Review: Putting UTM To The Test

The Bottom Line
It all came down to a photo finish between Fortinet and WatchGuard. Both companies have good channel programs and have a dedicated sales staff to help partners win bids. WatchGuard wins by a slim margin because of its innovative proxy technology and its powerful realtime logging features. WatchGuard's HTTP proxies play an important role in shaping traffic in the appliance. The technology is unique in the way it interrogates data streams.

On the other hand, the Fortinet solution arrives with a comprehensive firewall policy engine. Reviewers found FortiGate firewalls to be fast and reliable. Fortinet also offers other products so that its UTM solutions can scale up to large and complex enterprise networks.

Untangle cannot yet measure up to the other two. Yet, the Professional package offers a good solution for schools and municipalities that cannot afford large midmarket UTM devices.

Shopping The Ingredients

VENDOR: Fortinet, Inc. Sunnyvale, Calif. (408) 235-7700 www.fortinet.com • PRODUCT: FortiGate 1000A • LIST PRICE: $14,995. • PARTNER INCENTIVES: 8-20% margins. • PROGRAM PARTNERS: 1,500 partners • PROGRAM COSTS: Technical training $2,250 • DISTRIBUTORS: Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Alternative Technology.

VENDOR: WatchGuard Technologies Seattle, WA (206) 613-6600 www.watchguard.com • PRODUCT: Firebox x6500e • LIST PRICE: Firebox X family $480 - $14,999. • PARTNER INCENTIVES: Margins not disclosed. Demo units 50% off. • PROGRAM PARTNERS: 500 partners. • PROGRAM COSTS: None. • DISTRIBUTORS: Ingram Micro, Tech Data.

VENDOR: Untangle, Inc. San Mateo, CA (650) 425-3300 www.untangle.com • PRODUCT: Untangle Gateway Platform • LIST PRICE: Open source edition is free. Professional Package ranges from $25/mo. - $250/mo. • PARTNER INCENTIVES: 25% to 40% margins • PROGRAM PARTNERS: 170 partners • PROGRAMS COSTS: None. • DISTRIBUTORS: None