FortiSASE Reviews

We're a school board that uses FortiSASE to protect our students and endpoint devices in school and at home. There was a big push to implement ForiSASE in the last two years due to the COVID lockdown. When the schools shut down, we needed to ensure the same level of protection for our students at home that they had while in school. 

The other aspect is providing a secure environment for board office staff working remotely. They can securely access the board network and resources in our data center using the security leveraged inside FortiSASE.

FortiSASE seamlessly integrated with our SD-WAN and cloud-delivered security solutions because all our on-premise equipment is Fortinet right now. Integrating everything is effortless. With a click, we migrated from FortiClient to FortiSASE and pushed the logs back into our Fortinet environment with an IP address entry. 

FortiSASE helped us consolidate our solutions. Before FortiSASE, we weren't doing anything with ZTNA, enabling us to move into that realm. In many ways, ZTNA is essential to get some things working for remote users. Users can still do what they did with a traditional VPN, but now ZTNA improves the security posture. 

Solution consolidation is crucial because the education ministry requires it. It also lowers our insurance costs because our cyber security coverage provider checks to ensure we have these systems in place. It helps with the premiums. FortiSASE allowed us to discontinue our on-prem FortiEMS and FortiClient. It simplified management because we only have to deal with one system rather than making changes to five or six different ones.

FortiSASE improved our operational efficiency because we manage one system now that manages all the sub-pieces to it. Our endpoint users report faster use when connected to the SASE environment than when it was going through on-prem systems. We've seen fewer help desk tickets from those kinds of complaints. 

It helped us strengthen our security posture. While we've always had endpoint protection everywhere, FortiSASE has made it simpler to deploy ZTNA, inspection, and a few other pieces we weren't doing previously. Doing this was more complicated on on-prem solutions.

Deep packet inspection is easier to deploy in the FortiSASE environment. It's much simpler to configure one-touch deployment. It was considerably more convoluted to get that to work using FortiClient. All that processing horsepower is happening in Fortinet's cloud infrastructure, reducing the load on our local routers and on-prem FortiGate firewalls. 

There wasn't much of a learning curve because we are already a Fortinet organization. We still use all the same pieces, but the interface is slightly different. Still, I don't think the average user would have difficulty picking the solution up. They've got some excellent documentation and support to help you through any questions you may have.

FortiSASE lets us manage everything from one web interface. That's the most significant benefit. We also use FortiManager, but it could only do so much when we only used on-prem systems. We still need to touch the EMS server and a few other interfaces to make all the pieces work. FortiSASE puts everything in one place. 

If something doesn't work, you've got support there to help you out. Previously, we had local support, but it's more complicated because you needed to explain your environment. The SASE environment is under their control, so they know what it looks like and what they're dealing with.

FortiSASE is a work in progress. One area where there is room for improvement is the ability to use FortiSASE on an endpoint that doesn't have the client on it. Other solutions do that by building a VPN tunnel from their on-prem router into the SASE environment. FortiSASE doesn't have that feature yet, but it is on the roadmap for Q3 of this year. I've seen it in their development environment. 

The only other drawback is that your security posture is reduced if you lose your connection. This applies to any SASE solution. 

We've been using FortiSASE for 14 months.

The scalability is seamless. We don't see it on our side. Ultimately, the benefit of a cloud solution is the ease of expansion. It allows you to grow that solution without changing hardware. You can double your size tomorrow if necessary. It takes a lot of the processing load off of local systems. All that information is processed in the cloud infrastructure, so you're not having to place the burden on your endpoint or your router—you're just letting that traffic pass.

I rate Fortinet's support an eight out of ten. Tech support for the FortiSASE environment is decent. The FortiSASE team isn't huge, but they're knowledgeable and focused on the products, so we've been able to address any issues quickly.

Positive

We previously used on-prem Fortinet solutions to do everything FortiSASE offers. We had FortiClient, FortiSandbox, FortiNAC, FortiGate, etc. It was more complex to manage because we had to set up each of those systems individually to make everything work. It was harder to notice if one of those pieces failed, but it has all been simplified under the FortiSASE interface.

We deploy FortiSASE through Intune to all our users, whether on-prem or remote. It was straightforward, and we deployed 5,000 devices in two weeks. We have 26 sites, and we deployed them one at a time. In some cases, we could deal with multiple sites each day. We did it with an in-house team of seven people, including me. FortiSASE requires no maintenance on my side. 

