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CHECKPOINT-VSX-1 APPLIANCE MOD 9090

Mfg # CPPWR-VSX-APP-M909 CDW # 2240199

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This item was discontinued on October 06, 2022

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CHECKPOINT-VSX-1 APPLIANCE MOD 9090 is rated 4.40 out of 5 by 38.
Rated 5 out of 5 by from An expandable solution that can be upgraded on-demand and as required What is our primary use case? We are a solution reseller, and we also assist our clients with support. This is one of the solutions that we provide to our customers. This solution can be deployed in many ways. It is available in the cloud on AWS and Azure. You can install it in a virtual machine, you can have it as a hybrid, and you can have it on-premises. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature of this solution is that you can start off with a simple firewall and expand it to UTM. You don't have to buy a UTM to start off with, but rather, you can buy a simple firewall and upgrade it. The simple firewall comes with many of the UTM features, in any case. What needs improvement? The management console can be simplified because at the moment, it is a bit of a challenge to use. I would like to see support for software-defined wirings in the next release of this solution. For how long have I used the solution? I have been working with this solution for eighteen years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I've got Check Point systems that have not been rebooted in two years, so it is quite stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? This solution is quite scalable, but it requires hardware upgrades from time to time. Or, if you go with a virtual environment then it is very scalable because you start with one CPU and can increase to twenty-four CPUs. How are customer service and technical support? Technical support for this solution is fairly good. We have got enough skill in our business to do most of it, but once you raise a call with support, they give you quite the fast and effective answer. How was the initial setup? The initial setup of this solution is in-between, but more on the complex side. It's not the most complex product that I've worked with, but definitely not the simplest product that I've worked with. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The price of this solution varies from small to extremely expensive. On average, it is normally on the lower end, being less expensive than Palo Alto or Cisco. What other advice do I have? The biggest lesson that I have learned from this solution is to never assume that something is simple, because there's always a hidden snag that we run into. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Reseller.
Date published: 2019-08-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Secure, reliable, and has good technical support What is our primary use case? We use this solution as our perimeter firewall. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature for us is the cluster support. We have been using this for a long time, so it is not a feature from the latest version. What needs improvement? We would like to be able to scale out such that we can increase performance within a cluster with more active nodes. Our biggest complaint concerns the high resource usage for IDS/IPS, as we cannot turn on all of the features even with a recent hardware upgrade. A great enhancement for this solution would be an active-active or multi-active scalability. As we need to fulfill higher bandwidth demands due to increased cloud usage and research-driven data exchange, we might need to look for other vendors with more competitive pricing. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using this solution for two years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? This is a stable solution. Six months ago, we updated our version to the most recent one. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The scalability of this solution is limited, which is why we have started looking for alternatives. Currently, we have about twenty-thousand users. How are customer service and technical support? Technical support for this solution is good. They have a quick response and the solution was available within a short period. If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch? We did not use another solution prior to this one. How was the initial setup? This initial setup of this solution is complex. The preparation for deployment took two days, and the deployment itself took about two hours. We have three staff who are responsible for maintaining the firewall, although there are more tasks that they handle, in addition to it. What about the implementation team? We enlisted the help of a service provider to assist us with the implementation. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The price of this solution could be improved. We pay approximately ?€150,000 ($166,000 USD) per year. We receive four days of support every year from our service provider before we have to contact Check Point. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We did not evaluate other options before choosing this solution, although we are currently considering alternative solutions from Forcepoint and Fortinet. What other advice do I have? My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to start by identifying high-bandwidth use cases. If you have any, and you have a high-security requirement, then I suggest considering other options. This is a secure and reliable solution for us, although we are a bit disappointed with the limited scalability and resource consumption. I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2019-09-12T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Completely closes the potential vulnerability channel and has excellent scanning and reporting What is our primary use case? We are able to use the solution for cloud protection and in parallel with or just for network protection. In our scenario, we use it as a border network firewall, which is based on a virtual environment and we're using it for the border protection of our network. What is most valuable? We find Check Point valuable because they are 100% focused on security. It totally closes the potential vulnerability channel. We can check our mail and our attachments and we can scan everything easily. We get an immediate report about the situation of the attachments. We can discover if the target's security attack was started from phishing, etc. We also enjoy using the additional features that protect our internal customer from targeted attacks. What needs improvement? The stability of the solution could be improved, but this is the problem of all the solutions in the market. This isn't just a problem specific to Check Point. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for four years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The stability is good. It's really good compared with Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Cisco, most of all. But it definitely can be better. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The scalability of the solution is good. Right now, the solution protects about 400 customers. How are customer service and technical support? The solution's technical support is good. If we have problems, we can speak directly to Check Point, or we can speak to one of their partners or a local partner. The solution has a great community that surrounds it. How was the initial setup? The initial setup was complex because we were using a complex networking architecture. It took us about two days to implement the solution. For administration of all of this infrastructure, we need two people. For deployment and maintenance, we need just one person. What about the implementation team? We used the implementation guide provided by the company to assist with deployment. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Our licensing is yearly at a fixed cost. The solution has a very flexible pricing model. It can provide the same level of security and performance, but in parallel, can be subscription-based. What other advice do I have? The solution is the on-premises deployment model which we use in our server environment. We are an integration company, and although we deal with other solutions, we mainly focus on Check Point. The solution is a great mix of user experience, flexibility, security features, and cost. After five years, I believe the total cost ownership will be much cheaper than any competitor. The advice I would give to others interested in implementing is that this solution does have security problems. Not Check Point, per se, but in the network environment. The security recommendation from the Check Point and from us is to use the VSX in the internal network. It should not protect your border because there are some issues around bugs, etc. It could cause vulnerabilities if it's used this way. I would rate this solution eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2019-08-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from All-in-one-box solution with easy configuration and great routing What is most valuable? As per the solution's blade design, there are many options. For example, you have to buy a UTM blade and an advanced malware blade, etc. If the blade license is there, we can configure from the firewall GUI. The net policy and routing are also great features. What needs improvement? If you compare the GUI with the Palo Alto and Cisco, they're very easy. Check Point, due to its design, is a little bit complex. They should make the GUI easy to use so that anyone can understand it, like Fortinet's GUI. Many companies end up using Fortinet because the GUI is very easy, and there's no need for training. They just deploy the box and do the configuration. Also, we have to inform customers that with Check Point there's no need to purchase any routing device. Check Point can do that routing as well as the Firewall and the IPS. The marketing should be stronger, to show that customers only need one box to handle all the features. It will be cost-effective and enhance the performance and value, but because of their poor marketing, customers don't realize this. In the future, a color string would be powerful. Sandboxing should also be offered. Many people want the Trend Sandbox but not on the cloud. In the Middle East, there is a policy for Sandboxing that states it should be on Trend as per the government law. They have Sandboxing solutions on the cloud, but they have to bring the solution onto Trend also. Palo Alto has Wildfire, Cisco has Talos, and Forcepoint has one available as well. In the future, routing protocols should be more supported like OSPF and BGP. There needs to be integration with the SDN. I don't know if SDN is there or not in Check Point, but SDN is one of the major requirements nowadays. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for one month. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The solution is very stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? We just deployed the solution, so scalability I cannot speak to right now. But, as per Gartner and NSS Lab, they're allegedly very good. I don't think there will be an issue with scalability. If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch? I am currently also working on Cisco ASA, Fortinet, and Palo Alto. What about the implementation team? I'm an Operation Engineer; I handle the deployments myself. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Compared to Cisco Firepower Threat Defense, the solution is cheap. However, not as cheap as Fortinet or Palo Alto. If clients have smaller budgets, we would have to advise one of those instead. What other advice do I have? There are two deployment model modes in Check Point. One is a gateway level and one is a no gateway all-in-one box solution. With the gateway level, only hardware will be there, all operating systems are stored in a VMware and if there are any issues in the hardware, you just replace the box; all of your policies will be saved into VMware. The all-in-one box you have the GUI policies and also the gateway so it's secure. If there is an issue in the box - like failure or downtime - all of the networks will be affected. I would rate the solution eight out of ten. We haven't been using it too long, so we haven't had a chance to look at all aspects of the solution. I would recommend Check Point to customers because it is an affordable option. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2019-09-11T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Our network performance has increased since implementing this solution What is our primary use case? This solution is very important for our network. We use it for the data on our servers and for our internet connections. We also use it for all of our user devices to connect to outside corporations. The IPS on our devices prevents any issues from occurring. We use the on-prem version of this solution. What is most valuable? We currently upgraded our devices to a new version. We have noticed a performance increase. We tested filtering features and it's an interesting feature that helps us with our tasks. We don't need very complex features. For how long have I used the solution? We have been using Check Point for about two years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It's a high-performance device. The network performance is also really good. We check how much time it takes for the servers. Our network performance has increased since using this solution. How are customer service and technical support? We have a local consultant for this solution. They can handle most of the operations with my team. We work together with the consultant sometimes for complicated scenarios like migration. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is difficult. It took me three tries to get it right. The setup took two or three hours. We migrated from an old to a new one. It's not so complex but Check Point is complex in comparison to other firewalls. For example, Palo Alto is easier to install than Check Point. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? We negotiate every deal to get a discount for a higher number of devices. What other advice do I have? I would rate it a nine out of ten and I would recommend this solution. Their support team should be faster because sometimes when we need support their responses are late. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2019-08-05T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from A good firewall solution that's extremely stable and can scale easily What is our primary use case? We primarily use the solution as firewall security for our clients. What is most valuable? The IPS, application and URL filtering, as well as Identity Awareness, are all very valuable features. What needs improvement? Reporting needs improvement. It's difficult to utilize properly. Currently, I'm in a situation whereby a client of ours is looking for reporting on their organizational unit. Check Point has failed to do that. We've been trying to do it for the past month and we haven't been able to. We've also gotten techs from Check Point to call us to help and we just can't get the solution to do what we need it to do. Sometimes, if you aren't familiar with the solution, it can be a bit complex, but it does become easier to use with time. However, every time they launch a new version, it becomes more complex and you need to take time to get familiar with all the changes. For every version that they upgrade, you need to upskill yourself. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for three years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The stability of the solution is fantastic. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The scalability potential of the solution is great. We use the solution quite extensively. We do plan to increase usage in the future. How are customer service and technical support? If I were rating technical support out of ten, I would give it a seven. They're inconsistent. Sometimes you do get guys from Check Point to help you out and then sometimes you don't. Sometimes it's hard getting a hold of them. If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch? We didn't previously use a different solution. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is straightforward. The time it takes to deploy depends on the organization. What about the implementation team? We handled the implementation ourselves. Which other solutions did I evaluate? I am familiar with Fortinet, although I didn't do a direct comparison. I did compare other solutions as well. What other advice do I have? For those who want to implement the solution, they should make sure they have a very strong networking background. I would rate the solution eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2019-08-28T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Reliable solution with a unique architecture that creates flexibility in the deployment What is our primary use case? We install the solution for our customers and Check Point is our preferred solution in any firewall deployment. The two-layer architecture with the administration and security makes a difference and in every instance, we know who the user is. The touch features are very different than other brands. From the feedback I get from my customers, Check Point is the best. How has it helped my organization? Check Point gives us a strong solution that we can depend on when deploying it for clients. What is most valuable? The most valuable features are within the unique architecture that creates flexibility in the deployment. What needs improvement? The knowledge base that is available is limited and it is on a closed network where only a customer or certified engineer will know about it. A beginner who wants to learn about the product actually has to enroll in training or get certified and have a valid license or certification to access information. That is something I find strange as most users would like to know about it. The new users would like to be able to see those areas and what type of concerns or any configuration issues they may have before deciding to work with the product. To me, that is a simple open-mindedness. In terms of the availability of the system and functionality of the product, there's no concern. But the problem is that efficient VSX (Virtual System Extension) deployment is complicated. Most of our customers are afraid to deploy any configuration changes because they are afraid something will happen. It's not the same situation as with other products. I guess the reason behind it is the kind of architecture which they are using. There are more possibilities to crash than other products. That is the feedback I normally get from end-users, but even so, for us, I would say it's one of the best product. For how long have I used the solution? We've been using this product for over two years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Check Point is very stable. I would say that initially there were a couple of issues we had during deployments. But now we have climbed the learning curve of the product and all installations are very stable. We have most clients running on version 7.3 and didn't upgrade most further from there because we know that 7.3 is stable and it is what we are running most of the customers now. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Scalability is fine. In fact, we are demonstrating the hyper scale with most of the customer now. There is no doubt about the scalability and it is not a problem. How are customer service and technical support? Up until now, we have not had to register with technical support from Check Point. If we needed help we got support with the presale technical support team from our region. He was able to help us internally. The team helps us to get products stable. Up until now, we did not contact them. It is not very transparent. They approach resolutions through a partner and the partner solves the case. They seem to mostly depend on partners for the resolution of issues. If you previously used a different solution, which one did you use and why did you switch? We deploy a variety of products for our clients depending on their needs. Check Point is one of the most reliable. How was the initial setup? I would say that the installation is straightforward when you have learned about the architecture. Before that, the installations may be a little confusing. What about the implementation team? We are partners with Check Point so we handle the installations and deployment. In the beginning, we did have some engineers from Check Point assist us in the initial installations, but after that it was fine and we were able to manage it by ourselves. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Check Point pricing is high. It is a sector where there is heavy competition so it does not help when trying to sell the product. But one thing is that the sales chain is fantastic. The price is usually the most difficult thing when we discuss Check Point with customers, their feedback is that it is not a competitively inexpensive product. Clients want to know why that is and if we could scale the price. Check Point can have more presence in the market, but if they want it to compete, they have to come down in price a little more. I would say 20 to 30% lower. The product is fine. What other advice do I have? The web application firewall is commonly used in most firewalls now. If they can add that as a feature, it would be a very strong scenario. When we use Check Point on a perimeter or a DMZ zone, the first thing that clients ask is if there is wireless protection. Check Point has IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) but it does not have wireless protection. So if production is using the cloud if they can integrate mobile app protection, mobile shielding, there's more value for Check Point, but if they include that, Check Point could be the very best firewall option. On a scale from one to ten, when one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate Check Point as an eight. It needs to do better in pricing and with broader features for mobile. One thing that I learned from multiple installations of Check Point is that you have to train the customer before implementing. Unless the customer is already a highly skilled security engineer so that they know what they can get out of the product, they will not be as satisfied. Otherwise, just before the deployment, we have them go for training so they understand the product and what it can do. They will be happier and they won't choose to go with another product in the future. Even with my engineers who understand many other products, I trained them properly before I send them out for deployments. Check Point is not a product that if you don't know you can just install without knowing anything about it. You have to know the architecture first. You have to know each and every option than work on the product. Then it will be far better and say no to certain features which are not important to use. On the other hand, knowing it is available is fantastic and becomes an option in the right situations. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner.
Date published: 2019-09-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Excellent technical support but the zero-day threat detection needs improvement What is our primary use case? Our primary use case of this solution is for security. What is most valuable? The IPs and the VPN are the most valuable features of this solution. What needs improvement? I would like to see an improvement on the zero-day threat detection. It is also not very user-friendly, so it would be great if it could be less complicated and easier to operate. The dashboard needs to be easier to use. Also, if the solution could be cheaper, it would really help, because it is very expensive. I would like to see sand boxing added to the new version. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Check Point Virtual Systems for ten years now. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The program is very stable. How are customer service and technical support? The technical support is excellent and they always responded when we had an issue. How was the initial setup? The initial setup wasn't too complicated, but it wasn't very easy and straightforward. Deployment took us about a week. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It is a very expensive program and there are additional costs despite the standard licensing fees. So I would like to see it being more affordable in the future. What other advice do I have? I will recommend this program to others and my rating is seven out of ten. I do recommend that users should always use the checkpoints and backup as often as they can. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2019-08-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Enables us to monitor what comes over to our network and we can then check the dashboard and work accordingly What is our primary use case? We use this solution to secure networks. We block unwanted malware. How has it helped my organization? We have a development team who asked us to open reports. We asked that they initiate traffic to see what is blocking them. We then give them reports and after that, they ask to open the report for the traffic application and we work accordingly. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature is the monitoring. We can easily monitor what kind of stuff comes over to our network and we can then check the dashboard and work accordingly. What needs improvement? I would like for them to develop guides. If you compare it with Cisco, you can just type out any problem you're having regarding Cisco and you will easily get a solution. With Check Point, it's not easy to get a solution. For how long have I used the solution? Three to five years. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? We maxed out scalability. How was the initial setup? The initial setup was a bit complex. Is take two or three months to implement and we have to continuously work on it. We needed two to three engineers for deployment. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We researched the top firewall solutions and settled on Check Point and Palo Alto. Comparatively, both are good. What other advice do I have? Ultimately Palo Alto is a very advanced firewall. This firewall can easily identify what application is running behind the network. I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner.
