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SHUBHAM BHINGARDE - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Engineer at CDAC
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Acts as an additional layer for the firewall and enables organizations to manage users and traffic
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is user-friendly."
  • "The tool is expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We use the tool for our internal private network. We have many in-house servers. If we want to connect to the servers from home, we need to use FortiClient to connect to the network and access the virtual machines.

How has it helped my organization?

We cannot access the network without FortiClient. It can be used as an additional layer for the firewall.

What is most valuable?

We can manage users and traffic using the solution. We can use it for personal communications and virtual tunnels. Only authorized employees are allowed to access and use the VPN. Others can’t make any changes. We can create a hierarchy for the employees and allow them to access particular networks. For example, we do not allow any employee to use social media.

We can monitor and restrict some websites. The product is user-friendly. The level of security depends on how well we configure the product. We can enhance the security level by adding proper configuration. We only allow access to limited websites. There is a minimum chance of clicking on any malware links.

What needs improvement?

The tool is expensive.

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December 2024
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For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the tool’s stability a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the tool’s scalability a nine out of ten. We are using the enterprise version. We have purchased licenses for 100 users, but our organization has 50 to 70 users.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We pay an annual subscription fee.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Ganesh Khutwad - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at Rich Products
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
A stable solution requiring a straightforward initial setup to get started but needing improvement on the scalability front
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a stable solution."
  • "Occasionally, the solution may provide a slow connection. In addition, there may be initialization and authorization issues that one may need to take care of while using the solution."

What is our primary use case?

Occasionally, the solution may provide a slow connection. In addition, there may be initialization and authorization issues that one may need to take care of while using the solution. As a network engineer, cybersecurity professional, and individual involved in the assessment process, it is necessary to monitor VPN connectivity regularly. This involves verifying whether the VPN connections are established or not and understanding any challenges that may be affecting users. These are the areas where I need to pinpoint and look into since I have been handed over the responsibility to do so.

What is most valuable?

The price to pay for the features is significant, in my opinion. However, I don't know much about the updates and packs since our company is not involved in that part. Our primary responsibility is to check the latency during slow periods of time. We must be aware of any slowness in the user's connection since they are connected to us. If users experience slow connections, we must address the issue promptly.

What needs improvement?

Assuming myself to be the subject and your database to be the object, whenever the subject requests access to the database, the authorization process needs to be done quickly to ensure that the database can be manipulated efficiently. However, sometimes data manipulation can still take time.This can be achieved fast through authorization, authentication, or a triple authentication system. I am from India, and I have to log in to the data center in the US. I wonder why it takes time despite us having leased lines and multiple connections. Therefore, these are important topics that we need to discuss further.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiClient for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, I rate this solution a seven and a half out of ten. There should be a proper solution for patch implementation and server hardening. I would like the solution's scalability to be improved. Also, I plan to increase the solution's usage. I have 13,000 people using Fortinet FortiClient and Cisco AnyConnect based on their work areas and connectivity requirements. Redundancy measures have been implemented to ensure connectivity for all users.

As per my observation, there are people who are supportive of Fortinet FortiClient. Their support can be crucial in making the solution scalable since they possess years of experience in this field.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup process for the solution is straightforward. The initial setup was done one year ago.

Several steps need to be followed to deploy the solution. Firstly, the software required for the solution needs to be installed. Once the software is installed, the server name needs to be provided where the software will be deployed. Additionally, the network needs to be configured by specifying the IP addresses and gateway addresses to establish connectivity.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

As a technical team member, I am not responsible to look into the pricing matters. These aspects are typically handled by the management team, who have the authority to obtain the necessary licenses based on certain established principles. Also, I can only let the management team know when the license will expire. Ultimately, the decision-makers are the business consultants.

What other advice do I have?

