We use ZIA for outbound internet connectivity. The internet traffic of on-prem users will be directed to the ZIA cloud for security checks and web filtering.
Senior Network Consultant at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Helps with outbound internet connectivity but needs to improve multi-cloud management
Pros and Cons
- "We use ZIA for outbound internet connectivity. The internet traffic of on-prem users will be directed to the ZIA cloud for security checks and web filtering."
- "Zscaler does not provide dedicated IPs to each customer. Hence, they share a pool of IPs provided by Zscaler. There is a chance of blacklisting these IPs. I also do not like the multi-management portal."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
Zscaler does not provide dedicated IPs to each customer. Hence, they share a pool of IPs provided by Zscaler. There is a chance of blacklisting these IPs. I also do not like the multi-management portal.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product's stability is fine.
Buyer's Guide
Zscaler Internet Access
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zscaler Internet Access. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
ZIA is not scalable due to the limitation of bandwidth. My company has over 100 users for the product.
How are customer service and support?
ZIA's support is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
ZIA's setup is not easy because of the multiple clouds.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
ZIA follows a subscription model pricing and charges you based on the number of users. I would say its price is good.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the product a seven out of ten. I haven't seen any unique competitive advantage for ZIA over its competitors. ZIA's offerings are offered by competitors as well. However, the product has good security features. However, I wouldn't recommend this product to organizations that require high-security features. I would recommend Palo Alto in those cases.
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:
Senior Technical Writer at Cielo North America
Though the solution offers good support and stability, it needs to improve its interface
Pros and Cons
- "Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine and a half out of ten...The setup phase was easy."
- "Currently, the solution's interface is not that user-friendly."
What is most valuable?
The permission settings in the solutions are the most valuable feature in the solution since it allows me to assign roles and permissions.
What needs improvement?
I am just an end-user of the solution. I can't speak on what needs improvement from an admin's perspective. The interface of the solution needs to be clear and user-friendly. Currently, the solution's interface is not that user-friendly.
Zscaler is not like Okta. Okta has a marketplace, while Zscaler doesn't have one. Zscaler needs to have a marketplace.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zscaler Internet Access for two years. I am using the solution's latest version. My company is just a customer of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine and a half out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
My company has 200 users using the solution.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the solution's technical support more than nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I rate the setup phase a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy. The setup phase was easy.
The cloud is deployed on-premises.
The time taken for deployment is around fifteen minutes.
One admin person is required for deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not aware of the solution's pricing model since my company paid for the solution.
What other advice do I have?
I like Zscaler Internet Access a lot.
There are some sites it fails to find and block, causing such sites to get away from Zscaler Internet Access.
Overall, I rate the solution a 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.
Buyer's Guide
Zscaler Internet Access
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about Zscaler Internet Access. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Director at Aquila ICT Solutions
Is easy to scale and deploy, and has an intuitive user interface
Pros and Cons
- "I like the granularity of the control of all the traffic, including SSL inspection. I also like the fact that the user interface is intuitive. The latencies with Zscaler are minimal compared to those of any other competitor. Other competitors do not really have the global scale that Zscaler has and cannot promise low latencies."
- "Zscaler should continue to make the user interface better. They should also improve the backup network and continue to expand it so that it can handle larger numbers of customers."
What is most valuable?
I like the granularity of the control of all the traffic, including SSL inspection. I also like the fact that the user interface is intuitive.
The latencies with Zscaler are minimal compared to those of any other competitor. Other competitors do not really have the global scale that Zscaler has and cannot promise low latencies.
What needs improvement?
Zscaler should continue to make the user interface better. They should also improve the backup network and continue to expand it so that it can handle larger numbers of customers.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been working with this solution since 2017. Our customers use a cloud deployment of this solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability overall in the developed regions, such as the US and Europe, is fairly good. In certain regions, such as South Africa, Zscaler has not been stable for some time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easy to scale. Additional sites and licenses can be added quickly and easily.
How are customer service and support?
Zscaler's technical support is not too bad. They have been helpful when I have had issues, but I have not had to contact them much.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment process is quite easy. I've implemented Zscaler Internet Access in large, multinational corporations and recently at a company that is in 64 countries in the world. The deployment is always fairly quick. I have also worked with smaller clients, and Zscaler deployment is even easier in these cases.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Zscaler is an expensive solution, but it's worth the price.
Their services are unmatched by competitors. Some may come with half the features that Zscaler can offer and be much cheaper. However, they do not have the global coverage that Zscaler has, and they will not provide the same low latencies and the same speeds that Zscaler can.
