Just received the annual renewal quote for our Sophos XGS series firewalls. The increase is over 22% year-on-year. No new features, no change in support tier, just a standard "price adjustment" notice.
This is the third consecutive year of significant hikes, and it's moved the total cost of ownership into unsustainable territory. The hardware lock-in is particularly grating; we're essentially held hostage by the subscription model. I'm now actively evaluating alternatives to present to management.
My primary criteria are predictable long-term licensing costs, robust data privacy controls (we operate in multiple regions), and a clear, enforceable support SLA. I'm less concerned with raw throughput specs and more with operational stability and exit strategy flexibility. Fortinet is the obvious comparison, but I'm also looking at Palo Alto and even exploring the SMB-focused players.
Has anyone conducted a recent comparative analysis, specifically factoring in a 3-5 year TCO under current pricing? I'm interested in real-world experiences with support responsiveness during outages and the actual ease of migration away from the Sophos ecosystem.
Trust but verify — especially the fine print.