TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vs. Fortinet FortiGate

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/ACisco Secure Firewall Management Center (formerly Firepower Management Center) are a firewall policy and intrusion detection appliance management system, providing an administrative nerve center for managing critical Cisco network security solutions. It provides complete and unified management over firewalls, application control, intrusion prevention, URL filtering, and advanced malware protection. Easily go from managing a firewall to controlling applications to investigating and remediating…N/A

    FortiGate

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AFortiNet FortiGate is a firewall option with high integrability. It offers a variety of deployment options and next-gen firewall capabilities, including integration with IaaS cloud platforms and public cloud environments.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management CenterFortiGate
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management CenterFortiGate
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—FortiGate pricing starts at $250 for home office use, up to $300,000 for large enterprise appliances. Must contact sales team for pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management CenterFortiGate
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
    FortiGate and maybe a little bit behind Palo Alto. But I do like the telos is probably has better backing than from a security perspective than Palo Alto. So they're almost even
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
    We selected Cisco due to the availability and reputation of their products. We had checked a few others, and found issues that may or may not have affected our company negatively. Cisco's devices, however, have proven to have their own issues and challenges.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
    Utilized across the entire organization as a single point of entry to the Internet. It provides a secure solution for internal and external users, ensuring secure access to all applications. The AnyConnect solution provides a secure method for remote users to connect into …
    Incentivized
    Fortinet
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    23 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    49 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    23 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    48 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    23 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    49 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    88%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    15 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    44 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    23 Answers
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    47 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management CenterFortiGate
    Firewall Security Management
    Comparison of Firewall Security Management features of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center and Fortinet FortiGate
    Feature
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
    8.1
    21 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Fortinet FortiGate
    -
    Ratings
    Policy planning and rule management8.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated Policy Orchestration7.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device Discovery8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Policy Compliance Auditing8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Attack Path Simulation Testing7.516 Ratings00 Ratings
    Anomalous Event or Behavior Deviation8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Vulnerability Scans8.516 Ratings00 Ratings
    Firewall Rule Cleanup9.518 Ratings00 Ratings
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center and Fortinet FortiGate
    Feature
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center
    -
    Ratings
    Fortinet FortiGate
    8.7
    53 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.951 Ratings
    Visualization Tools00 Ratings8.351 Ratings
    Content Inspection00 Ratings8.852 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls00 Ratings8.953 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings8.750 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console00 Ratings7.752 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging00 Ratings8.353 Ratings
    VPN00 Ratings9.152 Ratings
    High Availability00 Ratings9.348 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection00 Ratings9.251 Ratings
    Proxy Server00 Ratings8.539 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management CenterFortiGate
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Palo Alto Panorama
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Palo Alto Panorama
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management CenterFortiGate
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (24 ratings)
    8.7
    (79 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.7
    (21 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (27 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    5.0
    (5 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Secure Firewall Management CenterFortiGate
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    FMC is feature-rich and user-friendly. Cisco firewalls can run on standalone mode (FDM) but fewer features are supported on FDM. FMC is a must when working with Cisco Firewall. Migration from Cisco ASA to Cisco FTD is easy. There is a tool (FMT) that converts and imports the cisco IOS configuration file to FMC. FMC runs in VM or can be purchased as a physical appliance. The downside is that FMC is not quite fast and has bugs, especially when running in the older version 5x. and 6x.
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    Fortinet FortiGate addressed an immediate security issue we had a few years ago. The device gave us a much clearer picture of the activities on our network and also more importantly, increased our awareness of threats from the internet as a whole. Fortinet FortiGate helps us to mitigate these threats with regular signature updates from Fortiguard labs, identifying certain characteristics which, once recognised by Fortinet FortiGate, can be harnessed to deploy powerful 'playbooks'.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Great protection and security against the multiple digital virus attacks.
    • Provides detailed logs to track any threat and helps to secure the network promptly.
    • VPN service for remote access of important organizational applications.
    • Best management tool for controlling data and bandwidth resources.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • SD-WAN - Load balancing of Internet traffic is a USP of Fortigate and makes it stand tall in the competition. Be it 3 or more Internet Links, multiple Subnets/segments of users to distribute and bandwidth load balancing for links and users. SLA based monitoring of Internet Links / MPLS links, makes it even better to choose the links on the basis of performance (Latency, packet loss, Jitter etc).
    • SSL VPN configuration - As we all have WFH force (to some extend or all employee) during Covid-19, it is impossible to plan BCP without having a SSL VPN. In Fortigate, the SSL VPN configuration is very easy with the help of wizard. The deep CLI-level debugging is also very helpful in troubleshooting. Type of tunnel can be easily configured - Full Tunnel or Split Tunnel for SSL.
    • Explicit Proxy - This is also a great feature to shape and re-route the traffic, configuring the Proxy on the Firewall itself. We are using this feature in Pilot for now, and planned to rollout in few weeks looking at the success rate of the POC.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Stability when managing firewalls, we're having issues with Firewall 01 and Firewall 02 remaining in sync
