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Sangfor NGAF vs Sophos UTM comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
316
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Sangfor NGAF
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (19th)
Sophos UTM
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 25, 2024
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
Osama Muhammad - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 25, 2022
Affordable, easy to configure firewall with fast, responsive support
The absolute best part of Sangfor NGAF is their support. It's a 24/7 support channel, and the last time I requested their assistance I got a reply within three minutes. They helped solve the problem immediately. Sangfor also gives you a warranty for any issues or defects with their hardware. If you find any issue, they will replace the hardware within five working days. We send any hardware that is faulty to our local country partner and they will do the RMA. When it comes to deployment environments, I like that you have options. If you want a hardware firewall, then you can use their hardware. Conversely, if you want a cloud firewall, then they can provide that, too.
SherifFouad - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 30, 2022
Gives us the ability to manage our firewalls from the cloud and deploy a unified configuration onto them
From Cyberoam and the early builds of Sophos SG, they have developed higher integration between Sophos UTM and the computers' endpoint antiviruses. We can isolate the infected machine from the network, but an IT technician or cybersecurity professional can remove it from the machine and disinfect it. It has the capability of blocking HTTPS traffic, but you need the Sophos Central Intercept X subscription for that. It gives us the ability to manage our firewalls from the cloud and deploy a unified configuration onto them. Other competitors like Meraki have that ability, but they fail to optimize it in the way that Sophos has.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the nice things about FortiGate is that it can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises. You can actually do both. That's the biggest reason why I stick with this solution as opposed to something like Cisco Meraki. Another nice thing is that I can log directly into a FortiGate or get to it through their FortiCloud access products. They're pretty reliable and consistent. One of the reasons why I started using the product was their single pane of management. I can deploy their line of firewalls in conjunction with their switching and access points, and I can manage the entire network from one interface. I don't have to log into one interface for the firewall, another one for the access points, and another one for the switches. These firewalls have access point controller functionality built right into the system, so I don't even have to purchase additional devices to manage them."
"Its user interface is good, and it is always working fine."
"The features that prevent internet connections, the filtering are the most valuable because we did not have any internet protection before."
"It is very flexible to use."
"The solution is extremely reliable."
"The UTM feature is quite good. FortiAP is easy to deploy because both Fortigate and FortiAP are under the same brand. Otherwise, you need to do more work on the configuration."
"Customers are more inclined towards FortiGate because of application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features. The support from the FortiGate team is good, and price-wise, it is affordable."
"The ECC management and the GUI that offers single interface management are the most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate."
"The absolute best part of Sangfor NGAF is their support. It's a 24/7 support channel, and the last time I requested their assistance I got a reply within three minutes. They helped solve the problem immediately."
"Sangfor NGAF's standout feature is its powerful application control, enabling precise restrictions on mobile user access to approved applications."
"It enables us to not only detect but also prevent various types of incoming threats, allowing us to take appropriate corrective actions and exercise control over the network."
"It offers application control features."
"While the features are not dissimilar to other brands, configuration is much more simple, which works out great for Indonesian people."
"The tool's performance is good."
"You might try Sangfor if you are on a tight budget. The price is affordable, and Sangfor offers a lot of features. We don't have any complaints about Sangfor."
"Technical support is very good."
"Sophos SG UTM had all the basic functionality that you needed. It is user-friendly and easy to manage for any integrator."
"The three most important features for us are web protection, web server protection, and network protection."
"It has allowed us to design a bespoke cloud space for our clients, while still having an excellent level of protection."
"The platform's most valuable features include the integrated multifactor authentication (OTP) for VPNs, which enhances security, and the flexible and intuitive firewall policy settings that simplify management."
"An easy solution to learn because the graphics are very intuitive."
"With Sophos, we have not had any incidents this year. The security provided has been good. It has proven to be okay for our needs."
"The management suite is easy and the agent is easy to develop."
"It now controls all the security aspects of our web servers with Sophos UTM WAF.​"
 

Cons

"Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved for Fortinet FortiGate."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"The solution lacks multi-language support."
"The firmware updates are sometimes not stable. The stability issues can vary, sometimes happening once a month or quarterly. New firmware updates can occasionally introduce bugs, causing some policies to fail. We then have to raise a ticket, and Fortinet usually provides a fix within a few days."
"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."
