With so many managed firewall providers on the market today, choosing the right provider can be a daunting task, especially when they all look the same at first glance. If you’re feeling stuck and unsure about which direction to take, you’re not alone.
This blog is here to guide you through the process and help you make a decision that meets your business needs.
Let’s get into it.
1. Prioritize Your Security Needs
Start by identifying the security features that are non-negotiable for your business. Do you need advanced threat protection, VPN support, or specific compliance certifications? Focusing on what matters most will help you quickly narrow down your options.
Consider the size of your business and its growth potential. A firewall provider that serves the small business community might not be suitable if you’re an enterprise operation.
2. Evaluate Security Expertise
Look for providers with a strong track record in the cybersecurity industry. Check for certifications like ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, or vendor-specific certifications like those from Fortinet, Cisco, or Palo Alto Networks.
Ensure the provider uses up-to-date threat intelligence to adapt to new and evolving threats.
3. Support and Maintenance
Top managed firewall providers should provide strong customer support and offer a range of services beyond basic management
- 24/7 Monitoring and Support: Real-time monitoring ensures that threats are detected and addressed as soon as they come to light. Having access to robust security experts 24/7 can be a game-changer in critical situations.
- Web Content Filtering: Blocking access to unsecured or malicious sites based on categories (e.g., adult content, social media, gambling), or specific URLs goes a long way to reducing the number of effective phishing attacks your employees receive. The provider should also maintain a database of categorized websites, which is regularly updated to ensure comprehensive coverage.
- Regular Updates and Patch Management: Ensure your provider offers proactive maintenance services, such as regular updates, patches, and system health checks. It’s crucial to keep your firewall up to date with the latest security patches—you don’t want to be left vulnerable to cybercrime’s latest evolution.
- Log Management and Reporting: Effective log management provides valuable insights into network activity, security events and potential threats, enabling you to maintain a strong security posture. Analyzing these logs can help detect suspicious activities, such as unauthorized access attempts or unusual traffic patterns, in real-time.
4. Scalability and Flexibility
Your business needs are unique, and your managed firewall services should be able to meet those needs by customizing their offerings tailored to your specific security needs rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Choose a provider that is flexible, able to scale with your business and capably handle increased traffic and additional sites.
5. Verify That the Service Has Built-in Compliance and Regulatory Support
Identify your industry-specific compliance needs. Depending on your industry, you may need to comply with various regulatory requirements like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS. Choosing a provider that understands and complies with these regulations will help you avoid the fines and penalties that come with non-compliance.
6. Performance and Reliability
Testing the performance and reliability of a firewall is crucial to ensure that it meets your security requirements without compromising network performance. Here’s what you should expect:
- High throughput capacity, sufficient to handle your peak traffic loads without introducing bottlenecks.
- Low latency, so the performance remains high.
- High Session Capacity, ability to handle a large number of concurrent sessions-often in the millions.
- Built-in redundancy, includes hardware redundancy (e.g., dual power supplies, multiple network interfaces) and software redundancy (e.g., clustering, failover mechanisms).
- Uptime guarantee, outlined in provider’s SLA (service level agreement) is often 99.99%. This translates to less than an hour of downtime per year, ensuring that your network remains secure and operational.
- Minimum response time, outlined in provider’s SLA (service level agreement)
7. Be Sure They Offer Transparent Pricing
No matter what security measures you’re investing in, cost is always a consideration. Make sure you understand exactly what’s included in the cost – such as updates, support and additional features. The last thing you want is a provider who hits you with unexpected charges and hidden fees.
While it’s important to stay within budget, don’t choose a provider based solely on price. Sometimes, the lowest-cost option may lack critical features or robust support, leading to higher costs down the line.
8. Check to See If They Offer Easy Integrations with Your Current Systems
Ensure the provider’s firewall solution can integrate seamlessly with your existing IT infrastructure, including other security tools and network devices.
To properly protect your entire network, your firewall services should be able to integrate with current and future third-party tools and platforms you might be using, like antivirus, logging, identity management systems, or intrusion detection systems.
This will ensure that you – and your entire network – will have comprehensive protection.
9. Prioritize Hands-On Customer Support
Managed firewall providers need team members with diverse and specialized expertise to ensure the security, reliability, and compliance of the services they offer. Their ability to provide fast and knowledgeable responses is essential to your success – especially in cybersecurity, where new threats are emerging at incredible speeds and one wrong click could land your company in hot water. To discover what level of quality a provider can offer you, ask them about:
- Their average response and resolution time for security incidents
- Their team’s availability to answer questions (24/7 support is ideal)
- Their team members’ level of expertise and certifications
- The channels they have available for customer support (they should offer a variety of channels)
- If they offer real-time threat monitoring and proactive defense mechanisms, rather than those that only react after issues occur (they should)
Quick, efficient, and expert incident response can drastically reduce any damage cyberattacks might cause.
Looking for eXcellence? Look No Further than Xtel!
At Xtel, we understand that strong network security is the foundation of your company’s online safety. That’s why we’re committed to building a good one for you with our managed firewall services. We provide the necessary infrastructure, support, and proactive monitoring to keep our customers protected around the clock. Want that kind of protection today? Reach out to our team, and we’ll get the ball rolling!
