Forescout Platform Reviews

I had to gain visibility across my network and be able to block any unknown device connected to my network and this is what I use Forescout Platform for.

The most valuable features of the Forescout Platform are ease of management and outstanding visibility. The visibility is simple to obtain.

Forescout Platform could improve the costs of integrations.

I have been using the Forescout Platform for one year.

The stability of the Forescout Platform is good.

Forescout Platform can scale very easily. You can deploy as many servers as you want, and it's highly scalable. There is console to manage all the Forescout servers which make for easy scalability. 

Forescout Platform is used by only the network and security administrators. There is a total of 10 people using it.

Forescout Platform is very simple to deploy. We did the deployment within a few hours, and I gained visibility at the end of the day. I had visibility across my whole network.

Forescout Platform does not require a lot of maintenance. It is a low-maintenance platform.

We need to pay for integration for each integration that we want to do and there is an additional license fee. This adds more costs. It is not something that anyone can afford. If you want to integrate this with a lot of other tools, it can be costly.

The initial cost of the Forescout Platform was $200,000 for three years. There are only additional costs for upgrades.

My advice to others is to use the Forescout professional services. They are offering a fixed price to deploy the solution, and it's major pain relief as you are talking with experts committed to achieving your objectives.

I rate Forescout Platform a ten out of ten.

Forescout Platform allows actions to be automated, which reduces the response time to any suspicious or malicious activity.

The best parts of Forescout Platform are its orchestration features, discovery capabilities, classification buckets, and flexibility in creating policies.

Forescout Platform sometimes returns false positives, so there's some fine-tuning to be done there. There are also some limitations with the Mac and Linux versions - the company claims they're agentless, but they're actually agent-based. In addition, there are a few actions that don't work in conjunction when we apply multiple actions, such as wanting to send a notification and isolate a device. In the next release, I would want to see better compatibility and visibility on the cloud front, and the system needs to keep up with upcoming technologies and trends.

I've been working with Forescout Platform for four years.

Forescout Platform is stable.

Forescout Platform is scalable.

The initial setup was very simple.

I would rate Forescout Platform's pricing as four out of five.

I would give Forescout Platform a rating of eight out of ten.

Endpoint visibility, policy flexibility, compatibility and integration with other products.

Automation! One broad example is that we can now stop network threats right away and without intervention.

Forescout is constantly adding new features, so this may change as of this writing, but sometimes the switch management interface doesn't display accurate information which relates to false positives on individual switch access errors.

1 year

None that were Forescout related. CounterACT always opens a bunch of little IP sessions with endpoints, ake sure you have a large enough connection table on your firewall if you plan to put it behind one.

Minor. Had to reinstall one virtual appliance, which is painless when you have an Enterprise Manager.

No, this is one of the products strengths.

10 out of 10. Very responsive and address concerns quickly.

9 out of 10. Really fast response, high level of competency.

I switched from Cisco NAC because it is reliant on 802.1X, and has no other function than to ensure endpoints have authenticated via your method of choice.

Straightforward. Setup is simple with a solid, pre-defined set of policies that you build on and customize as you learn.

In house.

Without access specific numbers, we now have the ability to instantly shut down internal malicious hosts or traffic, refuse or restrict access to non-compliant hosts, discover risks on the network we didn't know were there, and automate the remediation of a multitude of security risks. As I work for an organization that spends a lot on security administration, at a minimum, the cost savings must have already paid for the product.

Palo Alto

Make sure to plan for all endpoints. If you want full coverage of your networks, account for anything that has an IP address. For example, a busy core switch can have 20+ IP addresses, and each one goes against your license count. Also, if you plan to have it behind a firewall, take into consideration your firewall's connection limitations. Although CounterACT isn't really a heavy bandwidth user, it does open a ton of short connections on a constant basis. The more you tune these down, the less accurate your real time host information becomes.

It enhances cybersecurity by allowing us to monitor and manage all connected devices on our network.

The standout strength of this solution lies in its unique capability to effectively manage unmanaged switches. In addition to its comprehensive feature set, it focuses on AAA for enhanced security and network control.

Incorporating additional features such as NetFlow DLP, would serve as valuable add-ons. Regarding pricing, there is room for improvement to enhance competitiveness with other vendors and solutions.

I have been working with it for seven months.

I would rate its stability capabilities nine out of ten.

Scaling it poses no challenges or obstacles. I would rate it nine out of ten.

The deployment time varies based on the customer's network and its complexity. It could range from as little as five to seven days to one or two months, depending on factors such as the number of switches involved. I oversee a maintenance team comprising over 35 skilled individuals dedicated to network and security solutions. Our technical staff is well-rounded, with three experts specializing in Mac solutions, while others are adept in various network features such as routing and firewall management.

The pricing structure should be enhanced.

Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

• Immediate relocation of network devices to segregated "Vendor" network based on autonomous analysis. Prevents scanning, malware spread, corporate asset (i.e. printer) misuse, and reconnaissance on our network by third-party devices. Allows us to block VPN from our corporate network but still allow Vendors to establish them.
• Better information provided by Level 1 support (helpdesk) regarding asset information as we provide them with R/O access to the tool
• Visitor policy communication & acceptance

• Network Access Control, its core use
• Asset Intelligence for deskside
• "What port is it plugged into" intelligence for deskside
• Patch-level Auditing
• Emergency response, risk assessment information to get a view of the vulnerability
• "What PC is a user on" for helpdesk/IT security/deskside
• Forces PEN Testers to request permission to exist on your network

• JAVA Memory management - leaving the app running for multiple days requires relaunch
• Search - needs boolean functionality (or psudeau operand now working)

Stability has been good.

• It is very scalable, allowing additional strategic appliances as required in either physical or VM format.
• We control >400 field sites, two Oilsands mines, multiple remote platform locations, 2 Canadian Metro offices and 1 UK office with 4 appliances centrally located.

Customer Service:

It's excellent! 

Technical Support:

It's excellent!

No previous solution was used.

It was straightforward, although I recommend having a strong relationship with network-asset owners to ensure SNMP rights are looked after.

We used a vendor, Conexsys (Graham Cheng & Jerry G), who were excellent.

Forescout's flex licensing has made our deployment more agile and helps us adapt our environment without buying more hardware.  

Under their old model, licensing was tied to 4k and 10k appliances which strained under the new v7 and v8 Forescout OS when nearing their designed capacity.  To acquire a new appliance, physical or virtual, meant buying licensing for that size of appliance.

Under the new flex licensing model, we've been able to deploy VM appliances, responsible for host interrogation and management, while retaining our physical appliances for SNMP switch management, and span aggregation.  

Under the flex licencing model, we've deployed to our ICS segments, and are deploying VMs to our DCS environment, allowing for full visibility under one 'pane of glass' of nearly every host on our network.

Ensure you consider everything you want to monitor that has an IP. Devices with multiple IP's count multiple times against your license count.

This was chosen without hands-on evaluation based on reviews and industry feedback.

If you have distributed services (DHCP), strategically ensure you generate reliable traffic to establish timely inspections. We've avoided the use of traps by centralizing our DHCP at HQ, but it causes black holes during inspection schedules in case of a static device being plugged in.

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is not dependent on whatever suite or product you use.

The product is very easy to work with and easy to deploy.

Weaknesses of the product are usually present from the side of vendors. In the case of Cisco's vendors, they do have a presence in the South African region. The fact that Forescout Platform doesn't have a presence in the South African region is a weakness because of which you can't ask for help from them if you have any problems. Though they offer support, Forescout Platform does not offer a vendor like other products do for even East Africa ensuring they deliver better services to their customers. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement.

Maybe integration with or onboarding an XDR solution is something I would like to see in future product releases.

I have experience with Forescout Platform for about three years. My company has a partnership with Forescout. We are also resellers of Forescout.

It is a stable solution.

It is a scalable solution.

I can recommend the solution to medium and enterprise-sized companies. I recommend an open-source product over Forescout Platform to small businesses.

The solution's technical support can onboard more users. I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Neutral

An advantage of Forescout Platform is that it is easy to deploy.

The deployment process took around a week.

The product's pricing is reasonable. Considering the deployment or the professional service, on the other side, along with the basic service, which was a bit technical, with the product and the licenses, Forescout Platform can compete with other products.

My company does help our customers manage Forescout Platform.

I would definitely recommend the solution to those planning to use it.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine and a half out of ten.

