. Additionally, it can be deployed on cloud-based platforms like Azure, Google Cloud, or Amazon AWS.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.

We have over 300 Fortigate sites and we use this solution to manage everything under one interface. 

The scripts are very useful. We can push the TCL and CLI scripts to Fortigate.

The automation is great between Ansible and Fortimanager.

We can integrate the solution with other solutions.

There is one central template that we can use across sites. 

The setup is very simple. 

We can use the solution as a VM. 

We've faced an issue when we need to move devices. Templates need to be recreated instead of having the policies, et cetera, cut and pasted over. Everything should just move over when we need to move devices instead of recreating everything from scratch. 

For the IPSEC tunnels, Fortimanager doesn't have all of the features that are available on Fortigate. 

I've been using the solution for three or four years. 

The stability is very good. We haven't dealt with any issues so far. It's reliable. 

The scalability is okay. There are some restrictions. However, it is pretty good. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

We have three accounts using the product. They range in size.

We have an internal team that can handle tickets. We're limited in opening tickets directly with Fortinet.

In the past, however, I have opened many tickets with Fortinet in the past and found them to be very helpful and responsive. They were good at solving issues. 

We have worked with Palo Alto and Cisco. The way of working with the firewalls is a bit different in Palo Alto's Panorama. With Panorama, we can add policies and prioritize them to override firewall policies (and vice versa). It's very flexible.

The initial setup is very simple. We can create it using a VM. 

Our company has its own physical infrastructure, and we place the virtual infrastructure within that. 

I don't deal with the pricing of the solution.

In general, I would rate the product seven out of ten. It offers good features, however, Palo Alto offers better options.

I utilize Fortinet FortiManager to push commands with scripts. I made different scripts for different use cases.

I appreciate the ability to connect via SSH through Fortinet FortiManager to the FortiGates I manage. This feature allows me to gather information about the interfaces without having to physically connect to the device. This is a convenient aspect that I find valuable.

I have started utilizing the group features, which enable me to manage and update the devices in a structured and organized manner. For example, when installing new firmware or updates of FortiOS, I can divide the devices into different groups and update each group individually. This is a feature I began using around a year ago and has proven to be very useful.

Moreover, I have begun utilizing customized fields, which has added an extra level of convenience to my work. These fields have proven to be quite useful, and I would recommend them to others.

The information extraction through command lines was could improve to some extent. Although there were some command lines available, there were not enough options. For instance, I needed to obtain the management IP address of my two Fortigates, but the Fortinet FortiManager did not provide me with the IP address on the LAN interface. I attempted to find this information through the command line but was unsuccessful. I also searched for articles on the internet, but could not find a solution. This is an aspect that could be improved or potentially there is a method to access this information that I have yet to discover.

I have been using Fortinet FortiManager for approximately three years.

Since I have been using the solution I have not experienced any problems with the stability.

We did not run into any problems with the scalability.

I reach out to the technical support team through a ticket. I was attempting to perform a rather complicated task, which involved pushing the FortiOS onto a FortiGate 30 E device without actually installing it. I had found information online that this was possible, but I encountered issues while trying to do so with two FortiGates.

I was successful in pushing the FortiOS onto the device, but both devices stopped functioning after that. I then asked the technical support team if this was a supported process, to which they responded that while it is possible, it would depend on the model being used. Based on my understanding, it is possible but with some limitations, especially with older models of the Fortinet solutions. This was the nature of my interaction with the technical support team.

Evaluating my experience with the support was decent but not textbook. During the evaluation process, I was asked for a substantial amount of information, some of which I felt was not pertinent. Nevertheless, I obliged and provided all the information requested. The main objective of the evaluation was to gather data from the devices and assess their performance. After the analysis was completed, the evaluators came back with their findings and advised that my current approach with the version or model being utilized within the organization was not recommended.

I rate Fortinet FortiManager a nine out of ten.

FortManager is a tool for centrally managing multiple FortiGate firewalls.

Without FortiManager, you cannot manage a complex environment across several sites with multiple firewalls. 

FortiManager could improve by making it easier to port larger policy packages to the FortiGate firewalls. Sometimes, there's an issue when we install a big package of policies. If you have a couple thousand policies for FortiGate firewalls, it can take a few minutes to receive a response from the remote devices. It's only an issue when you're dealing with thousands of policies and installing them on a large number of devices.

We have used FortiManager for about 14 years. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10 for scalability. 

I rate Fortinet support nine out of 10.

Positive

I have worked with Cisco and Aruba. We decided to switch to Fortinet a couple of years back because we determined that Fortinet offered the best solution.

Deploying FortiManager is straightforward. The initial installation is simple and can be completed in a few minutes, but configuring the devices and sending the policy packages to the firewalls can take a few hours. We have around seven engineers maintaining this solution. 

I rate FortiManager six out of 10 for affordability. The pricing is decent. It isn't the most expensive solution. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10. I recommend it for those who use FortiGate firewalls. It's a management unit for Fortinet solutions, so if you don't use FortiGate, it makes no sense. 

We primarily use the solution for management tasks. We have Fortigate firewalls across the globe and need this product to manage everything. 

It's able to manage multiple devices, which is quite useful. 

The analytics are quite useful. 

It is easy to set up the solution. 

The solution is stable.

Technical support is good.

It can scale. 

The pricing is reasonable. 

Pricing-wise, it could always be less, even though it is less expensive than Palo Alto.

I've been using the solution for three and a half years. 

It is quite stable. I'd rate it nine out of ten. It is reliable. The performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

It is very scalable. I'd rate it nine out of ten in terms of scalability. They are very flexible. 

We have less than 20 people on the solution. 

Technical support is helpful. They are responsive. 

Positive

We are also familiar with Cisco, Palo Alto, and Juniper as well. 

We moved from Palo Alto to Fortinet based on the cost savings we would achieve. 

The solution has an easy setup.

I'd rate it nine out of ten. It's not complex. 

We have a large setup. Getting everything working took us a couple of months. 

The solution is pretty reasonable in terms of price. I'd rate the affordability around seven or eight out of ten. 

We are customers and end users.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. 

We are using the latest version of the solution.

We have a large setup for managing multiple Fortigates, et cetera. You get what you pay for, and it gives us all of the features and functionality we need. If a company has basic requirements, it might be better off with a PfSense.

I'd recommend the solution to others. For the number of features you get, the pricing is pretty great.

We primarily use the solution for managing firewalls. 

We enjoy the centralization of all roles and objects and so on.

As a manager, you can manage 50 or 40 firewalls with only one product.

The initial setup is easy.

It is stable. 

The solution should be more open to other products. FortiManager must be able to manage other products from other vendors. While it's perfect for other Forti products, it's not ideal for everything.

This is not available to work with many other vendors in the cloud. In the end, you want only one view of your own security view of everything, which is impossible with FortiManager.

Of course, this is the case with Palo Alto as well.

I've been using the solution for seven or eight years. 

It is a stable, reliable product. The solution has good performance. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash. 

The product is likely scalable, however, we haven't pushed it. 

We have no experience with many numbers, such as 200 or 600 devices. We scale up to 60 firewalls. 

Forti support is quite good.

We work with Fortinet and Palo Alto.

The initial setup was not complex. However, we did the initial setup seven years ago.

We are Fortinet partners at this moment.

I'm not sure of the exact version we are on. I'm more on the sales side. 

We manage from Spain many firewalls around the world, and at this moment, it's very necessary to have FortiManager. It's just too bad we can't manage other vendors. 

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. I'd rate it higher if it offered more outside-brand integrations. 

In our use case, we manage the configuration of all the firewalls so we can create different versions. We are able to do a centralized deployment and if any changes are there, we can map them with the authorization policies. If somebody makes a mistake with the configuration we can revert back to the old configuration. With Fortinet FortiManager, we can manage multiple firewalls and devices from a central point.

When we have a specific configuration pushed it does take some time to be deployed on the actual firewall. There might be some bugs or issues in that particular case. Sometimes we need to, if it is in a cluster mode, reboot the firewall. If the configuration does not go properly we have to reboot. These are small changes that will make things seamless. 

When upgrades are deployed, Fortinet FortiManager should identify if a specific device is not matching with other devices. I think it is there, but then in the perspective of alerts and logs, the uneven configuration is there. It should be today's alert. For example, disaster recovery site, there is a firewall. If someone changes it in the primary production area and then they forget to change it in their area, there should be an alert.

I have been using Fortinet FortiManager for the past four years.

It is stable. If Fortinet FortiManager goes down, then accessing an individual firewall is a different process altogether. Obviously, security devices are there, so basically those security points are available. I don't know if a cloud-based Fortinet FortiManager is available right now. But then on-premise, we have to take care of the devices, and the availability of those devices.

It is scalable and there is no issue. You can have available devices and you can scale. The only thing is you need to do capacity planning. How many firewalls are there and the model of Fortinet FortiManager has to be decided? If you do this properly, then there is no issue. 

Technical support is great. When we have sent urgent tickets and they do reply back within fifteen minutes.

Positive

We have Palo Alto, Fortinet, Cisco, and WatchGuard. We also work with Juniper.

For people who are not used to operating it, it is a little complex. 

Fortinet Fortimanger is not costly. They have high-end devices and the portfolio is big. Basically, they have a portfolio for all the aspects of security. From that perspective, they are good.

The price point is very good.

I would rate Fortinet FortiManager an eight out of ten.

I primarily use FortiManager to manage FortiGate firewalls. I started working with Fortinet in 2016, managing configurations to be pushed from FortiManager to firewalls and centralizing configurations to minimize errors.

It has simplified our work by allowing centralized configurations and minimizing errors, providing visibility into configurations, and scheduling configuration deployments.

FortiManager helps automate configuration deployment, allowing us to plan and schedule configurations. It works with proper encrypted protocols, ensuring security. FortiManager's documentation and diagrams are user-friendly, making it easy to understand the configuration process.

FortiManager needs to handle different firewall versions more efficiently. If FortiGate devices have different versions, managing them is challenging. There's also a need to upgrade firewalls or change chassis to adapt to FortiManager's version requirements.

I have used the solution since 2016, which totals approximately nine years of experience.

FortiGate is very stable. Currently, Fortinet's configuration and operation are stable, and I rarely experience problems.

FortiManager is scalable, but after several years, it may become limited due to versioning issues. This requires chassis updates to support newer versions.

In the past, I worked with Alcatel Lucent and had partnerships involving FortiGate.

It is easy to set up on-premises or on a virtual machine. Be cautious about versions to avoid compatibility problems.

The return on investment is high. It saves time, money, and resources, providing visibility into configurations.

FortiGate offers the same features as Palo Alto yet at a more reasonable price. The ROI justifies the investment.

I have experience with FortiAnalyzer and other components but have not explored other firewall solutions like Palo Alto.

I rate the overall solution eight out of ten. 

One should be cautious about hardware and version compatibility. FortiManager is an efficient and cost-effective firewall management solution.