Report:
The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Firewall Solutions, Q4 2024
How does Forrester define the Enterprise Firewall Solutions market in 2024?
Enterprise networks have expanded significantly in size and have become increasingly complex and far-reaching. As organizations embrace nontraditional methods to support hybrid workforce access to enterprise resources, the proliferation of mobile, bring-your-own-device policies and internet of things devices and the adoption of cloud computing have driven the need for more comprehensive, flexible, and adaptable solutions to counter modern cyberthreats. Organizations are looking for enterprise firewall solutions to extend beyond traditional network perimeter use cases. Enterprise firewall buyers need solutions that can support microsegmentation strategies and secure virtual or cloud-hosted resources to maximize their initial enterprise firewall investments. Additionally, organizations are striving for more centralized policy management across diverse enforcement controls, including enterprise firewalls and components of Zero Trust edge/secure access service edge (ZTE/SASE) such as Zero Trust network access (ZTNA), software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), and firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS) instances. Enterprise firewall solution providers have made enhancements to meet these needs while pushing innovation to prepare organizations for postquantum and booming AI adoption.
Key Facts for The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Firewall Solutions, Q4 2024 in 2024
- Publication Date: 02-Oct-2024
- Document ID:
- Summary: In our 27-criterion evaluation of enterprise firewall providers, we identified the most significant ones and researched, analyzed, and scored them. This report shows how each provider measures up and helps network security professionals select the right one for their needs.
- Authors: Carlos Rivera, Joseph Blankenship, Caroline Provost, Kaitlyn Coalson, Michael Belden
How did the Enterprise Firewall Solutions market evolve in 2024?
- Enterprise networks have expanded significantly in size and become increasingly complex and far-reaching
- Organizations embrace nontraditional methods to support hybrid workforce access to enterprise resources
- Proliferation of mobile, BYOD policies, IoT devices, and cloud computing drive need for comprehensive, flexible solutions
- Organizations need enterprise firewall solutions that extend beyond traditional network perimeter use cases
- Buyers need solutions supporting microsegmentation strategies and securing virtual or cloud-hosted resources
- Organizations strive for centralized policy management across diverse enforcement controls
- Enterprise firewall providers enhance solutions while preparing for postquantum and AI adoption
- 10 providers evaluated in this assessment
- 27 evaluation criteria used to score vendors
- Vendors categorized as Leaders, Strong Performers, and Contenders
What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?
- A physical, on-premises, content-aware network firewall appliance for north-south and east-west use cases. The solution must feature layer 7 content inspection with technologies like IDS/IPS, which are often required by Forrester clients. Software-only solutions and solutions embedded within a hypervisor or delivered solely from the cloud are not evaluated in this Forrester Wave.
- Enforcement of Zero Trust access natively or through integration. The solution must feature a capability that enables it to serve as an enforcement point for Zero Trust access, leveraging context-based policies for secure access between entities and enterprise-controlled resources beyond traditional VPN.
- At least $90 million in annual category revenue. Vendors in this report have at least $90 million in firewall revenue in the previous 12-month period.
- A significant global presence. Each vendor included in this report must sustain at least 30% of its firewall revenue outside its home region.
- Mindshare among Forrester clients within the industry. Vendors we are evaluating are frequently mentioned in Forrester client inquiries, vendor selection RFPs, shortlists, consulting projects, and case studies. These vendors are also mentioned by other vendors during Forrester briefings as viable and formidable competitors.
What are the common features of top products in the Enterprise Firewall Solutions space?
No common features specified.
