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Senior Technical Account Manager at Npo Sistemi
Real User
Complete end-to-end solution that protects and synchronizes your data
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the synchronized security. It's a unique feature on the market at this time only offered by Sophos. As a reseller, we often win bids and get clients because of this unique trademark feature."
  • "In the next release, I would like to see more automation with the endpoint logging, but it's a special feature that is quite complicated to explain."

What is our primary use case?

The customer needs a complete end-to-end solution to protect and synchronize their data.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the synchronized security. It's a unique feature on the market at this time only offered by Sophos. As a reseller, we often win bids and get clients because of this unique trademark feature.

It's a complete end-to-end solution, which is a huge advantage. 

It's easy to explain to customers.

We don't have to go from one product to another to address the needs of our customers. Everything you need is in the solution, and the license is embedded in the firewall.

What needs improvement?

When you compare Sophos SafeGuard to Palo Alto and other enterprise firewalls solutions, Sophos doesn't have the same market. 

Palo Alto targets the SMB market and Sophos would like to approach the enterprise market, but it can be difficult to approach these customers without having the right offering.

Sophos has a rich roadmap to cover this area, but we are not aware of it, so it difficult for us to approach these customers without having the right offering.

In the next release, I would like to see more automation with the endpoint logging, but it's a special feature that is quite complicated to explain. There is a trick to implementing it. You have to implement some scripting into it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been reselling Sophos SafeGuard for three years.

Buyer's Guide
Sophos SafeGuard
April 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is quite stable, but that was not the case two years ago. There was an issue with the UTM Firewall to the XG Firewall. However, with this latest version, there haven't been any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable.

The project system throughout the entre firewall is the same. This means that we don't have different versions from the smaller to the larger models, making the scalability quite simple.

Our clients have less than five hundred users.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted technical support. The service provider that we use filters the issues our customers have.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Approximately five years ago, I was using another solution but it was very different, and everything has changed. We are only dealing with Sophos software solutions. I can't compare it to a solution that I used five years ago. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quite simple and straightforward.

The length of deployment depends on the environment of the customer and the number of endpoints. On average, it can take four to five days.

Normally, one person is more than enough to deploy this solution, but that person must have network and security experience.

What about the implementation team?

We have a small team in our company to implement this solution for our clients and on occasion, we leverage two other deployment partners.

The maintenance is provided by another service provider that we use, who specializes in this area. They monitor and upgrade this product. Along with the maintenance, they offer a service desk to support the security and the operating system.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licenses are renewed every three years.

The licenses are dependant on the number of users and computers you have to protect.

This is a complete product that is offering full-feature bundles. 

On occasion, if a customer is looking for better performance with their email protection, I offer a separate appliance for email protection. These features can be extracted from the firewall and used as a separate dedicated appliance to address the issues surrounding email protection. This is for on-premises versions only and is available to everyone. This is an extra feature which would be an additional cost.

It's a good solution for the SMB market but not enterprise.

What other advice do I have?

Sophos is the leading brand for information security. 

Sophos is a complete solution that has a range of firewalls and all of the software bundles from the endpoint to the data center.

Along with our service providers and our team, who have a good understanding of the product, we use Sophos technicians to do the webcast for our customers. This occurs as part of the process, but typically not during the implementation phase.

Most of the time the customer doesn't require special features to be added. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1188768 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Information Security Service at a marketing services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to set up and stable but needs better key management
Pros and Cons
  • "It's quite easy to integrate Safeguard with BitLocker"
  • "When you have the PPM chipset, you can have the power-on authentication, when you boot up your machine, you can set the six-digit passcode. As of right now, SafeGuard can't manage the six-digit passcode in terms of the expiration, and I need that added as a feature."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for endpoint encryption within our organization.

What is most valuable?

The management and the removable media encryption are two of the solution's most valuable features, in my opinion. They're very useful.

It's quite easy to integrate Safeguard with BitLocker.

What needs improvement?

In the latest versions, from Windows 8 onwards, everything is encrypted using BitLocker. What we require is key management, and in particular, policy management surrounding keys. There should be an option wherein I should be able to set the policy to exploit the BitLocker POA keys, and able to manage and reset the keys. Right now, the solution doesn't have this as an option.

From version eight, Windows 8 onwards, SafeGuard doesn't work 100% of the time. So we have to use BitLocker for the encrypting. Only the key management is done by SafeGuard. 

When you have the PPM chipset, you can have the power-on authentication, when you boot up your machine, you can set the six-digit passcode. As of right now, SafeGuard can't manage the six-digit passcode in terms of the expiration, and I need that added as a feature.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used the solution for maybe more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We've found the solution quite effective in terms of stability. There aren't bugs or glitches. We don't experience crashes. It's reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our organization hasn't run into any issues with scaling. If a company needs to expand its usage, it should be able to do so quite easily.

