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Muhammad-Jahangir - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager Tech Compliance at Qenta Inc
Real User
Reliable, effective web server protection with room for deployment expertise improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "FortiWeb has antivirus, web filtering, and application control features."
  • "The initial setup depends on familiarity with the product. It's manageable with the right expertise."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case involves using FortiWeb to protect web servers from various malicious activities by integrating it into a firewall with features like URL filtering and application control. Additionally, it was deployed to meet the requirements of PCI DSS.

How has it helped my organization?

FortiWeb has been helpful in securing our web servers effectively. Fortinet FortiWeb is reliable, providing seamless protection and peace of mind regarding the security of our web applications.

What is most valuable?

FortiWeb has antivirus, web filtering, and application control features. Being part of the next-generation firewall, it's highly effective in ensuring security. The capability to protect from malicious activities is significant, alongside other features like application control.

What needs improvement?

I cannot provide feedback on what needs improvement as I haven't used other solutions to compare it against and therefore cannot identify any areas lacking in FortiWeb. Overall, FortiWeb is reliable.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiWeb
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiWeb. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

It's been a year since I last used FortiWeb, while I previously configured and used it actively.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

FortiWeb is reliable in terms of stability. There haven't been specific downtimes or technical issues with FortiWeb.

How are customer service and support?

We haven’t encountered issues necessitating contact with customer service for FortiWeb, implying stable support from Fortinet.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

I have no experience with other solutions.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup depends on familiarity with the product. It's manageable with the right expertise. In cases of a simple application, setting up could be achieved in as little as one day.

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

I can't determine the exact cost of licensing as it was part of a bundle that offered multiple features and licenses.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have no experience with other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I must emphasize the reliability.

I'd rate the solution seven 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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PeerSpot user
I.T. Manager at Pacific Cigarette Company
Real User
Top 5
Visible ROI with the security the solution provides
Pros and Cons
  • "The reason I recommend this product is because it guarantees that your network will be safe if it is set up properly and you fully utilize most of the functions."
  • "I know that we have run into some issues with an SSL certificate and how it functions. Sometimes this breaks connectivity or just limits certain websites that are whitelisted."

What is most valuable?

The features I found valuable were web filtering, reporting, and the dashboards. We use these features for controlling the traffic in our network, mainly for our security. This means that we can have policies there that allow or don't allow certain connections.

What needs improvement?

I know that we have run into some issues with an SSL certificate and how it functions. Sometimes this breaks connectivity or just limits certain websites that are whitelisted. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiWeb for more than ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The only instance where we have had issues with stability was a recent one where the solution was blocking some websites that we did not intend to block and which were even whitelisted in some instances.

Our partners explained that this happened because of an issue with the SSL setup. I'm not sure if they then sorted it out or if they just switched off that functionality.

But for the past 10 years that we've used it, that was the first error or problem that we ran into. Maybe it was just teething problems since we only deployed it end of last year.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My impression is that it's quite scalable because I know they have different sizes. In one of our organizations, we had fewer users, so we're using a smaller one, which was a 60-day or something like that. And then when you are using it for a bigger organization, they also have that type of device for many users.

They'll ask you how many users are going to be governed by this firewall. So when we had fewer users, we got a smaller firewall. And then when we expanded and had many more users, we got a bigger one. It's quite scalable I think.

How are customer service and support?

Their technical support is good. They'll jump onto the occasion. When you submit a log report or you request some support, they quickly respond. I would rate them a ten. Very good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

Prior to Fortinet, we used Netgear, but this was a long time ago. I think this was 15 years ago.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not straightforward. You need an expert to set it up with you and to configure it for you. I think the more you work with it, the better accustomed you are to it. The initial setup did not take longer than a week.

The deployment was done in a team of three people.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it with a third party, and they're the ones who always then deploy and implement it for us. The deployment didn't take more than a week.

What was our ROI?

I would say that the ROI is visible because we are happy with the security it provides.

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

The pricing is a bit high. It is not a cheap product.

What other advice do I have?

The reason I recommend this product is because it guarantees that your network will be safe if it is set up properly and you fully utilize most of the functions.

Overall, I would rate FortiWeb solution a nine out of 10.

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
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiWeb
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiWeb. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2586675 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 10
Easty to use with effortless integration and simple web security management
Pros and Cons
  • "Even though most products have the same functionality nowadays, FortiWeb is easy to integrate."
  • "Fortinet's technical support is pretty slow."

What is our primary use case?

I used FortiWeb, and I was looking if the SIPTNA from Symantec had something to do with the one from Fortinet. I am a consultant and I propose Fortinet products to my customers. I usually recommend FortiWeb for companies that are looking for a WAF.

