FortiConverter vs. IBM Lift

Unless you are rebuilding rules from scratch, FortiConverter is a must-have when migrating legacy rulesets from competing platforms such as Cisco ASA, CheckPoint, Juniper, etc. to FortiGate Appliances. Without FortiConverter, guaranteed there will be some flows you missed and you will be troubleshooting them during your cutover maintenance window. Utilizing FortiConverter, you will minimize such issues as cutover time because you have the ability to stage the new ruleset in advance. Complex topologies and multi-platform migrations require highly skilled consultation from experts that [have] done this several times before.

Incentivized

IBM Lift is the most effective tool for migrating mass data from different on-premises applications into the cloud with high speed. I would recommend it since it offers two data migration options; Disk transfer service and cloud mass data migration, which all work perfectly well.

Incentivized

• Audit existing rulesets from CheckPoint, Cisco, Juniper and other platforms
• Build migration rulesets to FortiGate
• Stages migration before actual cutover
• Reduces or eliminates obsolete and shadow rules
• Simple logic

Incentivized

• It extracts data from DB2 at vert fast speed
• It can resume from last left off
• The CLI is very easy to use

Incentivized

• Programming or scripting skills are not needed but highly recommended
• Requires excellent command of REGEX
• Interface Mapping from complex topologies requires a deep understanding of FortiGate interface capabilities and scripting

Incentivized

• Even though it can be hectic to migrate data into the cloud with IBM Lift, the support team is free and highly knowledgeable. Also, IBM Lift is well documented in detail explaining all methods to migrate data easily.

Incentivized

FortiConverter is currently the best option to assist in migrating legacy firewalls to FortiGate firewalls. FortiConverter is flexible enough to be the single tool to use when migrating Check Point, Cisco ASA, Juniper and other platforms to FortiGate Firewalls. FortiConverter is not a multi-user software however it is easy for multiple engineers to work on a single or multiple migration projects.

Incentivized

FortiConverter is the easiest of the firewall migration tools to use compared to Checkpoint SmartMove, Cisco Firewall Migration Tool, FWMIG, etc. It has a more robust user interface and allows you to customize the rule imports as needed. Rulebase analysis, hit count, NAT, and dynamic routing are presented in an easy to understand format with FortiConverter.

Incentivized

Before Implementing IBM Lift at SquareTrade, we were using AWS Database Migration Service, which was not only expensive but didn’t offer automatic rapid recovery from common issues during data migration.

Incentivized

• Streamlined migrations successful on the first try
• Simple and fast cutover maintenance window
• Audit and tune existing rule base
• Quickly identify shadow rules
• Quickly identify rules with elevated access

Incentivized

• It saved us weeks of development time
• Without Lift, we may not be able to handle several billions of records data every day
• It can easily transferred to another person to maintain

Incentivized