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Top 10 Network Security Policy Management Solutions (NSPM) [2024]

~70% of surveyed cybersecurity professionals expect an increase in cyber-attacks and current network security statistics confirm this foresight.1

Digital companies can leverage network security policy management solutions (NSPM) to govern, monitor, and execute network security policy management throughout their entire network while coping with the most common cyber attack vectors

Nevertheless, NSPM solutions can be hard to compare. This article covers the top 10 network security policy management solutions (NSPM) tools to provide an in-depth view of each product including its market presence, key features, and user reviews.

Top 10 network security policy management (NSPM) solutions

Table 1: Top 10 network security policy management (NSPM) solutions.

VendorsIntegrations*Pricing driverOperation systemsType***
TufinAWS
GCP
Microsoft Azure
Red Hat
UsageTufinOS
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7 and CentOS 7
Physical appliances Virtual appliances Cloud-based solutions
Microsoft System CenterN/AN/AN/AHyper-V
VMware
Physical servers
AlgoSecAWS
Microsoft Azure
VMware
GCP
N/ACentOS 7Physical appliances, Virtual appliances Cloud-based solutions
SolarWinds Network Configuration ManagerAWS
Microsoft Azure
GCP
Number of endpointsWindows, Windows Server 2022 Base windows-server-2022-english-full-base-x86/x.x.xVirtual or physical appliance
Trend Micro TippingPointN/AN/ALinux/UnixOn-premises or in virtual environments
Palo Alto Networks PanoramaAWS
Microsoft Azure
GCP
VMware
UsageLinux/Unix, Other 10.2.8Virtual or physical appliance
FireMon Security ManagerIBM
Rapid 7
AWS
Azure
UsageLinux/Unix, CentOS 8
Virtual or physical appliance
CloudGuard Network SecurityAWS
Microsoft Azure
Azure Stack
GCP
VMware Cloud
UsageRedhat 7.6Virtual machines
Single VM
Cisco Secure Network AnalyticsN/ANumber & type of endpointsLinux/Unix, CentOS N.A.Physical appliances Virtual appliances Cloud-based solutions
AWS Firewall ManagerAWS Network Firewall
AWS WAF
UsageAWS accounts**No need for a separate physical or virtual appliance

Table notes

Integrations* based on vendors’ public claims:

  • Tufin:  AWS, GCP, Microsoft Azure, Red Hat, Check Point, Cisco, Cisco ACI, F5 Networks, Fortinet,  Forcepoint,  Netfilter/IPtables,  Juniper Networks, OpenStack, Palo Alto Networks, an dSymantec.
  • Microsoft System Center:
  • AlgoSec: AWS, Cisco, Microsoft Azure, VMware, GCP
  • SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager: AWS, Microsoft Azure or GCP.
  • Trend Micro TippingPoint: N/A
  • Palo Alto Networks Panorama: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and VMware.
  • FireMon Security Manager: IBM, Rapid 7, AWS and Azure.
  • CloudGuard Network Security: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack, GCP, and VMware Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Yandex Cloud, IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud and Oracle Cloud.
  • Cisco Secure Network Analytics: N/A
  • AWS Firewall Manager: AWS Network Firewall, AWS WAF, and Amazon VPC security groups.

AWS accounts**: AWS Firewall Manager is not tied to any particular operating system in the way traditional applications are. It serves as a centralized platform for managing firewall rules across various AWS accounts. 2

Type***: It refers to the method of deployment.

Table 2: The market presence of top 10 network security policy management (NSPM) solutions.

VendorsTotal reviews*Average rating*
Tufin2964.0
Microsoft System Center7624.1
AlgoSec3934.4
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager3754.4
Trend Micro TippingPoint1884.1
Palo Alto Networks Panorama1774.3
FireMon Security Manager1744.1
CloudGuard Network Security1684.3
Cisco Secure Network Analytics1634.3
AWS Firewall Manager1204.2

Disclaimer: Vendors are sorted by the total number of reviews in descending order.

*Based on the total number of reviews and average ratings on Gartner, G2, PeerSpot, and TrustRadius software review platforms as of 01/09/2024. Average rating is on a 5 point scale.

Vendor selection criteria*: Considering there are numerous NSPM software, the list (above) is narrowed down based on the vendor criteria below.

  • Number of reviews: 100+ reviews on Gartner, G2, PeerSpot, and TrustRadius.
  • Average rating: Above 4.0/5 on Gartner, G2, PeerSpot, and TrustRadius.

Different types of network security policy management (NSPM) features

NSPM software offers various network security features:

Read more: Network security audit tools, SDP software.

1. Tufin 

Tufin has 2,900+ customers (including IBM, a prominent Fortune 500 entity) and has secured a 32nd position among the top-ranked security software offerings in 2023 by G2.3The company serves 50+% of the Forbes Global 2000 by leveraging its network security policy management, security risk assessment, and network security automation technologies.4
Tufin provides network security solutions for small businesses to large-scale enterprises with up to 10,000+ devices and 200M+ routes to manage, operate, and monitor complicated networks that include several routers, switches, firewalls, Internet of Things (IoT), and other network devices5

Key features of Tufin include the following: 

  • Automated security policy management: Manages network enforcement points on internal networks and in the cloud, allowing network security teams to give network access. 
  • Firewall management: The product’s centralized firewall management capabilities for both on-premises and cloud firewalls help companies streamline rule cleanup, decommissioning, and recertification of firewall rules.

Read more: OT network segmentation, microsegmentation.

  • Vulnerability-based change automation: Uses vulnerability-based change automation (VCA) to integrate with vulnerability scanners, and automatically tests for vulnerabilities before establishing new security policies or allowing new access to verify them. 

Figure: Tufin’s products and services 

Source: Tufin6

Pros

Network visibility: User reviews show that Tufin provides efficient visibility on configuration modifications in multi-vendor settings containing numerous Firewalls.7

Firewall tools: Users address setting firewall rules based on traffic monitoring is simple to use; no expertise is required to utilize firewall tools.8

Security auditing: Some users appreciate Tufin’s security auditing feature, noting that they can effectively verify the company’s policies and compliance and examine and set rules over numerous gateways and firewalls.9

Here is AIMultiple’s data-driven industry analysis list of the top 10 firewall audit software.

Cons

Customer support: Some customers say that Tufin’s customer support continues to provide knowledge-based articles to help them solve the problem independently rather than suggesting a meeting where they might explore the problem.10

Developing rules: Some users suggest that Tufin can take a more effective approach to developing and updating rules. There may be suggestions for rules that need to be changed to make them healthier.11

Reporting: Some reviews show that Tufin’s reporting functionality could be improved.12

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 3.8/5 with 8 reviews
  • G2: 4.4/5 with 95 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.0/5 with 180 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 7.1/10 with 13 reviews

2. Microsoft System Center

Microsoft System Center is a collection of IT management applications that includes network monitoring, updating and patching, endpoint security with anti-malware, data protection, and backup.

The product is offered in two editions: standard and datacenter. The datacenter plan offers data virtualization for high-density private clouds, whereas the standard plan is designed for slightly or non-virtualized private cloud applications.

Here is AIMultiple’s data-driven industry analysis on datacenter vs. residential proxies.

Pros

Ease-of-use: Some users emphasize that it is simple to use security groups while installing policies.13

ITIL framework modules: Users appreciate the fact that all ITIL framework modules (incident response, service request, problem management, release, and change management) are supplied out of the box at no additional cost.14

Customer service automation: Some users note that the product’s automation capabilities make it easier for their help desk to automate numerous manual tasks.15

Ticket management via emails: Some users state that the exchange mail connector feature works effectively by adding the “mails to tickets” and allows users to create and handle tickets from one email platform.16

Cons

Price: Some customers find the solution expensive in comparison to the services it delivers.17

Internal documentation: Some reviewers say that the product can have more extensive documentation and wiki pages.18

Patching: Some users indicate that patches* are difficult to apply and maintain.19

*Patches are updates that address specific vulnerabilities.

