Fortinet FortiGate-VM Reviews

My company functions as a mobile operator and supports business customers. We use the solution for our infrastructure and firewalls. 

The tool's most valuable feature is its ability to deploy it on live physical hardware. Specifically, when providing firewall services for clients, we can leverage such hardware appliances to support multiple customers on the same hardware.

The product needs to focus on cloud-nativeness and pricing. 

I have been using the product for six to seven years. 

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is a good solution in terms of stability. I rate it a seven out of ten. 

I rate the tool's scalability a ten out of ten. 

The tool's technical support is good. 

We rely on automation for deployment, making it easy for us. We clone the existing infrastructure for additional customers. Our challenging aspect is coordinating with clients to set up the infrastructure. Understanding the existing infrastructure of business customers, especially their premises and specific requirements, is a crucial step.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM's pricing a six out of ten. 

I rate the overall solution a seven out of ten. 

We use Fortinet FortiGate-VM for a constrained firewall and comprehensible security solution. Currently, I'm involved in implementing FortiGate and FortiManager for a customer project over the past month, and Fortinet has proven to be quite effective in this regard.

Regarding specific features, I appreciate the option for external selection, where you can choose either to use a default or create a self-description. This simplifies the process compared to other vendors that require creating a test extension profile and then applying it to the installation. With FortiGate, there is a streamlined approach. From the benefits perspective, clients mainly see cost reduction, especially with FortiGate VM Firewall, as it eliminates the need for additional hardware.      

The product is satisfactory. I haven't identified any features to improve, and based on the number of deployments I've handled with FortiGate-VM, there haven't been any complaints from the customer's side.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for the past five years. 

Fortinet is a stable and user-friendly solution. The configuration is straightforward, and it provides a secure environment. I recall a challenge where a customer was using VDOM to segment their networks, but faced issues with communication between firewalls. Through online research, I discovered a tool to replace Fortinet, and it resolved the issue. During a critical migration for a large customer with six hardware firewalls, Fortinet proved reliable and prevented the possibility of mistakes. The GUI interface is well-organized, especially the security tab, making it easy to navigate. Fortinet simplifies network and security tasks, making it accessible for those with a basic understanding of networking and security concepts. Overall, as a vendor, Fortinet stands out for its streamlined approach, avoiding the need to navigate between multiple locations for configuration.

I haven't personally tried Fortinet's technical support, but according to my colleague who has used it, the experience was not positive. He mentioned that the support process is not as direct and efficient as Cisco's. In Cisco, when there's an issue, you can call, initiate a case, and the support engineer can join you directly for troubleshooting. However, with Fortinet, it seems the process involves working on the case independently, and the support requests are assigned to different engineers. 

When advising the team for cost reduction, I suggest going with the VM if there's no budget. However, if there is a budget, I recommend purchasing the hardware. For all vendors, technically speaking, hardware is considered better than VM. However, for Fortinet, the difference between VM and hardware is mainly budget-related. If the customer has a budget, it's advisable to purchase the hardware. When recommending from the sales team's perspective, if the customer has a budget, they will suggest going with hardware. If there's no budget, the recommendation is to opt for VM, especially if the customer is working with Azure or AWS. The difference between VM and hardware lies primarily in patches, and overall, everything is satisfactory. One aspect worth noting is that during VM deployment, checking connectivity between the hypervisor, distribution switch, and network firewall is required. In contrast, for hardware, once the configuration is complete, connectivity is straightforward.

As for my overall rating of the FortiGate VM solution on a scale from one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I would rate it as a ten.

The product accesses the perimeter firewall and internet proxy at the same time. It allows the creation of a virtual DMZ network. We can have services on the DMZ.

The reporting is good. The signatures are quite good. We have some confidence in the product’s protection capabilities.

The users must buy FortiSIEM to get advanced analytics. The product must provide users with more reports before asking them to buy FortiSIEM.

I have been using the solution for around a couple of years.

There are no stability issues. As long as we provide adequate resources, the solution works.

VM provides scalability options. We could pair the virtual firewalls and have more capacity. We know it's there, but it wasn't necessary, given the organization's size. Around 350 users from a small microfinance company use the solution. The product is extensively used since it also provides internet proxy and VPN. Almost all services that require connectivity are going through the firewall.

We contacted the technical support team regarding a clarification we needed on how to get some services to talk to one another. The team was very handy in that process.

The setup is not that complex. I wouldn't say it's simple, but It's relatively straightforward as long as we follow the guidelines and work with the recommendations.

We deployed the solution with the help of a local partner. We just had one engineer on-site who was supported by Fortinet Professional Services.

