Hello everyone,We need to replace our Sophos UTM and were thinking of doing so with Fortinet systems.Since we use quite a few Sophos UTM services, I'm wondering which Forti system I can use to map which services, or whether it's even possible to map all services.Here are the “services” I need to provide: Network ProtectionFirewallIPSVPN: IPSec / SSLReporting Email ProtectionEmail receptionVirus protectionEmail encryptionSpam protection (Quarantine , daily SPAM-report) Web ProtectionWeb-ProxyVirus protectionHTTPS-ScanningWebserver ProtectionWAF (Web Application Firewall) for On-Premise Exchange OWA access GeneralActive-Passive ClusterAD synchronizationReportingIs it possible to deploy all services with Fortinet?

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Replacing Sophos UTM

Forum|Forum|8 months ago
November 24, 2025
4 replies
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Hello everyone,
We need to replace our Sophos UTM and were thinking of doing so with Fortinet systems.
Since we use quite a few Sophos UTM services, I'm wondering which Forti system I can use to map which services, or whether it's even possible to map all services.

Here are the “services” I need to provide:

Network Protection

Firewall
IPS
VPN: IPSec / SSL
Reporting

Email Protection

Email reception
Virus protection
Email encryption
Spam protection (Quarantine , daily SPAM-report)

Web Protection

Web-Proxy
Virus protection
HTTPS-Scanning
Webserver Protection
WAF (Web Application Firewall) for On-Premise Exchange OWA access

General

Active-Passive Cluster
AD synchronization
Reporting

Is it possible to deploy all services with Fortinet?

Best answer by AEK

Hello Hippo

Since I don't have experience with Sophos UTM, I'll comment following my experience with Sophos XGS, which is more modern than Sophos UTM.

Yes all mentioned features are available in FortiGate, and in general talking FGT is better than Sophos XGS. However I must say the following:

Sophos' WAF that is embedded in the Sophos XGS is more powerful and has more features than FortiGate's WAF
Same for Antispam
For all the rest I find FortiGate is better

So for basic WAF and Antispam you can use FortiGate, and for medium efficiency and more features you can use Sophos' WAF and Antispam, but for enterprise level WAF and Antispam you definitely need dedicated WAF and Antispam in addition to your NGFW.

Fortinet's enterprise level WAF and mail gateway products are FortiWeb and FortiMail.

On the other hand FortiGate embedded reporting is basic, so if you are looking for advanced and more sophisticated reporting then you additionally need FortiAnalyzer, which is the reporting product for all Fortinet products.

kaman

Staff

Hi Hippo,

Yes, all of the services can be deployed within Fortinet.

Regards,
Aman

HippoAuthor

New Member

Hi Aman,

in Sophos UTM, I was able to map all services within a single system.
How many products do you think I need with Fortinet?
Which products do I need for a secure yet affordable environment?

AEKAnswer

SuperUser

Hello Hippo

Since I don't have experience with Sophos UTM, I'll comment following my experience with Sophos XGS, which is more modern than Sophos UTM.

Yes all mentioned features are available in FortiGate, and in general talking FGT is better than Sophos XGS. However I must say the following:

Sophos' WAF that is embedded in the Sophos XGS is more powerful and has more features than FortiGate's WAF
Same for Antispam
For all the rest I find FortiGate is better

So for basic WAF and Antispam you can use FortiGate, and for medium efficiency and more features you can use Sophos' WAF and Antispam, but for enterprise level WAF and Antispam you definitely need dedicated WAF and Antispam in addition to your NGFW.

Fortinet's enterprise level WAF and mail gateway products are FortiWeb and FortiMail.

On the other hand FortiGate embedded reporting is basic, so if you are looking for advanced and more sophisticated reporting then you additionally need FortiAnalyzer, which is the reporting product for all Fortinet products.

AEK

filiaks1

Explorer III

If the Sophos UTM waf is just HTTP signatures then Fortigate WAF will be enough. @AEK seems to have done a better research and to know Sophos more but if your Sophos is old then as it is not Sophos XGS with the Advanced WAF fortigate is enough.

Have you considered FortiSaaS products for some things?

Maybe the email could be cloud protected and for some important public web apps FortiWeb Cloud SaaS could be an option and for not important or private just the fortigate NGFW base WAF?

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