Best Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software
Network security policy management (NSPM) software provides tools for maintaining compliance and enforcing network security and firewall management policies across an organization.
NSPM tools provide the functionality to create, document, and visualize operational workflows for network security management and orchestration. A few NSPM software offerings also include features for auditing networks, documenting policy changes, and automating security operations.
Companies use NSPM software to ensure consistent network policies and compliance while endpoints, data, and networks remain secure. These tools help identify and remove unnecessary or obsolete security policies and simplify security operations. In addition, they often integrate with other security solutions to streamline policy management across complex networks.
Some of these products may share features with network monitoring software and network management software. However, those groupings are more concerned with performance and functionality than security and compliance.
To qualify for inclusion in the Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) category, a product must:
Best Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software At A Glance
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Firewall Analyzer is a vendor neutral log analytics and firewall rule management software that provides in-depth visibility into your organization's network security environment. Here are some of the
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CloudGuard Network Security is a comprehensive cloud security solution designed to protect public, private, and hybrid cloud environments from a wide array of cyber threats. This platform focuses on d
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Opinnate Network Security Policy Manager (NSPM): Simple, Effective, and Cost-Effective Network Security Opinnate’s Network Security Policy Manager (NSPM) is designed to simplify the complexities of
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Panorama network security management provides static rules and dynamic security updates in an ever-changing threat landscape. Reduce administrator workload and improve your overall security posture wi
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Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) is a centralized, scalable, extensible platform for security policy management and enforcement of enterprise networks and endpoints. This product provides users with
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Azure Firewall Manager is a centralized security management service that enables organizations to define, deploy, and manage network security policies across multiple Azure Firewall instances spanning
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Learn More About Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software
What is Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software?
Network security policy management (NSPM) software helps companies streamline the orchestration of security policies across hybrid networks. It helps companies stay up-to-date on their security policies and protects them from evolving cyber attack threats.
As the network of IT systems grows in an organization, so does the cybersecurity challenge. New firewall rules and cloud security policies get added frequently. The size and complexity make it difficult for people to understand and keep track of these policies. There is also a possibility of obsolete policies staying in the system as administrators are not sure what the repercussions of removing them might be.
NSPM provides an array of tools to enforce security policies in the network. NSPM software manages policy changes by creating an audit log of changes and updates. It also helps automate and manage firewall configurations and network configurations.
NSPM alerts administrators of any policy changes, helps them remove obsolete security policies, and maintains compliance standards.
What are the Common Features of Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software?
The following are some core features in NSPM software that provides a management system for security policies across the network:
Policy optimization: NSPM software identifies redundant processes and policies and automates changes to reduce unnecessary policy enforcement.
Auditing: The software allows for deep examination into apps, routers, network-connected devices,cloud-based networks, their policies, and protocols. This helps organizations stay compliant and up to date on security policies.
Automated security configuration management: Network security policy management tools can help monitor configuration rule sets and policy enforcement measures and document changes to maintain compliance.
Automation of policy changes: It can be tedious to manually implement policy changes across the network. NSPM completely automates end-to-end policy enforcement workflows across hybrid- and multi-cloud environments.
Document policy changes: NSPM creates logs of any change in policies. This is extremely helpful in creating audit reports.
Dashboard: NSPM software provides a single dashboard from where firewall and security configuration management can be orchestrated. This provides insights at multiple levels of granularity.
Alerting: The tool can send automated alerts to stakeholders when a policy or setting is changed.
Compliance monitoring: NSPM monitors configuration rule sets and policy enforcement measures and documents changes to maintain compliance.
Risk analysis: It helps manage security risk by identifying potential network security risks, vulnerabilities, and compliance impacts.
What are the Benefits of Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software?
Network security policy management provides the organization with a management platform for their security infrastructure policies across their networks and aids in dodging cyber threats. It also provides a host of other benefits listed below.
Assistance in policy creation: NSPM software makes policy management scalable as the business and network expand. Some NSPM software assist in policy creation and orchestration across the network.
Automation: Many NSPM tools provide an automated alerting mechanism that alerts the administrators and relevant teams whenever policy changes occur. NSPM automates implementation workflows. This eases the enforcement of policies across the network.
Compliance: Each country and region has its own governance rules, which can be challenging to keep up with. Network security policy management software provides frameworks to meet data protection compliance standards.
Saves time: Keeping track of all policy changes and configurations is humanly impossible as the organization grows. Multi-vendor situations for cloud systems further complicate the network landscape. Manual management might lead to errors like missed updates and obsolete policies not being deleted. NSPM helps identify any issues for quick troubleshooting.