Date published: 2019-02-17T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Valuable features include centralized management using the MDM solution and the log management module. What is most valuable? Valuable features include centralized management using the MDM solution of Check Point and the Log Management module. The latest version of VSX supports all blades of Check Point's security suite. I get maximum flexibility as I can use a standard management server to manage all virtual gateways along with a dedicated log server for each virtual gateway. Sometimes I can use a single server to manage all virtual gateways. How has it helped my organization? Earlier versions only supported the Firewall and VPN feature. Now I can run Anti-Bot/Anti-Virus, URL and App Filtering, Threat Emulation, and other blades. I can assign weights to each virtual gateway depending on how critical each virtual gateway is. The VSLS feature provides linear scalability so I can keep adding hardware (maximum of eight) to meet my performance expectations. What needs improvement? It is somewhat difficult to upgrade the entire hardware without downtime. For how long have I used the solution? We have been implementing this solution to many customers in India and the SAARC region for seven years now. This is one of the most popular virtual firewall products in the industry. What do I think about the stability of the solution? We have not encountered any problems with stability. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? A sufficient amount of planning is required to deploy a solution that is scalable. However, as Check Point allows an Open Server to deploy its VSX solution, scalability is not a problem once the base hardware is chosen appropriately. How is customer service and technical support? Support is one area where efforts should be required from Check Point. Customers having multiple, more than ten, gateways are encouraged to consider Diamond Support services. Which solutions did we use previously? We did not use any other solution previously. How was the initial setup? Engineers having less than three years of hands-on experience on Check Point products may find this product somewhat challenging. However, the best part is, once the product is deployed, there is no difference between virtual gateway and physical gateway from the operational perspective. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Check Point pioneered this product, so don't look anywhere else if you are looking for a stable and scalable product with top-notch security blades. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We did not evaluate any alternative products. What other advice do I have? Choose your implementation partner very carefully. Choose someone who has done multiple, large-scale implementations and can show proof of the same in terms of customer references through emails or phone calls. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:We are a value added partner of Check Point in India.
Date published: 2017-06-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from We consolidated from multiple consoles and clusters into an all-in-one cluster solution How has it helped my organization? We consolidated from three management consoles and three clusters to only one, which is a big improvement. What is most valuable? In general, Check Point VSX is a good solution. Its blades and VSLS (Virtual System Load Sharing) work fine. What needs improvement? Having a web UI in the VSX (or something similar) would be nice. However, you can do everything in the CLI. For how long have I used the solution? Less than one year. Which solutions did we use previously? We are replacing three old cluster ASA firewalls and concentrating it into an all-in-one VSX cluster. This allows our central management have more time for other tasks. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2018-04-16T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from The product is stable but we had issues when we had really old hardware that had a less than stable OS. Valuable Features The ability to host multiple virtual systems, categorize them based on their function and importance and the ease of use with which these can be deployed. Improvements to My Organization We do not need to keep provisioning hardware each time there is a requirement for a new firewall. Having a physical server capable of hosting many virtuals and also provide performance and redundancy is a big benefit and hence our preference for VSX. Room for Improvement Each new version does offer a new set of features plus also incorporates bug fixes identified during the life cycle of the previous product. Hence, this product keeps on maturing as newer versions are released. Use of Solution More than 15 years. Deployment Issues Not from a product point of view. The critical aspect here is proper planning, performing several dry runs and identifying potential issues to the best possible extent. It's really about planning and testing prior to implementing. Stability Issues No, because we keep on top of our installations. We maintain them by performing routine maintenance, and hot-fix applications. Stability wise the product is stable but we had issues when we had really old hardware that had a less than stable OS. Scalability Issues No issues encountered. Customer Service and Technical Support Customer Service: Excellent – the vendor always supports us and is very proactive. We have excellent relations with the vendor. Technical Support: Definitely excellent. It’s a pleasure to talk with the tech support people and know they fully understand the issues – this gives us a sense of comfort. Previous Solutions No previous solution used. Initial Setup It was simple. That is because the solution is architectured and designed from the ground up and the relevant teams were involved from the beginning. Implementation Team We did an in-house implementation. ROI Cannot give exact figures but we have made a lot of saving by implementing this product in our organization. Other Solutions Considered We were clear on our options – no we did not choose any other options save for the most important ones. Other Advice Think of VSX as similar to VMware ESX solution. It will, in the long run, save a lot of money with the return it gives to the company. It is easy to maintain by a capable support team and can easily fit within the network where there is a requirement. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2015-03-23T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Multiple virtual firewalls on one box are extremely useful How has it helped my organization? Monitoring using SmartConsole and all its features is extremely easy, and I find SmartEvent an excellent monitoring tool for spotting threats and user behaviour. What is most valuable? The multiple virtual firewalls on one box are extremely useful and the interconnection with virtual switches is simple and easy to understand. We need a product that is logical and for which we can find people skilled who are interested in learning it. Check Point is always a winner, as its an industry standard. What needs improvement? We have Microsoft CASB cloud app security and it's one of the least compatible firewalls. They really need to look at this, as both Check Point and Microsoft are major players. Why aren't they compatible? If we had Palo Alto then we wouldn't have this problem. For how long have I used the solution? Three to five years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? No stability issues, not even once. The firewall is set up and and the various parts are interconnected. It works just fine. R80.1 is also a major improvement. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? No scalability issues but I don't think we are utilizing the device to its maximum capability. How is customer service and technical support? Good. We go with a distributor but they work okay. It is a lot more reliable with the latest OS than it used to be. Which solutions did we use previously? No previous solution. It's always been Check Point, though before the virtual firewall we used to have a Juniper fw. Now we are just Check Point because for the threats we face now, I don't think we need different firewalls at different layers. How was the initial setup? The issue normally is getting SIC working between the gws and the management server. Actually it's reasonably straightforward, though you have to get it right. It used to be you had to have a certain type of disk drive but this is a better solution. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Look into this carefully and be sure you use all you buy. We haven't bought SandBlast or the bot solution but they look effective. Which other solutions did I evaluate? No, it was decided to stay with Check Point. What other advice do I have? Make sure you can make use of the virtual firewalls and read up on the device or take a course before you implement. Or, if you get it installed, make sure you have the right devices in the right virtual firewalls. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2018-01-23T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Easy to manage and greatly improves security What is our primary use case? Our company works in the area of developing and delivering online gambling platforms. The Check Point Next-Generation Firewalls are the core security solution that we use for the protection of our DataCenter environment located in Asia (Taiwan). The environment has about 50 physical servers as virtualization hosts, and we have two HA Clusters that consist of 2x5400 hardware appliances, managed by an OpenServer Security Management Server on a Virtual Machine (KVM), all running on R80.10 with the latest JumboHotfix. The Check Point Virtual Systems are activated on the NGFWs to logically divide the firewall into two parts. One is for serving internal, intra-VLAN traffic, and the other is for serving the external traffic coming from the Internet. How has it helped my organization? The overall security of the environment has been greatly improved by implementing the Check Point Virtual Systems solution. Before deploying it, we relied on the Cisco ACLs and Zone-Based firewalls configured on the switches and routers, which in fact is a simple stateful firewall, and currently appears to be not an efficient solution for protection from advanced threats. The Check Point Virtual Systems solution has significantly increased the security level from the standpoint of the logical separation of traffic patterns, both internal and external in our particular case. This product makes the NGFWs work as if we had two separate sets of physical firewalls, without additional spendings on the hardware. What is most valuable? The main benefit of the Check Point Virtual Systems solution is its ability to split up the hardware appliances that we have into several logical, virtual devices with separate traffic handling policies, as well as the switching and routing. This allowed us to save significant money on the hardware purchase, and keep our NGFWs efficiently loaded. As an administrator, I find the management really convenient and cozy. The usual SmartConsole is used and you don't need any additional software to be installed. What needs improvement? As an administrator, I can say that among all of the Check Point products I have been working with so far, the Virtual Systems solution is one of the most difficult. You need to understand a lot of the underlying concepts to configure it, like the virtual switches and routers it uses underneath. That leads to additional time needed for the initial configuration if you don't have previous experience. In addition, there is a list of limitations connected specifically with the virtual systems, like the inability to work with the VTI interfaces in a VPN blade, or an unsupported DLP software blade. For how long have I used the solution? We have been using the Check Point Virtual Systems for about three years, starting in late 2017. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The solution is stable and we haven't had any support cases opened that are connected with it. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The solution is scalable. I believe you could just add the new hardware into the cluster without affecting the functionality, and thus increasing the performance on the spot. How are customer service and technical support? We have had several support cases opened, but none of them were connected with the Virtual Systems. Some of the issues were resolved by installing the latest recommended JumoHotfix, whereas some required additional configuration on the OS kernel level. The longest issue took about one month to be resolved, which we consider too long. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We didn't have any logical separation of security solutions before implementing this product. How was the initial setup? The solution was really complex and difficult to implement since it requires a lot of additional knowledge and understanding of the underlying routing and switching technologies and protocols. What about the implementation team? Our in-team has a Check Point Certified engineer as part of it. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Since we have already had the Check Point NGFWs purchased, we just proceeded with the configuration of the Virtual Systems. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2020-09-22T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Stable and scalable threat prevention and network security platform What needs improvement? What could be improved in this product is its architecture. Its user interface also needs improvement. The user experience, particularly in the implementation, management, and operations of this product, also needs to be improved. Operations management is difficult in Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Network Security. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Network Security for seven years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I find this product stable. It's a good product. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Network Security has good scalability. How are customer service and support? I'm giving technical support for this product a five out of ten. What other advice do I have? My advice to people looking into implementing Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Network Security is that they should have technical expertise before deploying it. I'm giving Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Network Security an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2022-02-02T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Simple management, easy to scale, and allows for rule automation What is our primary use case? We use a hybrid environment, so we have an on-premise data center and branch offices as well as resources in the cloud. On-premise is secured with different Check Point Gateways while for our security in the cloud we use Check Point Cloud Guard. Depending on the traffic, we use different Cloud Guard firewalls. External traffic is handled by using a scale-set that can adapt on the fly to increase/decrease the number of firewall instances. Internal traffic is handled by a normal Cloud Guard HA cluster with a certain amount of cores. How has it helped my organization? We used the Cloud Guard technology quite early on and used Check Point's Blueprint for our Cloud Datacenter design. By being able to use real firewalls instead of the cloud's own IP tables/inferior IPS we're able to maintain security across the whole environment (on-premise and cloud). With the possibility to administer the cloud firewalls within the same management as on-premise firewalls, we can use the same objects/networks instead of having two sets of object databases or scripting something to have both of them synched. What is most valuable? Having the whole environment be under the same management is definitely is a plus. Using a scale set to increase/decrease the amount of firewalls in the cloud helps with saving costs in the long run, as they will only increase if traffic increases and therefore saving us on licensing costs. For a normal Cloud Guard you pay for each core, so using the SS you don't have to fully size and pay for the maximum amount of traffic. It's possible to sync the Check Point Management with the cloud portal, therefore allowing automated rules to be set in place whenever creating a new VM. What needs improvement? In the first phase, Cloud Guard Firewalls didn't allow minor and major upgrades. Fortunately, now you can install normal hotfixes and minor upgrades (JHF) on the Cloud firewalls. For major upgrades, it's still necessary to destroy the VMs and re-create them again. Doing that would mean new public IPs as well. We created a script for that. I still hope that major upgrades will be possible in the near future too, otherwise, you still have to script a lot for basic maintenance, instead of using tools like CDT. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The product is very scalable due to using the scale-set. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:We're a Check Point partner and use their products as well for our own environment.
