The primary use is for application control and encryption.
Network Security Engineer at Mauritius Telecom
Excellent application control and vulnerability protection but it's a very expensive solution
Pros and Cons
- "The application control and vulnerability protection are the most valuable features."
- "The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The application control and vulnerability protection are the most valuable features.
What needs improvement?
The IPS can be improved on the solution. The itineration, for example. Also, if additional features, like SD Wan, etc. can be added. This would be helpful.
Other additional features that could be added include Individual Traps. In terms of enhancement for overall protection, we would like more Traps or other solutions that are developing within the firewall.
The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since 2008.
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Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. We've used it a number of years and never had any problems. However, only just recently, we found a bug on the model 2220. Other than that, the solution is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of the solution is very good. In our company, we have about 2,000 users.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is okay, but we have an issue here in terms of local support and company support. Palo Alto doesn't provide premium support directly. It forces us to use third-party support and local distributors. Sometimes it's difficult for us to communicate and get support.
How was the initial setup?
One of the reasons that our clients choose Palo Alto is because they have complex networks, therefore the setup is typically also complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Compared to other security offerings, Palo Alto is very expensive. Palo Alto also doesn't offer many discounts. They may discount as much as 15%. However, in comparison, Cisco can give a discount of up to 85%.
What other advice do I have?
We work with the public and private cloud as well as the on-premises deployment models. Our role is to implement security solutions at our customer's premises. The deployment depends on the infrastructure.
I would rate the solution seven out of ten. As a next-generation IPS, it's a very good firewall. I would recommend it.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Business development manager for Palo Alto Networks at Westcon-Comstor
A cloud solution for network segregation and automation
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for network segregation.
What is most valuable?
The solution has many automation features.
What needs improvement?
There could be some firewalls with fiber optics interfaces.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention for one and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. It can consume all firewall capabilities.
We have more than 2,000 to 3,000 users using this solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very complex.
What was our ROI?
My customers, even those with private technologies, feel they made the right choice by going with Palo Alto—the numbers back this up as our revenue continues to grow. In Italy, we've seen significant quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year growth. This is the most compelling evidence that the market appreciates our product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution comes with a license.
What other advice do I have?
Palo Alto is one of the most advanced solutions in the market. No vendor is acting similarly at the moment.
The solution is suitable for automation and to protect the network productively. It has a reasonable cost in terms of investment because the price is not excessive in terms of security level.
Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
Buyer's Guide
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
A scalable tool with a professional user interface and free learning materials
Pros and Cons
- "The user interface is a bit more professional than some free products."
- "The installation was complicated."
What is our primary use case?
The tool is a next-generation firewall. We use it to teach students about firewalls.
What is most valuable?
The user interface is a bit more professional than some free products. Palo Alto also provides virtual machines that support the technology.
What needs improvement?
The installation was complicated.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for two to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s scalability a seven out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have also used pfSense.
How was the initial setup?
The time taken for deployment depends on the complexity of the process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I use the learning materials that are free of charge.
What other advice do I have?
I am a Palo Alto instructor. I run the firewalls for twenty minutes and then tear them down again. There are other people in the organization who deal with the firewalls 24/7. I don't have enough exposure to give a high score to the product. 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.
IT Specialist at Icall LTD
Has a user friendly interface and is easy to configure
Pros and Cons
- "It's very easy to use and configure. What is nice about Palo Alto is that even if you don't understand how to use it, you can just click on upload and upload everything that needs to be blocked."
- "The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to upload, delete, and list what to publish on the net to block websites and even posts.
Recently, I blocked Adobe Acrobat Reader. When you install it on your PC, sometimes it contacts the internet and opens some posts. Thus, it can be easily hacked by a user on the internet. When you browse for this kind of list, you can easily upload it on Palo Alto without any difficulty.
What is most valuable?
It's very easy to use and configure.
What is nice about Palo Alto is that even if you don't understand how to use it, you can just click on upload and upload everything that needs to be blocked.
It also has signature-based prevention.
The interface is really user friendly. You can easily see what sites you have been blocking and their criticality.
You can also capture packets from this tool, which is really nice.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive.
These devices cost a lot here in Mauritius, for example, one device can cost approximately $4,000. The cost for the license would be in addition to this.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution at ten on a scale from one to ten because I've never had any issues with it and have never been hacked.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Infrastructure Manager at Jonah Energy LLC
The self-updating and self-alerting systems require very little management overhead
Pros and Cons
- "Edge protection is a valuable feature."
- "The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower. In comparison with other solutions, I believe they're quite competitive."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use this solution for general user security and protection. In our organization, there are around 250 users, using this solution.
How has it helped my organization?
