Palo Alto Networks

(408) 753-4000

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3000 Tannery Way
Santa Clara

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Review of Palo Alto Networks Network Firewalls: What Customers Are Saying

When it comes to enterprise firewalls, Palo Alto Networks has built a reputation as one of the strongest players in the market. According to customer reviews on Gartner Peer Insights, Palo Alto consistently scores high in both security effectiveness and feature completeness.


Strengths Highlighted by Customers

  • Comprehensive Security Features: Users praise the firewalls for combining intrusion prevention, application control, URL filtering, and advanced threat detection in a single platform. This consolidation helps reduce tool sprawl and streamline security operations.

  • Ease of Integration: Many reviewers highlight how well Palo Alto integrates with other security tools in the ecosystem, particularly its own Cortex and Prisma platforms, creating a cohesive defense strategy.

  • Threat Intelligence (WildFire): The WildFire sandboxing and threat intelligence service is repeatedly mentioned as a differentiator, catching zero-day threats quickly.

  • Strong Policy Management: Customers appreciate the granular control and visibility into applications, users, and content. This makes it easier to enforce policies that align with business needs.

  • Scalability: From branch offices to large data centers, reviewers report reliable performance across different environments.


Challenges Reported

  • Cost: A recurring theme is that Palo Alto firewalls come at a premium price point. While many believe the investment is justified by the protection offered, smaller organizations may find it difficult to budget for.

  • Complexity in Setup: Initial deployments and configurations can be complex, often requiring skilled staff or consulting services.

  • Support Experience: While support is generally responsive, a few reviewers note variability in the speed and depth of resolution depending on the issue.

  • Learning Curve: Some IT teams mention that the advanced feature set can take time to master, especially for those transitioning from simpler firewall solutions.


Overall Impression

According to Gartner Peer Insights reviews, Palo Alto Networks firewalls remain a market leader thanks to their deep security capabilities, threat intelligence integration, and enterprise scalability. Organizations that need strong, next-generation firewall protection across hybrid environments consistently rate Palo Alto as a top choice.

That said, potential buyers should be prepared for higher upfront costs and the need for skilled personnel to unlock the full value of the platform. For enterprises with critical assets to protect, Palo Alto Networks provides robust, intelligence-driven firewall solutions that stand out in a crowded market. For a full review and individual feedback

Inside Palo Alto Networks’ Security Consulting & Professional Services

In the crowded cybersecurity market, Palo Alto Networks stands out not just for its firewall and cloud security products, but for its full stack of professional and consulting services. These services are designed to help clients deploy, optimize, and evolve security programs anchored on Palo Alto’s technologies — and beyond.

Here’s a deep dive into what their consulting and services arm brings to the table.


The Service Portfolio at a Glance

Palo Alto Networks organizes its services into several core domains, each aligned around its product platforms, threat intelligence team (Unit 42), and broader security operations needs.

  • Network Security Services — support for Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), Panorama, VM / CN series firewalls, cloud-delivered security, and connection via GlobalProtect.

  • Secure Access / SASE Services — consulting for Prisma Access, SD-WAN, and associated SASE architectures.

  • Cloud-Native Security Services — supporting Prisma Cloud deployments and securing workloads, containers, and cloud-native applications.

  • Security Operations / Analytics Services — covering Cortex tools (XDR, XSOAR, Xpanse, etc.), security operations integration, threat detection, automation, and response workflows.

  • Unit 42 Security Consulting — their incident response, threat intel, strategic advisory, forensic investigations, and security program advisory services.

  • Focused & Premium Success Services — specialized project engagements, outcome-based consulting, custom deliverables, and long-term success / adoption support.

Each “service description” document from Palo Alto outlines deliverables, timelines, scope, roles, and handoff responsibilities for their consulting engagements.


Key Service Themes & Capabilities

Beyond just “which product,” Palo Alto’s consulting emphasis tends to land in a few recurring themes:

1. Design, Architecture & Implementation

Before deep operations begin, Palo Alto supports architecture planning, secure design, deployment of their platforms, clustering, integration, and configuration best practices. Their design services are used to ensure you start on the right footing.

2. SOC / Security Operations Enablement & Optimization

Helping clients set up or refine Security Operations Centers (SOCs) is a core offering. Palo Alto works to align detection, automation, investigation, and response workflows—particularly over Cortex XDR, XSOAR, and other telemetry systems.

3. Incident Response & Forensics (Unit 42)

When things go wrong, the Unit 42 Incident Response group is the go-to. They help clients investigate, contain, remediate, and recover from attacks. They also provide post-incident recommendations to harden future defenses.

This IR service includes:

  • Rapid incident investigation

  • Containment and eradication

  • Root cause analysis/threat actor attribution

  • Forensically defensible reporting

  • Integration of threat intelligence

  • Advisory support for remediation and future posture improvement

4. Threat Intelligence & Strategic Advisory

Through Unit 42, Palo Alto provides threat intelligence capabilities: tracking adversaries, publishing reports, and feeding insights into architecture and response work. They also provide strategic guidance on security roadmaps, program maturity, and risk management.

5. Transformation, Optimization & Adoption

A big part of their value is helping clients get the most out of their Palo Alto investments. That means continuous tuning, adoption surges, upgrades, integration with other platforms, and process optimization. Extended Expertise services provide an embedded, long-term consulting resource to support ongoing transformation.

6. Focused / Outcome-Based & Premium Success Models

Not everyone wants a long-term retainer. Palo Alto offers more targeted “quick start” and “outcome-based” engagements: discrete projects with defined deliverables and success measures. In premium success models, they may embed resources or ensure adoption over time.


Spotlight: Incident Response with Unit 42

Unit 42 is a critical differentiator for Palo Alto’s consulting side. Here’s what sets it apart:

  • Speed & Readiness: The moment a client suspects compromise, Unit 42 can engage quickly using established incident response playbooks.

  • Threat Intelligence Integration: Because Unit 42 is tightly woven into Palo Alto’s platform intelligence and research, investigations can benefit from deep context and prior experience.

  • Comprehensive Approach: Unit 42 doesn’t just contain the attack—they provide root cause analysis, forensic documentation, and guidance to reduce future risk.

  • Support via Retainer: Clients can place Unit 42 “on retainer” so that during a crisis, time-to-engage is dramatically reduced.


What Makes Palo Alto’s Consulting Stand Out

  • Product-backed expertise: Because Palo Alto’s services align directly with their security platforms, they deeply understand what they’re deploying and supporting.

  • Holistic model: Their approach spans the life cycle—design, implementation, operations, incident response, and evolution.

  • Threat intelligence + consulting synergy: The Unit 42 connection gives them a research-to-field edge.

  • Flexible engagement styles: From full retained services to quick-start and outcome-based projects, they adapt to client needs.

  • Adoption focus: They place emphasis not just on deployment but on adoption, ensuring clients realize real value over time.


Things to Consider / Limitations

  • Product dependence: Because their consulting is grounded in Palo Alto’s ecosystem, organizations heavily using alternative toolsets might find less flexibility.

  • Scope alignment needed: As with many large vendors, defining scope precisely is critical, so expectations align with deliverables.

  • Cost / Scale: Their services tend to align with mid-to-large enterprise budgets and complexity.

  • Coordination overhead: In complex environments involving many third-party tools, integrating Palo Alto consulting with existing infrastructure can require additional internal effort.

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