We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and Fortinet FortiGate based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."We use the product for firewalls."
"The product is easy to use."
"Cisco products are very secure and integrate easily with other devices."
"Cisco is head-and-shoulders above all of the competition when it comes to technical support."
"Cisco IOS Security has many good features, but compared to other solutions, it has a more user-friendly interface with steps to apply and manage rules. Another good part of the solution is that it's more straightforward."
"The technical is excellent."
"The most valuable features of Cisco IOS Security are the plenty of functionality it provides, many people are IT certified the usage, and the user interface is good."
"The capabilities for scalability with this product are huge"
"Secure, user-friendly, stable, and scalable network security solution. Installation is straightforward."
"It can expand easily."
"We purchased Fortinet because of the pricing, its functionality, because it met our requirements, and the total cost of ownership over five years was quite reasonable. In the market, Fortinet is rated quite well."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the analytics."
"Fortinet FortiGate's ease of management is the most valuable feature."
"This product is definitely scalable."
"Our project needs to link two sides through the internet. One of these was in Cairo and the other in another city. We used FortiGate as the integrating solution between the two locations, i.e. the Fortinet 30E & 100E."
"The feature I like most is the SD-WAN. It allows you to manage more than one ISP at the same time. And there is a high-availability mode, so if one of your ISPs is down, you still have a backup."
"In the security portfolio from Cisco, the issue is marketing. Cisco is still seen primarily as an enterprise network player rather than being acknowledged as a security vendor."
"We need to pay for the license and it is expensive."
"There's a technology called SD-WAN that we would like to see. We are unable to handle multiple connections or to automatically load balance. I would like to have a feature that enables us to automatically prepare for load balancing."
"With respect to user-friendliness, it is a command-line interface and those with such experience will get along just fine, whereas others may struggle."
"Sometimes I find it difficult to manage. Some configurations are difficult for new engineers, for example."
"The solution is complex and can be more user-friendly."
"I would like upgrading iOS to be a bit easier."
"An area for improvement in Cisco IOS Security is the performance because it's not as stable sometimes. There's also some latency in the solution, which could be improved. Cisco IOS Security integrates with other solutions, but you'll encounter many errors after integration, so this is another area for improvement. I'd like to see enhanced performance and a simplified setup in the next version of Cisco IOS Security."
"Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved for Fortinet FortiGate."
"Fortinet needs to overhaul its documentation."
"There could be more integration between the logging and analytical platforms to make it more seamless and integrated."
"I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."
"There is one big configuration file with no separations for the unique VDOMs. Maybe they could separate individual VDOM configuration files with the root VDOM configuration file referencing the individual VDOM config files."
"Scalability for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be improved. SD-WAN security for this solution also needs some improvement."
"Fortinet FortiGate can improve the integration with Active Directory. Additionally, I would like to have a Cloud Controller, such as they do in the Cisco Meraki solution."
"I would prefer to have more detailed logs within the FortiGate products themselves rather than relying on a separate tool."
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 22nd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while Fortinet FortiGate is ranked 2nd in Firewalls with 306 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while Fortinet FortiGate is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco IOS Security writes "User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate writes "It's a reliable solution that's easy to install and cheaper than competitors ". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiOS, Netgate pfSense and OPNsense, whereas Fortinet FortiGate is most compared with Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. Fortinet FortiGate report.
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