We've reduced the upfront purchase cost by eliminating some FortiGate firewalls. FortiSASE was cost-neutral because firewall savings offset the money we spent on FortiSASE. We haven't calculated the return on investment, but we expect it to be cost-neutral at the very least. We should see some savings, but I can't put a percentage on it at this point.

We saw a fast time-to-value because we didn't need much training. We probably would've spent two or three months training our staff on the product if we had gone with Zscaler or Netskope. It would require much more investment in learning the product. Our time-to-value was almost instant. 

I can only speak about the pricing for education users because we get discounts. Other users aren't going to get the same price, but FortiSASE is competitive with the other products out there. All the solutions came in at the same price, so it just came down to the product that works best for us.

It's worked out well for us. Fortinet worked closely with the Ministry of Education to offer aggressive price discounts. Dealing with one SKU once a year rather than managing five or six different ones is much easier.

We deployed FortiSASE when the license for our Fortinet firewalls was set to expire. By shifting the traffic-processing burden from our FortiGate firewalls to the FortiSASE, we could downsize FortiGate, reducing the five-year cost of our FortiGate firewalls in half. Now, those costs have been rolled into the FortiSASE budget line. It's more convenient for us to budget that way. Education can't hold funds from one year to the next, so it's better to pay for a SASE subscription instead of a significant upfront cost.

In addition to FortiSASE, we evaluated Netskope and Zscaler. They were all priced about the same. However, we were already a Fortinet customer, so we didn't need to train anybody to manage FortiSASE because everyone had used the interface. Everyone had used FortiClient, which has the same look and feel as FortiSASE. 

It ultimately came down to how quickly we could deploy FortiSASE and start using it. It was simple to find our existing clients in FortiEMS and transfer them to FortiSASE with one click.

I rate FortiSASE a nine out of ten. I would give it a perfect 10 if it had the ability to work on endpoints without clients.

Its function is related to the licensing framework.

Depending on their security search capabilities, they can cover all operations within a secure territory. It is better than other product solutions.

The current high-tech version of FortiSASE is not recommended due to its heavy loading. Additionally, its pricing is not suitable for handling high-scale, complex traffic. Deploying and managing reports still requires significant time and effort.

An endpoint solution is required to enable enterprises to configure and manage digital user experiences, especially in the IT department. They aim to monitor every console, department, and user experience and provide a general report. Fortinet offers extensive integration capabilities, which depend on the size and framework of your organization.

I have been using FortiSASE since 2023.

Customer service is doing very well because they have the data on the IT department in Taiwan.

Positive

The leading competitor is Check Point. SharePoint was a major competitor, but FortiSASE has emerged as a significant player. By launching the SaaS solution, FortiSASE can gain more attention from small business IT managers and CTOs. They should consider Fortinet's offerings, including on-premises and cloud solutions. FortiSASE's integration with digital experience management on the cloud platform offers a competitive edge. With further integrations at various layers, FortiSASE seems to outperform other brands. It is a new solution because they launched it in the 2024 first quarter. It's a very new solution in the entire market.

It's very affordable for a small business. 

I recommend that my customer use this solution. 

I rate the solution an eight-point five out of ten.

It is a solution for our customers where the ultimate goal is to have a unified and secure network. This is an evolution from the NPLS that they had before. They are looking to have all of the SD1 capabilities and offer secure access for the branches, and so on.

We haven't had it up and running yet since we're still implementing it. I wouldn't have a clear example of company-wide improvements yet. 

What we're looking for is basically the optimization of the network use in terms of network availability and security. Also, we are hoping for the ability to deploy new branches or new sites for the customer faster. We want it to be as simple as just getting the new hardware and setting it up. We're hoping once it is up and running, we'll have a simpler way to manage the network.

The security on offer is great. In terms of having only one platform, when you do it with only one brand of technology, having only one platform to see to the end the journey of the data or the traffic from the customer or from the end user and back. 

It is stable. 

The product can scale. 

They need to have more concise or precise ways to come up with the return on investment for convincing or presenting this to customers. 

