FORTIGATE HIGH-END NGFW

SALES DISCOVERY GUIDE:

THINGS TO KNOW

IDEAL ACCOUNT
What does an ideal FortiGate High-End NGFW prospect look like? What are the company’s characteristics?
What are the solution requirements that set us up for success or give us a competitive advantage?

1 Ideal Account
Characteristics
nnCustomers adopting ”cloud-first” and architecting security
2 Prospect’s Critical
Solution Requirements
Good for Fortinet
for hybrid IT/DC environments nnSeamlessly integrate on-premise data centers with
nnLarge Financial Institutions consolidating data centers multiple-clouds, & secure links at network speeds
nnLarge K-12 School Districts, higher education, digitizing nnSegment and protect all applications/assets with
education and providing internet access via backhaul consistent security policies irrespective of location
nnCustomers having discussions around reducing nnManage external risks, inspect HTTP traffic,
complexity and threat intelligence sharing instrument fine-grained policies & compliances
nnCisco and Checkpoint installed based coming up for nnConsolidate points products/security functions and
refresh/renewals threat intelligence sharing to manage attacks
nnAcknowledging that existing security posture is not nnSimplified SW licensing/consumption model
sufficient to deal with today’s advanced threats nnAI/MLpowered advanced security to protect from
nnLand & expand–win SD-WAN/Campus & engage in DC known/unknown threats
nnVerticals:Financial Services, Manufacturing, Education, nnCustomers requires unbiased proof of solution value
Healthcare and Government emanating from a 3rd party entities like NSS Labs
Caution: nnSingle pane of management across hybrid IT/DC
nnProspect
architecture and analytics to improve security posture
where Security Operations are in Network
Operations. Often these groups prioritize operational
issues over solution capability. Lead with discussion
around managing all risks

SALES DISCOVERY GUIDE

FORTIGATE HIGH-END NGFW SALES DISCOVERY GUIDE: THINGS TO KNOW

3 Sales Success Tips

Winning Sales Activities
nnBuild training into the project success criteria (e.g., training credits
for the operations team)
nnFollow
a business outcome-focused approach (look at Barclays, nnPerformance-centric proof of concept (POC) with a defined
JPMC, City of Miami wins Chicago School District, Instituto success criteria
Columbiano de Bienestar Familiar, Ministry of Islamic Affairs)
Sales Activities to Avoid
nnFocus on architecture discussions, customer pain points, and
nnDon’t lead the discussion with products, speeds, and feeds
articulate value of FortiGuard security and Fortinet support services
nnDon’t discount heavily as an initial approach to close the deal
(how effectively can we design, support, and protect?)
nnDevelop nnFocus on the Fortinet positives, NOT the negatives of the competitor
a migration strategy framework/approach—tailor
suggestions depending on the size of deployment and customer nnEnterprise: Don’t lead with lower cost (not their primary
type (e.g., FortiConverter, professional services, automation tools, etc.) success criteria)

WHO IS INVOLVED FROM THE CUSTOMER?

Who is the typical economic sponsor level buyer that we should be engaging? Who is the technical buyer that we need to ensure
doesn’t block us? Are there any other key roles involved in this solution decision?

ECONOMIC SPONSOR LEVEL BUYER nnAchieve regulatory compliance (e.g., PCI, PII, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.)
Possible Titles nnStreamline operations through products/services consolidation
nnDirector/VPof Network Operations or Infrastructure nnAutomate actions/orchestrations on-premises and across
(Network Operations Team) multiple clouds with third-party tools (e.g., Ansible, etc.)
nnDirector/VP of Security (Infosec Team)
TECHNICAL BUYER
Potential Other Participants
Possible Titles
nnCIO (approver)
nnEngineer (Security, Network, Infrastructure, Operations)
nnArchitect (could be economic buyer OR could be an influencer)
nnManager of Engineering (Security, Network, Infrastructure,
nnCISO (influencer) Operations)
nnCFO—Mid-Enterprise (influencer) Typical Job Responsibilities
Typical Job Responsibilities nnEasyto deploy, orchestrate policy, use, and troubleshoot
nnDefine security/network/infrastructure architecture (powerful GUI)
nnBalance between the cost of security and the business impact nnIntegrate
with existing third-party solutions—no rip and replace—
of compromised hosts low-impact integration
nnReduce the number of outliers (i.e., technology outside of the nnAvailability of training—come up to speed quickly
standards) nnEffectiveness of support—solution architects (ready-to-use
nn Minimize network complexity and streamline operations boilerplates)