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 4.1/5 with 162 reviews
  • G2: 4.1/5 with 584 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.0/5 with 16 reviews
  • TrustRadius: No information is available.

3. AlgoSec

AlgoSec is a network security policy management (NSPM) platform that helps organizations implement network security rules and facilitates application connectivity throughout their network (on-premises, cloud, or hybrid). 

AlgoSec leverages security visibility by tracking the network, integrating firewall rules into company applications, and identifying compliance discrepancies.

Pros

Granular visibility: Algosec’s granular visibility is said to be high quality by users, enabling them to have a full picture of security rules throughout the whole network.20

Firewall analyzer: Reviews show that AlgoSec’s firewall analyzer enables users to effectively examine the connectivity between two separate location devices (source and destination).21

Network security management: Some users say that AlgoSec enables them to integrate firewalls, datacenter switches, web proxy servers, and load balancers with a variety of systems easily.22

See AIMultiple’s analysis on proxy services/servers and AlgoSec alternatives.

Cons

Reporting tools: Some security engineers suggest that reporting tools can be more intuitive and reachable.23

Patching: Some users indicate that the patching in AlgoSec is not functioning accurately, frequently, when they address an issue, another arises.24

Usability: Some user reviews document that certain functionalities cannot be executed via the graphical user interface (GUI) or command line interface (CLI). (For example, updating requires a download from the AlgoSec website before doing so via CLI).25

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 4.3/5 with 64 reviews
  • G2: 4.5/5 with 146 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.4/5 with 173 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 9/10 with 10 reviews

4. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

SolarWinds’s Network Configuration Manager (NCM) allows users to inventory their network devices by utilizing network scanning and identification to collect current data on all network devices.

Pros

Real-time fault detection: Some users report that the real-time fault detection feature is useful since it identifies changes made to a device’s configuration, which makes it simple to identify which settings were added or withdrawn, which could contribute to network troubles.26

Topology mapper: Some users allege that the “topology mapper” feature effectively works, and shows the connection of your network devices  (e.g. detects when a cable is unplugged).27

Scalability: Some users point out that the product is scalable, it can be leveraged on several projects with 1,000+ users.28

Cons

Reporting: Some users report that the reports are confusing in terms of visibility, claiming that unnecessary data shows up on reports or alerts regarding configuration.29

Customer service response time: The customer service response time might be faster.30

AI security capabilities: Some users would like to see more AI capabilities in the product to add the settings by sentence rather than typing the command on the devices (e.g. when naming a router).31

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 4.2/5 with 62 reviews
  • G2: 4.5/5 with 32 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.3/5 with 18 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 8.8/10 with 263 reviews

Read more: NCCM software.

5. Trend Micro TippingPoint

Trend Micro TippingPoint is a network security platform that provides threat and intrusion prevention (including advanced threats such as malware and phishing), against known and unknown vulnerabilities. 

The TippingPoint detects and prevents network attacks by combining technologies such as deep packet inspection, threat reputation, URL reputation, and malware analysis. 

Pros

User interface: The UI is considered user-friendly, and filtering and blocking malicious traffic is easy.32

Intrusion prevention system (IPS): Some user reviews argue that Tipping Point’s network intrusion prevention system (IPS) can defeat the basic firewall effectively in multilayer security settings.33

Stability: Users state that Trend Micro TippingPoint Threat Protection System is stable.34

Cons

Performance: Some users consider the performance as poor; application resilience can be improved for better functioning.35

Customer support: Some users affirm that there is room for better customer support.36

User interface options: Users say that the user interface was created with Java and does not allow them to view all of their options on the screen, a new interface, maybe based on HTML 5, would be ideal.37

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 4.7/5 with 137 reviews
  • G2: 4.1/5 with 26 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 3.9/5 with 18 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 7.0/10 with 7 reviews

6. Palo Alto Networks Panorama

Panorama is a network security policy management platform that allows users to control firewalls across the perimeter, datacenter, and cloud. 

