Fortinet

Fortinet provides a broad security platform running on its own FortiOS operating system, covering next-generation firewalls in appliance and cloud form, hybrid mesh firewall architecture, secure switching and wireless, unified SASE, cloud security including CNAPP, security operations, endpoint, and operational technology security with ruggedised hardware.

Designing custom silicon is the structural decision that distinguishes Fortinet from software-first competitors, and it has a real consequence. Inspecting encrypted traffic at line rate is computationally expensive, and purpose-built processors let a given price of appliance do more of it. Nearly all data centre traffic is now encrypted, so the cost of inspecting it determines whether an organisation inspects it at all.

Operational technology security with ruggedised products addresses a market most vendors avoid. Industrial control environments run equipment measured in decades, cannot be patched on a normal cycle, and sit in physical conditions ordinary hardware does not survive.

The breadth is the consideration to weigh. A platform spanning this much is bought partly for consolidation, and consolidating on one vendor concentrates both operational simplicity and dependence.