How has it helped my organization?

It's really easier for them to integrate. Sometimes we help them, and once it's integrated, it doesn't have a lot of requirements from their side. They just have to keep the site going with their security assessment. They do not need for us to help them more.

What is most valuable?

Usually, people want to change, solutions and we recommend that it is easy to use. Even though most products have the same functionality nowadays, FortiWeb is easy to integrate.

What needs improvement?

Fortinet's technical support is pretty slow, especially when you have quick questions. The support kind of delays itself and sometimes takes more time. That's the only thing that I can think of at the moment.

How are customer service and support?

Fortinet's technical support is pretty slow and kind of delays itself when you have quick questions.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I was using another solution. I just wanted to research it to see if it had something extra. It was just some research for a project. I just wanted to know if any of them had some qualities that seemed similar to Symantec.

How was the initial setup?

It's true that we are the ones that usually deploy it for our clients. Since we do it for many of them, we think it's really easy. But as for many products, it's really straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We are the ones that usually deploy it for our clients. Since we do it for many of them, we think it's really easy.

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

It's better. Yeah, it's really good. It's one of the main points why we offer it. Since we are partners with them, sometimes we offer our customers a lower price.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The clients that we know use both FortiWeb and Symantec. I used FortiWeb, and I was looking if the SIPTNA from Symantec had something to do with the one from Fortinet.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend FortiWeb for web application security. Most products work the same despite being different solutions.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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PeerSpot user
Director of business and digital transformation at SERNIVEL3
Real User
Useful single location dashboard controls, stable, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
  • "You have the ability to control everything from one single dashboard."
  • "The solution could improve by being able to handle different use cases."

What is our primary use case?

We use Fortinet FortiWeb for industrial companies. We are making doing network segmentation inside the industrial park, which is quite difficult and we have to design, develop and maintain all of the different kinds of solutions. We brought Fortinet FortiWeb to protect against forbidden access and for special access for providers in the industry.

How has it helped my organization?

We do not use this solution for our organization but for clients' organizations. For example, one customer uses the solution for the protection of all their different applications. Additionally, the solution has protected the servers that are in the DMC, such as services for people in other countries that have to have access.

What is most valuable?

You have the ability to control everything from one single dashboard.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by being able to handle different use cases.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Fortinet FortiWeb within the past 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is quite good. The scalability has been good for each industry. You can integrate Fortinet FortiWeb with all kinds of products of the same vendor. This allows the ability for a lot of different functions that you don't have to have really competent staff because you do not have different vendors. You don't have to call another vendor for solving one ticket or problem. This made everything simple, it was very good.

We have approximately 2,000 people using this solution.

When our customers have acquired more industrial plants we will propose this solution for all those industrial plant customers.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good.

I would rate the technical support of Fortinet FortiWeb an eight out of ten.

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

We previously used F5.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward and it took us approximately one month. There are a lot of services, approximately 15, and other parts to configure.

What about the implementation team?

We used consultants, technicians and, an integrator for the implementation.

We do not need more than three people to do the maintenance and support of Fortinet FortiWeb.

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment. It has been decent but not the best. We choose to work with one large customer and it has been similar to an investment.

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

We are on an annual license for this solution and the price is approximately €100.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have evaluated a number of solutions, such as Citrix NetScaler.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend those wanting to implement this solution to use good integrators, there are not too many people who know about this solution. I lived in Spain and there are not too many installations made, it's quite difficult to find people that know a lot about it. It's not a difficult installation and the vendor helped us a lot and is very helpful. You have professional services you can use from the vendor if you choose, but they are quite expensive for customers.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned from using Fortinet FortiWeb is Fortinet helps you a lot. They can develop something specifically for a customers' use case without any costs for them.

I rate Fortinet FortiWeb a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
AANKITGUPTAA - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Pi DATACENTERS
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Reliable with a good sandbox feature and good protection against security threats
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has a good sandbox feature."
  • "It can be better with web application firewalls."

What is our primary use case?

FortiWeb is an application firewall. We deployed it as a web application firewall for our 16-plus web applications. We integrate this with Fortigate and the FortiSandbox, and all the applications we are hosting in the data center.

How has it helped my organization?

With the feat of cyber attack, the most important thing we can do is protect the web application. We can protect it from attacks like DDoS. It's helping to maintain our cyber security posture.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable product feature is the web application firewall. It still includes the inline. Its mode of operation is great. It comes with four modes of operation, reverse proxy, two transplant nodes, and WCCP. One node is there for transplant, just to have one more. Any customer, based on their network of topology and deployment type, can choose it and have an easy deployment. 

