Cisco Umbrella vs FortiGate NGFW: What are the differences?

# Introduction

The Key differences between Cisco Umbrella and FortiGate NGFW are as follows:

1. **Deployment and Functionality**: Cisco Umbrella is a cloud-based security platform that provides DNS-layer security and secure web gateway functionality, while FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) are physical or virtual appliances that offer integrated threat protection including firewall, intrusion prevention, VPN, and application control.

2. **Scalability and Performance**: Cisco Umbrella is suitable for small to medium-sized businesses due to its cloud-based nature, offering scalability based on subscription plans, while FortiGate NGFW is designed for larger enterprises with higher security demands, providing enterprise-grade performance and scalability.

3. **Threat Intelligence and Detection**: Cisco Umbrella leverages threat intelligence from Cisco Talos to identify and block threats at the DNS layer, offering proactive protection against malicious activities, whereas FortiGate NGFW uses FortiGuard Labs intelligence for real-time threat detection and prevention, ensuring advanced security measures.

4. **Integration and Ecosystem**: Cisco Umbrella integrates seamlessly with other Cisco security products and third-party solutions, enabling a holistic security approach and centralized management, whereas FortiGate NGFW offers extensive integration capabilities with Fortinet's Security Fabric ecosystem, providing comprehensive security across the network.

5. **User Interface and Management**: Cisco Umbrella features a user-friendly interface with easy-to-use dashboards and reporting tools, simplifying security monitoring and management tasks for IT administrators, while FortiGate NGFW provides a robust management interface with advanced configuration options and analytics for in-depth network visibility and control.

6. **Cost and Licensing**: Cisco Umbrella follows a subscription-based pricing model with flexible licensing options based on the number of users or devices, making it cost-effective for organizations of all sizes, while FortiGate NGFW requires upfront investment in hardware or virtual appliances, along with licensing fees for additional security features and support packages.

# Summary

In Summary, the key differences between Cisco Umbrella and FortiGate NGFW lie in their deployment methods, scalability, threat intelligence capabilities, integration options, user interfaces, and pricing models, catering to different organizational needs and security requirements.