FortManager is a tool for centrally managing multiple FortiGate firewalls.

Without FortiManager, you cannot manage a complex environment across several sites with multiple firewalls. 

FortiManager could improve by making it easier to port larger policy packages to the FortiGate firewalls. Sometimes, there's an issue when we install a big package of policies. If you have a couple thousand policies for FortiGate firewalls, it can take a few minutes to receive a response from the remote devices. It's only an issue when you're dealing with thousands of policies and installing them on a large number of devices.

We have used FortiManager for about 14 years. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10 for scalability. 

I rate Fortinet support nine out of 10.

Positive

I have worked with Cisco and Aruba. We decided to switch to Fortinet a couple of years back because we determined that Fortinet offered the best solution.

Deploying FortiManager is straightforward. The initial installation is simple and can be completed in a few minutes, but configuring the devices and sending the policy packages to the firewalls can take a few hours. We have around seven engineers maintaining this solution. 

I rate FortiManager six out of 10 for affordability. The pricing is decent. It isn't the most expensive solution. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10. I recommend it for those who use FortiGate firewalls. It's a management unit for Fortinet solutions, so if you don't use FortiGate, it makes no sense. 

I use this solution to manage my VDOMs and FortiGate policies.

It's very easy to install, and it's easy to discover and communicate with your device. 

We can manage VDOM, backup and restore configurations, and FortiGate. We have ten FortiGate firewalls.

It requires a lot of resources. This is the main challenge.

I've been using this solution for more than ten years.

It's stable. I didn't have any issues with its stability or availability. It's good.

It's scalable. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of scalability.

Fortinet's support is very good. Sometimes, Fortinet's support is better than Cisco's support. They are more talented. I'd rate their support a nine out of ten.

Positive

We had Panorama from Palo Alto. We switched because most of our devices are from Fortinet. FortiManager is also easy to install and set up.

It's very easy to install. This is the main reason why we are using it. It's easy to set up and manage. The only thing I am not happy with is the sizing of the RAM and hardware. The implementation took about two months because we have a big network.

It was implemented in-house. We have a team of three engineers dedicated to installation and maintenance.

If you compare Fortinet and Palo Alto, Fortinet is cheaper, but if you compare Cisco and Fortinet, sometimes Cisco is cheaper because Cisco gives us more discounts because of the size. Cisco isn't cheap, but sometimes, we get a big discount from them. 

Its licensing is monthly. I'd rate it a seven out of ten in terms of pricing.

I'd recommend having a demo of FortiManager before deciding on it. I had a demo to understand how this device will match my profile and my requirements. The demo answered all my questions. 

Overall, I'd rate Fortinet FortiManager a nine out of ten.

We use FortiManager to manage the roles and policies for all of our edge firewalls.

FortiManager enables us to set unified firewall policies from one centralized dashboard,  reducing human error. If you do not have a central dashboard, there's a chance you might set a policy on one firewall and forget to do it for another. 

The SD-WAN solution is difficult to manage on FortiManager because you need to share some configurations on the firewall side. Sometimes you lose all connectivity with the firewall, so it is challenging to apply the default configuration to the SD-WAN solution.

I have used FortiManager for around two years.

I rate FortiManager nine out of 10 for stability. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10 for scalability. It's easy to scale, but you may run into some issues. We have around 4,000 users at my company.

I rate Fortinet support six out of 10. The response time could be better. 

Neutral

Deploying FortiManager is easy, but you may need to reconfigure and restart the appliance during the setup if it loses the connection. This happened once, but it has been working fine since then. 

I rate FortiManager eight out of 10 for affordability. All of the features are included with the basic license. It isn't like other solutions where you need to pay for SD-WAN or additional bandwidth. 

I rate Fortinet FortiManager eight out of 10. 

Fortinet FortiManager can provide visibility for other Fortinet solutions across the company's environments, such as multiple branch offices. You are able to manage all these devices efficiently.

The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiManager is the ease of manageability and policy-pushing functionality.

Fortinet FortiManager could improve them by adding more portfolio components.

In a future release, it would be beneficial if Fortinet FortiManager could improve by adding more devices able to be managed the solution, including  switching, routing, and wireless,

I have been using Fortinet FortiManager for approximately five years.

The stability is fine but could improve.

I rate the stability of Fortinet FortiManager an eight out of ten.

Fortinet FortiManager is a scalable solution.

I have a considerable number of clients who currently use FortiManager - at present, I can recall more than five. Since effective policy management and centralized upgrades are critical for multi-location management, FortiManager is an essential tool for such purposes. FortiManager is installed in the majority of my clients' locations.

The support of Fortinet FortiManager is good. 