"They sometimes hide some features and if you want to enable them, you have to go in the CLI, enable the feature and configure it through the CLI. Customers, typically, like everything to be done by the GUI."
"We were not able to build a full-mesh VPN; however, I am not sure if this was the fault of Fortinet FortiGate."
"Palo Alto has a feature called WildFire Analysis that is unavailable in FortiGate. WildFire is better than a sandbox because it can address zero-day threats and vulnerabilities. It can immediately identify zero-day threats from the cloud."
"I feel Sangfor should follow the hierarchy and close deals via resellers instead of closing it all with their own team."
"The tool's support is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The GUI needs to be improved, lacks logic in some areas."
"The reporting and log management could be improved."
"The web interface needs to be improved, making it more user-friendly."
"The firewall system needs gradual improvements because there are more threats and challenges every day."
"The setup phase is quite complex."
"They need to increase the number of ports in the firewall."
"I would like to see Sophos UTM add support for all the new threat-detection technologies and the ability to respond to novel security threats that come along every day."
"The scalability of the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"We didn’t find any issues but I know there have been some in the last few years."
"Updates come out agonizingly slowly, a trickle."
"The solution is not scalable."
"The ease of use could be a bit better."
"The interface configuration could be improved."
"They could use more SSL VPN support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is fine."
"The pricing is justified. It's a little pricey, but what you pay for is what you get."
"Price-wise, it's at a good price point for our market."
"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."
"Setup costs and pricing depends on many variables, but it's mostly affordable."
"It was probably about $2,500 per firewall. It was all included. It included support, services, threat management software, and 24/7 FortiCare on it. Cisco products are more expensive."
"The pricing is very reasonable."
"It is cost-effective, and provides a good value for your money. The pricing, and license renewal, is very reasonable for us."
"The price is unmatcheable."
"It is one of the cheapest tools in the market."
"For four to five physical appliances for a licensed firewall, it costs approximately $4,000."
"We purchased one year technical support and return to factory support, and we also purchased one-year technical support services. So those were additional."
"The license of Sangfor NGAF can be purchased at different interval lengths, such as annually or three years. They offer a range of packages to choose from, such as combo or hybrid packages. We are using the complete solution package which includes IM, NGF and SSL VPN, and WAF."
"The solution has a TCO that is 32% to 50% less than Sophos, Fortinet, and SonicWall."
"The price could be more competitive."
"If you know you have around 200+ computer users on your network, then the Sangfor NGAF 5200-F-I model would be the minimum recommended model for that amount of users. This model includes modules for packet filtering, deep packet inspection, malware scanning, DSCP filtration, and many other features."
"It's expensive. It has a yearly license."
"There was an up-front charge of around $70,000, to purchase the hub and license. Beyond the initial cost, licenses are charged for annually, but they are good value for the service we receive."
"The solution's pricing is based on a licensing model and is competitive."
"​In the case of a software/virtual appliance subscription, you pay by protecting user/IP addresses. You can do this to as much hardware resources as you like.​​"
"I think the pricing of Sophos is very fair."
"The pricing is pretty reasonable. I don't think that it is overly expensive."
"We purchased the appliance with five years onsite support and licenses."
"The biggest issue with Sophos is the pricing. It's definitely more expensive. As I said, we looked at Webroot, which is a big alternative, and Sophos was almost three times the price of Webroot. That's a pretty big difference."
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
What do you like most about Sangfor NGAF?
I think Sangfor NGAF is more valuable than Cisco products because of its simplicity and ease of management. If I comp...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sangfor NGAF?
There is some difference in terms of pricing compared to Palo Alto. Sangfor NGAF is around 30% to 35% more cost-effec...
What needs improvement with Sangfor NGAF?
We will probably invest a little more time into the VDI solution - not specifically for security but for desktop comp...
What Is The Biggest Difference Between Sophos UTM and Sophos XG?
The Sophos UTM is a UTM and Sophos XG is the NGFW. First, you must know about the difference between a UTM and NGFW. ...
What do you like most about Sophos UTM?
The most valuable feature of Sophos UTM is the endpoint protection feature.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos UTM?
The product pricing and licensing are higher, but they offer good value for the features and stability provided.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate
Sangfor NGAF Firewall Platform
Astaro
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Indonesia), Lawson, Inc. (Philippines), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), TEK Automotive (Italy), etc.
One Housing Group
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