I used Fortinet FortiClient for cryptography, which is something one can achieve faster over the solution. An alternative solution to consider is Cisco OpenConnect. It's important to consider the requirements of its users because, ultimately, everyone goes for a different redundancy. Fortinet FortiClient and Cisco OpenConnect are VPN solutions that can establish secure connections with other individuals or networks. They are both available as open-source resources.

Since I am not from the procurement side, I cannot recommend the solution to anyone from my end. However, from a technical perspective, I will be in a position to comment. Overall, I rate this solution seven and a half out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiClient
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiClient. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
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reviewer1934433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Infrastructure Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Good dashboards and customization but needs better AI
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is very good."
  • "Fortinet needs to cover more areas where threats can come from."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution as anti-malware. 

What is most valuable?

The dashboard is great.

It offers good customization and integration with other software.

The initial setup is very good. 

What needs improvement?

The artificial intelligent aspect of it needs improvement. Having worked with Sophos Intercept X before, I found it fascinating, especially the integration between the endpoint agents and the file. The synchronized security in that solution was great.

However, with Fortinet, it's not as easy. Sophos was simpler. With Sophos, when you are securing your assets, you are securing not only the network perimeter but also the endpoints. And the threats are coming from all sorts of directions. They can come from the internet or a USB. Fortinet needs to cover more areas where threats can come from.  

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for 12 months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Currently, we have not had any major issues in stability. I will still say that we are still experimenting with it as the product is very new. That said, in general, it is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale, and we can still scale it as well. It could be expanded further and it could be used more extensively used in our organization. We likely will increase usage.

Their products are very highly scalable. They know how to develop products that adapt to the demands that come in the industry. That is why even experimenting on some of their products is very easy for many organizations.

How are customer service and support?

The product is very responsive. We are happy with them. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've also used Sophos, which is a pretty easy, broad solution. 

I've also used Kaspersky. 

How was the initial setup?

The setup, the design, and the deployment are pretty straightforward.

The deployment can happen in just a matter of hours. 

How many people you need for maintenance depends on the organization's size. It can be done by one person.

What about the implementation team?

I used to do the deployment. Right now, I do have a team that is in charge of that.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked into CrowdStrike, however, we did not go to the point of running a proof of concept. They suggested among the software that we were looking at, of course, Intercept X. Sophos, the endpoint agent, is very, very bulky, however. It tends to make most computers become slow when installed, so that was out of the question.

There is Gartner reporting that informs a lot of decisions when it comes to solutions that organizations choose to go for. The ones that are higher up in the ranking in the Gartner are what most organizations will go for. That said, we like to experiment with different industry solutions to gain insights.

What other advice do I have?

We're a customer and end-user. 

We are using the latest version of the product. 

I don't interact it on a day-to-day basis. I'm not technical. 

I appreciate Fortinet as one of the industry leaders, and its product portfolio is very extensive. 

I'd recommend the solution. Fortinet is an industry leader. It is known especially for the FortiGate Firewall. 

We have not yet exhausted their entire portfolio. Still, I have a lot of respect for Fortinet. I will highly recommend them, whether it's a cloud solution or it's a network security solution, or an endpoint security solution. 

I would rate the solution six out of ten. It's still early days and I haven't looked at it exhaustively. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Socipart67 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at TiThink
Real User
Top 5
Good security and support and easy to make secure remote connections
Pros and Cons
  • "The service is centralized."
  • "Cloud services are very expensive for us."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution as a VPN. It's to help our remote employees connect. We use it mainly for security reasons so that our staff has clean, secure, internet access.

What is most valuable?

The security is good. It helps us avoid attacks. The antivirus database is quite strong. 

It's helpful in that it allows us to create secure remote connections. 

The service is centralized.

What needs improvement?

We don't have matching infrastructure in our company for our customers as it is too expensive. It's difficult to see the licenses due to the cost. We don't find it too expensive as we do not have too much infrastructure, however, our customers have more infrastructure and need more and therefore it can get pricey.

Cloud services are very expensive for us. 