Most customers think that with the SD1 and the phase solutions, they're going to have optimizations. It's not always like that, at least not in a direct way. You have to come up with a very complex way to make them understand. They need to have a clear, marketed way to present this as an investment that will have a good return for the customers and not only as an optimization of technology.

Mobile devices are not covered enough. That's something that I would like to see for the FortiSASE solutions. There are a lot of customers or end users that are reaching their networks through their phones or through their tablets. And that area is not covered widely enough by FortiSASE.

We have been working on the deployment of this solution for over a year.

The stability is great. I'd rate it nine out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution, depending on how you originally set it up, is scalable. I'd rate the ability to expand at eight out of ten. 

In the future, the customer does have plans to increase usability. 

We have not got it up and running yet and have not yet used technical support services. 

With one customer in particular, we had been working with a traditional NPLS with a firewall for security.

In terms of implementation, I'm overseeing the project itself - not as a technical person. The setup so far has been very complex. 

It's a hybrid solution. We have some of the devices being deployed on-premises. Most of the solution is being done on the cloud.

We have 15 to 20 people working on the deployment of the product.

We have done most of the work by ourselves as the provider. We had to also reach out for professional services from Fortinet.

We have witnessed an ROI.

The pricing is okay. I'd rate it six out of ten in terms of affordability. 

I'm not sure of which specific version of the solution we're using. 

Potential new users will have to not only learn about the capabilities and the usability of the technology. They will also have to be well advised in terms of the preparation for the deployment and for the design. Considering that it impacts all of the company or all of the areas of the company, it is important to be well-advised on its capabilities and how to use it.

I'd rate the product eight out of ten.

I have dealt with two or three PoCs involving FortiSASE. I use FortiSASE for remote network access.

The product is new in the market, so I feel that there are a lot of developments to be done in the solution. The GUI and connectivity, along with the support offered, are some of the areas of concern in the product where improvements are required.

I have been using FortiSASE for three to four months. I use the solution's latest version. My company has a partnership with Fortinet.

It is not a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a four out of ten.

The product works at times, and sometimes, it does not work.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a four out of ten.

The product is used in the PoC phase in our company, so there are only 10 to 15 users, consisting of administrators and managers, of the tool currently.

The solution's technical support takes weeks to respond to a query. I rate the technical support a one or two out of ten.

Negative

I rate the product's deployment phase a nine to ten out of ten.

The solution is deployed on the public cloud. The product is hosted in Fortinet's cloud.

The solution can be deployed in two to three hours.

The pricing of the product is okay, in my opinion. I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price.

I use FortiSASE to secure the remote workforce, as my company uses ZTNA and other security protection measures.

FortiSASE has improved secure access for our company's distributed offices with the help of ZTNA.

The most beneficial feature of the product in protecting our company's network stems from the fact that the tool provides multiple features like antivirus, IPS, and sandboxing.

The integration with the company's existing security infrastructure enhanced our security posture since it was a straightforward process.

There is no need to take care of the maintenance of the product since it is a cloud-based tool.

In terms of the product's ability to have an impact on our organization, we are only checking the connectivity and not the performance part.

Currently, I would not recommend the solution to others since there are too many areas to be developed or improved in the product. There are better options at a better rate available in the market against FortiSASE.

I rate the overall tool a five out of ten.

The use case for this product is for the use of Security IDs, and I am okay with it.

The new product and the new person involved are better, although the improvements to the organization were not applicable.

I'm not updated anymore, so I cannot provide anything specific for improvement.

I have used this solution for one year.

In some cases, there was no resolution.

Positive

I'm not sure how the initial setup went. 

It is easy to integrate with Fortinet, however, possibly FortiSASE is not very easy to integrate with others.

FortiSASE is an expensive product and the cost is indeed high.

I don't recommend the solution. I have not checked out the new system, so I cannot say anything definite. 

Overall, I'd rate the product eight out of ten.

We are using endpoint protection, but users sometimes need access. We have an on-premises solution for end-to-end protection, and the centralized management system is also on-premises. We faced hurdles with users connecting their end devices to their homes and other networks. They had to dial the VPN every time to connect to our office or data centre.

We have been working on the product, focusing on its connectivity. When connecting to any network, the first hop is the cloud firewall. FortiSASE provides secure Internet access as well as secure private access. We have full visibility of the end device and all the sessions created by the end device.

