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Fortinet FortiManager vs Zabbix comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiManager offers cost-effective, unified management with long-term savings in time, money, and enhanced security visibility.
Sentiment score
7.7
Zabbix's open-source approach offers high ROI by eliminating costs, enhancing system visibility, and reducing operational expenses.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Fortinet FortiManager support is generally good but needs faster responses and improved technical expertise for complex issues.
Sentiment score
7.0
Zabbix's support is praised for community assistance, responsiveness, expertise, and effective forums, with room for improvement noted.
I'd rate their support a nine out of ten.
Fortinet's support has proven to be reliable, particularly as we've been engaged with them since the project's initiation.
They are responsive and resolve issues quickly when I raise a ticket.
It is so straightforward that I have never had to use the support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiManager offers scalable management for businesses, efficiently handling devices despite some hardware limitations, with high user ratings.
Sentiment score
6.9
Zabbix offers efficient scalability and performance for large enterprises, overcoming database and hardware challenges without costly licenses.
You can raise the capacity as you go, and there is no limit for hardware.
Effective policy management and centralized upgrades are critical for multi-location management.
If the company has many switches and access points and traffics with customization Fortinet FortiManager is not the correct solution.
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
I would rate its scalability ten out of ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Fortinet FortiManager stability varies; some experience reboots and bugs, while others find improvements with newer versions and upgrades.
Sentiment score
7.6
Zabbix is highly stable, reliable, and resource-efficient, though occasional configuration and tuning are needed, especially for databases.
I rate the solution's stability ten out of ten.
95% of the time, there are no problems interacting with other devices.
The solution is highly stable and has good performance.
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiManager needs improvements in user-friendliness, documentation, integration, performance, technical support, and more straightforward pricing and configuration.
Zabbix's user interface and features need improvement, with insufficient scalability, modern workload monitoring, and inadequate documentation.
FortiManager is a good tool, but there is a lack of really advanced documentation.
The product is not very stable.
In a future release, it would be beneficial if Fortinet FortiManager could improve by adding more devices able to be managed by the solution, including switching, routing, and wireless.
The only issue I can note is that it's Linux-based, and Linux documentation is not the best.
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiManager is cost-effective compared to competitors, though pricing varies based on device count and features.
Zabbix is a cost-effective, open-source enterprise solution with no licensing fees, appealing for its affordability compared to competitors.
Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves.
It isn't like other solutions where you need to pay for SD-WAN or additional bandwidth.
Fortinet has the best pricing currently on the market.
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiManager centralizes management, enhances network performance, and improves efficiency with easy deployment, scalability, and robust features.
Zabbix offers flexible, scalable open-source monitoring with strong customization, seamless API integration, and user-friendly features supported by robust documentation.
I can automate the installation of configurations using different programming languages like Python or HPE, and it's a GUI solution, so it's pretty easy to use, even for basic users.
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiManager is the ease of manageability and policy-pushing functionality.
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiManager are the overall management it provides
If disk usage surpasses a threshold, say 70%, I receive alerts and can take proactive action.
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiManager
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (4th)
Zabbix
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (8th), Network Monitoring Software (1st), Server Monitoring (1st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiManager is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 5.3%, up 5.1% compared to last year.
Zabbix, on the other hand, focuses on Network Monitoring Software, holds 13.0% mindshare, up 11.2% since last year.
Network Management Applications
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

HamedWasel - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up with good integration capabilities but we've had troubles when moving devices
We've faced an issue when we need to move devices. Templates need to be recreated instead of having the policies, et cetera, cut and pasted over. Everything should just move over when we need to move devices instead of recreating everything from scratch. For the IPSEC tunnels, Fortimanager doesn't have all of the features that are available on Fortigate.
ASM Naushad Alam - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows any number of customizations but lacks functionality for finding root causes
We have not yet purchased the commercial version so have a lack of technical ability. We do not yet fully know the key points or key features of the solution. We just use what we use along with WhatsUp Gold. Based on our use only, stability is rated a seven out of ten.
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
34%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiManager?
The most valuable feature is the centralized management console.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiManager?
The graphical user interface could use improvement as it appears complex and not user-friendly. Better integration of Fortinet ADC into FortiManager would be beneficial.
What do you like most about Zabbix?
The template system in Zabbix is very beneficial as it saves time in configuration.
What needs improvement with Zabbix?
For me, Zabbix is very straightforward. I cannot think of any improvements needed. It's a very mature product. The only issue I can note is that it's Linux-based, and Linux documentation is not the...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
1. IBM 2. Dell 3. Cisco 4. HP 5. Oracle 6. Microsoft 7. Amazon 8. Google 9. Facebook 10. Twitter 11. LinkedIn 12. Netflix 13. Adobe 14. VMware 15. Salesforce 16. SAP 17. Intel 18. AT&T 19. Verizon 20. T-Mobile 21. Vodafone 22. Ericsson 23. Nokia 24. Siemens 25. General Electric 26. Honeywell 27. Philips 28. Sony 29. Samsung 30. LG 31. Panasonic 32. Toshiba
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