The solution has a good sandbox feature.

It is stable.

What needs improvement?

It can be better with web application firewalls. 

It is already close to the best in class. This product is up to the mark right now. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for around three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable, reliable solution. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Capacity-wise, since there is hardware involved, it cannot scale too much. There are some technical limitations.

We have around 2,000 users right now. 

We do not have plans to increase usage in the future.

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

We did not previously use a different solution. 

How was the initial setup?

How easy or difficult the implementation is depends on the deployment type. It is very easy if you employ reverse proxy. However, it can be a little complex depending on what you need to do. 

There was a team that helped deploy the solution, however, for maintenance, you only need one network security engineer.

What about the implementation team?

We used a third party to assist us with the setup.

What was our ROI?

We have witnessed an ROI. I'd rate the level of ROI we've seen a four out of five as it helps mitigate cyber attacks.

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

I'd rate the pricing at a four out of five in terms of affordability.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I'm exploring two or three products right now. We did not evaluate anything before choosing this product.

What other advice do I have?

I highly recommend that any web application firewall be deployed in the IT infrastructure where companies host web applications. It should be there. Whatever you choose should integrate with a third-party load balancer.

I'd rate the solution a ten 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.
PeerSpot user
Project development at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to use with a nice interface and good support
Pros and Cons
  • "The support is quite good."
  • "Sometimes, even if you follow the documentation, it doesn't work as expected."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily view the VPN net and use the WAF as our web protection.

What is most valuable?

The interface is very straightforward and easy to use.

It's stable. 

The support is quite good.

We found the initial setup pretty simple. 

What needs improvement?

Sometimes, even if you follow the documentation, it doesn't work as expected. 

The solution can be a bit pricey.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for about one year, or maybe a bit more than that.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Sometimes it is not as stable as it could be. We've had some issues. Sometimes the loading will be disrupted for no apparent reason. It might be due to the WAF.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not tested the scalability of the product.

We have two people working on the solution right now. 

It's possible that we will scale the solution in the future. There is the potential that we will use it on another project.

How are customer service and support?

We have contacted support for reliability issues, and they have been able to resolve everything within a matter of hours. They are very quick. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We previously used F5. F5 needs a bit of a higher skill set. It takes some experience to operate.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation took about two months. It's not so hard to set everything up. It's easier than, for example, F5, to set up.

In terms of maintenance, for WAF, I need about three people to handle various tasks. 

What about the implementation team?

We hired a consultant to assist us during the setup. The consultant helped my people learn the process so we could become self-sufficient. 

What was our ROI?

We have not seen any ROI at this time. 

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

The solution is a little expensive. I'd rate it a three out of five in terms of affordability.

I cannot speak to the exact price we pay for the product.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't really look into other options as my boss is pretty well versed in other options. However, we are always looking into comparisons. 

What other advice do I have?

We are using the latest version of the solution.

I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2100774 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of IT at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 20
A cost-effective solution with good pricing and good analytics and filtering capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "Some of the threat detection analytics and the filtering capabilities they give us for filtering a certain type of information that we don't want coming into the site are its valuable features. The analytics are pretty good in terms of being able to see what threats have been detected and mitigated, where they're coming from, and things like that."
  • "Their documentation is fairly complete, but it's sometimes a little bit difficult to search for exactly what you're looking for to resolve an issue. There have been times when we've gone to try to search for areas that we needed to get information on, and it has not always been extremely clear exactly how a particular thing needs to be set up."

What is our primary use case?

We're using the Fortinet FortiWeb firewall to front-end the production and test applications we run on Azure. We're an Azure environment, and it front-ends those applications.

We currently aren't using any of the advanced features.

How has it helped my organization?

Fortinet FortiWeb has given us a more cost-effective security solution. Because it's a software-as-a-service or infrastructure type of platform, we've been able to replace our dedicated hardware platforms. It has given us more flexibility to be able to utilize it as a service.

It has minimized the number of technical resources and the amount of time that we've had to dedicate to setting up and managing the front-end firewall capability. From that standpoint, it has saved us time. I don't know exactly how machine learning is attached to that, but if that had anything to do with the simplification and the ability to give us the information we need reporting-wise, then it has helped us with that.

It has allowed us to not spend as many resources on trying to manage the setups that we used to have to do in the past on the security side. It has taken care of that, so at a higher level, we can manage and configure that. It has reduced some of the time that the staff spent on that, but it's hard to measure the time saved.

What is most valuable?

Some of the threat detection analytics and the filtering capabilities they give us for filtering a certain type of information that we don't want coming into the site are its valuable features. The analytics are pretty good in terms of being able to see what threats have been detected and mitigated, where they're coming from, and things like that. That has allowed us to do some additional filtering because by looking at threats, we can apply additional filters and try to minimize some of them.