Scope Exclusions
- Software-only firewall solutions
- Solutions embedded within a hypervisor
- Solutions delivered solely from the cloud
- Vendors with less than $90 million in annual firewall revenue
- Vendors without significant global presence (less than 30% revenue outside home region)
Inclusion Criteria
Vendors must, among other requirements:
- Physical, on-premises, content-aware network firewall appliance for north-south and east-west use cases with layer 7 content inspection and IDS/IPS
- Enforcement of Zero Trust access natively or through integration
- At least $90 million in annual category revenue
- Significant global presence with at least 30% of firewall revenue outside home region
- Mindshare among Forrester clients within the industry
Offering Strengths — Relative Weighting
- Policy creation and management — 10%
- Usability — 5%
- Traffic decryption — 5%
- Incident response — 5%
- Firewall-as-a-service — 5%
- Traffic encryption — 5%
- Software-defined WAN — 5%
- DNS security — 5%
- Threat intelligence — 5%
- IDS/IPS — 5%
- Malware analysis and mitigation — 5%
- OT and IoT — 5%
- Performance and optimization — 5%
- Automation efficacy — 10%
- Microperimeters — 5%
- Product security — 5%
- ZTE/SASE — 5%
- Zero Trust enablement — 5%
Strategy Strength — Relative Weighting
- Vision — 20%
- Innovation — 10%
- Roadmap — 25%
- Partner ecosystem — 15%
- Adoption — 15%
- Pricing flexibility and transparency — 5%
- Supporting services and offerings — 10%
FAQs
Q: What does this research cover?
A: This research evaluates 10 enterprise firewall providers across 27 criteria, examining their current offerings, strategy, and market presence. The evaluation focuses on physical, on-premises, content-aware network firewall appliances for north-south and east-west use cases, featuring layer 7 content inspection with technologies like IDS/IPS. The report assesses vendors' capabilities in unified policy management, microsegmentation, modern threat defense, AI/ML integration, postquantum cryptography support, and Zero Trust enablement.
Q: Who should use this research?
A: Network security professionals and enterprise firewall buyers should use this research to select the right enterprise firewall solution for their needs. Organizations looking to modernize their firewall infrastructure to support hybrid architectures, implement microsegmentation strategies, secure virtual or cloud-hosted resources, and prepare for postquantum and AI adoption will find this evaluation particularly valuable. The research is also useful for MSPs supporting enterprise clients and organizations seeking to maximize their enterprise firewall investments.
Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?
A: Vendors must have a physical, on-premises, content-aware network firewall appliance supporting both north-south and east-west traffic with layer 7 content inspection and IDS/IPS capabilities. They must provide Zero Trust access enforcement either natively or through integration. Vendors must generate at least $90 million in annual firewall revenue with 30% or more coming from outside their home region. Additionally, vendors must have significant mindshare among Forrester clients as demonstrated through frequent mentions in inquiries, RFPs, and consulting projects.
Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?
A:
- Software-only solutions without physical appliances
- Cloud-only firewall solutions
- Hypervisor-embedded solutions
- Annual firewall revenue below $90 million
- Insufficient global presence (less than 30% revenue outside home region)
- Limited mindshare among Forrester clients
- Lack of layer 7 content inspection capabilities
- No IDS/IPS functionality
- No Zero Trust enforcement capabilities
Q: What should buyers consider when evaluating products in this market?
A:
- Deliver a unified approach to streamline policy creation and orchestration - Consistency and simplified management of policies within enterprise firewalls along with other network security controls helps organizations maintain greater visibility into policy enforcement and the security posture of their networks
- Enhance security and management of microsegmented networks - Enterprise firewalls support microsegmentation use cases providing granular means to apply policies that govern resource access beyond VLANs using tags or labels
- Demonstrate efficacy to adapt and defend against modern threats - Vendors are adopting innovative technologies including support for QUIC and HTTP/3, enhanced IDS/IPS with AI/ML, and PQC VPNs for S2S connectivity using NIST standards
Q: How has the Enterprise Firewall Solutions market evolved in 2024?
A:
- Enterprise networks expanding significantly in size and complexity
- Adoption of hybrid workforce access models
- Proliferation of mobile devices, BYOD policies, and IoT devices
- Increased cloud computing adoption
- Need for microsegmentation strategies
- Demand for centralized policy management across diverse enforcement controls
- Integration with Zero Trust edge/SASE components (ZTNA, SD-WAN, FWaaS)
- Preparation for postquantum cryptography
- AI adoption and AI-enabled threat defense
- Support for modern protocols like QUIC and HTTP/3
Q: What differentiates Strength of Offering vs. Strength of Strategy?
A: Current Offering evaluates each vendor's position based on the strength of its current product capabilities, features, and functionality including policy management, traffic inspection, security features, usability, and technical capabilities. Strategy assesses the strength of vendors' future direction including vision, innovation roadmap, partner ecosystem, market adoption, pricing models, and supporting services.
Reference
- Forrester, The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Firewall Solutions, Q4 2024, 02-Oct-2024, ID
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