SAS ITFortinet vs Cisco: The Short Answer
For SMEs and mid-market businesses in Dubai (5 to 500 users): Fortinet FortiGate wins on price, performance, and ease of management.
For large enterprise where deep Cisco integration already exists: Cisco has specific advantages.
Price Comparison
| Feature | Fortinet FortiGate 60F | Cisco Firepower 1010 |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | AED 4,500 | AED 5,500 |
| Annual licence | AED 3,500 | AED 6,000+ |
| 3-year total cost (25 users) | AED 18,000 | AED 28,000+ |
Fortinet is 30 to 40% cheaper for comparable protection.
Which to Choose?
| Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| SME office 5 to 50 users | Fortinet FortiGate 40F / 60F |
| Mid-market 50 to 200 users | Fortinet FortiGate 80F / 100F |
| Multi-site Dubai offices | Fortinet with FortiManager + SD-WAN |
| Large enterprise 200+ | Cisco Firepower or Fortinet 200F+ |
| Existing Cisco infrastructure | Cisco for integration |
| No existing preference | Fortinet |
SAS IT is a Fortinet NSE-certified partner. Get a free assessment | +971-526716178
*Related: Networking & Security Dubai | Managed IT Services Dubai | Fortinet vs pfSense for Dubai SMEs | Fortinet vs Sophos UTM*
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About the Author
Written by the SAS IT Team — the same engineers who design, install, and support the networking, security, and infrastructure work described on this site. SAS IT Services was founded on 22 February 2020 in Dubai and has since delivered 500+ projects for businesses across the UAE.
We are a certified technology partner for Fortinet, Cisco, and Microsoft, among 17 documented vendor partnerships spanning networking, cybersecurity, CCTV, and cloud infrastructure — credentials that inform the technical guidance in our articles.
Our work is independently rated 5.0 out of 5 from 17 verified Google Reviews. Every article is reviewed internally for technical accuracy before publishing and reflects practices we apply on real client deployments in Dubai and the UAE.
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