Cisco Defense Orchestrator vs Fortinet FortiGate Cloud comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the Firewall Security Management category. Cisco is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.0, while Fortinet is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.4. Cisco holds a 1.0% mindshare in Firewall Security Management, compared to Fortinet’s 5.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Read 15 Cisco Defense Orchestrator reviews

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234 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Read 77 Fortinet FortiGate Cloud reviews

1,186 Views
1,020 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud and Cisco Defense Orchestrator compete in network security management. Fortinet FortiGate Cloud has an edge in pricing and support, while Cisco Defense Orchestrator offers a more comprehensive feature set for enterprise needs.

Features: Fortinet FortiGate Cloud offers centralized management, automated security policy enforcement, and detailed analytics. Cisco Defense Orchestrator provides advanced integration capabilities, real-time threat intelligence, and extensive policy control.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiGate Cloud could enhance integration with third-party apps, improve interface design, and increase data storage options. Cisco Defense Orchestrator may benefit from simplified setup procedures, more intuitive navigation, and reduced complexity for non-expert users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiGate Cloud is straightforward to deploy with reliable support. Cisco Defense Orchestrator offers effective deployment backed by extensive documentation and comprehensive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiGate Cloud provides cost-effective solutions with quick ROI for smaller deployments. Cisco Defense Orchestrator justifies its higher cost with enhanced capabilities and long-term value for extensive security management.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Defense Orchestrator vs. Fortinet FortiGate Cloud Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Defense Orchestrator vs. Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

March 2025

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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

Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Ranking in Firewall Security Management

14th

Average Rating

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Ranking in Firewall Security Management

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Firewall Security Management category, the mindshare of Cisco Defense Orchestrator is 1.0%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate Cloud is 5.1%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Firewall Security Management

Featured Reviews

Vivek Balaji

Technical Director - Cyber Security at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees

Useful guides, excellent support, integration could improve

Cisco Defense Orchestrator has useful guides for the steps that need to follow by users Cisco Defense Orchestrator can improve by providing more support for third-party security components. I have been using Cisco Defense Orchestrator for approximately eight months. The Cisco Defense…

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IgnitiusMolepo

Senior IP Network Defense at MTN

The hub-and-spoke setup is useful because I can manage security from where I am, while the IT engineers in branch offices can handle it on their end.

When we're upgrading, it's sometimes quite challenging, especially firmware. We usually don't upgrade unless we have a bug, and we still feel it's not safe to react instead of being proactive. We often have some delays when updating FortiGuard, too. Nevertheless, I believe that it's okay most of the time with proper management. We also run into some problems using FortiGate as a UTM solution. I feel like maybe they're not giving me a full view of the other components that they have in that box. Their box has some DDoS defense, but I need complete DDoS protection. I must not have light DDoS protection on other UTM boxes because if I'm uncertain about the security posture, it will compromise me. We like having everything in one box because running multiple boxes eats up more resources on the computing level. We need a total solution, not half-half.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup was straightforward. We spun up the VM onsite. We generated the key that it needed to talk to the Cloud Orchestrator. After that, as I started adding devices, it was relatively quick and easy."

"The ability to do operations on multiple firewalls at once is valuable because it saves time and mental effort. The solution's ability to make bulk changes makes it very convenient to manage things at once on multiple targets."

"This product provides excellent centralized device controls and reporting."

"When we're looking to the policies, it identifies the shadow rules. It notifies us about anything that will supersede other rules."

"If our server is blocked, this solution shows us why it is blocked and allows us to update the network routing."

"With Cisco Defense Orchestrator, we can manage the complete Cisco Security solution. It provides a simple and centralized way to manage all products."

"The ability to see the uptimes on the different VPNs that we have configured for site-to-site."

"The most valuable feature is the automation, as it reduces user intervention and allows us to focus on other tasks."

More Cisco Defense Orchestrator pros

"The initial setup is relatively easy."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the remote management capability."

"We are currently only using Fortinet VPN from Fortinet's suite of applications and solutions. During the nearly two years that I've been working here, we've experienced zero incidents with the Fortinet FortiGate Cloud hardware or software. However, our operational system lacks high availability, which became evident during two fires."

"The solution responds more quickly to attacks or issues in the field."

"The solution works well for remote or branch offices."

"Fortinet FortiGate Cloud has good pricing compared to other firewall and security products."

"The solution is beneficial for managing bandwidth and live configuration."

"The tool's GUI is user-friendly."

More Fortinet FortiGate Cloud pros

Cons

"They can centralize all products and provide a correlation about an incident and the response. They can also provide an on-premises solution. Currently, Cisco Defense Orchestrator is just for cloud deployments, not for on-premises deployments. Customers have to manage it on the cloud. We are based in Vietnam, and most of the customers here prefer to have on-premises deployments. Customers, especially from banking and government sectors, do not prefer to do anything on the cloud. Some of the small enterprises use the cloud."

"Cisco Defense Orchestrator can improve by providing more support for third-party security components."

"Cisco Defense Orchestrator should be made more user-friendly overall. Currently, to use it effectively, one must be specific with the rule set that needs to be set up."

"They need to work on the user interface. It needs to be improved to make it more user-friendly."

"Cisco Defense Orchestrator should be made more user-friendly overall."

"The main thing that would useful for us would the logging and monitoring. I have to check it out, to get the beta, because I don't have access to them... I wanted CDO to be a central place so where I could do everything but right now I don't think that's possible. I really don't want to go back and forth between this and FMC. Maybe the logging portion, when I look at it, will give me some similarities."