Positive

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiManager is straightforward. We can push out the policies centrally. From a hardware or a component perspective, the implementation is simple.

The initial implementation can be completed in just a few days. However, over the course of a week or a week and a half, we could potentially refine and simplify the process. Nevertheless, it's an ongoing endeavor, as each organization's needs dictate the policies that must be established and maintained.

One person is enough for the deployment of the solution. However, it can depend on the environment. If there are a lot of modifications there might be a need for more people for the deployment. 

Fortinet FortiManager operates on a licensing system that is dependent on the number of devices being managed. Yearly subscription renewal is necessary to continue using the service. Although there is a cost associated with Fortinet FortiManager, its price is undoubtedly justified by the value it provides in terms of the purpose it serves.

Fortinet FortiManager is highly recommended as a crucial component of any comprehensive solution offered to clients. This is especially true for clients operating in multi-location and multi-branch environments, where individually managing, upgrading, and patching each location can be a significant burden. In such scenarios, Fortinet FortiManager can greatly alleviate these challenges and streamlines the management process.

I rate Fortinet FortiManager an eight out of ten.

FortiManager is used to facilitate the administration of FortiGate equipment. There are many features to automate processes and make it easier to manage the devices. For example, we can push the same configuration to hundreds or thousands of devices, which helps us maintain a global version of the configuration and status of the devices. We also use scripts and templates to make it even easier.

The ZTP (Zero Touch Provisionning) helps us to reduce the implementation time and TCO of the remote sites.

The main function of FortiManager that makes it valuable to me is automation. I can automate the installation of configurations using different programming languages like Python or HPE, and it's a GUI solution, so it's pretty easy to use, even for basic users. It's also compatible with traditional programming languages, another feature I like about FortiManager.

There are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, for example, the ZTP. Automating and making it easier to understand devices is necessary, especially in terms of zero-touch provisioning. This mechanism needs more work as there are some bugs and some functions that do not work very well. Today, there are tickets with Fortinet regarding a problem with cluster devices. It means two devices can be configured to work like one device. In general, it is easy to configure manually, but when you want to do it automatically, Forti Manager should help, but today it didn't work.

FortiManager is a good tool, but there is a lack of really advanced documentation. While there are a lot of features available, for example, when working with Fortinet support, it can be challenging to find the right information. I work with Fortinet support every week as we have a partnership in my enterprise. However, for the public, it's not easy to access the kind of documentation we have access to. This level of partnership with Fortinet can be costly to attain for the general public.

Some learning websites and communities are available, but the documentation provided is not as advanced as what we have access to. It's challenging to find confirmation and recommendations for advanced admin settings based on complex configurations. To have access to this kind of information, a partnership or conversation with Fortinet support is required, which can be expensive for most users.
Fortinet need to work on the automation part because they are using now JINJA as programming languge without a real complicator behind to help resolve errors on the code which is very challenging.

I have been using this solution for six years.

The device itself is very stable, but it's not the main number when it comes to using FortiManager to manage other devices. However, when it connects to other devices for the gate or to manage them, some functions don't work. There are some problems, but it's only around 3-5%, while 95% of the time, there are no problems interacting with other devices.

It handles stability very well.

FortiManager's ability to scale is good as it's a virtual machine. You can raise the capacity as you go, and there is no limit for hardware. The basic ones support a lot of devices and offer a good defense. However, you need to raise the level of licensing every time to support more devices. So, in terms of scalability, it's really good.

The level of support for P2 and P1 is wonderful. However, for levels 3 and 4, they have to work on their computer capacity and numbers. I've worked with them many times, and sometimes I have a good engineer but not a good understanding of the program.

By default, when we open a ticket, we only have access to P3 and P4. If we need P2 or P1, we have to ask for it, but not every single ticket requires P2 or P1 priority.

I have had both good and bad experiences with technical support.

Neutral

FortiManager is definitely better than Cisco, and it's easier to use and more stable. I remember finding FortiManager to be much more flexible and stable.

Meraki works very well but is cloud-based and lacks some administrative tasks and functions. FortiManager is better than Meraki for managing devices.

The initial setup is quite simple. Initially, I combined CentOS with other products, which took about five hours. However, It's not complicated at all. Moreover, I train some of our clients on how to use it, and they find it easy to understand. I can easily explain the technical aspects of the initial setup, like scripting, etc.

Fortinet FortiManager can be deployed both cloud-based and on-premise. There are various platforms available for on-premise deployment, such as hardware devices or VMs, that can be started on Hyper-V, NSR, or NSF. Additionally, it can be deployed on cloud-based platforms like Azure, Google Cloud, or Amazon AWS.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.