I mostly use Sophos XGS for URL and web filtering and application control.
Head of Sales & Operations at Supernet
User-friendly solution with good built-in reporting
Pros and Cons
- "Sophos XGS' best features are simplicity and its built-in reporting tool."
- "Sophos XGS could be improved by adding a built-in hyper-converged solution."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Sophos XGS' best features are simplicity and its built-in reporting tool.
What needs improvement?
Sophos XGS could be improved by adding a built-in hyper-converged solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sophos XGS for three years.
Buyer's Guide
Sophos XGS
October 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos XGS' technical support is very responsive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite simple, and the configuration took around an hour and a half.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing for Sophos XGS is around $150 per unit, split into $100 for the hardware and $50 for the license. Sophos XGS is competitively priced.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Sophos XGS eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Customer
Used for website blocking, application blocking, and site-to-site VPN
Pros and Cons
- "Compared to other products, Sophos XGS is a user-friendly solution."
- "It would be useful if Sophos XGS included DDNS-based features."
What is our primary use case?
We use Sophos XGS mostly for website blocking, application blocking, and site-to-site VPN.
What is most valuable?
Compared to other products, Sophos XGS is a user-friendly solution.
What needs improvement?
It would be useful if Sophos XGS included DDNS-based features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos XGS for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution an eight out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is a scalable solution. We have more than 50 users in our organization.
How are customer service and support?
Sophos XGS provides good technical support. The support team has good knowledge of troubleshooting and fixing our issues.
How was the initial setup?
The solution’s initial setup is complex.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the solution through an in-house team. The solution’s deployment takes half an hour to one hour.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sophos XGS is a cost-effective solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Sophos XGS to other users because it is more cost-effective than other products.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: May 18, 2024
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Sophos XGS
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Sophos XGS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Administrator at Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc
Provides extreme protection
What is most valuable?
All security solutions are the same. It depends on the size of the network and license. They have the same features. Brands provide extreme protection.
What needs improvement?
The solution is expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos XGS for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is suitable for small and medium businesses.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is great.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy and takes around 30 mins to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product’s pricing is average compared to other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate the solution 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.
System Engineer at Microgenesis Business Systems
Simple setup, good reporting and great synchronized security
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is stable."
- "Support is great, however, it can always be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution as a firewall.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the Sophos management or the central management, including the reporting and managing of multiple firewalls using Sophos Central.
The synchronized security, which also integrates with the Sophos endpoint, is great. That's one of a few of the main features which is beneficial with Sophos XGS.
The solution is stable.
The setup is simple.
What needs improvement?
There were certain lacking capabilities, for example, the searching of its settings et cetera, previously in Sophos XG. There have been some features that were not visible or unavailable compared to the one here on Sophos XGS. Right now, Sophos XGS is stable with its current firmware and hardware versions. It’s gotten better.
I can’t speak to which features could be added.
As long as they just maintain the stability of the firmware version, we will remain happy.
Support is great, however, it can always be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve been working with the solution for one year. We’ve used it since 2021.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We’ve found the product to be stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In general, the solution is scalable.
Its features and configuration can expand. As long as the engineer or the implementer knows which policies are needed, the Sophos firewall integrator can also help with that. If he or she does not know any complicated solution, Sophos support is also there to help.
How are customer service and support?
I’ve had interactions with Sophos support.
They are actually quite responsive with their cases, as long as the open cases is properly informed or properly included with the right information.
They could always improve support a little bit.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is just a simple set of options. Sophos also provides a lot of data sheets and tutorials online. During the initial setup, there is a guide, which the user can just follow as long as he or she knows their internal network. It’s pretty straightforward.
The maintenance isn’t too intense. However, it is on a case-by-case basis and depends on the complexity of the environment and size.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I really don't have visibility with the pricing. However, the price depends on the size of the box, which indicates that the more users you have, the bigger the box, the higher the price you have to pay.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I haven't had the opportunity to work with other solutions. There are a lot, like Palo Alto, which, in terms of security, are much better than Sophos, as people say. However, Sophos can also work well. It just depends on the company's complexity or preference in the firewall.
What other advice do I have?
I'm currently an agent and a Sophos engineer here in the Philippines. We’re partners.