Fortinet FortiWeb works well for what we do and what we use it for. It's fairly easy to use, easy to set up, and easy to monitor. It's easy to configure, monitor, and manage.

What needs improvement?

Their documentation is fairly complete, but it's sometimes a little bit difficult to search for exactly what you're looking for to resolve an issue. There have been times when we've gone to try to search for areas that we needed to get information on, and it has not always been extremely clear exactly how a particular thing needs to be set up. It sometimes takes a little bit of research to dig into figuring out exactly what it is. More examples would be helpful on what they have. The information sometimes doesn't relate directly to the state of the product at the time, so examples would be helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using this solution for a little over a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It has been very good. In the time we've had it, we've had only one issue when they had some sort of outage for themselves that affected us. That was the only one that I've encountered so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't done a lot on scaling, but just from configuring the product and looking at it, it appears to be fairly good at scaling. It appears to be fairly or moderately simple to set up for scaling, but we haven't done a lot of scaling with it yet.

It's an in-house hosted web application environment that we utilize. We probably have around 500 to 1,000 people using it. We use it within our company environment. We've anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people depending on the customers that we have linked into it. 

How are customer service and support?

I've contacted their tech support. For the times that I contacted them, they were very helpful. I'd rate them seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

We did have some specific hardware firewall solutions that were in place at data centers. When we went to the cloud for our applications, we wanted to move to a cloud-based front-end firewall infrastructure. We didn't want to be managing the hardware at locations. 

How was the initial setup?

It was fairly straightforward. It was fairly easy to implement, but the documentation with some examples might have made it simpler. Overall, it was fairly easy to get the initial implementation in place and get things worked out.

What about the implementation team?

We did it all in-house. We had probably three people for its implementation.

It requires minimal maintenance. We probably have two people involved in the maintenance.

What was our ROI?

We have seen an ROI. The previous hardware solutions we had were fairly expensive. They had a higher cost of maintenance and actual manual support because we had to support the infrastructure and we had to support the product itself. By FortiWeb providing us with a service solution that does that, we're not managing hardware. We're not investing in the hardware upfront, and we're not providing the labor to maintain and install that particular part of it. The only thing we focus on now is the setup and then the constant monitoring of what goes on and any actions we need to take as we move forward. It has helped us in that sense because we don't have the ongoing hardware licensing and hardware infrastructure that we have to mess with. So, it has definitely been a more cost-effective solution.

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

So far, I have been pretty pleased with the way it's priced and licensed. The way it's done makes it easy, especially for an organization like us, so I've been pleased with the way it's priced and licensed right now.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't evaluate any cloud-based products. We've used Cisco products and Meraki products in the past, but they all were hardware products. When we were looking for a software solution, I had gotten a recommendation for the product from another person I worked with in the past. That person was using it and mentioned to me that I should give it a try. That's how I got into it. It was through a referral. Once I got it and tested it, it seemed like a pretty good product for what we needed, so that's how we went with it.

What other advice do I have?

Fortinet FortiWeb seems to have worked well for blocking unknown threats and attacks. It hasn't necessarily helped us streamline anything, but it has simplified how we provide the front-end firewall capability.

It has reduced false positives to some degree. It tries to identify those to tell us what are the different threats, but it's hard to provide metrics without measuring what false positives might have been there. However, I do know that the reporting that it gives can identify that.

Similarly, I don't know if it has reduced the number of alerts. However, I do know that it has allowed us to categorize and understand what types of threats we get. From the threat alerts, we get to know whether they're alerts we should be concerned about or whether they're just alerts notifying us that those are things that have come in that it has taken care of. So, I don't know if it has really reduced them as much as it has helped us to understand what they are and be able to focus more on if there are alerts that we need to take action on and investigate, or whether they're alerts for things that have been taken care of and we don't necessarily have to spend any time on.

Overall, I'd rate Fortinet FortiWeb an eight out of ten for what it does.

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: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Sales manager at Xxx
Real User
Top 20
A cost-effective solution for web security but lacks stability
Pros and Cons
  • "Fortinet FortiWeb is priced well."
  • "The product’s stability could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for the office in Oracle.

What is most valuable?

Fortinet FortiWeb is priced well.

What needs improvement?

The product’s stability could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiWeb for one year. We are using the latest version of the solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product’s stability is normal. I rate it six out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup depends on technical knowledge.

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

The solution is cheaper compared with other solutions. It has a yearly license.

What other advice do I have?

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

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: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiWeb Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiWeb Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.