    • Reporting when it comes to access control policy rules - there is no way to export a report of the rules easily. Using a custom Python script on the Cisco forums is the only way to easily export a CSV.
    • Support for policy and route-based site-to-site VPN was not available until 6.6.0 and later. This forced us to purchase ASAs to bridge that gap.
    • Dashboard reporting - when clicking a link for more information, nothing displays. Currently working with Cisco on the support case, which has been escalated.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • Documentation is missing a great deal of detail and assumes the customer and just guess and fill in the blanks themselves
    • Fortinet has lots and lots of video guides on topics that only a small percentage of customers would ever need
    • The documentation and video guides do not get updated so most is only relevant to older software versions
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    We are very satisfied with SecureX and it's adaptive, active nature in protecting or data and systems. It's easy to administer, update, review notifications and update when necessary. Cisco's security practice fits into our needs and continues to evolve as global cyber events change. SecureX is easy to migrate to new cisco gear as we upgrade to newer models when supports ends on older gear. Enabling fast ROI during these capital expenditure projects.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    Fortinet's products have kept improving with new software releases and they continue to deliver great value. Their support is also very good. I believe that as a small enterprise, their products have given us competitive advantage delivering features and functionality that enable us to innovate and do things better. They also continue to be a leader in the markets they serve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    Overall usability is an eight for me because it is easy to manage the firewall policies and monitor the devices' health. The configurations are all done in the GUI which makes it more convenient and hassle free. You can also see the devices' health and the progress of the task thru its taskbar.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    The firewall runs very well, firmware updates are fairly quick but you must follow the upgrade path. Neglecting this step will cause a lot of pain. If you decide to go with Fortinet FortiGate switches and/or access points, they can be managed within the firewall which is great. We're also using the FortiAnalyzer which easily plugs into the firewall for any reporting you may require.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    Since moving to Cisco secure management center from firepower management center we've had no application issues, outages or any other problems. It's always been there for us and always provides us the necessary protection and notification when we need it. Been very happy with all of our Cisco systems over our tenure to date.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    We had didn't any hardware failures at our two main office locations and upgraded our units last year after using them for about 5-6 years
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    Good performance and really good integration. We have integration with Microsoft AD.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    We have the direct support of the manufacturer through its service channels, the attention is 24/7, and the response time is acceptable. The support for this tool is almost nil. It all depends on the level of implementation is carried out so that it can fail and request collaboration. Anyway, the manufacturer backs the entire Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC series appliances) solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    The Support team at Fortinet is excellent. They can not only help you configure the device for what you are trying to do, they offer suggestions on improving rules, and troubleshooting issues. Their response time is fast, ensuring you are up and running immediately with no questions asked. We had a hard drive failure in one of our Fortinet Fortigate appliances. The tech answered immediately, and started rebuilding the drive after some preliminary investigations. After rebuilding, there were still errors and issues, so they dispatched a brand new Fortinet Fortigate appliance. The tech then backed up the configurations for when the new device came in, which showed up in a few hours. A restore of the configuration took less than a minute, and there were no more errors or issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    I received it a couple years afters use it and it was just to confirm my knowledge about the tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Cisco secure firewall management center is easy to install, moderate to setup in conjunction with firewall hardware, and administration of policy changes afterwards is pretty straight forward. And flexible to add more advanced security configurations as needed. Cisco support website is pretty good for researching how to documentation too. Cisco secure firewall management center enables integration to SecureX - the cloud security protection service. And AMP which protects packet flow with real time analysis. Cisco secure fmc is the evolved name for cisco firepower management center so for those customers who have firepower this is a simple migration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    Make sure that you have the most current version of FortiOS. Make sure all Fortigates are on the same version
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We are managing multiple customers having a large number of Cisco devices that need to be managed by a single platform. For that reason, we have selected the Cisco Firewall Management Center than checkpoint firewall management. It simplifies and automates newly bought cisco firewalls at remote branch offices to manage, configure and troubleshoot them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    [Fortinet] FortiGate is not only cost effective but it gives the comprehensive security against the APT attacks and gives the complete traffic visibility and granular control. You can easily create the VDOMs (Virtual firewall) within a Fortigate firewall and customize the dashboard as per your requirement if you have multiple VDOMs within a single firewall.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    No changes needed to terms and conditions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    My environments are pretty small (less than 100 users per location) so no issues here.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • It's a very straightforward and user-friendly tool that has enhanced the total detection of malware and other threats t from intrusion into our network.
    • Provides stable deep network scanning, security visibility, and protection from unauthorized access.
    • The platform modular allows us to deploy across multiple budget cycles.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • The pricing given to us for our firewall was well within what we were already spending for other vendors solutions and had the added value of eliminating a separate expense for a dedicated web filtering appliance.
    • We have also adopted Fortinet's security fabric approach and thus changed vendors for our switch and AP devices. These devices have come at reduced prices as compared to another previous vendor we were using, particularly in relation to ongoing annual maintenance costs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots