Fortinet FortiManager Reviews

We had clients that wanted to manage multiple devices such as Fortigate firewalls. The customer had an environment with multiple devices or multiple branches. Now, they can centrally manage everything with this one product.

The features are good.

The reporting functionality is centralized. You can see policies and monitor the entire infrastructure. It makes administration very easy.

I cannot comment on what needs to be improved, although there are always potential areas for improvement in every product.

The Fortinet team is always very responsive and resolves issues quickly. For example, sometimes there may be a communication issue. However, other items may be the culprit, such as network connectivity. It depends on the customer's network. 

I've used the solution for two years.

It is a stable solution. 

The solution is scalable. The solution can be scalable or maybe not scalable enough in some use cases. If you are working with a private or public cloud, it is very scalable. If you go for a hardware-based client, you may need to upgrade the hardware to scale. 

Technical support is very good. They could always be better. Sometimes certain issues take more time, especially in terms of escalation. 

The installation is very easy. Documentation is very easy to find on the partner portal.

Configuration can be a big task. It depends on the scope of work. However, a fresh install might take about one hour. 

One person can easily deploy the product. That said, it depends on the environment. For example, if some devices are located in another location, another person may need to be there. You might need some credentials for that location as well.

There is some maintenance for proper monitoring and updating to the latest version of firmware. If you get any error messages or alerts, you'll have to action them. One person can handle maintenance tasks. 

The solution is competitive. It's neither cheap nor expensive. The solution can be paid annually. If you use a cloud, you will have to pay for subscription charges. 

I work as a reseller.

I'd advise the solution to users that have a big organization and if they are using Fortigate Firewalls, It helps centralize anything.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. They have so many features. It's very feature-rich. From one central location, you can monitor everything. 

I use this solution to manage my VDOMs and FortiGate policies.

It's very easy to install, and it's easy to discover and communicate with your device. 

We can manage VDOM, backup and restore configurations, and FortiGate. We have ten FortiGate firewalls.

It requires a lot of resources. This is the main challenge.

I've been using this solution for more than ten years.

It's stable. I didn't have any issues with its stability or availability. It's good.

It's scalable. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of scalability.

Fortinet's support is very good. Sometimes, Fortinet's support is better than Cisco's support. They are more talented. I'd rate their support a nine out of ten.

Positive

We had Panorama from Palo Alto. We switched because most of our devices are from Fortinet. FortiManager is also easy to install and set up.

It's very easy to install. This is the main reason why we are using it. It's easy to set up and manage. The only thing I am not happy with is the sizing of the RAM and hardware. The implementation took about two months because we have a big network.

It was implemented in-house. We have a team of three engineers dedicated to installation and maintenance.

If you compare Fortinet and Palo Alto, Fortinet is cheaper, but if you compare Cisco and Fortinet, sometimes Cisco is cheaper because Cisco gives us more discounts because of the size. Cisco isn't cheap, but sometimes, we get a big discount from them. 

Its licensing is monthly. I'd rate it a seven out of ten in terms of pricing.

I'd recommend having a demo of FortiManager before deciding on it. I had a demo to understand how this device will match my profile and my requirements. The demo answered all my questions. 

Overall, I'd rate Fortinet FortiManager a nine out of ten.

We use FortiManager to manage the roles and policies for all of our edge firewalls.

FortiManager enables us to set unified firewall policies from one centralized dashboard,  reducing human error. If you do not have a central dashboard, there's a chance you might set a policy on one firewall and forget to do it for another. 

The SD-WAN solution is difficult to manage on FortiManager because you need to share some configurations on the firewall side. Sometimes you lose all connectivity with the firewall, so it is challenging to apply the default configuration to the SD-WAN solution.

I have used FortiManager for around two years.

I rate FortiManager nine out of 10 for stability. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10 for scalability. It's easy to scale, but you may run into some issues. We have around 4,000 users at my company.

I rate Fortinet support six out of 10. The response time could be better. 

Neutral

Deploying FortiManager is easy, but you may need to reconfigure and restart the appliance during the setup if it loses the connection. This happened once, but it has been working fine since then. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10 for affordability. All of the features are included with the basic license. It isn't like other solutions where you need to pay for SD-WAN or additional bandwidth. 

I rate Fortinet FortiManager eight out of 10. 

We primarily use the solution for management and analysis. We use it for the management of two or three firewalls and the deployment of policies. 

This is quite a convenient solution. We can manage a number of items. The wireless management is easy. 

The VPN is easy. I have the ability to do the proper configuration of each of the firewalls. 

It is easy to deploy to licenses. 

The initial setup is very simple. 

The product is stable.

It is scalable. 

The functionality is very high.

We have found the pricing reasonable.

I'm still exploring the solution. I have not come across any missing features. 

The documentation could be better. Sometimes information seems lacking, however, maybe I'm not sure where to look for the information I need.

I've been using the solution for about six months now. 

The solution is stable and reliable. I'd rate it ten out of ten. It is extremely reliable with no bugs or glitches. 

