VM-series - Advanced security Subs (PAYG) using CFT templates
Has supported urgent deployments and enabled inline threat protection but pricing and features could be more flexible
What is our primary use case?
I am not working on a NAC solution. I am working on Palo Alto Networks VM-Series firewall, and I am mainly working with firewalls.
I am totally working with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series products. I am working with VMs, including 400 series, 1400 series, and 3400 series firewalls, which are next-generation firewalls and fourth-generation firewalls of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series.
I am also working with VMs for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, and for POCs sometimes. Mostly, I provide solutions for some of our customers who need urgent solutions with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. I provide them VMs and activate the licenses from Palo Alto as a partner. We are working as innovator partners with Palo Alto. Sometimes for POCs and for urgent solutions, if the customer or some organization needs it, we provide them Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and it works fine.
We are working with Dynamic Address Groups in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. Mostly, we use them for securing our network and for blocking malicious traffic from specific sources around the globe. We block them through Dynamic Address Groups as a source and create another policy for that. We block any dynamic addresses coming with malicious traffic using specific policies. We use Dynamic Address Groups and after tagging those malicious IPs, when they come to our firewall from outside or from inside, including some of our local computers, if we detect something concerning such as bots or similar traffic, we block them using Dynamic Address Groups.
Advanced Threat Protection is working in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. In Advanced Threat Protection, we use inline protection features, including anti-malware solutions and vulnerability protection. We mostly use Advanced Threat Protection because Palo Alto provides the core subscription and core security bundle, which is cheaper than the other bundle. We propose the same bundle to customers because it is cheaper and includes DNS security, SD-WAN, vulnerability protection, URL filtering, anti-spyware, and antivirus subscriptions bundled in the same core bundle. If I buy only threat protection separately, it is more expensive than this bundle. We create security profiles for spyware and antivirus and provide inline protection to customers.
What is most valuable?
App-IDs in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series are very important and working fine. We mostly use App-IDs due to which we are securing customers who are vulnerable and who need security solutions.
There are Dynamic Address Groups, EDLs, and integration with other solutions such as Forescout for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, which we did two years ago. There are API integrations as well. We mostly automate the security structure for the organization using SIEM solutions, integration with SIEM solutions, and XDR solutions. This is very interesting.
What needs improvement?
I am not using Palo Alto Networks VM-Series mostly, but based on my experience, there are some deficiencies in Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers. However, for urgency and for some solutions that customers need for some of their other sites and subdivisions, we are providing the same.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series since 2020, which is approximately six to seven years back.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is provided through premium partner support. We are working with StarLink, and they are providing the best solution and best support. We have advanced partnership and advanced support for some of our customers. They are good with technical solutions.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is better than Fortinet, mainly in its SP3 structure, flexibility, and reliability, and based on feedback from customers. Most of our customers have shifted from Fortinet to Palo Alto Networks VM-Series. Their feedback indicated concerns about slowness, subscription renewals, and other aspects they were not happy with.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Fortinet is the main competitor for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series on the market.
What other advice do I have?
Prices of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series are higher than other firewalls and other solutions. However, we are using its security features and proposing them, mostly winning tenders with this product. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is a very best solution if you have subscription and extra support, and I would rate this solution seven to eight out of ten. I would give this review an overall rating of eight.
Experience with integrated visibility and ongoing support fulfills requirements effectively
What is our primary use case?
We have a Firewall as well as a Synapse solution, and we have EDR, XDR as well. The Palo Alto Networks VM-Series Firewall is what we are using.
What is most valuable?
From a Synapse perspective, they have better visibility, better CV detection, better exposure detection, and it is in a single tool, so we are happy with it.
The integration of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series within my existing network infrastructure and security tools is good; they are resilient, and we can integrate with anything easily.
What needs improvement?
There is one thing regarding Palo Alto Networks VM-Series that they need to look into, which is ISPM, Identity Security Posture Management, and other than that, I could see there are multiple things which they have already been doing well.
Technical support is good for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, but sometimes for new feature requests, we are facing challenges. We are the conglomerate, so individual business has different requirements, which we are expecting some new requests for. Whenever any custom requirement exists in an existing tool, they are taking much time with the engineering team, which is the only thing I'm expecting them to improve. Other than that, this product is very good.
