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Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services vs. Sophos Firewall

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services

    Score7.3 out of 10
    N/ACisco offers a threat-focused next-generation firewall (NGFW), the ASA 5500-X Series. The ASA 5500 Series platforms can run either the Cisco ASA Firewall or Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD). The series features appliances in a variety of form factors, including standalone options for small and midsize businesses, ruggedized appliances for extreme environments, midsize appliances for security at the Internet edge, and high-performance appliances for enterprise data centers.N/A

    Sophos Firewall

    Score9.7 out of 10
    N/ASophos XG Firewall provides comprehensive next-generation firewall protection powered by deep learning and Synchronized Security. Sophos Firewall supplies insights and exposes hidden user, application, and threat risks on the network, and say the product is differentiated by its ability to respond automatically to security incidents by isolating compromised systems, with Security Heartbeat™.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSophos Firewall
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSophos Firewall
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsCisco ASA 5500-X pricing starts at ~$400 and scales up to $20,000 for higher capacity appliances.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSophos Firewall
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services
    Cisco ASA FirePOWER provides us lots of features like sandboxing and advanced malware protection which provides us more security. But lots of options are missing and more complicated in Sophos XG Firewall. You will face lots of issues during implementation in existing …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services
    Cisco has been industry for a long time and it's a trustworthy name. Cisco ASA 5500-X FirePOWER has the best Customer Support and robust hardware, user friendly configurations, [and] configuration documentations [are] available openly on internet. Cisco has also [been] named a …
    Incentivized
    Sophos
    Chose Sophos Firewall
    We selected the Sophos Firewall because of its comprehensive security, ease of use, Scalability and increase the productivity.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    78%
    Would buy again
    18 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    23 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    22 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSophos Firewall
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services and Sophos Firewall
    Feature
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services
    9.0
    30 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Sophos Firewall
    9.6
    11 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Identification Technologies8.428 Ratings9.611 Ratings
    Visualization Tools9.324 Ratings9.711 Ratings
    Content Inspection8.429 Ratings9.611 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls10.028 Ratings9.811 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP10.029 Ratings9.710 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console9.830 Ratings9.811 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging7.629 Ratings9.711 Ratings
    VPN10.030 Ratings9.811 Ratings
    High Availability10.028 Ratings9.811 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection8.14 Ratings9.711 Ratings
    Proxy Server7.23 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSophos Firewall
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.4 out of 10
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSophos Firewall
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (30 ratings)
    9.6
    (11 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.2
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.2
    (26 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.9
    (29 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER ServicesSophos Firewall
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    This firewall is best suited for the network edge/perimeter deployment. The next gen features works very well and the remote access VPN is also very much suitable for the organizations which have a huge user base working remotely. The Remote Access VPN is very much customizable and the authentication integration option like LDAP and RADIUS provides and addon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    It is well-suited for small, medium, and large organizations looking for comprehensive cybersecurity protection. It will not only safeguard their network from cyberattacks but also provide them with many advanced features like deep packet inspection, centralized management, web filtering, application control, etc. in one place. It will help them optimize bandwidth and ensure continued connectivity.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • The Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services model works perfectly for network edge protection scenarios.
    • It allows for the creation and connection of sites through site-to-site VPN configuration.
    • It enables remote connection and home office with remote SSL or IPSEC VPN.
    • It has layer 7 traffic protection and visibility.
    • It has anti-malware protection from start to finish.
    • The configuration is easy to perform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    • Web filtering. This allows us to monitor web usage and block certain categories from being access at the perimeter.
    • Application Control. With application control we can block certain applications that get categorized from working accessing the Internet.
    • Synchronized Security. When utilizing the Sophos Endpoint product you can use Synchronized Security to minimize Lateral Movement in a network. If a machine is shows a Red status you can auto-isolate it and it is unable to communicate with anything else on the network.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • URL Filtering feature could be easier to utilize for beginners
    • I'd like to see a visual of VPN networks setup and show the functioning or malfunctioning status to assist in making troubleshooting easier
    • Recommendations on ACLs for beginners based on their account creation date
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    • If using Endpoint security and the Firewall it would be nice to have an easier back and forth between the portals rather than have two separate tabs open. Especially if using more than one in multiple locations.
    • If dealing with different revisions options are moved around and sometimes in places that doesn't normally seem like they should be there.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Ever since we installed Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services we have never had to deal with an attack. We can see in the logs almost every day hackers attempting to break into our networks and failing. We also have the ability to blacklist every IP address that attempts to break into our firewalls
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    Cisco firepower provides automatation for an organisations security operations to detect and stop the most advanced threats fast. It also assists in preventing attacks in using intelligence and innovative solutions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    Because this is a user-friendly interface, and anyone can use it there are multiple articles and guidelines available, it has advanced-level security features. they provide VPN solutions all the features are very practical, SSID MAC-based authentications web control, Firewall rules segregation of the rules and policies, On-premises Active directory single sign-on feature is also available.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    We have never had an outage caused by firewall failure. We have had a few outages caused by the internet failing or cloud applications going offline but never a firewall breaking down. When making changes we have a very strong change control, major software updates are always carried out out of working hours. At places where we have two firewalls in HA, we are able to do upgrades in working ours and the users will never know that an upgrade is taking place, that how great these firewalls are
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Cisco
    The Cisco ASA 5500X with Firepower performance needs consideration before deploying. Although the solution is Pay as you grow, adding additional features to the system has a negative impact on overall throughput. I would more like now only to deploy the Cisco FPR units as they have better performance and will last the test of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    I would recommend the purchase of the Smartnet 24x7 service in the case of a unit and the Smartnet 8x5NBD in the case of only one appliance installed on site. This service is important to always have the latest firmware updates, corrective updates and especially the hardware warranty and maintenance service in case of problems. The service is done by phone or on the official Cisco website and I can say that it is very good and efficient.
    Incentivized
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    Sophos
    As we are all addicted to graphics-oriented interfaces for all our life products. Easy to manage and access as a good way of using anything
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    We implemented a centralized management of all our Cisco ASA 5500-x with FirePOWER Services so that we can have a holistic view of all our sites in London and other European countries. This also helps when making changes, instead of login on to each firewall we can use Firepower Management Center (FMC) to central deploy changes across all devices
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Previous],] I was using the [pfSense] in my organization but when i switched to [Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services] I realized there are lots of issue and missing security features in [pfSense]. The deployment and configuration is very easy as compare to [pfSense]. I highly recommend this product to everyone.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    I was a big fan of Cisco ASA products, but when I saw all of the security feature differences between both firewalls, I moved to Sophos devices. Its sandbox, IPS, and many more features are really advanced. Cisco does not provide features like this.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Working of remote workforce made easy
    • Security was enhanced on the data traffic shared with the vendors due to the use of VPNs
    • Inbound attacks were mostly blocked on the edge and saved a lot of resources (which could had been used in case of attacks getting successful on the application servers)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sophos
    • True UTM device.
    • Very Active customer help for any help.
    • Easy license and cost effective.
    • Should [do] more work on logging and reporting.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Sophos Firewall Screenshots

    Screenshot of Sophos Firewall v17.5 Control Center