Visualization: NSPM software enables companies to manage security policies across their hybrid cloud environment through a single console.
Change management: Network security policy management software logs all policy updates and changes. This can help the administrators take the right security control actions. This makes it easy to create reports for data protection and security audits.
Who Uses Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software?
Network administrators: Network administrators use NSPM to define, update, and centrally manage network security operations for their organizations.
IT teams: IT departments use NPSM to enforce security policies and firewall configurations across their multi-cloud environments.
What are the Alternatives to Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software?
Following are the alternatives to the network security policy management that can replace this type of software, either partially or completely:
Network monitoring software: Network monitoring software helps detect problems with the computer network by comparing the performance against set benchmarks. This helps in quicker remediation of issues. They also establish checkpoints and measure response time, availability, consistency, reliability, and the overall traffic of a network based on real-time and historical performance data.
Network management software: This is used to manage and control IT systems by providing information on the organization of the network, its performance, and its users. Network management tools are used to administrate, provision, and control IT.
Software Related to Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software
Related solutions that can be used together with network security policy management include:
Network automation software: Network automation software automates the process of managing, configuring, testing, deploying, and operating endpoints and physical and virtual devices within a network. It increases productivity by preventing human errors and reducing operating expenses associated with manual network management. Network automation tools are used by IT teams for network resource provisioning, network configuration, network audits, and network device mapping, among others.
Microsegmentation software: Microsegmentation software helps segment workloads and helps individually control them through policy-driven, application-level security, reducing the attack surface. These tools isolate components of data centers and cloud workloads using network virtualization to deploy and protect them independently.
Challenges with Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software
Software solutions can come with their own set of challenges. Here are some challenges that users of NSPM software may encounter:
Manual changes: Though many operations are automated, not all tasks fall under that umbrella. Manual involvement is still required in many places. This reduces the impact of the software.
Configuration complexity: Configurations required for this software can be complex and lengthy. This can be tedious and confusing for administrators and increase the setup and ROI time.
Integration: Many NSPM tools do not integrate with products of all brands in the network. This can limit the scope of robust network policy management of the entire network.
How to Buy Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software
One important thing to consider while buying an NSPM solution is the software’s ability to integrate with all apps, endpoint devices, equipment, and technologies in the network. The software should also be able to assist with automatic policy creation and implementation.
It should also support compliance with data protection standards. The tool must provide easy log management as well as alerting and visualization capabilities to keep track of policy changes. It is an added advantage if the vendor offers a free trial so that the buyer can evaluate the product before making a long-term investment. Depending on the scope of the deployment, it might be helpful to produce an RFI, a one-page list with a few bullet points describing what is needed from the software.
Compare Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software Products
Create a long list
Buyers need to identify features that they need from their NSPM tools and start with a large pool of NSPM vendors. They must then evaluate the pros and cons of each product.
Create a short list
Short lists help cross-reference the results of initial vendor evaluations with other buyer reviews on third-party review sites such as g2.com, which will help the buyer narrow in on a list with three to five products. From there, buyers can compare pricing and features to determine the best fit.
Conduct demos
Companies should demo all of the products on their short list. During demos, buyers should ask specific questions about the functionalities they care about most; for example, one might ask for a demo of how the tool would behave when it detects a policy change.
Selection of Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software
Choose a selection team
Regardless of a company’s size, involving the most relevant personnel is crucial during the software selection process. The team should include relevant company stakeholders who can use the software, scrutinize it, and check whether it will meet the organization’s requirements. The individuals responsible for the day-to-day use of NSPM software must be a part of the selection team. IT administrators, cybersecurity teams, and decision makers could be the primary personas included in the group.
Negotiation
The cost of the software varies based on the features offered, the number of instances, and users. Buyers looking to trim costs should try to negotiate down to the specific functions that matter to them to get the best price. More often than not, the price and specifications mentioned on the vendor’s pricing page can be negotiated. Negotiation on implementation, support, and other professional services are also crucial. Buyers should ensure they’ll receive adequate support to get the product up and running.
Final decision
Before deciding to purchase the software, testing it for a short period is advisable. The day-to-day users of the software are the best individuals to perform this test. They can use and analyze the software product's capabilities and offer valuable feedback. In most cases, software service providers offer a short-term product trial. If the selection team is satisfied with what the software offers, buyers can proceed with the purchase or contracting process.
What Does Network Security Policy Management (NSPM) Software Cost?
The cost of NSPM software typically depends on the number of instances, users, and features required. Some even offer free trial periods to start with. Buyers can reduce costs by evaluating the company's most required features and investing in only them instead of splurging on the all-inclusive versions.