I think overall security is something they need to make into a single pane of glass to help the customer who is using only the single Palo Alto Networks vendor, so they will get end-to-end visibility in a single console.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using them for around three years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My experience with the scalability of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is good; whenever we are facing any issues, they are helping, and it is a scalable environment.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, but sometimes for new feature requests, we are facing challenges.
What other advice do I have?
We are generally satisfied with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series.
I would rate Palo Alto Networks VM-Series technical support an eight out of ten.
I would recommend Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to others.
I am a customer of Palo Alto Networks.
Actually, we are trying to migrate to Cortex Cloud; currently, we are using Prisma, so we are in the phase to migrate to Cortex Cloud, but have not yet migrated, so I am not experienced with it and cannot give feedback about it.
We haven't used Prisma Access Browser.
Overall rating: 10/10
Enhance security with robust DNS and threat prevention features
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
For how long have I used the solution?
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
What other advice do I have?
Enhance cybersecurity for large enterprises using advanced threat management
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
What about the implementation team?
What other advice do I have?
User-friendly CLI and efficient dashboard streamline operations with robust security features
What is our primary use case?
We usually recommend Palo Alto Networks VM-Series for BFSI companies.
What is most valuable?
I find Palo Alto Networks VM-Series easy to deploy, and none of my customers have had significant complaints. My customers have high certifications provided by Palo Alto Networks. The friendly dashboard and the ability to easily command and use the CLI make Palo Alto Networks VM-Series a better product. It offers robust solutions, making it valuable to my customers.
What needs improvement?
It may be beneficial if the firewall can monitor all internal elements like VMs pulling from HP servers. Consolidating these insights into a single dashboard would be advantageous.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been familiar with Palo Alto Networks for four or five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The performance of VM instances has some limitations in terms of threshold and throughput compared to appliances.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate scalability as eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
Palo Alto Networks offers better technical support, maintaining SLA efficiently, and resolving issues promptly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In some cases, I have migrated from Cisco to Palo Alto Networks VM-Series smoothly.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust. Technical configuration is a focus area due to its high commercial profile.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I consider Check Point alongside Palo Alto Networks, as well as Cisco for wireless solutions.
What other advice do I have?
When evaluating, consider the customer’s environment and pain points since both Check Point and Palo Alto Networks have their advantages. Overall, I rate Palo Alto Networks VM-Series eight out of ten.
Secures remote work with advanced threat protection and efficient traffic management
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
For how long have I used the solution?
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
How was the initial setup?
What about the implementation team?
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Can overcome complex threat landscapes with robust threat intelligence and great reliability
What is our primary use case?
I am the team manager responsible for various security products. My customers use Palo Alto Networks products, and I am working with Palo Alto partners. We support a variety of solutions including Strata firewalls, Prisma SD-WAN, and Wildfire for advanced threat protection.
What is most valuable?
Wildfire, a sandboxing product, allows for analyzing malware in virtual machines. Its strength lies in threat intelligence, which is significant for proactive defense. Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team. Customers appreciate the throughput and reliability of VM-Series Firewalls, as they can be managed efficiently through Panorama.
What needs improvement?
I find it difficult to reach technical support at Palo Alto Networks. Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays. Additionally, the technical maturity level of support is not always high, resulting in dissatisfaction. The pricing of Palo Alto is relatively high, particularly for smaller companies.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been familiar with Wildfire for nearly five years. I have been working with the VM-Series for nearly two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Palo Alto products are stable compared to others. Stability issues may arise when exceeding throughput limits, but hardware is generally very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is a strength of Palo Alto VM-Series. They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
How are customer service and support?
I can give Palo Alto Networks technical support a six out of ten. It is very hard to reach, and the process can be lengthy and frustrating because support involves several layers.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup is easy, especially in public cloud environments where VM-Series can be obtained from the marketplace.
What was our ROI?
Our ROI is measured in terms of catch rate, however, customers often focus on the total price of the product rather than detailed ROI calculations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost. Their Premier Support is also very expensive and not widely chosen by customers.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I would recommend Check Point and Fortinet as alternatives for companies where the budget is a concern.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Palo Alto VM-Series to others and rate it an eight out of ten. However, for companies below midsize, it may not be a fit due to cost. For those companies, I suggest considering products like Check Point or Fortinet.
Experience robust security with fast and efficient VPN and antivirus capabilities
What is our primary use case?