Date published: 2021-10-04T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Easy to use, highly scalable, and helpful support What is our primary use case? We use Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for internal and external traffic filtering. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is the ease of use. It was not difficult to learn. What needs improvement? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security could improve by making it easier to configure. In a feature release, the application should be more drag and drop. If I could search it and drag and drop it to the specific rule it would be helpful. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for approximately 10 years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The stability of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very good. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is scalable, it is good for enterprises. The scaling is simple to do. We have over 500 people in my company using this solution. How are customer service and support? I have interacted with the support from Check Point CloudGuard Network Security and they were very good but could improve their response time. I rate the support from Check Point CloudGuard Network Security a nine out of ten. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive What about the implementation team? The vendor did the implementation and the maintenance of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security. What other advice do I have? My advice to others is the solution is very stable, and reliable, and they should ensure that they invest in Check Point. I rate Check Point CloudGuard Network Security a nine out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-07-13T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Cost-effective with good productivity and 100% proactive detection What is our primary use case? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is the best security software for protecting IT systems inside out. There is no compromise with system security if the CloudGuard Network solution is intact. It provides threat prevention and protection from malware and enables system and server security up to 100%. We have numerous API integration of our internal IT systems with outside servers and network systems, where security lapses are a huge concern. CloudGuard helped in providing complete security and protected entry of threat entrants in our system from outside servers. How has it helped my organization? CloudGuard Network Security has enabled the security system to operate safely without any trouble. It has resulted in saving on huge expenses for organizations as it's a cost-effective and cheap alternative compared to its market competitors. It brings a secure IT environment for a workforce, which leads to boosting productivity and an increased revenue stream for the organization. This leads to increased productivity and prosperity. Also, it's the one-stop solution for preventing systems from security threats and all kinds of endpoints in the IT space. What is most valuable? There are no security lapses and 100% restriction of threat entrants in the system or server. It's a cost-effective solution with no false positive cases. The product helps in bringing productivity and enhanced customer experience for users. We have a happy workforce and more workforce retention and increased IT environment sustainability. There is 100% proactive detection of root causes and root sources. It is dynamic and agile, and its features and utilities continuously improve and evolve. It's the best-unified endpoint management solution for IT systems globally. The product is available for all kinds of business users. What needs improvement? We really believe in ongoing improvements for emerging business needs. The business and product development team should introduce a high-end feedback collection mechanism and analyze the customer requirements constructively. The feedback mechanism is best to understand the user and market needs. All kinds and sizes of businesses should be approached to provide feedback so that unanimous decisions and unbiased reviews/feedback can be collected. Also, more customized strategic pricing can be involved and introduced so that more and more businesses can be attracted for trial and usage of the software. For how long have I used the solution? We've used the solution for almost a year now. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The product offers amazing stability and we had no discomfort or hassle in the setup. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The solution is scalable and attractive. How are customer service and support? The solution has strong customer support and agile service experience. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We use McAfee solutions earlier due to the company and parent organization's long-term association with McAfee. After subsequent years of usage, we felt a dire need of usage of advanced security solutions. After receiving continuous good feedback from peer organizations, we landed at Check Point. It's been a great experience so far. How was the initial setup? The setup is effortless and not complicated at all. What about the implementation team? We implemented the solution through vendor team management. What was our ROI? We've seen an ROI of 80% to 85%. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? In my book, Check Point comes as quite a handy and cost-effective alternative for the security enablement of IT systems. It's cheap and easy for deployment and is the best solution so far. Its signing of SLA and maintaining long-term key association and collaboration with service partners is really effortless and easy. We've had a highly professional partner experience. Licensing is usually annual. Setup and deployment costs are offered with discounts that are attractive and sustainable. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We analyzed and did trials for Cisco Secure Firewall and other security solutions like Trend Micro, etc. What other advice do I have? I would strongly recommend everyone to go for a trial of this security solution ASAP. It is one of the best experiences ever. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Private Cloud Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-08-21T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Can be integrated with cloud, centralizes security, and offers excellent protection What is our primary use case? In our company, we have infrastructure in both Microsoft Azure and on-premise. We wanted to centralize an environment of governance, control, and best practices, at the level of Microsoft Azure. We were able to implement Defender for the cloud at some point. However, we already had security products from Check Point. The idea was to centralize all our tools in the same environment to make it easier to support administration. With Check Point CloudGuard we have been able to successfully implement a layer of protection for our cloud and our on-premise environments. How has it helped my organization? With Check Point CloudGuard Network Security, we have been able to provide advanced security and security in the Azure network in addition to all the security additions associated with Check Point which are very important. Each one provides a role or complements the security of the company. The panel or score can help evaluate the reality of our cloud and hybrid infrastructure. It has an excellent capability. The Check Point blueprint has taken us to the next level of protection. It really is a pretty complete solution. What is most valuable? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is complemented with all the features and becomes a security giant. The most important features, at least for us, are: 1 - It allows for the implementation of centralized security through Check Point Infinity in addition to being able to manage the security of hybrid and cloud environments. 2 - The trust and security provided by advanced threat protection is a point of distinction. We have not seen any false positives. Its anti-malware prevention is very good, and protection against ransomware is one of the features we require for our infrastructure. 3 - Additionally, it can be integrated with most public clouds, making it attractive. What needs improvement? There are a few features or improvements that can be mentioned. One of them may be that the Infinity Portal is sometimes slow. A performance improvement could improve the administrator's perspective. At the cost level, the solution is somewhat expensive. They could have an improvement to be a more feasible solution for everyone. The support must improve. It is the biggest issue that Check Point currently has. Sometimes it is better to investigate oneself than to wait for a solution from the support department. For how long have I used the solution? We implemented this tool a few months ago to be able to validate the security associated with our cloud environment. In this case, we implemented against Microsoft Azure. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? Previously, we used Microsoft Defender for a cloud solution. It's a very good tool, however, Microsoft is new in this field. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It is definitely important to test the tool before defining it in a production environment. It is also good to know the costs with a professional. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Previously we checked to see if we could stay with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. However, we opted for a centralized environment with more security muscle of its own. What other advice do I have? It is one of the best solutions on the market. I challenge you to try it so you can say the same. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-08-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Compliments other security features, is easy to manage, and has good reporting What is our primary use case? Our need was to be able to provide centralized security governance and control of our "Microsoft Azure" public cloud environment as well as wanting all of the new security checkpoint capabilities that are included in this solution. With checkpoint Cloud Guard Network security we have been able to provide our infrastructure with many improvements and good practices in network architecture, automatic deployments and alerts to ensure that our infrastructure is without vulnerabilities and with all the best practices. How has it helped my organization? Checkpoint CloudGuard Network security is a network enhancement capability of our public cloud, which has given us recommendations, implementations in new subscriptions to avoid many of the most modern vulnerabilities in an infrastructure. In addition to the fact that this solution brings us closer to having a better security score, which helps us a lot in complying with information regulations based on security. It also provides a fairly complete and easy to use dashboard environment that has helped us a lot with the administration of the security department. What is most valuable? We really liked almost everything about checkpoint CloudGuard network security, for example the ease of managing this service through the checkpoint infinity portal is a great relief, it is accessible from anywhere, MFA can be enabled to provide security in the administrative identity to avoid problems of loss of credentials. In addition, this tool is complemented by the other checkpoint cloud security features, making it a very robust tool. Also its reports, its recommendations and its automatic applications for architectures with the best practices provide the help that is required to improve an existing subscription or to start one with all the best practices. What needs improvement? Points of improvement for checkpoint cloudguard network security would be partly the cost, which is currently quite expensive. The documentation to be able to implement the multicloud or link it with Azure is difficult to do or it is not always as indicated, for this you must ask support or the partner for help. The support for all the checkpoint functions is not the best, since it provides too slow a response to inconveniences, or the support service hours are not the same as in Latin America, which generates latency in the contact between the client and support. For how long have I used the solution? This is an excellent Check Point cloud tool, we have been using it since the beginning of 2022. It is a really good tool for cloud environments. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We evaluated using the Microsoft Defender for Cloud tool for a while, however we needed to centralize our security environment and not have portals for different sites. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? My recommendation is to try to always look for the best practices of implementation and administration of the product. In addition to correctly validating the costs before purchasing. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Of course, we always make evaluations of existing tools, we verify Microsoft Defender for Cloud, we also carry out research with Fortinet solutions, however we wanted Checkpoint for all the improvements, virtues and prestige. What other advice do I have? This is an expensive but recommended tool, it is very good for cloud environments. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Microsoft Azure Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-09-19T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Has a user-friendly interface What is our primary use case? We use Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for the firewall. The firewall protects our various customers in the optic cloud. What is most valuable? Check Point CloudGuard is quick to deploy and easy for the customer to use. The user interface is user-friendly and easy to use. What needs improvement? The solution is not that flexible when deploying on-prem. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for six months. What do I think about the stability of the solution? We have had many performance issues with Check Point CloudGuard on the cloud. The issue is with the OS version at this point. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Because we are in the demo phase of using Check Point CloudGuard, we only have a small amount of users, all in our IT department. How are customer service and support? Personally, I have not had to reach out to customer service and support, however, I understand that our clients have many clinical issues. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The initial deployment is easy. The length of time to deploy depends on the number of customers, or the number of websites the customer has. It can take anywhere from one day to a few days to deploy Check Point CloudGuard. What about the implementation team? We use an in-house technical team to deploy the solution. What was our ROI? Check Point CloudGuard is proving to be a good solution for both the profit of the company and for deployment for the customer. What other advice do I have? Check Point CloudGuard is a suitable solution for many customers that are using the cloud. Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of 10. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Public Cloud If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Amazon Web Services (AWS) Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:distributor
Date published: 2022-09-19T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Secure, highly stable, and helpful support What is our primary use case? We are using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for protecting our Office 365 mail. How has it helped my organization? The solution has improved our company because our Office 365 solution is secure. Most of our Microsoft solutions are now more secure than before when they had spyware and malware. We no longer have these problems as before. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is the increased mail protection including spam. What needs improvement? The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for approximately one year. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security can scale but it will cost you more. We have approximately 2,000 mailboxes using this solution. How are customer service and support? The technical support from Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very good. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We did not use another solution prior to Check Point CloudGuard Network Security. How was the initial setup? The initial setup of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is not difficult, it was simple. However, someone else might have difficulties. The whole implementation took approximately one day. What about the implementation team? We had the Check Point CloudGuard Network Security team help us remotely with the implementation. We have a service level agreement with some vendors for the maintenance, but we rarely call them, because we handle it mostly in-house. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The price of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is very high compared to other solutions, such as Fortinet FortiMail. For the over 2,000 mailboxes we use with the solution it is very expensive. Here in Kenya, the cost of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is approximately $160,000. I rate the price of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security a three out of ten. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We evaluated Fortinet and Barracuda, but Check Point CloudGuard Network Security was better. I found it uses very few resources. What other advice do I have? This is a good solution, but they have to be ready to pay the high costs. I rate Check Point CloudGuard Network Security an eight out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Public Cloud Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-09-14T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Versatile, easily provides security, and offers state-of-the-art technology What is our primary use case? In our company, we have our infrastructure in the public cloud of Microsoft Azure, for which it is very important to have a secure environment. In the face of modern threats that protect the perimeter, the management of the secure administration through its management has been great, for which has met expectations. It has been possible to carry out VPNs against our other on-premise environments in an adequate manner, monitored and validated by the logs that we have in order to solve any security detail. How has it helped my organization? We have managed to obtain a highly secure cloud environment, with state-of-the-art Check Point technology, incoming connections, and connections from other servers have been really secure, controlled, and reviewed through the features they offer. It has really improved and avoided security vulnerabilities. For the company, it has offered very important support and effort. The solution has been really easy to implement. In Azure, we have the manufacturer's appliances available, and the infrastructure design has a lot of documentation to do it in the best way. What is most valuable? For us, the versatility of the appliance in the Microsoft Azure public cloud in our specific case has been very good. We have really been able to implement security from the cloud infrastructure. All our connections are secure. We have granular access control, which is really essential. We really liked that we can easily provide security in our network, which provides a lot of control. Another very good feature for network security has been the implementation of monitoring. We really recommend these solutions. What needs improvement? Unfortunately, not everything is one hundred percent good. Check Point support could improve. It is the face before the client, and at least in my case, it could improve a little. In the case of implementing the management from the Infinity Check Point portal, it is important to improve the performance of the portal since sometimes a little slowness is perceived when managing our Check Point gateways. They can improve the documentation a bit to differentiate it from on-premise deployments to cloud deployments. For how long have I used the solution? We use our implementation of Check Point Gateway in the Microsoft Azure public cloud, where we have used this manufacturer to protect our cloud, connectivity from on premise, giving us very good results. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? Previously in another company, I used Cisco, however. Check Point seems more intuitive to me. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Some Check Point features are somewhat expensive. I recommend that users seek advice from a partner who can provide them with all the details of each one. Which other solutions did I evaluate? I recommend that others evaluate the documentation of several manufacturers, generate test environments, and review the scope of each one in order to make the best decision. In our case, Check Point meets our requirements. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Great functionality with advanced check prevention that provides threat intelligence at speed What is our primary use case? We are integrators and implemented this product for a customer to monitor traffic and secure a network on cloud. This is a threat prevention solution and I'm the enterprise security lead. Our company is based in the Philippines and we are customers of Check Point. How has it helped my organization? Deploying this solution has made it easier for our security analysts to monitor the network on cloud. Based on compliance, we can easily give evidence to different auditors or regulators on how to protect our cloud infrastructure. What is most valuable? Advanced check prevention is a great feature that provides threat intelligence at speed. We can easily identify malicious activity and check for any vulnerabilities. The solution has great functionality and we can see the movement of data. If there's any malicious activity, we can easily stitch or make a story out of that data. I think when it comes to functionality, it's a good monitoring tool. What needs improvement? The cost is a little high, it doesn't suit every budget. I'd like to see the ability to integrate with other security solutions which is not currently possible. If you need to integrate, you have to buy a Check Point product as well so you're paying for features. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The solution is stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The solution is scalable and I think they might increase their scope on different virtual, private clouds or private subnets. Monitoring involves anywhere from three to five people. How are customer service and support? When it comes to Check Point support, we just file a ticket on the portal. They respond based on the severity of the problem. They've been very responsive on inquiries and issues that we encountered although we haven't had any major issues. How was the initial setup? The initial setup was pretty straightforward. It's like running our VM on cloud, just speeding it up. When it comes to implementation strategy, we need to list all the assets or the traffic VLANs or network segmentation we want to monitor. From there, we assess how many nodes CloudGuard Network Security needs to monitor all those VLANs. It then takes two to three weeks to implement, given the likelihood of some challenges along the way. Deployment is carried out using a mix of Check Point engineers and in-house IT people. What was our ROI? In terms of security solutions and return on investment, it's really about the total assets you're protecting. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? If you're managing a large cloud infrastructure this is an expensive solution. Check Point has different bundles when it comes to CloudGuard and it's a modular system. What other advice do I have? Before purchasing it's important to assess the size of your cloud infrastructure. You need to have a concrete plan for which virtual or private network or clouds you have to scope and to do that before deciding which solution you want and what functionality you need. I rate this solution eight out of 10 since there has been some improvement with regard to integrations. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Amazon Web Services (AWS) Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-06-20T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Improves productivity and high value manual operations and offers great simplicity What is our primary use case? Currently, we were counting on a hybrid cloud and we needed to integrate the latest generation of security. We came to lean towards one of the security leaders in the market. These powerful capabilities position it and allow us to increase cloud security elastically while keeping up with the dynamic requirements of our business. We use the cloud to integrate it into our hybrid cloud. It dynamically provides us with advanced security and consistent policy enforcement that automatically grows and scales with our cloud environment. With CloudGuard IaaS, we can easily protect workloads and applications. How has it helped my organization? Being able to move computing resources and data to public clouds means that security responsibilities are now shared between us and our cloud provider. While the cloud provider provides infrastructure protection, we as customers want to be able to control our own data and protect cloud assets while complying with internal regulations. On the other hand, we required complete traffic visibility and reporting, as well as proactive protection from even the most advanced threats within virtual network environments. CHKP offered us advanced threat protection to prevent the lateral spread of threats within defined data centers. What is most valuable? There are many important characteristics that for me are the best of the solution and come to support an emerging market: * It improves the productivity of the company. * It performs very complex or high value manual operations intellectual in a controlled and neglected way. * There's a simplicity when performing tasks. * It improves the availability of engineers to carry out projects. * To all this we can add the ability to connect via API, and integrate solutions from developers trained for management from any location. What needs improvement? The solution from my experience is very good. What I would like for future updates would be faster updates to apply, and perhaps a greater presence in the local language for the regions of Latin America. These are markets that have been growing, however, the teams need a lot of time and training and in that period a specialized technician in the local language is required to support the constant requests. After that, I accept that Check Point surprises me as it has always done with its excellent work in innovation. For how long have I used the solution? I've used the solution for around two years. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-06-10T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from User-friendly and easy to implement What is our primary use case? Our primary use case for this solution is a firewall. What is most valuable? The most valuable Check Point CloudGuard feature is the firewall. I also value the user authentication, IPS, and application control features. What needs improvement? The clustering and HE from the scaling availability could be improved. The documentation could be much better as well. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using this solution for about a year. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I would rate stability as average, too. It's not the best, but it's also not the worst. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? I would rate the scalability potential of this solution as average. How are customer service and technical support? Check Point CloudGuard technical support is good. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I have not previously used any solutions. How was the initial setup? Deployment was easy. It took about half a day to do all configure everything how we needed it. What about the implementation team? The first time we deployed it was through a Check Point pre-sales specialist. After that, we deployed on our own. What other advice do I have? If we end up needing to scale, we would have to buy a new license. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Private Cloud If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Microsoft Azure Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-04-01T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Stable with a straightforward setup but does not scale effectively What is our primary use case? We primarily use the solution as a firewall. It is for the perimeter protection of our products. We use it as a UTM kind of environment. What is most valuable? The solution has good features. It has good antivirus protection. The solution has been quite stable. The installation was straightforward and pretty easy to execute. What needs improvement? The solution lacks the capability to scale effectively. For how long have I used the solution? We had been using the solution for five years. However, we are currently migrating off of it. What do I think about the stability of the solution? We found the solution to be stable when we were using it. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's not buggy and it doesn't have glitches. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The solution isn't scalable. In fact, it cannot be upgraded at all. This is the main reason why we are switching over to a different firewall under a different brand. We have many users at the perimeter currently. How are customer service and technical support? The technical support on offer was very good. We were largely satisfied with the level of service provided. We found them to be helpful and responsive when we had issues. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We are currently moving from Check Point to Fortinet. We haven't yet started to use Fortinet, however. It's a work in progress. How was the initial setup? The solution is pretty easy to set up. It's not complex. It's rather straightforward. It shouldn't give a company any trouble. You need two to three people to manage the deployment process. You don't need a big team. What about the implementation team? We handled the implementation ourselves using in-house personnel. We didn't need the outside assistance of integrators or consultants. What other advice do I have? We're just a customer and an end-user. We aren't a vendor, consultant, or integrator. I'm not sure if I would recommend the solution to other organizations. It would likely be 50/50. It really depends on the company's requirements. For us, for example, we needed to scale, and that ended up not being possible and so we have to move away from it. Overall, I would rate the solution six out of ten. Although it has some good aspects, for us, the lack of scalability was impossible to overcome. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-02-06T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Straightforward implementation, good support and stability, and useful for checking services and easily verifying logs What is our primary use case? We integrate this solution, and we also provide the maintenance of the device. We are using this solution for those sites that are kind of medium in size and require a more complex solution but don't have too much space for big equipment. How has it helped my organization? It is useful for us for checking services, instead of protocols, because we have some services that are very smart and can change ports. It is also useful for verifying the logs. SmartLog is very practical, and it is easy to identify stuff and make corrections. What is most valuable? The Capsule solution and application filters are the most valuable. It is pretty straightforward to implement, and it also has good stability and scalability. Their technical support is also really good. What needs improvement? This application can be more integrated with web application firewalls. Better integrations would provide more granularity, which would be helpful for focusing on the application itself and preventing attacks. It would be good to include the cross-domain search. If you have multiple firewalls that are managed on the same platform and you want to check who is using some particular objects or where a specific ID is being used, it should provide an option for this kind of search instead of having to check one by one on each firewall. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using this solution for more or less ten years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It is pretty stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? With the virtual assistant, its scalability is very good. How are customer service and technical support? Their technical support is really good. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is pretty easy. Where it is not that simple is the integration of different blades and the customization of rules, which are really dependent on the policies of a company. When we are dealing with a small company, it is easy, but when we are dealing with global corporations that have previously-defined policies and the integration with the profiles, it is a little bit more tricky and complex. The deployment takes a couple of days, but when the deployment is more complex and requires assessments, it could take one or two weeks. What about the implementation team? We are an integrator. The number of people that are required for the deployment and maintenance of this product depends on the organization. The deployment could be done by one or two people, but for the maintenance of the device, big companies require more people because they are establishing new connections with third parties and so on, which means that it requires many changes. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It is not expensive, but it is a little bit above the middle range. There are other solutions that are a little more expensive than this, but they also have some interesting features. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Our clients also evaluate Palo Alto and Cisco. Palo Alto, Check Point, and Cisco are the top solutions at the moment. In terms of performance, all three are pretty much the same, but it is much easier to check logs on the firewall in Check Point than Cisco or Palo Alto. Check Point is also quicker and more intuitive. Its view is also better than others. What other advice do I have? I would recommend this solution. It is pretty straightforward to implement. It is easy, and it doesn't require too much time to make a clean implementation. I am not really sure about using it in a really small company. It depends on the budget. I would rate Check Point Virtual Systems a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2021-01-19T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Easy to use, reliable, and the threat prevention capabilities are good What is our primary use case? We are a solution integrator and the Check Point CloudGuard Network is a product that I have experience with. We implement firewalls and other products for our customers. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature is threat prevention. What needs improvement? The initial setup is complex and could be made simpler. The console could use some improvement. For how long have I used the solution? I have been working with the Check Point CloudGuard Network for approximately three years. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? This product is quite scalable. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I also have experience with Cisco Firepower and Fortinet. How was the initial setup? This initial setup is complex. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Licensing is available on a monthly or yearly basis. What other advice do I have? In summary, this is a good product and I have not found any problems when using it. I can recommend it to others. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2021-04-07T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Knowledgeable support, good visibility of attacks, and can restrict traffic based on domain reputation What is our primary use case? The perimeter firewall provides me control over my perimeter servers and devices. Current cloud applications are getting good protection from CASB solutions but they are limited to data leakage and application control. Beyond that, I require something to monitor my data that flows inside of my cloud application. Sophisticated threats, such as zero-day attacks, can't be controlled by CASB solutions. Instead, they require something that can work using artificial intelligence. They should have a correlation with machine learning algorithms to defend against today's attacks for my cloud applications. How has it helped my organization? Sophisticated attacks can't be prevented using normal SaaS security. CloudGuard SaaS is a technology that prevents not only sophisticated attacks but offers protection email threats. Most attacks that succeed are because of SPAM emails. When users fall into an attacker's trap, Check Point's industry-leading technology provides maximum protection. It is effective against email phishing attacks and provides visibility over shadow IT applications. Along with an email security solution, CloudGuard adds another layer of comprehensive security and we can completely rely on it. What is most valuable? CloudGuard comes with the best feature sets that include protection from Zero-Day attacks, which we usually get when we have blades on the perimeter firewall. These are analyzed using SandBlast Threat Emulation and SandBlast Extraction. We are able to easily identify users who are going to use cloud applications when they log in from either a trusted network or device. We have complete visibility of attacks originating from email including spear-phishing, spoofing, etc. Based on the reputation of the domain and URL, the firewall allows traffic to flow. What needs improvement? I would like this product to provide functionality like a web application firewall, where we can fully monitor all traffic passing both to and from the cloud. The latency should be minimized by having multiple entry points all across the world. Nearby requests will have lower latency access to cloud applications. It would be useful to have AD integration with an on-premises server. The API integration is complex, which is an area that should be improved. Onboarding this product takes some expertise because it is complex compared to other services that Check Point provides. For how long have I used the solution? We have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network for more than a year. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Need to focus on stability. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? This solution is highly scalable. How are customer service and technical support? Technical support, along with presales engineers have good knowledge of the product. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We did not use another solution prior to this one. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is a mixture of straightforward and complex. What about the implementation team? We deployed vendor What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Although I don't have specifics for pricing, based on my overall experience, I can conclude that Check Point provides the best pricing when comparing to other vendors. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We did not evaluate other products. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-04-04T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from A user-friendly and compatible cloud security solution What is most valuable? I like the firewall and the virtual machine. I also like that it's compatible with Amazon Web Services and Azure. What needs improvement? Check Point Virtual Systems is a complete solution, but pricing can be better. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Check Point Virtual Systems for about five years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It's very stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Check Point Virtual Systems is very scalable. How are customer service and technical support? We depend on the community a lot. It's good. The response time from technical support is also good. How was the initial setup? The initial setup was complex. It took about four months to implement this solution. Four people deploy and maintain this product. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The price could be better. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We evaluated two or three competing products like Huawei. Check Point and Fortinet is quality, but the prices vary. Huawei is very easy to use, and it's common. The main difference between all is the cost. What other advice do I have? I would recommend Check Point as it's an effective tool, and implementation is very easy. On a scale from one to ten, I would give Check Point Virtual Systems a nine. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2021-02-08T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Offers simple solutions, such as the virtual appliance What is our primary use case? We are a small consulting company. We have around 100 employees. We don't use advanced firewalls because we don't really have important data that can be hacked. Nobody is going to care about our data because it's only the HR department's timesheet data on our on-premise systems. The firewall is protecting remote access, allowing the employees to access our office environment. So sometimes employees connect to our systems which have some test systems on it. They run some tests about the consulting we've given to clients. That's all. We just have basic things on our firewall. Just two things are important for us - the site to site VPN, which we have with some customers, and the government site. That is important. That's why I want to change the firewall to a new and up-to-date one so maybe it will be an improvement to prevent some hackers. What is most valuable? After I made up my mind to migrate it to another solution, I was kind of checking all the other firewalls, the FortiGate, Check Point, pfSense and OPNsense, and Check Point has pretty simple solutions, like the virtual appliance which you just download and it is imported into VMware and you just start using it. You just have to know Check Point's GUI so you can manage your IP addresses and access rules and stuff. But as I said, Check Point is really advanced and the GUI is kind of advanced, which the customer reports actually prove. What needs improvement? In terms of what could be improved, we have no support with the current Check Point environment. It ended maybe three or four years ago. Because it's an appliance you have to have support. That's a problem for us because I cannot update it at the moment. We have to have another support. We have to subscribe to another support so I can update it. I think it's a good amount of money and our boss does not want to pay that kind of money for firewall solutions. It's not a hardware solution, which by the way, if it would be up to me, I would migrate it to a hardware FortiGate system because all our customers at the moment are migrating their environments to FortiGate hardware solutions. They say it's a really good improvement from their previous firewall solution because it's easy to manage and they're very happy with it. But as I said before, my boss does not want to pay a lot of money for a firewall solution since we don't have much data to protect and the data is not very important. It's not a big use for us. So we will just probably try pfSense or OPNsense. I can patch it to an up-to-date version, like the 2021 patch. We have the open source solution because my boss does not want to pay for it. It's my approach to migrate the firewall, actually. If it was up to me, I'd probably migrate it to a FortiGate system. I'm not very experienced with Check Point. But what I would like to see is a step-by-step initial installation of the firewall. That would be really helpful. Like in Oracle appliances, when you start it asks you, what's your current IP address? An initial setup should be a step by step and intuitive process. You click on "begin," it asks you some simple questions. You fill in the blanks - your current IP address, what you want to do, if you want to set up a site to site VPN, for example, that kind of thing. That would be the smartest thing to have. How are customer service and technical support? I can't give it any review about Check Point technical support because I am only working here for about three years and by the time I started at the company it already did not have support. How was the initial setup? I have no idea about the initial setup, but it seems like it's not so complex. The initial set up is probably not that hard, but not that easy, either. If I were to delegate the firewall system to a junior guy, I think that he's not going to manage Check Point, but he'll probably manage FortiGate. What other advice do I have? In the past, my clients were all using Check Point Systems. When I reviewed it at that time, back 10 years ago, Check Point was number one, as far as I remember, meaning FortiGate wasn't a major solution in Turkey. Nobody was talking about FortiGate then. Now FortiGate, is a major player in the firewall industry in Turkey. Most of our clients are migrating to FortiGate because they say it's cheaper than Check Point. So when I see the Check Point's GUI, it's really complicated. My recommendation would be for Check Point customers to first learn about Check Point's GUI, which is pretty advanced, for me at least. But when I talk to my friends who are managing IT, they are migrating to FortiGate. They say, FortiGate is very easy to manage and I should really think about it now. When I was first introduced to Check Point it was really advanced. I didn't understand when I first looked into it. I just wanted a solution. pfSense has the same problem. By the way, according to your report, some customers said that pfSense needs improvement on the management and the GUI and aspects like that, so maybe I'll need another review of OPNsense versus Check Point and FortiGate etc... We didn't have any problems at all. Just in one case, actually. We have a rule that pops up from nowhere which we didn't create. When we restart our Virtual System firewall, it creates a rule which messes up all our internet connection. So if I were to give a number from one to 10, I would probably say Check Point is a nine out of 10. Other than that, we haven't had any problems. Check Point is pretty reliable. I think it's our company's problem that we couldn't patch it after it froze. Maybe an up to date, patched version doesn't have this problem. Overall, it's really working for us. I don't have any problems other than it's just outdated. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-04-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Flexible and easy to use with good integration capabilities What is most valuable? The solution is very easy to use. The product is quite flexible. The installation process doesn't take very long. We've found the stability to be quite good overall. You can scale the solution if you need to. Technical support is helpful and responsive. The user interface is okay, depending on who is using it. We haven't had any issues with integrations. It seems to handle them quite well. What needs improvement? We're looking forward to the next Check Point with the solution and CloudGuard and everything on the same single cloud. Right now, that's not yet the case. We're expecting more new features in the next release, however, I'm not sure precisely what is being added. Check Point support, beyond CloudGuard, does need some improvement. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for 18 to 24 months at this point. It's been a year or two. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The product is very stable so far. We haven't had any issues. It doesn't crash or freeze. There aren't bugs or glitches. The performance is reliable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The product can scale quite well. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so. It's not an issue. We have 5,000 users on the solution in one particular case. They're on one account. It's kind-of a lot. How are customer service and technical support? The CloudGuard technical support has been good so far. We have no complaints. We're quite satisfied with the level of service we receive. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? From a firewall perspective, yes, we use some other solution, however, CloudGuard is basically filling a gap in the cloud area. Before them, of course, we didn't use any other thing. We were using something else that wasn't really related and when we moved to Check Point was when we first adopted CloudGuard. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It's not overly complex. The deployment is fast. We managed it in about 24 hours or so. We had 12 people that assisted in the deployment process. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? We have to pay a licensing fee, however, we haven't really done any comparison shopping, and therefore I can't speak to if it is affordable or expensive. Mostly, we are satisfied with the cost. We have some discount agreements and that's enough. What other advice do I have? The solution always updates automatically, and therefore we are always using the latest. We do plan to continue to use the product as we've mostly been quite satisfied with it. I'd recommend the solution to other organizations. Overall, I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Good Auto Scaling functionality, extensive documentation, and comes with active load balancing What is our primary use case? CloudGuard is cloud-native security that secures your public, private, or hybrid environment under a unified platform, which can also be automated. It comes with multiple installation availabilities such as Software-as-a-Service(SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service(PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS), and more. This solution can be installed on leading Cloud Service Providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Platform, and Microsoft Azure, as well as on other not-so-known CSPs such as OCI. How has it helped my organization? This is helpful for clients who always thought upgrading hardware in the DC or testing new versions to be difficult. Normally, they have trouble due to some issue at hand or maybe due to sizing, but now they have an easy way to test the solutions and they can be accessed securely from all around the globe. It provides features such as Auto Scaling to deal with unforeseen situations with minimal costs. It is quite easy to construct and destruct and doesn't need anyone to actually step into a DC, which is good because sometimes this needs endless approvals. The solution comes with Active Load balancing and policies that can be installed before the traffic hits the firewall module. What is most valuable? Auto Scaling is one of the features that make me want to choose CloudGuard over actual HW. Cloud leaders such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft also provide an uptime of 99.99%, which might not be possible in a privately owned DC. Multiple instances where a hardware issue was found and it took weeks to replace the hardware and bring services up can now be fixed within few minutes by utilizing the available resources over CSP. You get charged only for what resources you choose and how much traffic actually passes through the firewall, which in turn saves a lot of money. What needs improvement? Easier optimization techniques can definitely help with better performance of the OS, as using the vanilla software doesn't actually showcase the real capability of the software. While there is a lot of documentation available on Support Center to understand how the solution works, it can become quite confusing. Some free training videos by Check Point would really help the engineers who don't have full access due to restrictions/unseen reasons. A step-by-step guide for leading CSPs would really help. Auto Scaling should be given as an option during a first-time installation, as it would be really beneficial and some users might not be aware of it. For how long have I used the solution? We have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network for more than three years, starting when it was still called vSEC. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? I have worked with other products and find that this is the better solution when compared to other vendors in the market. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? My advice is to use the trial and understand whether this is what you are really looking for. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-03-21T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Reliable and easy to set up with good configuration capabilities What is our primary use case? We primarily use the solution when clients are for searching in the servers. We compare the solutions or servers that are available and we seek out new features for the new solutions for our customers. We're solution providers. This is one of the products we offer. What is most valuable? The solution, overall, has worked very well for our organization. The reliability of the product is excellent. The configuration capabilities are very good. The initial setup is pretty easy. What needs improvement? The capability and the response, in terms of the time of response of the transactions, is very important for my customers. It's something they need to continuously work on to make it better. The memory and hard disk capability could be strengthened. The product should integrate next-generation firewall features such as anti-spam and anti-spoofing. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for 20 years or so. It's been a long time. What do I think about the stability of the solution? While the stability is okay, the servers could use more RAM memory. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? In general, the scalability is good. If a company needs to expand the solution, it should be able to do so. We typically work with medium-sized organizations. In some of the companies, there are as many as 1,000 users. How are customer service and technical support? Technical support has been good. We don't have any complaints so far. If a customer needs to reach out to them, they can do so. How was the initial setup? The initial setup isn't too difficult. It's rather straightforward. A company should have too many issues getting it set up properly. The deployment process is quick and easy. It takes maybe an hour or two. It's not a long time. In my company, we have 20 people that manage the deployment and maintenance for our clients. You only really need two to manage everything. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Check Point has moderate pricing. It's not the most expensive, however, it's also not the cheapest. Typically, when clients are looking for a solution, it comes down to the price. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Typically, our clients will also look at Palo Alto as an option. However, typically, it is more expensive. Clients may also look at Fortinet products, which are a bit less. Check Point tends to sit in between the two in terms of pricing. What other advice do I have? We're solutions providers. We're partners with Check Point. We offer integrations and support. This is one of the products we offer to our clients. We're using the latest version of the solution. The platform is R80.40. It's deployed on VMware's virtual environment. I'd recommend the solution to other organizations. The likelihood of running into issues is low. I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've largely been satisfied with the product. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner
Date published: 2021-03-10T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Very good technical support and ROI with great URL filtering capabilities What is our primary use case? I have been using Check Point CloudGuard for 3 years now. I use it in the financial sector, and use the gateways for perimeter security, east-west traffic inspections, and internet access. We have gateways for production, development, and outbound (internet access). The blades for IPS, FW, And URL filtering have been enabled with no problems. All the gateways are stable. We mostly use it for VPN site to site, and we can establish VPNs with Azure and other services. How has it helped my organization? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security has established communications with other devices and other cloud providers. CloudGuard has improved the passage of CIS and PCI regulations. The functions for autoscaling save costs for the company and the centralized management helps us with administration. CloudGuard complements the security model of the company. We only need one solution for all cloud providers as it offers good compatibility with lots of protection. the easy funtion of use the licence core in other gateways helmpe to save cost. And the easy VPN configuration helpme to stablish more than 100 VPN in an shortly time. What is most valuable? The most valuable features are the VPN Blade, IPS Blade, URL filtering, and Applications Control Blade. They help me to align with any compliance or regulations within our financial sector. The VPN blade has helped me to establish tactical communications. The logs help with troubleshooting and they are great. The IPS blade helps me to meet regulations and protect against intrusion. The applications control makes it easy to configure and created profiles. It blocks all the non-authorized applications. What needs improvement? CheckPoint CloudGuard could be better at solving cases. In many cases, the client should be able to request or obtain a sufficient explanation or to obtain an appropriate answer. Check Point should improve the queue clients need to go through to obtain access to direct support chat. This should be for users with privileged access. CheckPoint features that should be included in the next release include the possibility to create a cluster on AWS and a Multi-region Cluster. They need to also include the possibility to use a managed web portal. For how long have I used the solution? I've been using the solution for about 3 years. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The scalability is very good. How are customer service and technical support? Technical support is very good. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is easy. What about the implementation team? The team that helped us was very good. What was our ROI? The ROI we've had has been very good. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Hybrid Cloud If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Amazon Web Services (AWS) Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-07-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Provides consolidated visibility and management, but the HA failover time is slow and the documentation needs to be improved What is our primary use case? As we are moving our workloads to the cloud, it means that we now have a need to protect our cloud infrastructure. This will ensure that our business is deploying products faster and with all of the required security. Our solution needs to be able to protect workloads hosted on multiple clouds with the required security control. The license should be a subscription-based model so that we can add or remove depending upon the requirement to scale. It needs to support a microservice platform such as Docker or another container, and it should be quick to deploy. How has it helped my organization? This solution gives us advanced threat prevention to protect our workloads from attacks including zero-day and other types of attacks. It is able to provide cloud network security along with orchestration and automation. It also provides consolidated, consistent visibility and management across all clouds including public, private, and hybrid environments. This product is quick to deploy, scalable, and is a fully functional firewall available in the cloud. We were able to scale as required based on load and performance. With Covid-19, our users, including our Customer Center agents, are completely remote and rely on Check Point Cloud Guard to provide flexibility and seamless access. We have the ability to easily encrypt/decrypt traffic according to the security policy, as well as integrate between Active Directory, Cloud Guard Azure objects & application control. It provides micro-segmentation functionality through complete visibility and control of traffic following between EAST-WEST and North-SOUTH with VPC and Outside VPC. What is most valuable? We are using multiple security features including the firewall, DLP, IPS, application control, IPsec VPN, Antivirus, and Anti-Bot. SandBlast provides Threat Extraction and Threat Emulation for zero-day attacks. SSL/TLS traffic inspection features are used for advanced threat prevention against secure SSL traffic. Unified Security Management provides security policy management, enforcement, and reporting for public, private, hybrid-clouds, and on-premises networks in a single-pane-of-glass. Seamless cloud-native integration with Azure, AWS, GCP, Oracle Cloud, and more. What needs improvement? System hardening could be improved, as password complexity is not enforced by default on root / command-line passwords. The documentation provided by Check Point can be rough and needs to have a lot more detail incorporated in order to help the implementor and administrator. The HA failover time is not as fast as expected and due to this, the convergence time between cluster members is still not perfect. Consequently, there may be an issue in migrating the mission-critical business applications. Micro-Segmentation functionality for EAST-WEST traffic is not native and requires integration with a third-party OEM. For how long have I used the solution? We are performing a PoC with the product. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? As with other Check Point products, this solution is scalable. How are customer service and technical support? Support from OEM is excellent. Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We have a different solution that works in silos and we are doing this PoC to check the functionality/features. How was the initial setup? Integration and setting up the solution are straightforward. What about the implementation team? We are performing our PoC with assistance from the OEM. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The cost is on the higher side, as it is based on workload, hence we need to decide which VPC or workload needs to be part of CloudGuard. Which other solutions did I evaluate? We did not evaluate other options. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Public Cloud Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2021-05-12T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Simple integration, reliable, and beneficial security features What is most valuable? The security features of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security are very good. What needs improvement? The solution could improve to have a DLP feature. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for approximately three years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The scalability is good. How was the initial setup? The initial deployment is easy. However, the implementation can be complex. What other advice do I have? My advice to others is to evaluate the products first and then proceed. I rate Check Point CloudGuard Network Security an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2022-01-11T00:00:00-05:00

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