It is a scalable solution. I'd rate it eight out of ten. I haven't tried to scale to any great extent.

We have around five users that are administrating the solution at the moment.

We have never dealt with technical support yet.

We did use the Cisco FTD Manager. Fortinet is easy to use and deploy. It's also easy to manage. It's a full-fledged integrated solution, unlike Cisco. Cisco also took longer in terms of committing policies. 

The setup process is simple and straightforward. It is not complex. 

We handled the setup in-house ourselves without any outside help. 

The pricing is pretty good. I'd rate the affordability nine out of ten. Compared to Cisco and Palo Alto, it's reasonable. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. It's a very good solution. I'm still working on learning the solution. 

We have two branches and find that this solution makes it easy to implement the same configuration in different firewalls. You don't have to log onto any of the equipment with the VPN of the customer. It is the easiest way to manage a network.

This tool is simple to use. It makes management very easy. 

It helps with the underly IT. Things go more smoothly since everything is managed in one place.

The solution is stable.

It can scale well.

The product does help save a lot of time thanks to its efficient management capabilities. 

The price is a bit too high. Aside from the price, I do not have any complaints about the product.

It would be ideal if they could bundle the product with others. Right now, you have all of these Forti products and you have to pay for a license for FortiGate and then have other licenses for the Analyzer and Cloud, for example. Instead of paying separately and having all of these licenses, it would be nice to centralize everything and maybe reduce the price for a bundle.

I've used the solution for around seven months. 

It has good stability. The product is reliable. I'd rate it nine out of ten in terms of reliability. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.

The scalability is great. I would rate it nine out of ten. It expands easily. 

We did not previously use any different products. 

The implementation is simple. It doesn't require an installation. All the products work on the same cloud. You just have to add it to the equation. 

We have seven engineers working on it to support it. They are available for any maintenance requirements. 

We have seen a bit of ROI in that we save time providing the service to clients. 

The pricing is pretty high.

I'm using the latest version of the solution. 

It's a good solution. I'd suggest others to go ahead and try it without any hesitation. 

I'd rate the product nine out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for management purposes. It makes management very convenient. We use it for managing Fortinet firewalls in our network.

The ease of use is great. 

It makes management very easy.

The solution is stable.

It likely is scalable. However, I have not attempted to expand the offering.

The presence of Fortinet in our region (Nigeria) needs to be stronger. They need to have a local footprint and local support. 

I cannot recall any missing features.

The pricing could always be lower. 

I've been using the solution for three years. 

The solution is stable. I'd rate the stability eight out of ten. We haven't had issues. There are no bugs or glitches. 

I'm not too sure how scalable the solution is. My understanding is that it would be. However, I haven't tested its capabilities in that way.

I'd rate the scalability seven out of ten. 

We would like to have more local presence in the future. However, we can get support when we need it. 

Neutral

We previously used Check Point. However, it was hard to manage Check Point devices. We moved over to Fortinet. 

The initial setup was quite simple to set up. We bought professional services with the product, and that made it very easy.

I do not recall the deployment taking too long. It's pretty fast.

We had a Fortinet engineer assist with the setup. That service came with the professional services we bought.

We'd like the pricing to be a bit lower.

We did not really look at other options. We did do a POC with Fortinet before purchasing it.

I'm an end-user. 

We are using the latest version of the solution. 

I'd recommend the solution to other users. 

I would rate the product eight out of ten. 

We have 20 Forti Firewalls, including FortiManager. 

We use it for firewall management as we have many objects. In FortiManager, we use one type of object and implementation, the different firewalls.

The most valuable feature is having one object on all networks, which allows for implementation only once. We can have that object on one firewall or many, and we don't have to do everything one by one.

It's easy to set up the solution. 

Stability is good within the product.

It is scalable. 

Technical support is helpful and knowledgeable. 

The central management is great.

It's very transparent. If I  am troubleshooting for people who have a problem connecting to the network, then I can just open FortiManager and see all of the history of the connection. It makes it easy if I have to adjust a configuration.

The rules need to be more flexible. I prefer configuring rules and the VPN on the standalone device, not on the manager.

I've used the solution for three years. 

It's quite stable. It's reliable, and the performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

We have found the product to be scalable. It's not a problem if you want to expand it. 

For example, if you want to add another 10 or 15 firewalls, will it have any problems

We have technical support in my local language. The person who assists us is senior and he's a master of FortiManager. He knows many options for configurations.

Their technical support is very responsive. They are very knowledgeable.

Positive

It's easy to set up the product. It's an easy deployment. If I have a new box, we just have to create a template, and I add a new FortiGate to FortiManager, and implementation becomes only standard configuration via FortiManager. We do any password policy, proxy pack, and other features we implement, we do so through FortiManager. Other updates, for example, a hostname or object, is from FortiManager. However, if I create any specific rule on a specific VPN, we configure that on the device.

I'd rate the solution four out of five in terms of ease of implementation.