Currently, it's just my team that handles Safeguard in the company. Not everyone in the organization has access to it. We do use it daily.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have contacted technical support in the past, and so far I can say that we've been completely satisfied. They've been very helpful and we don't have any complaints to speak of.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was quite easy. We didn't find it to be complex.

Deployment doesn't take much time. It depends on the hard disk. Most installations shouldn't take more than thirty minutes at a maximum to finalize.

What about the implementation team?

Our team was able to deploy the solution ourselves. We didn't require an integrator, consultant, or reseller to assist us in this endeavor.

What other advice do I have?

We're merely a customer of the solution. We don't have a special relationship with Sophos.

We mostly deploy the solution on-premises, and only occasionally on the cloud.

I don't think I have much advice to give to other companies in regard to this product. We use it to manage BitLocker and find it very easy to set up. Organizations shouldn't have trouble implementing it into their business. We never have had issues with it in terms of implementation.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Sophos SafeGuard
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Sophos SafeGuard. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Product Manager at Gensystems
Real User
Top 20
Is easy to implement and provides a beneficial connection for remote users
Pros and Cons
  • "Sophos SafeGuard is very easy to implement, and the connection for remote users is beneficial."
  • "Sometimes, when the product has a firmware upgrade, we encounter implementation problems, which can delay the connection and require a reset and reinstallation. It has been a persistent issue with Sophos SafeGuard."

What is our primary use case?

We review and manage all those products, including the firewall and endpoint security. For example, Sophos SafeGuard allows us to review and manage security solutions efficiently with our clients who have multiple locations and need cloud administration.

What is most valuable?

Sophos SafeGuard is very easy to implement, and the connection for remote users is beneficial.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes, when the product has a firmware upgrade, we encounter implementation problems, which can delay the connection and require a reset and reinstallation. It has been a persistent issue with Sophos SafeGuard.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Sophos SafeGuard since 2018.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability can be an issue. After firmware upgrades or updates, we sometimes encounter problems that delay connections and require a reset and reinstallation. I would rate the stability as a seven out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

We usually do not need to contact technical support because we know how to handle the problems that arise, particularly those related to upgrades. Our company sells Sophos SafeGuard to our customers and helps manage it when needed.

How was the initial setup?

Sophos SafeGuard is very easy to implement, and deployment is straightforward. For user connections, it's as simple as plug-and-play. This product usually connects with a cloud solution.

I would rate the initial setup as ten out of ten.  

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Regarding pricing, it's a middle-priced solution. We typically use Sophos SafeGuard with the Sophos firewall, which includes VPN connections. The cost depends on the number of users, with some customers requiring hundreds of connections and others needing around a thousand.

What other advice do I have?

I see great potential in Sophos SafeGuard due to its integration with the entire security suite. The key selling point is the seamless connection for users, companies, endpoints, and firewalls.

All these products, including switches, firewalls, and wireless, can be managed centrally through the cloud. This unified management is a significant advantage for our customers, allowing them to manage all their security products in one place.

Overall, I would rate Sophos SafeGuard a ten on ten. However, it does not integrate AI into this solution.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: reseller
PeerSpot user
Saad Qaiser - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager (Network Design) at Comstar - Information Systems Associates Ltd.
Real User
Top 5
Offers an easy initial setup phase to users
Pros and Cons
  • "It is one of the best products when it comes to stability."
  • "As a tool, Sophos SafeGuard is not optimized."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution in my company as an encryption solution, meaning that it is useful if you want encryption features. The new name of Sophos SafeGuard is Sophos Central Encryption.

What needs improvement?

As a tool, Sophos SafeGuard is not optimized. I suggest that Sophos SafeGuard should be optimized so that it takes less time to provide encryption features to users. I want Sophos SafeGuard to consider another encryption solution since it currently uses BitLocker. The solution must have alternate encryption methods that users can use to make the tool more effective and a good solution.

From an improvement perspective, I would like to see more integration capabilities being offered by the product. The product is good and works properly in different environments.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos SafeGuard for eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. It is one of the best products when it comes to stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. It is easy to use the tool's scalability features.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have experience with Trend Micro and Kaspersky. My company likes Sophos SafeGuard over the other products we have used in the past.

How was the initial setup?

The product's initial setup phase is easy and not very difficult. Sophos SafeGuard is a cloud-based product. Users have to consider their assets to be encrypted. Sophos SafeGuard is not a very complex solution, meaning it is an easy tool to handle.