With Panorama APIs and dynamic address groups*, users automate policy operations that respond to changes, such as server modifications, transfers, or removals. 

Panorama can be deployed as a logical or physical technology, or both.

*Dynamic groups enable users to utilize a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) URL to build a set of rules that only apply to group members.

Pros

Ease-of-use (rule management): Some users note that the most useful part of Palo Alto Networks Panorama is its ease of rule management since both the device group and template administration are simple to use.38

GUI settings configuration: Users who control five firewalls centrally from Panorama find the graphical user interface (GUI) easy to use for configuring settings.39

Updates: Some users appreciate that the product raises updates quickly whenever a bug or issue occurs.40

Cons

Reporting (preconfigured dashboards): Some users expect to see more preconfigured dashboards as features for improved monitoring and reporting capabilities.41

Logs: Some users indicate that the logs could appear quicker in individual firewalls than in the panorama.42

Customer support response time: Some users comment that there is room for improvement in response time for technical support.43

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: No information is available.
  • G2: 4.5/5 with 43 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.0/5 with 78 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 8.6/10 with 56 reviews

7. FireMon Security Manager

FireMon is a real-time network security policy management (NSPM) system, designed for firewall and policy enforcement technologies across on-premises networks to the cloud. FireMon launched in 2004, FireMon claims to have assisted over 1,700 companies in almost 70 countries.44

FireMon claims that their solution provides visibility and control across the entire IT environment, allowing you to automate policy changes, achieve regulatory and compliance requirements, and reduce policy-related risk.

There are integrations offered by FireMon that enable users to expand and integrate policy management with technologies such as SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network), SASE (secure access service edge), XDR (extended detection and response), and SOAR (security orchestration automation and response).

Business impact: FireMon customers see up to a 40% improvement in rule complexity while reducing frequent malfunctions that lead to intrusions and compliance violations.45

See Firemon alternatives.

Pros

Policy management: Users give positive credit to FireMon’s security policy management features, including the efficiency of cleaning policy sets, setting automation, and examining the policies.46

Dashboard and centralized policy push: Some customers appreciate FireMon’s dashboard and centralized policy pushes combining all firewalls using a single administration.47

Visibility of rules: Some users state that they can easily see the number of redundant/unused rules and logical rules in FireMon.48

Cons

Risk detection and reduction: Some users emphasize that the accuracy with which risks are detected or reduced might be a limitation, adding that Firemon may be further optimized to decrease risk beyond 95%, which is now at 90% in their system.49

The map feature: The map feature is considered to be complicated and nearly unusable.50

Reporting on control failure: Users expect to have a feature that enables them to report control failures.51

VPN tunnel activity: Some reviewers indicate that their active VPN tunnels may seem “unused” while they are in use.52

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 4.0/5 with 2 reviews
  • G2: 4.4/5 with 7 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.3/5 with 52 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 7.1/10 with 113 reviews

8. CloudGuard Network Security

CloudGuard Cloud Network Security, an integral part of the CloudGuard Cloud Native Security platform, delivers threat prevention and automated cloud network security. 

CloudGuard Cloud Network Security leverages these risk assessments through a virtual security gateway, with unified security administration across multi-cloud and on-premises environments in an organization.

Pros

Network security features: Users comment that the platform’s s features are powerful (e.g. identity awareness, URL filtering, intrusion detection system (IDS), content filtering, VPN, and application security controls). They protect against malware, ransomware, and DDoS attacks. 

Scalability: Some users affirm that the software is flexible enough to scale from large centralized data centers to IoT/OT devices and local branches.53

Integrations: Reviews say that the software integrates effectively with the cloud we use (Azure) and performs satisfactorily in local branches.54

Cons

Visibility and setup: Users point out that the platform has downsides such as limited visibility and complicated setup.55

Cloud updates: Some users contend the product lacks cloud updates, which makes it difficult (in terms of transparency) to replace licenses when migrating from on-premise to cloud environments.56

Documentation and technical support: Some users agree that the solution lacks documentation and technical support.57

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: No information is available.
  • G2: 4.4/5 with 94 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.2/5 with 74 reviews
  • TrustRadius: No information is available.