There is a good ROI on the product. The solution was quickly deployed, and we were able to have more protection and better visibility of our traffic on the network. We can get a lot of value out of the solution due to the reports.

The pricing is really good. The FortiGate licensing model is workable compared to many other providers who license everything. The local partner was there to guide us in structuring the license to keep the costs minimal. At the moment, there are no additional costs associated with the tool.

We had a competitive evaluation of other products. We chose Fortinet FortiGate-VM because of its affordability. It also had some of the features that were part of our roadmap.

It's a good solution. It’s worth checking out. It is easy to configure and quite easy to use. Some solutions are built by engineers for engineers. The product is a bit relatively easy to use and work with. Overall, I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten.

The solution is primarily used for security. When a company has a hybrid solution and the client is looking for a next-generation firewall with all the bells and whistles inside, we recommend FortiGate.

The intrusion prevention systems are great.  

The anti-spam capabilities are really great.

The solution has a lot of very useful security features. 

The solution is stable.

The scalability potential is there.

The previous version, which was 7.1 or 7.2, was a little bit easier to use. It's kind of a little bit tricky to find the options from the firewall configurations now, in the latest version. Previously, it was easier to deal with. The whole dashboard that you get can be improved. They could organize the whole dashboard a bit more to put stuff under each other in a way that makes sense and makes everything easy to reach.

The costs could be lowered.

I've used the solution for a while. I've used it over the last 12 months.

We have found the stability to be good. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

The product is scalable. It is a little bit expensive on Azure when you use it on the cloud, however. If a company plans to expand it, they need to keep this in mind. However, even those on-premises can be highly scalable. 

The initial setup needs to be handled by a person knowledgeable in Fortinet products. 

We are implementors. We can handle the setup process for our clients.

The product does have the capabilities of providing an ROI to companies. 

The product could be cheaper. When a company scales it, it can get pricey.

The pricing, in fact, is the one aspect that could potentially make clients change their minds. In terms of features, it has almost everything - whatever someone would need. However, the price sometimes is the obstacle. It could force the client to go with a cheaper product. Especially on the cloud, a solution such as this can get costly as you are paying for the cloud stuff on top of the license, and you have to pay per hour.

We are implementors. 

We have both virtual and physical servers.

I would advise new users first to ensure they have strong knowledge before attempting an implementation. It has everything a company might need and it is scalable. However, the person doing the implementation itself needs to be skilled. There might be a lot of things going on during implementation that need to be dealt with properly.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

We use the solution as a firewall. 

Fortinet is user-friendly. 

We have lost some information and we do not know how that happened through the solution. That needs improvement. 

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate-VM for minimum five years. 

Once in a while there are stability issues otherwise the solution is stable. 

Presently, six thousand users are using the solution. 

The initial setup of Fortinet is easy. 

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

The tool is expensive. 

I have been working with the product for two years. 

I rate the tool's stability a ten out of ten. 

Fortinet FortiGate-VM is scalable. We have 15 users. 

Fortinet FortiGate-VM's deployment is easy. 

I rate Fortinet FortiGate-VM an eight out of ten. 

I am a network engineer. I deploy firewalls for customers. I also provide firewall installation and configuration services.

I mostly prefer Fortinet firewalls. The graphical user interface is user-friendly and easy to configure. I recommend it to my clients because it is very easy to deploy. 

Performance, scalability, and everything else are top-notch compared to others like Sophos or Cisco. I've used them all, and Fortinet is my go-to.

The main use case is for organizations that can't afford or procure hardware appliances. They can install the VM and license it as a cost-effective alternative.

The combination of SD-WAN and VPN capabilities is the most valuable feature.

If I could add one feature, it would be free security profiles.

I have experience with FortiGate VM. I've used it for practice and deployed it on customer sites.

I have been using it for four years. 

I haven't personally experienced any bugs, and none of my clients have reported any either.

I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten. 

The customer service and support are very knowledgeable and helpful.

I've deployed Cisco firewalls and hold certifications like CCNA and CCNP. But for security-level firewalls, I always go with FortiGate.

The initial configuration is very easy, even for non-technical users.

VMs can be affordable, but for high-demand scenarios, I'd still recommend the hardware. For the cost, it's a ten out of ten.

I would recommend the hardware firewall unless you have specific constraints. If you're installing on a server or desktop, and something happens like a cache issue, you won't have the same backup options as a physical appliance.

With hardware, you can claim a warranty, get a new unit, and easily restore from your existing backup. That wouldn't be as straightforward with a VM.

Over a hundred customers have deployed the physical Fortinet firewall based on my recommendations.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.