What other advice do I have?
My advice would be to ensure that you have a good implementer and reseller who can provide guidance. The reseller should be aligned with those who work in security and needs to be aware of anything that might need an exception that needs to be created. This will help avoid any surprises when the solution is live. The other important aspect to consider is training.
Overall, I would rate Zscaler at eight on a scale from one to ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
Architecture Senior Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Provides quick access to cloud services, securing our data and allowing us to inspect all our traffic
Pros and Cons
- "The data loss prevention feature is the most valuable. It stops our users from inadvertently leaking our customers' data to the Internet or anywhere else it shouldn't go."
- "One thing that they could improve is the ability to import rules from other platforms."
What is our primary use case?
The product is an Internet proxy solution. We use it to manage our users' Internet access, making sure that they don't go to the wrong site. We also use it for data loss prevention.
How has it helped my organization?
The main benefit that we have seen is performance improvements based on not having to backhaul traffic and getting cloud services closer to the user.
It provides a modern, cloud-first model. It allows the users quick access to the cloud, depending on where they are in the world. We have users all over the world who access cloud services in their native regions. Previously, we had to backhaul the traffic to our data centers somewhere in the world, then go back to that region. Now, we don't have to do that. A user and data stays within that region. There is no latency there.
It allows us to inspect all our traffic, including SSLs. This is extremely important because most sites use SSLs nowadays. Putting non-SSL inspected data directly into the source would mean that there is a potential for data loss.
Protecting our customers' data is our number one priority. The data loss prevention rules that we have in place make sure that there is nothing within the packets relevant to our customers.
What is most valuable?
The data loss prevention feature is the most valuable. It stops our users from inadvertently leaking our customers' data to the Internet or anywhere else it shouldn't go.
The cloud-native proxy architecture certainly seems fast enough. The performance is good. The multi-country nature of it allows us to keep the proxy closer to the user so a user's data doesn't transit as far as it would otherwise. It helps to keep latency down and the speed up. It also helps a little bit with cyber threats, but that is not necessarily its primary purpose for us.
Zscaler is constantly improving the network. They are adding new data centers and regions all the time. They listen to feedback, and based on where we tell them to go and put data centers, they add new data centers. For example, they created a couple of data centers in the Middle East, which has been very helpful for us.
What needs improvement?
One thing that they could improve is the ability to import rules from other platforms.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using it for slightly more than a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its stability is first-class. We haven't had any issues during the time that we have been using it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It certainly scales to what we have asked it to do so far. We have over 50,000 users on it without a single problem.
How are customer service and support?
From a technical support perspective, when we leave a ticket, the time it takes for them to close the ticket is very fast. Their resolution time is exceptional.
I would rate Zscaler Professional Services and technical support as eight out of 10. I am dropping two points because of some blanks in the time zone support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are using it with 20% to 25% of our business at the moment. We are migrating to it from our previous legacy platform.
It adds an alternate layer of protection. We were already using a very powerful tool to do this, but that tool wasn't quite as fast and smart.
How was the initial setup?
It was very complex, but there was training provided by Zscaler. That was very good for understanding it thoroughly. It was complex because we had to make sure that all our rules from previous platforms were migrated over so all our users had access to the same things that they had access to in previous models.
We aren't yet fully deployed. We have been at it for about a year and a half. We currently have over 50,000 users deployed and another 120,000 to go.
The only pain points that we have are self-inflicted because of our slow rollout of the product, which is not actually Zscaler's fault.
What about the implementation team?
We had Zscaler Professional Services helping us for quite a long time at the start of the project. They made sure that everything was set up correctly with no holes. They were very good and first-class.
What was our ROI?
So far, it has not saved us on costs as a result of retiring on-premises technology, next-generation firewalls, legacy proxies, or MPLS links. Though, we are expecting it to do that going forward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have not been involved with pricing and licensing.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated several solutions.
What other advice do I have?
Try it, test it out, and make sure it works for you. It is not going to work for everybody because it is not a zero-cost solution. However, it does provide significant benefits in terms of its latency and capability to inspect your traffic as well as keeping your customer data secure.
It hasn't saved us time as compared to deploying and managing traditional network security hardware because we already had everything in place from a traditional standpoint. We take security very seriously. Security is paramount to what we do. We cannot, under any circumstances, allow our customers' data to be compromised. So, we have all the correct things in place from a traditional standpoint. We are now modernizing, and Zscaler Internet Access allows us to do that. However, we will not compromise at all. We have to move slowly to it.