The main gateway for my organization is Palo Alto because my SAP data is hosted there. My staff operates behind Palo Alto, and numerous software applications and websites are hosted on it. I wanted a strong product for security, particularly for ransomware, malware, and a strong VPN for accessing SAP through VPN and CloudProtect.
What is most valuable?
Palo Alto offers excellent security, with features such as email scanning, malware protection, and efficient VPN and antivirus capabilities. There is no latency, making it faster compared to my previous solutions. The services are hosted and run quickly, which enhances our operations. The security against DDoS attacks has also been improved significantly.
What needs improvement?
There is a need for two-factor authentication, particularly for VPN and CloudProtect. It would enhance security further. The individual certificate feature where a unique certificate is attached to each user would also be valuable. If Palo Alto adopts this, they would excel.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Palo Alto for the last three months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Palo Alto is very stable. I would rate it ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. If I were to rate it on a scale, it would receive nine out of ten, and with two-factor authentication, it would be ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very good. I rate it nine out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was previously using Sophos. The switch to Palo Alto was driven by the need for a product that could manage all my in-house data and offer superior security. Sophos was not offering the class A level of service that Palo Alto provides.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Palo Alto was straightforward as the vendor completed it efficiently in one day.
What about the implementation team?
The product was installed by our vendor.
What was our ROI?
As of now, I am content with the pricing. Although the price might seem high, it reflects the quality of the product similar to the difference between Android and Apple products.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is reasonable and reflects the quality of the product. There are no issues with the cost, as it is commensurate with the quality received.
What other advice do I have?
My overall rating for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is nine points out of ten.
The solution effectively handles security issues and ensures data safety.
Advanced threat prevention with visibility and control
What is our primary use case?
We manage public or private cloud traffic, inspecting for security through various profiles. This includes managing traffic for southeast, east-west, inbound, and A access, applying security profiles to the traffic. I also work with the Check Point Next Generation Firewall and Palo Alto Firewalls.
What is most valuable?
The most effective features for threat prevention include the threat prevention signature level, the application filter capability, and the visibility provided by the firewalls.
We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.
What needs improvement?
When managing the firewall, it involves a Strata Cloud web browser that requires improvement to enhance deployment ease and call center efficiency.
Additionally, focusing more on enhancing the Stata Cloud Manager would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable and has been in the market for the last 16 weeks.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are very much satisfied with the tool's scalability.
It rates up to nine out of ten for scalability satisfaction.
How are customer service and support?
The support is quite responsive, but the support quality could be improved. They should focus on enhancing the support provided.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy; I would rate it ten out of ten for ease of setup.
What was our ROI?
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is at a reach level. I'm not the person who deals with exact pricing details.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend going with the VM series, as it integrates advanced technological standards on a single platform and supports Kubernetes and Docker, which other vendors often don't offer.
I rate the overall solution ten out of ten.
Enhanced threat prevention with advanced security controls
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case involves using next-generation firewalls, hardware, VM-Series, Prisma Access for SASE solutions, Prisma Cloud for cloud security posture management, and Cloud Workload Protection. It's used primarily for securing customers' virtualized data center environments as well as public cloud environments.
How has it helped my organization?
The additional visibility, which was lacking with cloud-native tools, has improved the organization's cloud security posture. Advanced enforcement and granular security controls help manage potential threats.
What is most valuable?
The most effective feature for threat prevention is the threat prevention model in the VM-Series. This is bundled with advanced URL filtering, decryption, and wildfire sandboxing.
What needs improvement?
If additional web application firewall capabilities could be integrated into the existing firewall, it would negate the need for additional products.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with Palo Alto VM-Series for at least five to six years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't had challenges with failovers yet.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is great. We've had no challenges and there are established channels for customer success and professional services.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In the past, I used to work with Check Point, but haven't worked with them lately. Given the support from Palo Alto, there hasn't been a necessity to explore others.
How was the initial setup?
The integration process involved using a Panorama setup for centralized firewall administration, transitioning from cloud-native firewalls to VM-Series.
What about the implementation team?
We are primarily a consulting firm and reseller, so we've had significant involvement in the process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution tends to add to costs especially when scaling, although measures like using large compute instances minimize the need for scaling.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Potential competitors mentioned are Check Point and Cisco but haven't been evaluated recently.
What other advice do I have?
For straightforward firewall inspection and basic IPS, IDS requirements, native firewalls might suffice. For more advanced needs, using VM-Series or Palo Alto Firewalls is recommended.
I would rate it an eight out of ten.