I have talked with a great deal of IT leaders in recent months, small to large organizations who all have security concerns on their mind. I always express to many of them the great value of UTM technology. I have had a Fortinet UTM device in the office here for several years, and always impressed with the capability of the device.
Unified Threat Management was originally designed to help protect the networks of small and medium sized businesses, but recently UTM firewalls have been expanding to corporate networks as well. The term UTM is used to describe network firewalls that contain many different features in 1 box.
Such features include e-mail spam filtering, an intrusion prevention system, anti-virus capability, internet filtering, and the functions of a traditional firewall. Basically, what this means is that a UTM firewall can perform the same functions in 1 box that would otherwise require 2 or 3 boxes. In addition, central management, and web based administration.
What are the benefits of UTM Firewalls?
1. The main benefit of Unified Threat Management is the fact that so many necessary functions are combined into one box. This reduces the complexity of the firewall system and saves businesses time and money. In addition, complexity brings risk and opportunity for errors.
2. Since all the security features are in one device, you do not need to spend time figuring out how all your security devices work and then how they all work together. Once you understand how your UTM firewall works, you understand your entire security system.
3. Also, because the whole security system is in one device, there is much less to buy. In fact, the only thing that you have to buy is the UTM firewall. This significantly reduces the cost that needs to be spent on a security system.
4. Maintaining network security can often become complex and confusing, but when all the security features are combined into one system, it is easy to see how all the functions are integrated and how they work together. Also, because it is only one system coming from one vendor, training for the entire system also only comes from one vendor. This means that when you need help, there will only be one company you need to go to. This is much easier than having to contact three or four different companies if the system fails.
The ease that is created by Unified Threat Management as well as the time and money that the system saves makes it a worthwhile investment for any business. If you need to protect your network, get started with a UTM firewall today.
Stay positive!
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
About Me
- Scott Arnett
- Scott Arnett is an Information Technology & Security Professional Executive with over 30 years experience in IT. Scott has worked in various industries such as health care, insurance, manufacturing, broadcast, printing, and consulting and in enterprises ranging in size from $50M to $20B in revenue. Scott’s experience encompasses the following areas of specialization: Leadership, Strategy, Architecture, Business Partnership & Acumen, Process Management, Infrastructure and Security. With his broad understanding of technology and his ability to communicate successfully with both Executives and Technical Specialists, Scott has been consistently recognized as someone who not only can "Connect the Dots", but who can also create a workable solution. Scott is equally comfortable playing technical, project management/leadership and organizational leadership roles through experience gained throughout his career. Scott has previously acted in the role of CIO, CTO, and VP of IT, successfully built 9 data centers across the country, and is expert in understanding ITIL, PCI Compliance, SOX, HIPAA, FERPA, FRCP and COBIT.
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