Network security has never been more critical in the era of digital transformation. With cyber threats on the rise, enterprises require robust network security policy management solutions to protect their valuable data and infrastructure. Conducting a technical evaluation is essential to ensure that your chosen solution aligns with your organization’s security requirements and overall strategy. In this blog post, we’ll outline our three-step process for carrying out a comprehensive technical evaluation of FireMon. 

Step 1: Define Your Objectives 

Before diving into the evaluation, identify your organization’s network security objectives and requirements. These may involve: 

• Achieving continuous compliance 
• Risk reduction strategies 
• Improving operational efficiencies and reducing costs 

Step 2: Develop Success Criteria 

Work with your FireMon Sales Engineer (SE) to create a list of success criteria that will help you assess FireMon’s technical capabilities. FireMon will provide a workbook to simplify this process. Consider the following factors: 

• Ease of integration with existing infrastructure (firewalls, firewall management stations, layer 3 devices, load balancers, proxies, clouds, etc.) 
• Reporting and analytic capabilities, accuracy, and timing 
• Policy enforcement and monitoring 
• Scalability and performance 
• User interface and usability 
• Workflow optimization 
• Support for multi-cloud and hybrid environments 

Step 3: Conduct a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) 

A PoC is a critical step in the evaluation process, as it enables you to test FireMon in your environment, providing valuable insights into FireMon’s fit within your organization.  

To conduct a successful FireMon PoC: 

• Work with your FireMon SE to define clear objectives, timelines, milestones, and success criteria. We aim to conduct all PoC’s within 14 days. 
• Agree upon a deployment option to ensure the recommended architecture is set up in advance of the PoC (e.g., necessary server size and recommended specs) 
• Engage relevant stakeholders, such as IT, security, and compliance teams 
• Conduct a pre-installation check with our provided checklist to ensure a seamless process 
• Set up a testing environment that simulates your production environment 
• Test FireMon’s key features, such as compliance reporting and alerting, network mapping and traffic simulation, policy vulnerability analysis, automation, as well as rule creation, cleanup, and optimization  

A thorough technical evaluation is crucial to selecting the right network security policy management solution for your organization. By following these steps, you can ensure that FireMon aligns with your security objectives and provides a strong foundation for maintaining a secure and compliant network environment. 

If you are looking to learn more or get in touch with an NSPM expert, contact FireMon for a complimentary call.