Item: WatchGuard Network Security
Rating: 8
Author: Rob Drickl

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

- Multiple SMB's. We recommend, manage, and install security (and other) solutions for businesses throughout Western Canada.
- WatchGuard security addresses the current Canadian Federal Government standards for businesses that handle personal client information.

Pros and Cons

Intrusion Detection: Cloud-based and very responsive. It helps stop malicious activity from getting within the small business Local Area Networks.
Intrusion Prevention: TDR is a very advanced prevention system that I have not seen an equivalent for with any other vendor.
Dimension-based BoVPN: it's very easy to configure, set up, and monitor.

Dimension needs to include features that were available in the Management server!
The Access Points need to have the ability to manage from the command line (for instance, in the event of firmware update failure from cloud management).
When there is an issue with a Firebox update, better communication of that issue would be appreciated (i.e. v12.4 had some issues with Policies not working properly, and we only found this out when experiencing the issue and opening a Case for it).

Return on Investment

The overall cost of owning a device has been hard to justify to small businesses.
The TAG "security as a service" program has been beneficial to recommending and implementing WatchGuard Network Security. This has definitely had a positive impact.

WatchGuard Network Security Partner

We work with WatchGuard direct for implementation. We work with TAG for purchases. The overall service from WatchGuard has been very good.

Usability

Dimension makes usability very easy. However, it does not (yet?) have functionality that was available in the past.

Implementation Rating

- The ability to port existing configurations to other like devices is definitely beneficial, although other vendors do have this ability too. We have had issues with this as well, and have had at least 2 cases (mind you this is out of about 12) where the policies do not work properly and cause communication and access problems. Reloading the configuration usually solves the problem, but in the meantime, the implementation is delayed.
- Base installation out of the box is pretty straightforward. We have never had an issue with this kind.

WatchGuard Network Security Packaging and Licensing

Simplified. Managing different licensing is complex, and expirations are often overlooked. Also, the TAG "Security as a Service" simplifies it even further, since the licensing is included with the monthly cost and only has to be initially activated.

Alternatives Considered

Untangle NG Firewall, SonicWall TZ, Cisco ASA and Cisco Meraki MX Firewalls

Only Cisco has a system like TDR, and it requires a server be set up (where WatchGuard has cloud servers in place).

Likelihood to Recommend

The configurations required for heavily filtered environments are vastly more complex than for the configurations (in the same environment) for untangling NG. Except for those environments, there are no other scenarios that it would not be suited for.

Watch over me

Overall Satisfaction with WatchGuard Network Security