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Change Auditor for Windows File Servers vs Fortinet FortiAnalyzer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Change Auditor for Windows ...
Ranking in Log Management
37th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiAnalyzer
Ranking in Log Management
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
100
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Change Auditor for Windows File Servers is 0.1%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is 2.0%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

KF
Provides granular queries of security logs and real-time alerting helps me mitigate risks
The real-time alerting helps me mitigate risks. For example, someone adds a member to the domain admin group. We have an alert set up, so if someone does this unexpectedly, we get notified. Then, we can check and verify if the action is legitimate or a potential threat to the environment.
Boaz Katabazi - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables flexible and comprehensive reporting across all syslog-enabled devices
I mainly use it for reporting. It also integrates other security solutions around. It can report onto anything that has a syslog on the network. It doesn't have to be a Fortinet product. It integrates within FortiGate and you can find the reports there. It's a very flexible and rich tool, providing custom reports along with default reports.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"In terms of features, the querying is great."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is that it can be fully integrated with Microsoft solutions and it doesn't impact the productivity order."
"With Fortinet FortiAnalyzer, it is easy to get reports and read specific logs."
"The IBS (Intent Based Segmentation) and application web filtering are the most valuable aspects of the solution."
"One of the greatest advantages of Fortinet FortiAnalyzer is its ability to integrate with a variety of software and solutions, providing comprehensive visibility into the network. The solution's strength lies in its capability to work with Fortinet's own products, such as the FortiAP access point, which allows for deep monitoring, automation, correlation, and incident management. However, this functionality is not present when utilizing other products, such as those from Cisco, limiting the visibility and benefits that can be gained."
"The scalability is good. It is also good in the cluster nodes. You can make multiple FortiAnalyzer clusters groups, and you can distribute the logs between these FortiAnalyzer nodes. In other words, you can expand the scale."
"Storage in SSD helps in generating customized reports."
"t integrates within FortiGate and you can find the reports there."
"The features that our customers have found most valuable are their different type of reports including the drill down report, as well as the flexibility to connect to any number of appliances which can be connected to it centrally."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is reporting."
 

Cons

"The customer service and support could improve their approach to questioning issues. They tend to ask questions one at a time, which creates a lot of back-and-forth communication."
"The pricing could be improved. It needs to be reduced."
"The support engineers are very slow and incompetent."
"I believe that its technical support is the only aspect that requires significant improvement."
"They need to make the monitor better."
"The setup of the solution can be improved because it is currently complex."
"The integration with other vendors for log collection could be enhanced."
"One thing we struggled with FortiAnalyzer was integration with SIEM. We also had issues with the new threats and APTs. There were false positives, so we needed to have some ratings related to false positives."
"Pricing should be about 10-20% lower."
"They can include integration with devices, such as firewalls, endpoints, from other vendors. They can include graphic monitoring of everything in the network, not just Fortinet products. It would also be good to include customizable reports and customizable views of the reports."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is per user. The cost is approximately $15/user on a yearly basis. If you need to, you can always upgrade as well."
"We pay for an annual license."
"There is a license needed to use this solution."
"The solution is quite expensive"
"I would rate the price of FortiAnalyzer as seven out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."
"I rate FortiAnalyzer six out of 10 for affordability. FortiAnalyzer pricing isn't steady. It changes each quarter or year. That's one of the main problems in West Abaco because most businesses here are small or medium-sized enterprises. It makes budgeting complicated. You always want to pay the same price on the subscription."
"The pricing model is subscription-based."
"I believe that these devices were procured with a five-year maintenance and support license up front. I work at a university, so the vendor provides a considerable higher ed discount."
"Its worth spending on FortiAnalyzer if you have multiple firewalls in your network."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Change Auditor for Windows File Servers?
They've already made improvements! They have a tool called IT Security Search, which lets you perform queries outside of Change Auditor. It's much faster. This is a really good addition and helps u...
What is your primary use case for Change Auditor for Windows File Servers?
I use Change Auditor for Windows File Servers to log history. It's helpful when we have critical changes in Active Directory, like adding or removing items. I use it extensively for monitoring.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
The reporting features, which offer customization, real-time insights, and compliance support, are particularly noteworthy aspects.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
In the Indian market, Fortinet's pricing is very competitive, allowing us to win most of our deals. It is supportive in terms of pricing, offering a good balance for mid-sized enterprises.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiAnalyzer?
Currently, Fortinet FortiAnalyzer provides a very basic level of correlation facilities. I would like to see improvements in the integration of better correlation capabilities. This would help in a...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dragon Capital, Howard County MD
General Directorate of Information Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Change Auditor for Windows File Servers vs. Fortinet FortiAnalyzer and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,253 professionals have used our research since 2012.