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Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software vs. WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ACisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the core OS for the ASA suite. It provides firewall functionality, as well as integration with context-specific Cisco security modules. It is scaled for enterprise-level traffic and connections.N/A

    WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AWatchGuard XTM is a firewall option, from WatchGuard Technologies.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    I am a CCNP and will always go with Cisco because they are more affordable than Palo Altos and yet they do the same job and easy to deploy.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    I had previously used Watchguard and Sonicwall firewalls (in addition to older Cisco firewalls). The Sonicwall worked ok as a small business firewall, but isn't really on the same level as Palo Alto and Cisco. Watchguard is closer to that level, and I did like their gui …
    Incentivized
    WatchGuard Technologies
    Chose WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    The price-performance ratio was much better than the other brands. It is easy to use, manage and with a lot of compatibility It offers the same functionality as other competitive solutions at a more accessible price, additionally its databases such as antivirus, antispam, and …
    Incentivized
    Chose WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    WatchGuard XTM is easier to use, has more features in one device, can have better and more specific policies, has a much lower cost, and is stable.
    Incentivized
    Chose WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    While these are all great firewalls, the price of the Palo Alto and Cisco boxes were high enough to make them not a viable option. I believe that the WatchGuard is in a leauge of its own in the price point. While there are nicer offerings out there, you will need to have a much …
    Incentivized
    Chose WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Again, WatchGuard is priced much lower than other vendors in its space. It may not have some of the bigger features such as Layer 7 awareness. It's more simple to manage and provides IT staff the time to work on other tasks versus time spent to create complex rule sets.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    87%
    Would buy again
    39 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    41 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    41 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    36 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    40 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Feature
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    7.8
    49 Ratings
    10% below category average
    WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    10.0
    2 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Identification Technologies6.532 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Visualization Tools6.530 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    Content Inspection8.032 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls9.045 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP7.547 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console7.547 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging5.948 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    VPN9.048 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    High Availability9.047 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection9.046 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    Proxy Server8.031 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 out of 10
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Meraki MX
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (87 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.7
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Cisco ASA's are great for internal network connected access between a firewall and the central management server. And, for complex networks where high security requirements with overly strict compliance are necessary. For networks with limited connectivity to the core or for poor network connectivity these are not the best solution. There are other more stand-alone firewall's that do this better. These firewall's are a little more complex to set up to start with so significant knowledge of these devices is required to set them up and ensure they are best practice installed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    WatchGuard XTM comes in different models, so you can choose the model best suited for your company size. I think it works well in small as well as very large networks. I have not used this feature, but you can create a "FireCluster" to connect member devices of the same model if you need to put multiple WatchGuard XTMs in your environment. Coming from command line, it took a little adjusting to learn which screen to use to set up the different rules. Once you understand how to set up policies, it is simple to create more. New firewall administrators would appreciate the ease of creating policies, and expert administrators should find everything they need plus extra features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • ASA is our VPN concentrator. The client and server are very stable and very easy to use
    • ASA also offers Intrusion Prevention, to an extent. This is also very useful for an improved security posture for a small company
    • ASA allowed us to scale very quickly. We could onboard clients, partners, and consultants and give them a great onboarding experience as well
    • Administrative costs with ASA are low. It's very easy to administer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    • Proxy filter.
    • Link redundancy.
    • Security.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • The ASDM software is at times a nightmare to install because of different java versions[.]
    • [The firewall] could do with a power button, just to be able to do a hard reboot when needed[.]
    • It would be nice to manage the firewall via the web on port 443[.]
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    • Support can be hard to work with. While they are typically knowledgeable, there can be a language barrier. Also, most troubleshooting seems intrusive which is a problem in a production environment.
    • The throughput of the cheaper models leaves something to be desired.
    • Have had some issues running VOIP behind these, but have not been able to narrow down the issues to the phone provider or WatchGuard yet.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    To be honest there has been now great products out in the market compared to Cisco ASA. I beleieve Cisco has to do a lot of improvement in this area. The other defeiniete factors is the cost when it comes to renewals which is always a premium on Cisco products
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    I generally have not noticed the outages, however since it's a machine it can malfunction, we need to implement the firewall infrastructure in such a way that it is highly available with device failure, region failure etc. Else any solution will be having the issues if they are not build with resiliency.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    The support is usually very good and gets back to you very quickly. However I had some instances of when two engineers will give me wildly different answers to what I thought was a simple question. Overall however I do rate the support highly and they are generally always very good.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    It was quite a good one, how ever requires an expertise to deploy hence the SMB segment would be finding it difficult to implement this product. The one good reason is that there are lot of ASA certified engineers in compared to the other certified engineers. Hence this resembles positively on the deployment as you have quite a lot of experienced engineer on your deployment
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We were using [pfSense] before in our environment but we regularly facing difficulties over it due to software bugs & downtime. After implementing Cisco ASA, it resolved our availability issue & provides us a reliable solution with the best security features & easy to understand GUI.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    Again, WatchGuard is priced much lower than other vendors in its space. It may not have some of the bigger features such as Layer 7 awareness. It's more simple to manage and provides IT staff the time to work on other tasks versus time spent to create complex rule sets.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Most network engineers have worked with ASA, so there is no need for re-training when adding or turning over staff
    • Current configs from older devices plug in easily, and are operational on larger devices if an upgrade is required
    • Many support options available
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    • Easy to set up and connect firewalls
    • Easy to set up branch tunnels
    • Less time spent training
    Read full review
    ScreenShots