As a business, scouting around for enterprise firewall is an exacting job, most particularly if it is your first time to do it. But this does not mean however that finding an enterprise firewall that will work best for your organization is impossible. As a matter of fact, all that you ever need to have is some background knowledge of enterprise firewall and the various features offered by existing options in the industry. In addition to that, you need to be able to identify the most appropriate questions to ask to enterprise firewall providers. Please take time to read on to the next parts of this article to learn a few guidelines in choosing an enterprise firewall.
Guidelines in Picking an Enterprise Firewall
1. Know Different Enterprise Firewall Types and Which One Suits Your Business
Basically, there are various types of enterprise firewalls available today. To name a few, embedded firewalls, specialty firewalls, enterprise software-based/hardware-based firewalls, and SOHO software/hardware firewalls. Since each of the firewall option comes with a set of capabilities, it is important that you are able to determine which ones provide what your business needs the most in consideration to its nature, current situation and need. It helps you to personally communicate with different vendors to be presented of the features, can-dos and package capabilities of their offered enterprise firewall. In line with that, you yourself must be greatly familiar with the data security and protection needs of your business. Having knowledge of both ends help you make a great match between what your business needs and what the industry has to offer.
2. Ask the Vendor About Application and Support
After gathering knowledge of the various enterprise firewall selections and their respective offerings, the next thing in line is for you to ask potential vendors about the application and support. This tackles the “how” part of your business actually making use and benefiting from the product. How are you going to get started? What are the things required for your business to begin enjoying the benefits offered by the firewall? During the run of the implementation phase, what are the things that your business has to do during the arrival of any untoward circumstances? What support can be made available by the enterprise firewall vendor to address any foreseen difficulty or trouble. Asking these questions to potential vendors help you as a business owner make a better decision on which option of enterprise firewall to pick and invest in.
3. Ask the Vendor About the Cost
Your business is operating on money. That is why you would likely agree that in almost every decision you arrive at in business, costing is a process always performed by your top-management. In light of this argument, it matters that prior to making a decision on which enterprise firewall to purchase for your business, you consider first the “how much” side of the transaction. One of the questions you should ask a vendor is how much will the whole thing cost you. Knowing the price and all related costs help you make a better decision.