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FortiConverter vs. OpenText Dimensions CM

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FortiConverter

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AThe FortiConverter firewall configuration migration tool is primarily for third-party firewall configuration migration to FortiOS—for routing, firewall, NAT, and VPN policies and objects.N/A

    OpenText Dimensions CM

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ADimensions CM is Software Change and Configuration Management for Agile development, developed by Serena Software and now sold by OpenText.N/A
    Pricing
    FortiConverterOpenText Dimensions CM
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FortiConverterOpenText Dimensions CM
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    FortiConverterOpenText Dimensions CM
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    GitHub
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Git
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Perforce P4
    Score7.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FortiConverterOpenText Dimensions CM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FortiConverterOpenText Dimensions CM
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Fortinet
    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
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    OpenText
    Serena CM is well suited to highly controlled, audited, and process driven environments. It will allow strict segregation of duties, and change traceability. If implemented correctly it will help you quickly build trusts with your auditors. It is also well suited to environments that require constant branching and merging. Due to the complexity of the product and learning curve for your development and operations team it may be overkill in a small shop with loose rules
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Fortinet
    • 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
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    OpenText
    • Code Promotion: Dimensions CM allows supervisors to control changes to code, in that they delegate requests to developers, and act as a gatekeeper prior to promoting to the next environment. This functionality is configurable so you can set up a workflow that best fits the structure and requirements of your own company.
    • Code Repository for changes and versioning: Code can be checked out by item or by synchronizing folders. Code revisions can be compared against other revisions or work files. Item histories show which developers made which modifications, and which supervisor and operations personnel were involved in assigning the request and promoting the code to each environment. Additionally a pedigree will show a stream diagram which graphically displays branches and merges.
    • Deployment: Serena Change Management offers help automating deployment including integrations with SVN and Jenkins. Its newer versions also have a powerful graphical deployment automation tool (Serena Deployment Automation- SDA). It comes with a certain amount of licenses built-in. If you have a many nodes to deploy to there will be separate licensing costs for that.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Fortinet
    • 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
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    OpenText
    • The only major negative that I have encountered with Serena CM product is that the very power and flexibility of the tool means there is a risk that you will make a mess of things. In other words it gives you plenty of rope to tangle yourself with. I recommend careful, well thought out deployments implementing the built in roles and workflows that can be turned on and configured, using a consistent methodology.
    • My experience with the Serena help desk support has not been impressive. Though reasonably polite and diligent, the technicians were well trained, and often gave bad advise and terrible scripts. On several occasions I had to rewrite scripts they have me; if I had run them as provided they would have caused even more difficulties than the problem I was trying to solve. I speak of the support in the past tense because I conditioned myself not to call them, it was usually just easier to solve nay problems my self. They do have a good account management team though, and for any major issues you can go thru them.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Fortinet
    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
    Read full review
    OpenText
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Fortinet
    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
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    OpenText
    Serena CM is superior to Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) in overall functionality, but does not have very good native integration with Microsoft. Therefore in a Microsoft centric shop with no audit needs ,TFS would be better. Otherwise I would choose Serena CM
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Fortinet
    • 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
    Read full review
    OpenText
    • Serena has facilitated our annual completion of various audit and technology control certifications. These certifications make a huge difference to our company's reputation and bottom line.
    • There has been no negative impact on our company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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