9. Cisco Secure Network Analytics

Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a network security policy management platform that allows users to identify cyber-attacks by analyzing, controlling, and preventing current network data to maintain privacy and data integrity.

Cisco Secure Network Analytics can help companies by leveraging features such as:

  • Policy management: Evaluate the efficacy of policies, and implement the ones for the user’s environment to support policy violation procedures.
  • Dynamic network security notifications: Detects attacks in real-time throughout the dynamic network using high-fidelity notifications filled with historical data such as user, device, location, date and time, and application information.
  • Network security analytics: Use analytics to discover unknown malware and insider threats such as data exfiltration and policy breaches.

Pros

Customer support: Users state that they can effectively get support with any questions regarding network design.58

Traffic reporting: Traffic reporting is easy and manageable, and the reports are shown in graphs and charts that are easily grasped.59

Mapping: Users say that the platform is considered efficient for mapping — determining which applications are active and who is communicating with whom is practical.60

Cons

User interface: Some users note that the user interface and dashboard are complex, and extensive knowledge is required to manage them.61

Performance: Some users report that the product consistently exhibits performance difficulties in high-load environments.62

Pricing: Some users find software and additional tools costs high.63

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 4.4/5 with 45 reviews
  • G2: 4.4/5 with 34 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 4.2/5 with 57 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 8.3/10 with 27 reviews

10. AWS Firewall Manager

AWS Firewall Manager is a security management tool that enables users to centrally set up and administer firewall rules across all accounts and apps in a network. 

AWS Firewall Manager enables users to configure network security rules,  security groups, firewalls, and DNS (domain name system) firewall rules for user resources from a single location. 

Organizations may aggregate rules, create policies, and apply them centrally throughout their network infrastructure while enforcing global compliance standards.

For example, users can delegate application-specific rules inside an account and may be alerted of potential risks to the company, allowing them to respond quickly and minimize an attack.

Pros

Ease-of-use: Some user’s comments say that AWS Firewall Manager is easy to use (especially the APIs) compared to other competitors.64

Custom rules: According to some users, the ability to build custom rules with several parameters is the best feature of utilizing the product, which helps applications remain secure by utilizing load balancers.65

Resource tags: Some users affirm that AWS Firewall Manager helps them protect resources and personal data across several accounts effectively with user-friendly resource tags.66

Cons

Pricing: Users report that while some AWS services are free, numerous vital security features are not, and the price structure can be complicated, making it difficult to predict and budget for security costs.67

Tutorials: Some users expect to see more tutorials and training documents.68

Unified threat management: Some users expect to see AWS include some unified threat management (UTM) functions within the firewall.69

User Ratings 

  • Gartner: 4.4/5 with 57 reviews
  • G2: 4.3/5 with 44 reviews
  • PeerSpot: 3.8/5 with 6 reviews
  • TrustRadius: 8.9/10 with 13 reviews

Network automation software: Automates (e.g. RPA for cybersecurity) the management, configuration, evaluation, deployment, and operation of endpoints, both real and virtual, inside a network. It improves productivity by eliminating human mistakes and lowering the operational costs related to manual network administration. 

IT teams employ network automation solutions for a variety of tasks, including resource installation, network setup, network auditing, and topology mapping.

Here is AIMultiple’s data-driven industry analysis on AI security.

Microsegmentation software: Serves to segment network workloads and manage them independently using policy-based and application-level protection — minimizing the attack surface. 

These products use virtual (or logical) networks to isolate workloads across data center and cloud environments, allowing them to be deployed and protected independently. 

For guidance on choosing the right tool or service for your project, check out our data-driven lists of software-defined perimeter (SDP) software and zero trust networking software.

Further reading

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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
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Mert Palazoğlu
Mert Palazoğlu is an AIMultiple industry analyst focused on network security with a few years of experience.

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