We'd like Fortinet to offer bundled options in the future. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for seven to eight years so far. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is quite a stable solution. I'd rate it nine out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have around 20 people using the solution right now. Our engineers from the system department handle the solution. 

The product is quite scalable. I'd rate the ease of expansion at a nine out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

I've dealt with support in the past and they are helpful and responsive. Typically, items are dealt with by the next business day. They are very fast to respond. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not previously use a different solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not very simple. 

The time it takes to deploy depends on the environment. If you are adding some rules in, it could take a few hours. If you have everything organized ahead of time and you have all of the rules decided beforehand, it is pretty easy. An implementation like that can go pretty fast. 

What about the implementation team?

We handled the setup ourselves. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is expensive. We found the cloud to be very expensive. 

Licensing is usually paid yearly.

What other advice do I have?

We are Fortinet partners. 

We're using the latest version of the solution. We renewed our hardware just last year. 

I'd recommend the solution to others. I'd rate the product nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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Zsolt Zalka - PeerSpot reviewer
Corporate IT Manager at PRopex Furnishing Solutions
Real User
Easy to use with good vulnerability scanning and patch management functionality  
Pros and Cons
  • "It’s easy to use."
  • "While we like patch management, it would be nice if it could handle patch management for other solutions, like Microsoft."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for security purposes. It’s an endpoint management server.

It's for endpoint management, especially for the laptops or maybe the virtual laptop that is working, virtual desktops, servers, mainly vulnerability scanning, and just for management.

What is most valuable?

It’s easy to use.

The deployment was fast.

It's migrated to the security service. On the firewall, we can see if you are a client or not, so it's good for visibility.

It offers vulnerability scanning and is good at picking stuff up.

The solution offers useful malware protection.

The sandbox is okay also.

It’s good when using the VPN and remote access.

The patch management is pretty good.

What needs improvement?

We opened a ticket in Forti for a virtual desktop environment client to see if we could use it in the cloned desktop. We're using it in a virtual environment and need to sort that out so it also will work for cloned environments. They're working on that. However, it's not perfect right now.

I don't really want to add new features. However, I would like to add the zero-day protection that they offer in the FortiXDR solution to this product. Right now, it's another product. They are clever guys. They make you buy more than one solution instead of putting everything together.

While we like patch management, it would be nice if it could handle patch management for other solutions, like Microsoft.

For how long have I used the solution?

We’ve used it for around a year and a half. We started using it around 2020 or thereabouts.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For the most part, the solution is stable. It depends. We always need to test the new versions. However, it seems stable even on the client side.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are licensing to about 200 endpoints on the solution right now.

Everyone in the company uses the solution. Here, in Hungary, we're using a sync client and virtual desktops.

We are a small company, so scalability is not the issue. We don't need to worry about having 20,000 users and then suddenly getting another 50,000. That's really a scalability issue. However, right now, it's not an issue for 200 users. There’s not a question anyway in regards to scalability.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously used Ivanti. We moved to a virtual desktop environment and to Forti Fabric and it seemed better to move to FortiClient. It was cheaper as well. That said, Ivanti is a bigger solution, especially focused on physical desktops. We have no physical desktops, so we did not need them.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy to use, which makes the deployment very quick.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment was deployed by a partner.

It was easy to set up. The whole process maybe took one day.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing was okay. They recently changed it. I just purchased it, and they doubled the price. It was not a very friendly move.

The problem is that the marketing guy is always working with forecasting, and they're crazy about their forecast. The vendor is crazy about the forecast, yet they doubled the price without warning me. It's very hard to make a budget that way.

It's paid every year. This year, when I saw the price, I thought, "oh my God, it's double what was in the last year." For 200 users, that was not very, very painful. However, you need to explain to everyone why you spent more.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, it’s a good product. I'd rate it a nine out of ten. 