It has not reduced the time that we spend managing security policies. The security policies used on Zscaler Internet Access are the same ones that we used with our previous technologies.
It has not really reduced the number of infected devices in our organization because we already had preventions in place with other technologies. We didn't previously have any infections.
I would rate Zscaler Internet Access as nine out of 10. It is a very good solution.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Solution Architect at Tata Consultancy
There is a virtual application in your private data centers that detects the applications, and you can control access.
Pros and Cons
- "Zscaler covers all the features needed to replace a VPN or proxy solution. They are good. They've been on the market for 15 years now, so they are mature enough."
- "Zscaler needs to add client-to-client communication. It's always client-to-server communication. The cloud and branch connectors could be improved because we're still dependent on traditional firewalls. They should eliminate this. They should also provide WAN devices should to compete with the SD-WAN solutions also."
What is our primary use case?
One of the use cases is VPN replacement. Zscaler Private Access replaces the VPN solution.
What is most valuable?
Zscaler covers all the features needed to replace a VPN or proxy solution. They are good. They've been on the market for 15 years now, so they are mature enough.
What needs improvement?
Zscaler needs to add client-to-client communication. It's always client-to-server communication. The cloud and branch connectors could be improved because we're still dependent on traditional firewalls. They should eliminate this. They should also provide WAN devices should to compete with the SD-WAN solutions also.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been building our competency and trying to sell Zscaler to customers for almost two years. We are doing this in our labs also, and we have one customer now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zscaler is scalable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Zscaler is a cloud-based solution, so it's scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We worked with Zscaler support initially for some professional services. That service was excellent, but later we had to wait for them to make some changes, so that could be tricky. I rate Zscaler support seven out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
Deploying Zscaler is quick and straightforward. You can easily onboard end-users to Zscaler Private Access once you deploy the application. There is a virtual application in your private data centers that detects the applications, and you can control access.
We have two or three engineer to deploy the solution. Two are usually needed because there are different roles from a backup point of view, and we have a different set of people during the design stage. We need some people who understand identity solutions. We have a combination of two or three engineers who normally do deployment for around 1,500 users. One person is usually more than sufficient for maintenance because we don't get that many inquiries unless some changes are needed.
What was our ROI?
We work on a business case, not on ROI, so if the customer sees a positive savings on their business case after the five years or six years, they normally go for Zscaler.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The license is per user, and there's a minimum license per user per year. It's costly if you compare it to the traditional solutions like Symantec or Bluecoat. It's about 20 to 30 percent costlier than the traditional solution, but it gives you the flexibility to work from anywhere, and everything becomes effortless.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Zscaler Internet Access eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Provides another layer of protection when a user goes to the Internet to browse or download something
Pros and Cons
- "Zscaler Internet Access has helped us reduce the time that we spend managing security policies by about four hours a week. We can use this time to focus on other things, especially the IT team."
- "They could provide more time for the onboarding the training of an IT person."
What is our primary use case?
We have Windows 10 laptops. We wanted help securing our laptops for remote work, but we don't have the server for this infrastructure. Whereas, with this solution, the cloud server is managed by Zscaler.
It is a pretty lean solution. We only need to manage the agent and some very small tools on the laptops.
How has it helped my organization?
Currently, we have an on-premise firewall. However, most of the time, users are not working in the office. Therefore, we need to use something, like a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), to help users. So, we are trying to protect users without a corporate firewall.
We just wanted laptops to have more secure features to help users and protect the company's data. There are two major things deployed on our laptops: Zscaler Internet Access and endpoint detection response (EDR).
Zscaler Internet Access has helped enable our digital transformation.
What is most valuable?
When you try to access suspicious websites, they will give you a warning. This helps us with user access without our office network.
Its cyberthreat protection is important for our needs. We use it for Internet access control, e.g., accessing web pages. We also use it when a user downloads or uploads files from the Internet.
When a user goes to the Internet to browse or download something, it is secured by this tool. This is important to us because it is another layer of protection.
What needs improvement?
They could provide more time for the onboarding the training of an IT person.
We did run into some compatibility issues. We just needed to test its configurations on the web portal and that detected the issues.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for half a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't had any issues with stability.
No maintenance is required.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 120 users. We have never tested it to go above 1,000 users. It shouldn't have problems because it is an agent working on the laptops using a centralized online server.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very good. We create a ticket every week or two.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't have an Internet access control solution previously, only anti-malware for endpoint protection.
Our legacy systems only protected our on-premise network.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It took about three days to set up.
What was our ROI?
