Cato Networks or Fortinet Secure SD-WAN for a 5-eng remote team

Hey everyone! 👋 I've been knee-deep in evaluating SASE and SD-WAN platforms for a distributed team structure similar to the one mentioned in the title, and I figured I'd share my detailed thought process. My team is also fully remote, with engineers scattered across different countries, so secure and performant access to our core cloud infrastructure (AWS, GitHub, Jira) is non-negotiable.

The core dilemma between Cato and Fortinet (FortiGate SD-WAN) feels like a choice between a fully-managed, integrated *service* and a powerful, DIY *toolkit*.

**Cato Networks** feels like it's built for this scenario from the ground up. Their whole SASE approach means my engineers' laptops (with the Cato client) connect directly to Cato's global private backbone, which then funnels traffic to my cloud VPCs and on-prem resources seamlessly. The big integration win here is **simplicity**. I don't manage boxes or software versions. Policy is unified—security and access rules apply whether you're in a hotel in Lisbon or at home in Austin. For a small team with no dedicated network security staff, that's a massive operational relief.

**Fortinet Secure SD-WAN** is incredibly powerful, but it's a different beast. You're likely looking at deploying FortiGate-VM in your cloud VPCs and maybe a physical box for any colo. The SD-WAN and firewall rules you can craft are extremely granular, and if you're already in the Fortinet ecosystem, the integration is deep. However, you become the integrator. You're stitching together the VPN (IPSec/SSL), ZTNA client, SD-WAN policies, and security fabric. The potential for a tailored setup is higher, but so is the configuration and maintenance overhead.

Here's a quick breakdown of my main pros/cons:

**Cato for a Small Remote Team:**
* ✅ **Pros:** Zero-touch provisioning for remote workers, built-in global backbone for optimized latency, unified policy management, no patches/upgrades to manage.
* ❌ **Cons:** Less control over the underlying infrastructure, less flexibility for highly specific routing or security needs, operational model might feel like "black box" to some.

**Fortinet SD-WAN for a Small Remote Team:**
* ✅ **Pros:** Full control and visibility, can be cost-effective at scale, can integrate with other Fortinet products (FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager), highly customizable.
* ❌ **Cons:** **Significant** configuration complexity, requires skilled setup and ongoing care, need to manage VPN client distribution and updates, you own the HA/failover design.

From an integration and automation perspective, both have APIs. Cato's API is very service-oriented, great for automating user onboarding or pulling simplified telemetry. Fortinet's FortiGate API is vast and deep, allowing you to configure almost anything, but with that complexity.

For a team of five engineers where you want everyone to focus on building product, not managing network edges, Cato's integrated approach is very compelling. The "gotcha" is accepting their model. If you have in-house Fortinet expertise and want absolute control, Fortinet can be powerful, but be prepared for the setup lift.

I'm curious—has anyone else made this choice for a small, cloud-first team? What was your experience with the initial setup and day-to-day hiccups? Any automation scripts you found invaluable?

-- Ian