SolarWinds Threat Monitor empowers MSSPs of all sizes by reducing the complexity and cost of threat detection, response, and reporting. You get an all-in-one security operations center (SOC) that is unified, scalable, and affordable.
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WatchGuard Network Security
Score 8.6 out of 10
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WatchGuard Network Security is a network security and firewall software. WatchGuard includes secure Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication, and network intelligence products and services designed for SMB’s.
Due to the high price that SolarWinds has, I do not recommend it for small companies. And if I recommend SolarWinds in large companies with complex infrastructures where constant monitoring and review of the network is required, this system is very complete and helps everyone in the technology team, both network administrators, database administrators, Security Administrators, and Server Administrators are all very happy with this system.
WatchGuard provides an excellent entry-level firewall for small to medium businesses. I recommend more robust firewalls for larger businesses or businesses that have a higher need for security. If the use case is a nonprofit or very small business, I recommend a firewall that is easier to install and configure since Watchguard firewalls do require advanced firewall knowledge to use.
Sometimes, it is not very intuitive. You'll not know how to use certain features unless you read the documentation.
Some settings in the firebox are not visible unless you enter edit mode. This can cause inadvertent issues if you make a change when you just want to review the settings.
The use of blocks in the design of the Firewatch interface can be confusing. A better design could have been used.
I'm giving this note to WatchGuard Network Security due to its ease of daily support (after acquiring necessary knowledge in the solution), which allows agility in configuration changes, its integration of several reliable security features (such as SSL VPN, VPN Virtual Interfaces between companies, and others) and functional and stability in operation, with no downtime in the equipment due to problems or malfunctions
Although it might take some time to figure out, we have been able to use WatchGuard's online reference library and tech support to create/implement/modify all of our filtering rules and exceptions needed. There really has not been a shortcoming other than perhaps a learning curve.
Availability has always been a strong point of this product, it is rare that watchguard does not have a solution for customers' network monitoring needs.
The performance of WatchGuard Network Security is very good, in the years that we have used the solution we have only had a single error and Watchguard itself was able to solve it. Furthermore, when purchasing any product, the partner always evaluates the capacity of the solution to recommend the most appropriate product for our needs.
SolarWinds offers live chat support for all its products built-in. So if you are working on something you can just reach out to someone at that time, and usually get an answer pretty quick. If you are trying to get something done it's a lot better than submitting a ticket and waiting for the email response.
We have only had to contact them once during the initial set up to help bring the internet back on line. After that for the most part our systems have been automated, and could easily be checked form their online FAQ and Knowledge base that they provide. Everything else is easily handled from their browser based interface
We participate to a in person training and the three days of learning was really useful and complete to gain skill to solve the major part of the problem we encounter during our life. And more the in person training give us the opportunity to create a network with other WatchGuard partner.
I had my key information for setting up the firewall, and they assisted me in finding the settings and appropriate places to enter data. They also helped troubleshoot when I didn't understand some of their feature concepts, and we got it running.
Threat Monitor is very new on the scene. Its obviously not at the same level as some of the established vendors yet. We also deploy Alienvault for example and its nowhere near the same level as this, however the cost model between these two products reflects that. Alienvault however does have a physical footprint on the environment, whereas Threat Monitor doesnt. If you have the paitence to wait, Threat Monitor will surely only improve over time.
Our corporate parent company wants us to switch to Cisco products, but the value the Watchguard Security System brings is more than enough that our organization requires. It has great reporting and analytics and simplified updates and maintenance.
This product is very scalable since previously everything related to Watchguard was on premises but that has now changed with the inclusion of watchguard cloud. Now the product has evolved to have full control of firewalls at the cloud level.
The positive impact that this system has on our company is that it has saved us a lot of expenses when it comes to investigating what the bank's network and systems are.
This saving translates into administrators' time when it comes to finding the problem quickly, expeditiously, and effectively.
It has helped us a lot and we have even required fewer hours from external providers when it comes to solving a problem.
Increased Productivity - uptime has greatly increased form old system. I believe the percentage would be a decrease in downtime of 35 to 40 percent.
Compliance and regulatory ROI has helped financially offering the WatchGuard Network Security setup for protection to our insurance company. This proof of security has saved us thousands of dollars on our liability insurance.
On the negative side - Performance overhead when implementing deep packet inspection and VPN encryption effect performance of WatchGuard Network Security.