We bought FortiManager as an option as we bought maybe five firewalls plus a license to FortiManager. The implementation site gave me only one price, which included both solutions. It was basically a package. It's moderately priced. I'd rate it a three out of five in terms of affordability.

We had average security knowledge about management, and we started with a demo project. It was from Fortigate Support. They gave me two or three months free to try out FortiManager. I'd advise people to take the time to test it and see how it works. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

We use Fortinet FortiManager to monitor our customer's firewalls.

FortiManager simplifies security policy management for our clients, even though their configurations differ. This is because it allows us to easily copy and administer base policies across all deployments.

The firmware version upgrades are the most valuable feature.

The price always has room for improvement.

I have been using Fortinet FortiManager for a year.

I used the technical support one time and it was a good experience.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. 

Compared to Check Point or Cisco, Fortinet FortiManager is more affordable but it is still on the higher end. I would rate the price 8 out of 10 with 10 being the most expensive.

I would rate Fortinet FortiManager 8 out of 10.

I've been working with Fortinet firewalls for over ten years now. Everything works consistently well, including the hardware, software, operating system, and all the features. They're easy to configure, and using firewalls together with FortiManager for central administration and monitoring of all our devices makes everything much simpler.

I recommend Fortinet FortiManager because you can administer the firewalls from one tool.

Fortinet FortiManager can provide visibility for other Fortinet solutions across the company's environments, such as multiple branch offices. You are able to manage all these devices efficiently.

The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiManager is the ease of manageability and policy-pushing functionality.

Fortinet FortiManager could improve them by adding more portfolio components.

In a future release, it would be beneficial if Fortinet FortiManager could improve by adding more devices able to be managed the solution, including  switching, routing, and wireless,

I have been using Fortinet FortiManager for approximately five years.

The stability is fine but could improve.

I rate the stability of Fortinet FortiManager an eight out of ten.

Fortinet FortiManager is a scalable solution.

I have a considerable number of clients who currently use FortiManager - at present, I can recall more than five. Since effective policy management and centralized upgrades are critical for multi-location management, FortiManager is an essential tool for such purposes. FortiManager is installed in the majority of my clients' locations.

The support of Fortinet FortiManager is good. 

Positive

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiManager is straightforward. We can push out the policies centrally. From a hardware or a component perspective, the implementation is simple.

The initial implementation can be completed in just a few days. However, over the course of a week or a week and a half, we could potentially refine and simplify the process. Nevertheless, it's an ongoing endeavor, as each organization's needs dictate the policies that must be established and maintained.

One person is enough for the deployment of the solution. However, it can depend on the environment. If there are a lot of modifications there might be a need for more people for the deployment. 

Fortinet FortiManager operates on a licensing system that is dependent on the number of devices being managed. Yearly subscription renewal is necessary to continue using the service. Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves.

Fortinet FortiManager is highly recommended as a crucial component of any comprehensive solution offered to clients. This is especially true for clients operating in multi-location and multi-branch environments, where individually managing, upgrading, and patching each location can be a significant burden. In such scenarios, Fortinet FortiManager can greatly alleviate these challenges and streamlines the management process.

I rate Fortinet FortiManager an eight out of ten.

We are using a virtual machine for the FortiManager. It's already installed, and we just collected the seven units under the FortiManager. So we don't need to access each device separately. It collects all the FortiGate units in one console. We see the statistics and the status for all machines from the FortiManager. It is easy to control and monitor all the remote devices.

The main benefit of Fortinet FortiManager is the ability to control all the devices from a central location, view their statuses, and manage their configurations and updates from a single management console. 

The price may only be applicable for bigger companies, and there is room for improvement in the FortiManager in license models. In general, the SIM license can be a bit complicated. You have to order licenses for different endpoints and devices, and calculating the costs can be confusing. Simplifying the ordering process for the SIM license would be helpful.

We have been using the SD-WAN solution for almost a year now. It was implemented in 2021. For Fortinet FortiManager, it's been less than a year since we connected after the implementation of the SD-WAN. It's on-premise but as a virtual machine.

We are using the latest version of Fortinet FortiManager because we updated it before and after the installation.

It is a stable solution.

We ordered the product from a local company, which also provided the installation service for the firewall and SD one. We have not yet utilized the Fortinet technical support services.

The initial setup is easy. We did it without any training.

I deployed the solution myself. When I installed it, I made sure that I installed the latest version of FortiManager, and then I added the devices one by one. I provided the credentials for each device, and the information was automatically synchronized with the remote devices. So, I did it one by one. It is installed in the VM environment, so it is not difficult to maintain it.

As we are an oil company, the price was manageable for us because we had a budget for it. But for small businesses, it could be costly.

We use SolarWinds for scenarios like network performance monitoring, configuration management, and IP address management. And for the FortiGate firewalls, we are using Fortinet FortiManager.

We have different modules for SolarWinds, but for FortiGate firewalls, we use FortiManager.

Overall, I will rate it a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is the worst and ten is the best because the dashboard could use some improvement.