What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for firewalls.
What is most valuable?
The firewall in general is very good. It is comparable to other firewalls.
Since any environment needs a firewall, it's been helpful in its ability to be highly granular in its configurations.
Sophos is a security-focused company, which I like. I like that all Sophos products can essentially talk to each other. For example, if a computer has the Sophos antivirus, and it detects something, it actually talks to the Sophos firewall and says, "Hey, I think something is going wrong on this computer." Then, the firewall goes, "You know what? I'm going to shut it down for a while. I'm going to close off all incoming and outgoing connections from that unit until an IT admin comes in and tells me to release it."
It's very scalable.
The solution is stable.
The initial setup is pretty straightforward.
What needs improvement?
I don't really have any notes for improvements. I don't need additional features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for three or more years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution's stability is excellent, and it is reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable and easily expands.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm also familiar with Meraki. Sophos, however, has the ability to talk to other Sophos products.
Meraki would be all isolated, meaning you have a different antivirus. It'll try to block and scan and do its thing, however, the firewall will always allow the connection to go through. Nothing is stopping it from isolating it. From a Sophos perspective, every single thing talks to each other, whether it's Sophos Central, Sophos email security, Sophos antivirus, or Sophos firewall.
They all talk to each other and look at how attackers come in because attackers don't just, poof, appear on a computer. There's a route it needs to take and different layers of protection it has to go through. If all of your layers, your roads, and everything is all Sophos, they all jive, and that's great.
How was the initial setup?
The ease of setup is dependent on the level of technical expertise. If you are a qualified tech, all firewalls should be pretty simple to deploy, depending on the environment. It's simple enough to implement in general.
What was our ROI?
We have witnessed a positive ROI while using the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Price-wise, you get the bang for your buck. You get a huge value set. Ask for HA, high availability, since a lot of Sophos resellers sell two firewalls, the second one being free. Then, you only pay for one license. If your first firewall fails, the license migrates to the second one.
What other advice do I have?
We are using a variety of different versions of the solution right now.
It's really, really cool to look into Sophos. I highly recommend it. From an infrastructure, stability, and security perspective in terms of configuring in a granular way, Sophos does it all. It's a really good product and something to look into.
It's also a lot cheaper than Meraki. It does way more than Meraki. Dollar to dollar, Sophos will likely beat Meraki. For example, with Meraki, you're going to be paying two or three times more for nothing spectacular, nothing different. You just get a portal. It's okay. With Sophos, you do have to know what you're doing, however, any network admin should be able to figure it out. It's not like an ancient hieroglyphic language. It's quite straightforward.
I'd rate it nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.