Its simplified management interface, self-updating, and self-alerting systems require very little management overhead.
What is most valuable?
Edge protection is a valuable feature. Also, WildFire I think has been the most valuable active protection against a zero-day.
It's also very intuitive and user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for roughly five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Both the scalability and stability of this solution are fine for our needs.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is excellent; I would give them a nine out of ten — their response time could be better.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was pretty straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We had an SE help us with the installation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower. In comparison with other solutions, I believe they're quite competitive.
What other advice do I have?
If you're going to use this solution, you should have a professional set it up for you.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine. They're cutting edge. They're one of the leaders in the industry, and they're continuously improving their product.
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.
Quality engineer of the 1st category at Modern Expo
Easy to install, use, and manage, with extended trial-license options available
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the simplicity, transparency, and overall ease of management."
- "The price of licenses should be lowered to make it less costly to scale our solution."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for the security of our organization. It protects the LAN and WAN traffic.
We have two boxes that have this solution for threat prevention. Some of our servers also have Palo Alto agents installed on them.
We have an on-premises deployment.
What is most valuable?
This solution has more than just the threat prevention by itself. It's also a Firewall and many other components.
The most valuable features are the simplicity, transparency, and overall ease of management.
What needs improvement?
The price of licenses should be lowered to make it less costly to scale our solution.
I would like to see consolidated licensing for on-premises solutions. This would give us all of the features available for the one box.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable solution, and we have not had any issues.
For ten years we have had a high-availability network. There have been outages as the result of power, or our network, but nothing that is a result of this solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is not a problem from a technical standpoint. However, the price of this solution makes it hard to scale.
We have approximately one thousand users.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was simple, but it's been ten years since then and we have grown. The migration has also been simple and straightforward.
You can have a network with thousands of machines with only a few security rules to migrate, or you can have a network with only a few machines and thousands of security rules that make it difficult to migrate.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If you want to have all of the good features then you have to pay extra for licensing.
What other advice do I have?
Security in business is an important issue. There is a difference between the quote and the end price of the end product. Some vendors are impressed with the numbers they see on paper, then they start to use it and compare it and assess the ratio between the quote, security, and final price of the end product. It is important to consider the people who will maintain the solution. For example, if you don't have a large team in your organization, then one person is tasked with several duties, as opposed to having several departments with equal responsibilities. These are all things to consider when it comes to security.
Sometimes, when you have more than one security product running, they fight with each other and it can make things difficult. In the case of this solution, things have been very smooth.
So far, there have been no security issues and we are absolutely happy with Palo Alto Networks.
It is easy to test out a trial version, but there is a problem with that. In my experience, after paying for the solution, it takes time to get to know it. There are complex things that may take half a year to understand how they work. In some cases, it is simple testing at the beginning, but over time you might find problems. With Palo Alto, you can ask for extended trial licenses, which is not something that you get from a lot of vendors.
I have spent a lot of time in IT and I know that there is no such thing as an absolutely perfect solution. This one is easy to use and works well in our organization, but it might not be as suited to another organization. This is a product that I recommend, although it depends on the environment. Every product has pros and cons. Good planning and good testing is the best way to choose the product that best suits you.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
General Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Enables us to control the amount of bandwidth an application is allowed to consume and is extremely scalable
Pros and Cons
- "It's a monster, it's got so many beautiful features. We do deal with other firewalls and we've got a better idea of what other firewalls' capabilities are, any comparison with the Palo Alto I liked the quality of service on the applications that you can control the amount of bandwidth an application is allowed to consume. The best feature is the quality of the application quality of service."
- "In Africa, the technical support is probably not as good as in Europe and the USA because it's a specific premium support, partner-enabled premium support and all of that. But it's really good, I don't really have any complaints, it's fairly good. I'll give them 80%."
What is our primary use case?
We are resellers of this solution so we facilitate technical services to our clients. We maintain Palo Alto for what we are responsible for maintaining, on the latest version of the software.
What is most valuable?
It's a monster, it's got so many beautiful features. We do deal with other firewalls and we've got a better idea of what other firewalls' capabilities are. In any comparison with the Palo Alto, I liked the quality of service on the applications that you can control the amount of bandwidth an application is allowed to consume. The best feature is the quality of the application quality of service.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't had any stability problems. Maybe once or twice the cache was released fairly quickly. There were no stability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There isn't a firewall on earth available at the moment that's more scalable than Palo Alto. It's in the tens of thousands. We are servicing clients and we tally all the users from those clients together and it's in the tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. We are a reseller, so I can only speak in terms of our clients. We have at least tens of thousands of users. Palo Alto is the most scalable firewall out there by far.
How are customer service and technical support?
