Firewall price/performance comparison

Unified threat management market review of price/performance comparison for WatchGuard compared to other network security providers (including Cisco, Fortinet, Juniper and SonicWall).

Choosing the right network security solution is one of the most important decisions you will make for your IT infrastructure. With so many factors to consider when selecting the right product, it's easy to lose sight of one of the most important goals: getting the best performance for your security rand.

Comparing the major brands by this all important metric - price/performance - can become a difficult chore.

Though other network security providers make it possible to derive this metric based on their own published numbers, WatchGuard has taken the next step and put them all together for you - so you can make a direct comparison among unified threat management vendors.

As networks demand more and more efficiency, unified threat management (UTM) solutions have come to dominate the firewall/VPN market. Where once a network would have one firewall and a number of point solutions protecting the gateway, all the necessary security features - firewall, VPN, endpoint, Web content filtering, spam blocking, virus protection, intrusion prevention, numerous networking features, and more - have become integrated into a single network security appliance.

The efficiencies of a single solution securing a gateway from top to bottom are easy to imagine; it's why UTM dominates the market.

WatchGuard XTM solutions actually push beyond the UTM paradigm into what is called extensible threat management, offering features far beyond normal security functions, automating processes, and allowing future growth as security threats evolve.

The only potential downside of a single UTM appliance being responsible for so much of a network's security is that the processing demands placed on that appliance could result in slower performance.

Building on 14 years of experience, WatchGuard has been able to design solutions to handle threats more efficiently than our competitors and maintain strong performance no matter what you throw at it. With our latest release of WatchGuard XTM Series appliances, we have leapfrogged the competition in offering the best UTM performance per rand spent.

Among all major brands, when you turn on every possible layer of protection at the gateway and start processing data, WatchGuard gives you the best performance per rand spent. It is plain to see that no other brand comes close to the performance for the price. Our price/performance leadership position is even stronger when you consider that many of the competing solutions are not even true UTM devices. Many are missing crucial functions that require you to purchase additional servers and point solutions to build out your network security portfolio. WatchGuard does it all - without slowing down.

As anyone who has made a major IT infrastructure purchase knows, your initial outlay for a solution is not the whole story. The services and updates necessary to keep a UTM appliance at top performance add up over the life of the appliance and this must be taken into consideration before making a decision.

Typically, IT administrators pick solutions with a performance buffer so minor increases in network demands don't turn the solution into a bottleneck. Unfortunately, this can exaggerate your total cost of ownership over the life of the product.

If you want to be sure your network won't push the solution's limits in the foreseeable future, you may have to pay for a solution sized for a much larger network. And you won't pay more just initially, but will continue to pay for more expensive services meant for larger networks.

Because WatchGuard solutions lead the industry in price/performance, you get the performance buffer you need without the outsized costs. The result is a solution that outperforms any other and keeps you well within your budget. WatchGuard also offers a unique model upgrade for those that grow even faster than they hope. A simple licence key allows you to increase performance and capacity quickly and inexpensively, without ripping and replacing hardware.

To view the full comparison between WatchGuard vs Juniper, Fortinet, Cisco, and SonicWall in price/performance, please follow the link to download the official WatchGuard White Paper http://www.watchguard.com/tips-resources/whitepapers/watchguard-xtm-compared-to-other-network-security-providers.asp.

This white paper lets you compare the major brands of security products by an all-important metric - the price/performance ratio - to see where you will get the best value for your security dollars. Find out how you can have full UTM capabilities for comprehensive protection and still have blazing fast throughput to keep your network humming.

Even if you are not currently in the market for a security solution upgrade, the security and cost benefits offered by a WatchGuard XTM Series solution are well worth a look. Please contact Robinson Distribution (the official distributor of WatchGuard for sub-Saharan Africa) for more information on the WatchGuard Trade Up Program - our attractive replacement programme. We are confident that WatchGuard XTM solutions will more than meet your requirements, but know you will want to compare products before you make a final choice. Speak with one of our sales consultants who can help you properly size a solution for your unique network environment. You are never going to know how a solution will perform until you have tested it under real world conditions, thus we offer evaluation programs. If you would like assistance in getting started, our dedicated WatchGuard experts would be happy to help.