Zscaler Internet Access has helped us reduce the time that we spend managing security policies by about four hours a week. We can use this time to focus on other things, especially the IT team.
Versus deploying and managing traditional network security hardware, the solution has saved us about four hours a week.
The solution has helped us reduce the number of infected devices in our organization by proactively preventing attacks because some users were unaware of some malware sites.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated two or three different vendors, but finally selected Zscaler Internet Access due to its reputation. Also, the GUI for Zscaler Internet Access was very clear when we tested it.
What other advice do I have?
We are not using the solution for data loss prevention.
When you select this product, test it with other tools running on your machine to ensure there are no compatibility issues between different products.
I would rate it as nine out of 10.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior IT Manager at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Controls doesn't affect speed and runs in the background with SSO feature
Pros and Cons
- "Zscalar Internet Access is for Internet security, like an Internet security gateway. I like how it runs seamlessly in the background with a single sign-on. The controls you can have on devices for Internet security are good, and it doesn't impact speed wherever you're connected. Overall, I think it's very good so far."
- "The solution's pricing is on the higher side. It would be better if it could be lower."
What is our primary use case?
We use the tool to manage all end-user traffic. It's mainly for web filtering on every device, not for backend server traffic.
What is most valuable?
Zscalar Internet Access is for Internet security, like an Internet security gateway. I like how it runs seamlessly in the background with a single sign-on. The controls you can have on devices for Internet security are good, and it doesn't impact speed wherever you're connected. Overall, I think it's very good so far.
What needs improvement?
The solution's pricing is on the higher side. It would be better if it could be lower.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is quite stable. There were some challenges with speed and performance when connected to a different region, but once they fixed the policy and routed through our region, everything worked fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool should be scalable - we have many employees, and it's covering well. I can't comment on limitations for other companies with thousands of computers.
How was the initial setup?
We pushed it through policy to all computers, so we didn't need people to do it manually. You need someone overseeing it but not heavily involved or specifically dedicated. It can be handled with other workloads.
What was our ROI?
The main reason for getting the solution was for better security, not for time or management savings. It didn't decrease effort for our security team, but it improved our overall security posture.
What other advice do I have?
I like Zscaler Internet Access. We've been using it for a while, and it's working very well. However, we're still in the early stages of identifying the full solution and requirements.
I rate it a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Sep 8, 2024
Flag as inappropriateIT Project Manager at LifeCell international Pvt.Ltd
Simple to use with easy access and good reliability
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is stable."
- "We'd like for them to include some sort of antivirus tool."
What is our primary use case?
We can use the solution for users that are working from home. It allows us to manage control over security. We install an agent and can set the domains that are allowed on the network. It helps ensure security.
What is most valuable?
It can be easily accessed by the cloud. Users can easily work from home while maintaining company security.
The servers are hosted in the cloud, and it maintains security for Azure. It's like having double security - one for the cloud and one for the user.
It is simple to use. We can create multiple tunnels with ease. It's simpler to use than a VPN.
The solution is stable.
What needs improvement?
We'd like for them to include some sort of antivirus tool. It would help if that came bundled with this product from a security standpoint.
We'd like to have a server connector without ht need for multiple micro tunnels.
For how long have I used the solution?
We just completed a POC. I just started with the company.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good. The solution is reliable. We've had no issues with stability. I'd rate the stability eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have almost 300 users.
I'd rate the scalability six out of ten. The policy creation is difficult. It's complicated to add them, and therefore scaling may take a while.
How are customer service and support?
I don't really deal with technical support. We get support from a third-party vendor, not Zscaler directly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used a different solution in the past. Zscaler, we can deploy on VM servers.
How was the initial setup?
We've only completed a POC and plan to roll out a full implementation soon. In the past, I have implemented it completely as well. We are planning to deploy for the sales users first.
It's not a difficult process. Once the agent is installed, it needs to be verified with the console. The deployment takes between 30 to 45 days, depending on the level of support needed to complete the task. The issue is our sales team are work from home users. That can make the process longer.
We also need to create user policies before the full deployment happens. Different policies are needed for different users. We may need to create three to four different policies for different user sets.
What about the implementation team?
We have a third party that we get the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have yet to receive the cost from Zscaler. We've only done a POC. My understanding is the solution is reasonably priced. I'd rate the pricing eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
We are an end-user. We may be a future partner.
It is good for a small environment of 80 to 100 users. I'm not sure if it works for very large organizations. This solution requires less maintenance and makes server access easy - instead of, for example, standalone VPN access.
I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.
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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: October 2024
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