While we work primarily with on-premises deployments, it is also available on the cloud.
I’d rate the solution eight 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: Partner
Head of Information Technology at ICCS Ltd
It's more affordable than most, and the interface has a more comfortable feel than the competitors.
Pros and Cons
- "I like the Sophos UI. It interface has a more comfortable feel than the competitors."
- "I recommend Sophos increase the user capacity of the firewall by 1.5 times. For example, say the firewall can accommodate 1,000 users now, then it should handle a load of 1,500 users."
What is our primary use case?
Sophos helps us set public restrictions and add category filtering to secure the network. It provides ATS and IPS scanning for further protection.
What is most valuable?
I like the Sophos UI. It interface has a more comfortable feel than the competitors.
What needs improvement?
I recommend Sophos increase the user capacity of the firewall by 1.5 times. For example, say the firewall can accommodate 1,000 users now, then it should handle a load of 1,500 users.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using Sophos XGS for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is scalable. My company has almost 6,000 users.
How are customer service and support?
We've contacted Sophos support multiple times for help troubleshooting.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used a Cisco firewall for four years before Sophos. My company has multiple locations, and some had Sophos, but others used Cisco. After we had a good experience with Sophos, we moved the entire company to Sophos.
How was the initial setup?
Installation is pretty straightforward compared to Juniper and Cisco products. The Sophos installation offers better guidance.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the installation and configuration with our in-house team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sophos isn't expensive. It's a mid-range solution that's cheap but not too much cheaper than competitors. It's a good price that meets all our compliance requirements.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Sophos XGS eight out of 10.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Monitoring Expert at a tech company with 11-50 employees
Monitors our network environment properly, creates and manages firewall rules
Pros and Cons
- "The policies are the greatest feature. They allow us to configure granular control over our network traffic."
- "The speed of report generation could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We used it to create rules to monitor our network environment properly, using the standard.
How has it helped my organization?
It's great because we can create and manage firewall rules, add policies to those rules, and generate detailed reports. It has helped us protect our network and meet compliance requirements.
What is most valuable?
The policies are the greatest feature. They allow us to configure granular control over our network traffic.
What needs improvement?
The speed of report generation could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for one year. I used version 16.5, and I also used version 17 of the product.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate it highly for scalability. I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I had a little bit of experience with another firewall solution, but not much.
How was the initial setup?
It is easy to deploy and manage.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is okay.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend go ahead and use it. It's a great product. I have this product in my house as well.
Overall, I would 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.
Associate Director & Co-Owner at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use, responsive support, but price high
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Sophos XGS is its ease of use."
- "The price of Sophos XGS could improve, it is high."
What is our primary use case?
we are using Sophos XGS for full control over our network.
How has it helped my organization?
Sophos XGS has improved our organization.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Sophos XGS is its ease of use.
What needs improvement?
The price of Sophos XGS could improve, it is high.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Sophos XGS for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sophos XGS is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Sophos XGS is good.
We have approximately 10 technicians that know how to use the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Sophos XGS was responsive. They solved the issues we had.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have not used another solution prior to Sophos XGS.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Sophos XGS was easy. The time it took for us to implement the solution was approximately one month.
What about the implementation team?
We use a third party with our in-house team to do the implementation. We have 10 workers that maintain the solution.
What was our ROI?
I rate the return on investment for Sophos XGS a three out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is an annual licensing fee to use Sophos XGS. It is an expensive solution.
I rate the price of Sophos XGS a four out of five.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate another solution before choosing Sophos XGS.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Sophos XGS seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
IT Manager at Pluris Midia
Provides a great VPN feature
Pros and Cons
- "The VPN is the best feature."
- "The solution could be easier to manage and configure."
What is our primary use case?
We use XGS as a firewall, for web filtering, and network control. I'm an IT manager.
What is most valuable?
The VPN is the best feature because I'm working a lot from home now.
What needs improvement?
I think the earlier SG version was easier to configure and manage. The XG is a little different and somewhat more complicated. I'd like it to be easier to manage and configure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Right now we're having some issues but they're related to the environment and not the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is not great, it takes them too long to respond.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I believe we pay for licensing every three years and I think it's around $1,800 which includes the hardware. It's a reasonable price.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution and rate it eight 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.
Buyer's Guide
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sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2024
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