Steelhead and Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform offer competing network optimization solutions. Users are happier with the pricing and support of Steelhead, but Versa's robust feature set makes it appear superior in user reviews.
Features: Steelhead users highlight its high-quality WAN optimization, superior bandwidth management, and efficient data deduplication. Versa users praise its comprehensive security features, application-aware routing, and integrated threat management.
Room for Improvement: Steelhead users suggest better integration with cloud services, an improved analytics dashboard, and enhanced mobile app functionality. Versa users indicate a need for more user-friendly documentation, enhanced technical support, and a simplified user interface.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Steelhead is often noted for its straightforward deployment process, though user reviews mention that its customer service could be more responsive. Versa users highlight its flexible deployment options across various environments but note that the initial setup can be complex.
Pricing and ROI: Steelhead is praised for its cost-effectiveness and solid ROI, making it appealing for budget-conscious buyers. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform, while potentially more expensive, provides a competitive ROI due to its diverse functionalities.
Without Steelhead, we would have spent much more on bandwidth costs.
Steelhead's support is generally good for typical issues yet can be time-consuming during complex problem-solving across teams, particularly for Active Directory integration.
Riverbed's customer service and technical support would be rated an eight.
I work with a partner, not directly with the OEM, which makes getting technical support on call very challenging.
It allows us to maximize use from our MPLS providers by handling traffic efficiently across phased deployments.
The scalability from a performance point of view is good, but from a commercial perspective, it is low.
It's quite stable and provides all necessary alerts if something is wrong.
Steelhead helps significantly with large data transfers.
It could still be useful in places with satellite communications, such as the south of Chile, or in the mining industry.
It would help if Riverbed could prevent such drastic impacts during updates.
There should be more technical materials and certifications available to improve awareness and skills in the industry.
Buying the hardware initially is costly, but yearly maintenance and licenses are not as expensive.
Steelhead is considered an expensive solution in our country.
The solution is very expensive, costing above one crore Indian rupees for our setup, which spans around twenty five branches.
Functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP, and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency.
Steelhead's most valuable feature is its ability to hash and send only the important parts of the information, avoiding the resending of data.
The most valuable features of Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) are application prioritization, advanced routing features, and network gateway firewall capabilities.
Steelhead is the leading network optimization and application performance solution chosen by over 30,000 organizations worldwide. The performance of networks and applications directly impacts business productivity. Riverbed draws from nearly two decades of experience in driving network and application performance over Wide Area Networks with its flagship offering, SteelHead. SteelHead delivers the underlying technology that helps enterprises of all sizes maximize the efficiency and performance of the networks and applications used to run modern business.
SteelHead is proven to dramatically speed up the performance of applications anywhere in the organization while delivering the best end-user experience even under sub optimal network conditions. Reduce bandwidth utilization by up to 95%, deferring costly network bandwidth upgrades. Increase performance by up to 100x for on-premises applications.
The Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform is a comprehensive solution that provides secure access to cloud applications and services. It combines networking and security functions into a single platform, making it easier for organizations to manage their network infrastructure. The platform includes features such as SD-WAN, VPN, firewall, web filtering, and more. It also offers advanced security capabilities such as intrusion prevention, malware protection, and threat intelligence. With the Versa SASE Platform, organizations can ensure secure access to their cloud applications and services from any location, while also reducing costs and simplifying network management.
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