You must buy a Sophos Central Encryption license if you have a Sophos Central account. Once you get the license, you have to install the agent on your devices to encrypt the data. The deployment process is not complex and consists of simple steps.

What other advice do I have?

In case of device loss or theft, you know that all your data is encrypted, and no one can use the data if you are using Sophos SafeGuard in your company, ensuring that the device encryption feature is useful.

In Sophos SafeGuard, the management of encryption keys is easy.

The product's seamless integration capabilities with existing systems have improved the company's data security posture. The product is well integrated with different environments like Windows, Mac, and other solutions. The tool has good integration features and works fine with Windows, Mac, and other products.

I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. I suggest others go for Sophos Endpoint Protection and Sophos Firewall, as both products work fine if configured properly.

The product's compliance with data protection regulations makes it easy for our company to use. The compliance with data protection regulations makes it a good solution to be deployed for some of our company's clients who follow NIST or CIS benchmarks.

The product is beneficial for those who suffer from data losses in their company. I recommend the product to others since it is really helpful to protect data.

I rate the overall tool an eight and a half out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Technology Engineering and Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Simple to use with good encryption capabilities and helpful technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a straightforward solution."
  • "It would be ideal if the solution had different features within one agent."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for endpoint encryption. 

What is most valuable?

It's a straightforward solution.

The solution is pretty simple to use.

We haven't had any real issues with the product.

Technical support has been helpful and they are responsive. 

The encryption is very good.

Overall, Sophos is a great product.

What needs improvement?

BitLocker comes from the OS license with Windows. It's a free solution. However, Sophos is a product we need to pay for. Therefore, using it is more expensive for our organization. It's also, in general, a pricey option. We'd like to lower costs.

Sophos requires separate BAU operations and separate infrastructure. We require a server and few other things, as well as portals. However, a solution like BitLocker is integrated with the CCM now. It doesn't require any other infrastructure. 

It would be ideal if the solution had different features within one agent. 

For how long have I used the solution?

Sophos has been used in our bank for between three to four years (or more) at this point. We've used it for a while. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have about 24,000 users on the solution right now. We have many users in our organization.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support has been very good. They are helpful and responsive. We are satisfied with their level of support.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We need to pay for this solution currently, however, if we switch to Bitlocker, it would be free as it's a part of Microsoft's OS. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are currently doing a POC with Bitlocker. I want to decommission the Sophos Safeguard and enable BitLocker for my bank. I'm working on that right now.

What other advice do I have?

We're basically an end-user. We're a bank. We have a vendor the provides resources to us. 

I'm a solution architect and not fully working on the solution directly, per se. I'm looking for a way to switch over from Sophos to Bitlocker. 

Whether or not this is the right solution depends on each individual company. They have to decide if it is compatible and comparable with a paid solution or a free solution. I advise users to go with a free solution, such as BitLocker, as when we compare Sophos and BitLocker both cover the same aspects such as encryption. We can do what we need to do with both solutions and yet we only have to pay for one.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. It's a very good product overall. The main reason I would like to switch is based on the cost. If I don't have to pay for something, I would prefer not to. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Technical & Pre-Sales Manager at GateLock
Real User
Encrypts files for all operating systems, from the hard disk to USB drives
Pros and Cons
  • "The features that I have found most valuable are encryption tools that encrypt the hard disk and the USB sticks."
  • "The security does not have 100% authentication."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case for this solution is data encryption and decryption.

How has it helped my organization?

It is giving our customers the capability to encrypting their sensitive data from being breaches by attackers as even if dropped for any reason in them hands it will be encrypted and not useful. 


It is working for too many kinds of data, data in rest, data in use and data in motion. By full disk encryption, file encryption, portable devices encryption and encryption in the cloud. 


With a familiar dashboard and central management it makes the job easier for IT professionals. 


It is also managed through Sophos Central cloud not all features but it's in them road map. 


What is most valuable?

Sophos SafeGuard has one of the most perfect advantages, which is the data keys for encryption.

This solution uses an agent, and the agent is talking with many operating systems. It encrypts on the cloud and on the hard disk.

Even if you want to create it with login access before the Windows boot, it is working for the booting process and you can encrypt files on the mobile and use its agent also.

The features that I have found most valuable are encryption tools that encrypt the hard disk and the USB sticks. The data that is moved and the data at rest need to be encrypted.

They are not using the booting encryption because it creates heavy processing on the work station, and that delays the work. Instead, they have chosen to encrypt files that are in transit, or that are in rest only.

What needs improvement?

The encryption could be improved. If they could find a way to make the encryption and decryption to be the same on the work-stations, it would be better.

Some of the encryption settings have a complex configuration.