"When logging into the device, we sort of had problems with it staying in sync. If somebody made a change onsite, it wouldn't do an automatic sync. It would have to wait, as you would have to do a manual sync up."

"I've found dozens of bugs over the year we've been using it. The more I use it for different things, the more problems I find... Most of the problems have to do with the user interface. A lot of thought and work has gone into the back-end component to make the product do what it's intended to do, but the way it is presented for use hasn't gotten nearly as much thought to make it smart and bug-free."

More Cisco Defense Orchestrator cons

"I had some problems with the performance."

"The product is not recommended on the basis of technical parameters. It is very tough to authenticate."

"The solution could improve by having a Russian interface."

"When it comes to technical support, the problem we have found is that if an issue comes, it takes a day to get everything resolved. It could be faster. They can be better at optimizing how they answer tickets in terms of response times. There must be ways to make the process more streamlined. It would make it easier for their clients."

"The console or demonstration tool could be more user friendly."

"The command-line interface could definitely be improved in future iterations. It's lacking right now."

"There are European and US clouds and sometimes we mix them up. The solution should make determining the clouds more clear, or make one cloud instead of having separate ones."

"The platform's reporting and analysis capabilities need improvement."

More Fortinet FortiGate Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"After our free trial was done we got a subscription for three years and it was under $3,000 or so. It's part of the EA we already paid for, so I don't know what it would be if it was a la carte."

"If you compare to what is available on the market, they are in the same range with respect to pricing."

"It's around £500 per unit for a three-year license."

"It is covered under the CIsco Enterprise License Agreement (ELA). So, it is licensed and ours."

"I work with a lot of clients, and the price or value of the Cisco Defense Orchestrator can vary from one client to another. If you have a lot of Cisco solutions, the price of the Cisco Defense Orchestrator is justified. Whereas if you have some security components from other vendors, such as Check Point or Palo Alto. This solution would be a pretty expensive proposition considering that they don't integrate with them well."

"It is about a $100 per year for an ASA 5506 firewall, and from there it keeps going up if you have a bigger box. For example, the 5516 is $200 to $300 per year."

"Every year, the product's prices go up and it has been continuing since the past three years. I have seen that the feedback related to the product from our department is that there is always a need for new devices without which there would be no security."

"Fortinet FortiGate Cloud is moderately priced. I rate Fortinet FortiGate Cloud a five out of ten for pricing."

"All the consulting and deployment charges are included in the product's licenses. There are no additional costs."

"Unlike other firewalls, the cost of Fortinet FortiGate is low, and the functionality is nearly identical, which is why we chose it."

"I rate the solution's pricing a nine out of ten."

"Fortinet FortiGate Cloud is a cost-effective solution. I rate its pricing a six out of ten. Pricing depends on the firewall model. If the firewall model's pricing is high, the solution's pricing also increases."

"We pay around $19,000 a year and do not pay for extra technical support."

"The costs are reasonable."

More Fortinet FortiGate Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

52%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Legal Firm

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco Defense Orchestrator?

Cisco Defense Orchestrator should be made more user-friendly overall. Currently, to use it effectively, one must be specific with the rule set that needs to be set up. Additionally, I suggest impro...

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What is your primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator?

Our primary use case for Cisco Defense Orchestrator is the automation of playbooks. We primarily use it for this purpose to streamline processes.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Defense Orchestrator?

Those who want to use Cisco Defense Orchestrator should build their own use case and see if it fits their environment. The most significant benefit for us is the response time because it automates ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate Cloud?

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud has valuable firewall, SSL VPN, and web filtering features.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiGate Cloud?

I am very satisfied with the price and licensing cost of Fortinet FortiGate Cloud, rating it an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiGate Cloud?

Some reports generated from Fortinet FortiGate Cloud are very organizational. It would be beneficial to allow the customers customization of reports. This customization would enable organizations t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Tufin Orchestration Suite vs Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Compared 36% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Compared 36% of the time

AlgoSec vs Cisco Defense Orchestrator

Compared 28% of the time

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Fortinet FortiManager vs Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Compared 78% of the time

AWS Firewall Manager vs Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Compared 9% of the time

FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) vs Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

ExtremeCloud IQ vs Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Defense Orchestrator

April 2025

Download Cisco Defense Orchestrator product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate Cloud product report

Also Known As

CDO

FortiCloud, FortiGate Cloud

Interactive Demo

Cisco

Demo not available

Fortinet

Overview

Cisco Defense Orchestrator (CDO) is a cloud-based management solution designed to ensure streamlined and consistent security policies across the Cisco security portfolio. Specifically tailored to manage all Cisco Secure Firewall form factors (running either ASA or Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) software), CDO offers real-time visibility and troubleshooting capabilities, effectively enhancing overall network security.

CDO addresses the challenges of migration, supporting transitions from on-premises to cloud environments and facilitating the shift from ASA to FTD configurations. As organizations embark on their cloud adoption journey, CDO simplifies provisioning workflows for remote branches, reduces operational expenditures related to inventory management, and offers scalability for multi-cloud deployments.

Cisco

FortiCloud can help with your wireless and security challenges in a number of ways. Our solution addresses common IT difficulties including time-consuming provisioning, high investment costs, complex management, vulnerability to advanced threats, and the need to easily scale with growth.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Insurance Company of British Columbia, Shawmut

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Defense Orchestrator vs. Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

March 2025

Free Report: Cisco Defense Orchestrator vs. Fortinet FortiGate Cloud

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Defense Orchestrator vs. Fortinet FortiGate Cloud and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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