It’s great if you have other Fortigate products.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Richard Torrenueva - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 10
Efficient remote access enhanced by VPN with room for better connectivity
Pros and Cons
  • "It's simple, downloadable, and there's usually no problem."
  • "There are compatibility issues, and sometimes, especially with macOS, it's difficult to set up properly."

What is our primary use case?

Currently, we are using FortiClient, and there's only a firewall. I am using FortiClient for remote workforce environments. It's used for remote employees.

What is most valuable?

The SSL VPN. Yeah, VPN. These are just the VPN capabilities that are mostly used.

What needs improvement?

There are compatibility issues, and sometimes, especially with macOS, it's difficult to set up properly. Sometimes, it connects, sometimes not. Another improvement is that we need to know if there's a proper setup for both Mac and Windows systems. We disconnect sometimes, and we don't really know the cause. Also, the FortiClient feature should connect seamlessly without manual intervention. Sometimes, there is a need for manual configuration before connecting.

For how long have I used the solution?

Currently, we are working eight or nine years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is still a five out of ten as we don't know the cause of disconnections we face.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, I'm giving FortiClient a five out of ten since there is room for improvement.

How was the initial setup?

In terms of setting up, there are no issues. It's simple, downloadable, and there's usually no problem.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Currently, since we are deploying it, compared to before, it's a good price and cost. That said, now it has become costly. The rating is seven out of ten in terms of pricing.

What other advice do I have?

Based on requirements, I can recommend the product for other users.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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IT Manager at CNE
Real User
Top 10
Seamless remote work capabilities with impressive performance and flexibility
Pros and Cons
  • "The performance of FortiClient is impressive."
  • "The performance of FortiClient is impressive."
  • "The cost of FortiClient could be better."

What is our primary use case?

We use FortiClient primarily for remote work. It allows our agents to work from home by enabling them to connect securely to our network.

What is most valuable?

The performance of FortiClient is impressive. It enhances our business by allowing our agents to work remotely, which we had not been able to do before. This is very significant for us because it expands our operational flexibility.

What needs improvement?

The cost of FortiClient could be better. Everything else in the process is good for me except the pricing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using FortiClient for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

FortiClient is very stable. Its stability level is excellent.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

FortiClient is highly scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support for FortiClient is excellent.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not use any other solution before Fortinet.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of FortiClient is straightforward and can be handled in-house. We did not need to use third-party services.

What about the implementation team?

We have a different team handling installations, composed of ten engineers specializing in different areas like support, development, and administration.

What was our ROI?

In terms of cost, FortiClient provides an intermediate cost compared to other vendors. It helps us maintain an acceptable level of return on investment.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Although FortiClient is generally good, price improvement would be beneficial.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend FortiClient for its stability and scalability. On a scale from one to ten, I rate it eight.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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Tushar Joshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. System Administration (Grindmaster Machines Pvt Ltd) at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Effective firewall control, easy to set up, and good scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "FortiClient benefits us by allowing control over internal and external users of the Fortinet network."
  • "The user interface is a bit sluggish and needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We are using FortiClient to block certain firewall policies for our users.

How has it helped my organization?

FortiClient benefits us by allowing control over internal and external users of the Fortinet network. We can apply the same policies from the physical firewall to the cloud side, which is beneficial for managing both types of users.

What is most valuable?

We primarily use the firewall feature in FortiClient, which is highly valuable to us.

What needs improvement?

We require that the process be simplified more. The user interface is a bit sluggish and needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with FortiClient for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

FortiClient is stable. I don't find any issues regarding its stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

FortiClient can easily scale up.

How are customer service and support?

The support is sluggish. Sometimes there are delays, and sometimes they do not respond. So, I would not recommend FortiClient for enterprise-level implementation based on their support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple. It is much simpler than the previous version.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is a bit on the higher side compared to other products.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Cyberoam has more of a competitive edge, especially with AWS.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend FortiClient to other users.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiClient Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiClient Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.