Fortinet criticises Check Point's UTM ambitions
Vendor claims that rival is ‘four years too late' in the Unified Threat Management market
Fortinet has hit back at rival Check Point’s recent foray into the Unified Threat Management (UTM) space by claiming that the vendor has missed the boat.
Earlier this month, Check Point unveiled its aggressive assault on the UK mid-market with the launch of its first UTM appliances (CRN, 5 February). This pitched it in direct competition with Fortinet.
Phil Keeling, UK and Ireland country manager at Fortinet, said: “It is fantastic that Check Point is most concerned about Fortinet as a competitor in the UTM space. That is an industry observation in itself. The fact that everybody is talking about UTM is very welcome. Check Point has realised that the market has accelerated past it and that its solutions are woefully under-powered and under-functioned.”
Keeling claimed that Check Point’s appliance was more of a ‘Frankenstein’ [sic] device than a true UTM device.
“[The range] basically has different vendors’ products stuck on top of it and there is no unification,” he said. “Customers still have to buy four licences and have to manage them separately. Check Point has effectively rebadged its VPN-1 solution and called it UTM-1. Not only that, but it is four years late into the market.”
However, Nick Lowe, managing director, Northern Europe of Check Point, appeared unconcerned.
“We seem to have hit a nerve,” he said. “Our technology is growing rapidly in all spaces, but we have experienced massive growth in the UTM market. What we have done is allow enterprise-type technology to be available at a mid-market price point, but which is at the same time easy to install and manage.
“We know this market very well and have listened to our customers. Considering it is early days, the trading demand for our UTM product is enormous already.”
Emotions were also running high among the two vendors’ distributors.
Graham Fox, managing director of Fortinet distributor Fresh Egg, said: “Check Point’s UTM offering is a hotch-potch technology and IDC has already established Fortinet as a leader in the UTM market.
“However, it is great news that an organisation as big as Check Point is ploughing millions into the UTM space because it will help people understand the market and allow the technology to speak for itself.”
Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of Wick Hill Group, a Check Point distributor, said: “We have very high expectations with the Check Point device. Its UTM-1 is going to take huge swathes of market share from Fortinet.
“I can see why Fortinet would want to get its defence in first. The Check Point box is targeted at the mid-market space and it has good functionality. If it wasn’t any good, why is Fortinet making comment in the first place?”
David Ellis, director of e-security at Computerlinks, said: “Growth in the UTM market has been small and the market is still at an early stage, so it is ripe for a player such as Check Point to come along and establish itself as a bigger company with a stronger reputation.”