Palo Alto, Fortinet, Check Point Control Firewall Gartner MQ - BankInfoSecurity

Michael Novinson examines Gartner's inaugural Magic Quadrant for hybrid mesh firewalls, revealing which cybersecurity giants dominate the evolving network security landscape.

Gartner's first hybrid mesh firewall ranking shows Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Check Point Software leading the market as organizations shift toward centralized orchestration and AI-powered automation. The analysis highlights growing demand for unified firewall management across hybrid environments spanning on-premises, cloud, and edge deployments. Organizations increasingly prioritize platform approaches with simplified licensing as they navigate complex multicloud environments while maintaining legacy systems.

• Palo Alto Networks leads in vision while Fortinet excels in execution, with both companies addressing enterprise needs through comprehensive security coverage
• Significant maturity gaps exist between vendors in cloud-based managers, AI features, and IoT threat handling capabilities
• Rising renewal costs and complex licensing models prompt organizations to reconsider vendor consolidation strategies
• AI automation focuses on daily firewall tasks like policy audits, rule optimization, and traffic analysis across hybrid deployments