Best Unified Threat Management Software

What is Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software?

Unified threat management (UTM) software provides multiple security features combined into a single device within a network. UTM enables an organization to consolidate IT security services into one device, simplifying the protection of the network.

What are the Common Features of Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software?

A UTM system usually includes the following:

Antivirus protection: Antivirus software prevents and detects the presence of malicious software within an endpoint device. These tools typically contain detection features for identifying potential malware and computer viruses that attempt to penetrate a device.

Malware analysis: Malware analysis tools isolate and investigate malware as it is detected on a company’s IT resources, endpoints, and applications. They detect malware and move infected resources to an isolated environment. 

Email protection: Email anti-spam software prevents malicious content from being delivered via email. These tools scan email messages, content, and attachments for potential threats and then filter or block suspicious messages from being delivered.

Website security: Website security software is designed to protect business websites from several internet-based threats. These tools combine features of distributed denial of service DDoS protection software, content delivery networks (CDN), and web application firewalls (WAF) to create an all-encompassing website protection solution. 

Endpoint protection: Endpoint management software tracks devices in a system and ensures software is secure and up to date. Typical features of endpoint management products are asset management, patch management, and compliance evaluation.

Vulnerability management: UTM software usually includes vulnerability management software, such as risk-based vulnerability management, which identifies and prioritizes vulnerabilities based on customizable risk factors.

What are the Benefits of Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software?

There are several benefits to using UTM software.

Flexibility: UTM software allows users to possess flexible solutions by offering a variety of security technologies from which an organization can pick and choose what is most beneficial. They can also acquire a single licensing model with all the solutions included. 

Centralized management: The UTM framework consolidates multiple security components under one management console. This makes the system easier to monitor and allows its operators to examine specific components that may need attention for specific functions.

Cost savings: The centralized framework reduces the number of devices that are needed, as well as the number of staff that were previously required to manage multiple devices.

Who Uses Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software?

IT and cybersecurity staff: These workers use UTM software to securely monitor data and network traffic.

Industries: Organizations in all industries, especially technology, professional, and financial services, seek UTM solutions to consolidate security solutions for more efficiency and cost savings.

Challenges with Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software?

There are some challenges IT teams can encounter with UTM systems.

Single point of failure: Combining all these security components into one system that allows IT to manage everything in one dashboard also presents a potential single point of failure. A whole network could be completely exposed if the UTM system fails. 

Loss of granularity: Components within UTM software may not have as granular or robust as dedicated solutions, which may mean degraded performance.

How to Buy Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software

Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software 

If an organization is just starting and looking to purchase UTM software, G2 can help.

The manual work necessary in security and compliance causes multiple pain points. If the company is large and has a lot of networks, data, or devices in its organization, it may need to shop for scalable UTM solutions. Users should think about the pain points in security to help create a checklist of criteria. Additionally, the buyer must determine the number of employees who will need to use this software and if they currently have the skills to administer it. 

Taking a holistic overview of the business and identifying pain points can help the team springboard into creating a checklist of criteria. The checklist serves as a detailed guide that includes both necessary and nice-to-have features, including budget features, number of users, integrations, security staff skills, cloud or on-premises solutions, and more.

Depending on the deployment scope, producing an RFI, a one-page list with bullet points describing what is needed from UTM software, might be helpful.

Compare Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software Products

Create a long list

Vendor evaluations are essential to the software buying process, from meeting the business functionality needs to implementation. For ease of comparison, after all demos are complete, it helps to prepare a consistent list of questions regarding specific needs and concerns to ask each vendor.

Create a short list

From the long list of vendors, it is helpful to narrow down the list of vendors and come up with a shorter list of contenders, preferably no more than three to five. With this list, businesses can produce a matrix to compare the features and pricing of the various solutions.

Conduct demos

To ensure the comparison is comprehensive, the user should demo each solution on the short list with the same use cases. This allows the business to evaluate like for like and see how each vendor stacks up against the competition. 

Selection of Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software

Choose a selection team

Before getting started, creating a winning team that will work together throughout the process, from identifying pain points to implementation, is crucial. The selection team should consist of organization members with the right interest, skills, and time to participate. 

A good starting point is to aim for three to five people who fill roles such as main decision maker, project manager, process owner, system owner, or staffing subject matter expert, as well as a technical lead, head administrator, or security administrator. The vendor selection team may be smaller in smaller companies, with fewer participants multitasking and taking on more responsibilities.

Compare notes

The selection team should compare notes, facts, and figures noted during the process, such as costs, security capabilities, and alert and incident response times.

Negotiation

Just because something is written on a company’s pricing page does not mean it's final. It is crucial to open up a conversation regarding pricing and licensing. For example, the vendor may be willing to give a discount for multi-year contracts or for recommending the product to others.

Final decision

After this stage, and before going all in, it is recommended to roll out a test run or pilot program to test adoption with a small sample size of users. If the tool is well used and well received, the buyer can be confident that the selection was correct. If not, it might be time to go back to the drawing board.

What Does Unified Threat Management (UTM) Software Cost?

UTM is considered a long-term investment. This means there must be a careful evaluation of vendors, and the software should be tailored to each organization's specific requirements. Once UTM software is purchased, deployed, and integrated into an organization’s security system, the cost could be high, so the evaluation stage of selecting the right tool is crucial. 

The notion of rip-and-replace cost can be high. The chosen UTM vendor should continue to provide support for the platform with flexibility and open integration. Pricing can be pay-as-you-go, and costs may also vary depending if unified threat management is self-managed or fully managed.

Return on Investment (ROI)

As organizations consider recouping the money spent on the software, it is critical to understand the costs that will be saved in terms of efficiency. In the long run, the investment must be worth preventing downtime, loss of revenue, and any reputation damage that a security breach would cause.