We use the Forescout Platform for network access control and device management. The solution allows us to check the posture of our workstations to ensure they are compliant before granting them access to the network. We also use it to give people different privileges and access to our routers, switches, and firewalls based on their roles.

The solution's support is excellent. They are making an effort to attract more customers, which is reflected in their fast response times.

Forescout Platform has granular features and one of the most impressive features is the agentless feature. No agent installation is necessary for Forescout, which is amazing! It allows for agentless visibility into our network, even for Cisco devices that normally require the installation of AnyConnect.

Forescout Platform needs to improve how the device works in preventing rogue servers. Cisco has an impressive way of detecting rogue servers or rogue wireless access points to help protect the network. 

There is still room for improvement in this area with the Forescout GUI.

Integration with other products can be improved upon.

Fortinet and Cisco ISE have larger communities than the one available for Forescout Platform. The community size for the Forescout Platform can be improved. Forescout Platform doesn't have a big online community where people can go and ask questions and get solutions.

I have been using the solution for four years.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable.

The technical support is great. They are trying to win the hearts of the customers by responding immediately to calls.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. Large infra may take few days to deploy.

The price of Forescout is reasonable when compared to Cisco ISE.

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

We have around 50 people using the solution.

I would advise against investing in this solution for a small environment, as it is quite costly. For medium and enterprise-size environments, however, this is an option worth considering. The solution is much cheaper than Cisco ISE and Fortinet. 

The only community is still small.

We needed some protection in our environment. We use this product in some areas in our network to monitor the security of the endpoints of our users. 

The environment was easy to configure. 

The user management has been very easy for the most part.

The initial setup is pretty easy.

Technical support has been very helpful.

The stability overall is good.

The licensing costs are quite high. With the amount of hardware we have, we need too many licenses to make the product effective and it's ultimately just too costly.

We may have some problems with compatibility - specifically with Cisco switches. We have the perimeter a Check Point firewall as an alarm for VPN connections. We have users integrating the VPN Check Point with Forescout. We can't seem to scale due to compatibility issues and price.

We have been working with the solution for around two years. It hasn't been that long. That said, we are moving away from the solution.

Overall, the stability of the product has been very good. It doesn't crash or freeze. There aren't bugs or glitches. It's been set up very well. We've found it to be reliable and the performance is good.

Our issue, in terms of scalability, is that we have a brittle machine. We struggled to get the licenses loaded. We would need to change the machine in order to develop a certain level of scalability capabilities.

At the moment, we have about 100 users on the solution, however, we require more licenses. Our goal was 1000 users on devices, however, it wasn't possible. The economics were against us.

While I have never personally opened a case with technical support in the past, my colleague has. He found them to be very responsive and helpful. He was satisfied with their level of service.

We did not previously use a different solution. Forescout was our first.

We are just now migrating to Cisco ISE. The problem is that we have around 500 users and we have only 100 licenses from Forescout due to the fact that it is a little expensive for us. We are trying instead to move to Cisco ISE, which has better pricing.

The initial setup was not complex. It was pretty easy. Installation maybe takes one or two days, and the implementation in total takes around two weeks.

We have a partner from Forescout in my country. He came to my company to meet with us. He helped explain a few things and assisted with network displays. 

There were about eight people that handled deployment between our end and the technical support side.

A Forescout representative ultimately came to our company for us. They assisted a little. They understood the cloud very well and were very helpful.

The licenses are quite expensive. Ultimately, we couldn't afford the amount we needed, and therefore we are moving off the product.

We might have paid in the ballpark of $20,000 yearly for our licenses. I do not recall there being other fees over and above the standard licensing fee.

We evaluated Cisco. The difference is the compatibility with our network. Other switches are Cisco devices, and therefore the compatibility and the integration were a little easier. With Forescout we have had some issues with some other access points. With Cisco ISE, we don't have that problem.

I do not recall which version of the solution we are using. We use the on-premises deployment model, however, we also have some clients on the cloud.

I would advise other organizations that, if they have multi-vendors in their network, use Forescout. However, if most of the devices are Cisco, it is best to use Cisco ISE.

It is a great tool and solution. We looked into it with the Magic Quadrant of Gartner and we have seen that it is a leader in the space. However, for us, it just doesn't work as well in terms of compatibility.

I'd recommend the solution. I would rate it at an eight out of ten.