It is both agent-based and agentless. It provides a firewall as a service and endpoint protection. This solution minimizes costs by using a single product. The on-premises infrastructure would be moved to the cloud.

The pricing could be reduced.

I have been using FortiSASE for two months.

It is a scalable product.

We have tested it in-house, and our POC is currently ongoing. So it's very easy to deploy. It's the same as deploying a firewall, but it's on the cloud with more features than the cloud. FortiSASE provides its cloud.

It's pretty easy to deploy and connect with our existing network.

It provides us with a firewall as a service and endpoint protection. We are getting approximately eight to ten dollars per user per month. It's pretty much a cost-effective solution.

The product is expensive.

I rate the product’s pricing a nine out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

We have applied for the licenses for the POC, and once approved, we may proceed with it. It is quite effective with the market trend shifting towards a hybrid workforce; most users work from home, occasionally come to the office, and travel frequently. We were searching for a solution that could secure end devices connecting to our network, regardless of whether they were connecting from home, a coffee shop, or any other network. We faced challenges as we couldn't prevent users from connecting to any network. FortiSASE provides a firewall as a service to address this issue.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

It is a hybrid solution. It's a competitor of Zscaler, where it can be deployed for hybrid setups. Like, if the users are not coming to the office, we can build up a firewall in the local system itself. There, we can restrict URLs and limit access to the internet.

We can improve and restrict the network security of the organization. FortiSASE is very helpful for category-based blocking of URLs. We can restrict websites like YouTube, Facebook, adult content, gambling, or political websites. We can also block cloud applications like Google Drive and OneDrive. 

And we can restrict tenants, meaning personal logins should not be allowed on office devices, so they can't access organizational data.

It has AI-based detections in terms of any signature-less virus or any unknown vulnerabilities. Those things will be identified using artificial intelligence. Like, machine learning technology is in-built for detecting threats, and Trojan and phishing attacks can be detected.

If they had application segmentation, we could give secure access to applications. That is not there.

I had security challenges, again, with regard to the Internet connectivity. Sometimes the agent will not install properly. There are some issues at the agent level, and then we have to sign out and sign in. Those basic troubleshooting steps. We have some issues with that at the agent level.

I have been using it for two years. 

I faced issues with stability. Stability is a little bit less because sometimes we used to face a lot of issues with that, and some of the applications would not connect. Some certificate issues would be coming there. Then we have to upgrade the agent.

I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. 

Scalability can increase. If you want to implement any new things and extend the license, it is very easy. There is not that much complexity in the scalability.

As of now, we have used it for only up to 5,000 users. 

We have raised multiple tickets for cases, but we didn't receive the exact support we needed. There is some lag in the technical support. But, it's manageable. There is a delay of one or two days, then we got a resolution.

The initial setup is basically easy from the user's point of view. It is not that much complicated.

Implementation is easy to implement also. It will take one week. It's not that complicated.

We can easily implement that within two weeks. Even if it is long-term, we can use the deployment, and we can push the policies. That we can do easily.

Our team has six to seven technical guys.

The benefit is for hybrid work. After COVID, with the hybrid setup, people can benefit from this solution. They can do their workflow smoothly without any interruption.

License is yearly-based. 

I would rate my experience with this product a seven out of ten, with ten being best and one being worst.

It is advisable to inquire about the support level and the product efficiency.

We use solutions such as private access to protect remote users and our SPA.

This advantage is having the ability to create an SPA unit of FortiGate.

The ability to control your cloud tenant, such as with Office 365, is a fundamental feature in SASE solutions. You can manage your cloud tenants and have shared IT features, providing comprehensive tenant control.

The main concern is that if the client is using another firewall, they cannot establish a private channel with the Cisco cloud.

I have been using FortiSASE for four months.

The product is stable, but sometimes you will find a glitch, like a slowdown, speed issues, and some random pop-ups coming off.

The solution is scalable. You can manage it very easily with the license.

Support is great.

Positive

The solution is easy to deploy and takes 30 minutes to complete.

The solution saved 40-50% of the time.

The product has an average pricing.

There are many cost benefits. The EMS is an assessment they perform. DLP is included, along with many clustering features. Additionally, you get firewall services for your roaming clients, which will be more cost-effective in the long run.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.