In Africa, the technical support is probably not as good as in Europe and the USA because it's a specific premium support, partner-enabled premium support and all of that. But it's really good, I don't really have any complaints, it's fairly good. I'll give them 80%.
How was the initial setup?
One of the reasons we chose the Palo Alto firewall is because it's probably one of the simplest firewalls to set up, it's very intuitive. We've done probably around 50 deployments and depending on the size and scope it takes around five hours but sometimes an implementation could take five months. It's very difficult to say how long it takes, but if you compare it with other firewalls, the implementation cycles of Palo Alto beat them hands down.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing and the licensing are pretty competitive at this stage. As a reseller, I would like to see the price come down a little bit so I can compete better against other firewalls because we do that all the time. Especially on these smaller firewalls and so on, we need to be a bit more competitive. Palo Alto is a company that focuses more on the high endS, high-speed class type of massive organizations and firewalls and so on, which is why they are the most scalable firewall. In Africa, the organizations tend to be smaller than you would get in Europe, the USA, China and those types of places so we tend to sell more of the smaller firewalls. Palo Alto's smallest firewall at this stage is very expensive which makes it difficult, but then again it's just not the area that they're really playing in. It still outperforms any of the other firewalls.
What other advice do I have?
It's a brilliant product, we periodically look at several other firewalls to stay on top of their capabilities and so on, and it's the best bang for your buck that you can get. Some of the other firewalls are starting to catch up. I implemented a baby, which could be regarded as a baby Palo Alto firewall. We pushed through in a single day with everything switched on, all the capabilities switched on, we pushed through 4.3 terabytes of data per day. Which is phenomenal for such a baby, little firewall, with all the capabilities switched on, it's absolutely mind-boggling that it handled that, and it did. It was at a university that we implemented it.
The advice that I would give is to partner with somebody that has the necessary skills to implement it. Buy from somebody that has proven skills to implement the product because if you don't have a partner to implement the product, that knows the product, and is qualified, it's pretty useless buying the product.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller.
Head Of Information Security at SAUDI PARAMOUNT COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Total Solution for Content Filtering & Intelligent Firewalls
Pros and Cons
- "Most of the features of Palo Alto Threat Prevention are alright. I recommend features like content filtering, IP address, & intelligent firewalls. The reporting feature is very good."
- "Generally, to deploy it will take some downtime, about a day."
What is our primary use case?
For a total overall solution, Palo Alto Threat Prevention can satisfy most of your needs as a company. Right now, we are implementing Cisco ASA and renewing our Palo Alto license.
How has it helped my organization?
All of the Palo Alto Threat Prevention functions are good. We feel like the product is comfortable to use and is what it should be.
Palo Alto Threat Prevention is recommended for large enterprise organizations and SMEs. We have good results on our follow up calls with clients using the software.
What is most valuable?
Most of the features of Palo Alto Threat Prevention are alright. I recommend features like content filtering, IP address, & intelligent firewalls. The reporting feature is very good.
What needs improvement?
In most areas, Palo Alto Threat Prevention is a fine choice. The application is very good. The most important feature we find to be the NCR Reader. It is best for application security. I don't know how they could improve it more. The application is already working fine with good results.
Support is really good with Palo Alto and we are resellers of the software to our customers. They will let us know how they find it valuable after we implement it. Most of our customers have found Palo Alto Threat Prevention very good to use. We have a number of customers in the market. Everybody is happy with the product. Overall, Palo Alto Threat Prevention doesn't need much more. From a general point of view, you get everything. If it is content filtering, it should be no problem.
For how long have I used the solution?
More than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Palo Alto Threat Prevention is very good when compared to Cisco.
Generally, to deploy it will take some downtime, about a day. For customization, it will take you a little more time. For the maintenance, around one week. It depends on the project.
For most projects, I have around three people dedicated to product support and maintenance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Palo Alto Threat Prevention is very good. For most of the requirements, we find it very easy to implement and deploy.
We have about 20,000 users on Level One, 80 agents at Level Two, and around 30 big operations on Level Three.
How are customer service and technical support?
For me, Palo Alto Threat Prevention customer support is very good. I am happy with the technical support from Palo Alto.
How was the initial setup?
We just replaced a firewall, so we didn't find the setup to be complex. We have network rules to convert. For the rules and connections, we use tools from Palo Alto to convert them.
We implement the firewall setup for our customers. It generally takes a little bit of time, i.e. one or two weeks to customize the policy that they use.
The old rules we can remove with Palo Alto Threat Prevention, which is nice.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We take licensing on a yearly basis. Palo Alto provides a straightforward cost structure on the annual plan.
What other advice do I have?
If you are a first time user, you should be pretty pleased with it. I would rate Palo Alto Threat Prevention a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: December 2024
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