Here in Egypt, they don't prioritize the selling of this solution and there is no compliance from the government. There is not enough marketing for this solution. If they give it some priority it will become more familiar to customers. Many of our customers need a solution that uses encryption technology.

The security does not have 100% authentication.

This solution is complex in the development process. Customers are asking for things that are needed in the development and this solution is not easy to develop.

In the next release, I would like to see processing on the appliance and not to install it on any machine. It will be in the network layers and able to communicate with all workstations.

It would be better to have the encryption and decryption processing on the appliance and not on the workstations.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is very easy to scale. It does not need any upgrades. You make it to your sizing and keep it to expand with the company's needs, and they can expand it at any time.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is very good, but there are delays at times with the response.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward, not complex.

What other advice do I have?

The more customers that use this solution the better it will be in terms of developing or improving the technical issues. It will be an opportunity to have issues resolved as it will give it some importance.

They are progressing and doing some amazing things because Sophos Central is now managing the encryption but not all features.

I would recommend this solution.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Mohamed Abdel Hassanein - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at FORESEC
Reseller
Provides accessible and responsive technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "I like that Sophos SafeGuard provides excellent technical support."
  • "What would make Sophos SafeGuard better than competitors is if its management console also includes firewall management. In the future, I want Sophos SafeGuard to be more scalable."

What is our primary use case?

The use cases for Sophos SafeGuard include protecting customer data and securing customer premises.

What is most valuable?

I like that Sophos SafeGuard provides excellent technical support.

What needs improvement?

What would make Sophos SafeGuard better than competitors is if its management console also includes firewall management.

In the future, I want Sophos SafeGuard to be more scalable. The solution also needs a better management console. It would also be good if Sophos SafeGuard could surprise its customers a little bit more.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Sophos SafeGuard for three years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

So far, Sophos SafeGuard is stable. I have yet to receive any negative feedback regarding stability from customers.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Sophos SafeGuard isn't one hundred percent scalable because sometimes, you need to replace the product to upgrade the bandwidth. It's more optimal for a small number of users because, to a certain extent, you may need to change the product if you have more users.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support for Sophos SafeGuard is excellent because it's accessible, and the response time is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Before working with Sophos SafeGuard, I worked with Forcepoint and WatchGuard. Forcepoint does a lot of marketing, so it sells, while Sophos SafeGuard though it's doing very well in the market, needs to concentrate a little more on marketing.

How was the initial setup?

I need to be more technical to deploy Sophos SafeGuard, but to my knowledge, it's easy to deploy, but you sometimes need to configure the policy. It could take three days to deploy the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing for Sophos SafeGuard is in the middle. It's not the most expensive, but it's not the lowest. In terms of size, the solution typically fits small to medium-scale customers.

Pricing for Sophos SafeGuard could be improved because it could reach a thousand dollars depending on the product, edition, and software key purchased. Sometimes, the price increases, and sometimes, Sophos SafeGuard is free for the first year. It depends on Sophos' strategies to compete with other solutions, such as Forcepoint.

What other advice do I have?

I have experience with Sophos SafeGuard.

The solution is for the customer. I'm a sales manager, and I sell Sophos SafeGuard to the end user.

If you're marketing Sophos SafeGuard, it's booming now as a cyber security appliance or product. Still, you'll need to concentrate more on marketing and rely on good distributors and partners.

My rating for Sophos SafeGuard is eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner/Distributor
PeerSpot user
Customer Support Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Beneficial system scanning, effective malware detection, but memory intensive
Pros and Cons
  • "The malware protection and the scanning features are most valuable in this solution."
  • "There are times that this solution takes up too much memory that needs to be resolved. If it is not fixed it will definitely create issues in the future."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution primarily for email scanning.

What is most valuable?

The malware protection and the scanning features are most valuable in this solution.

What needs improvement?

There are times that this solution takes up too much memory that needs to be resolved. If it is not fixed it will definitely create issues in the future.

In an upcoming release, there should be more reports on the health status of the systems that we could fix, such as memory health, CPU utilization, and CPU health. These types of additions would be a great help.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for approximately six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have found the solution to be stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution has been scalable. Most of my clients are enterprise-size organizations using this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

Since I have been using the solution I have not had any errors or any issues I would need to contact support about.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used Trend Micro and Symantec antivirus previously. We have had a lot of issues with Trend Micro antivirus. We were facing so many issues related to the support and integration with some applications. There were times when applications would stop running. The solution also took up too many resources that were impacting the system's performance which is why we needed to move on from that particular antivirus.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It would be great if the price of the solution was lower than the current price. If we are to sell this particular solution to smaller businesses and not just enterprise businesses, it needs to be lower.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Sophos SafeGuard a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos SafeGuard Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos SafeGuard Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.