Solution Expectations nnFrom the manager’s perspective, “How easy is it to hire

expertise?”
nnMinimize risks, attack surface, downtime—manage network/
product outages, loss of revenue, brand damages and improve
security posture
nnCost-effectiveSSL inspection, threat protection to achieve
defense in depth
nnConsistent security policy, and simplified architectures to protect
users and infrastructure and meet the rising network traffic needs

2
FORTIGATE HIGH-END NGFW SALES DISCOVERY GUIDE: THINGS TO KNOW

1 2
Existing Situation
(Research Before an
Executive Meeting)
nnWhat plans do you have to transform your security
architecture? What do you perceive as top opportunities
to optimize this architecture?
nnWhat do you perceive as pros and cons of your current
vendor strategy?
nnWhat
is your segmentation strategy? Do you have any
imminent business mandates to reduce risks, achieve
compliance, etc.?
nnHow do you detect Shadow IT applications and malware
in SSL-encrypted flows?
nnHow have you deployed next-generation firewalls to date?
Did you utilize any automation and orchestration tools?
nnWhat
business drivers are necessitating the need for high-
speed interfaces such as 40G/100G (on DC/WAN sides)?
nnBeyond
NGFW, what other solutions are you considering
to improve your security posture?
nnWhat security impacts are you anticipating with multi-cloud
adoption?
nnAre you exploring SD-WAN? What is your current approach
to providing L7 security while consuming services from the
cloud?
Why Change?
Questions Surface Pain
nnWhat do you perceive as the top challenges (cost,
complexity, streamlined operations) that are impeding
business growth?
nnWhat are the main challenges with existing solutions to
detect unknown attacks (e.g., TCO, ease of management,
etc.)?
nnWhat regulatory compliance do you have to follow before
sending any data to one or more clouds?
nnDo you have flat networks? If yes, what mechanisms are
in place to prevent lateral spread of attacks?
nnIf
your network is segmented (e.g., VLANs, VMware
NSX, Cisco ACI)—how do you prevent lateral spread of
malware between two users in the same segment?
nnHow do you deal with rising user/network traffic? Does
your existing NGFW performance bottleneck and impede
digital transformation? How are you addressing this?
nnFor the NGFW solution you are considering, do you rely
on in-house or third-party (e.g., NSS Labs) conducted
testing?

3
Note:
You will need to understand their current networking landscape
including: switch standards, policy auditing, SDN, and SIEM. Why Now?
Guidance if Responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) :
nnWhat challenges or concerns do you have in terms of
Find out who helped them define the RFP. Was it the
partner and/or the competitor? how you are transforming the application experience for
customers, partners, and suppliers?
If the RFP is biased toward a competitor, then take
nnDo you have assets that are geographically dispersed and
the competitive/disruptive approach to redefine the
requirements of the RFP. need to share across multiple groups? Do these assets
need to be grouped and protected in accordance with a
For example, use Barclays win as an example to show
compliance standard (HIPAA, PCI, SOX, GDPR, etc.)?
the power of Security Fabric and how does it seamlessly
nnWhat is your automation strategy to deal with increased
integrate with Cisco ACI and provide L7 advanced security
across all assets that are micro-segmented by Cisco ACI skill requirements for your security teams?
nnWhat areas of your security posture are you looking to
Highlight City of Miami win that deployed Fortinet to
consolidate six firewall vendors into a single FortiGate improve, and how are these perceived as strategic and
high-end NGFW therefore have been funded?

3
FORTIGATE HIGH-END NGFW SALES DISCOVERY GUIDE: THINGS TO KNOW

4
nnWho
Buying Coalition
(Who Is Involved?)
is involved in major decisions about next-generation
5
nnWho
Outside Influencers?
is your current firewall vendor?
firewall infrastructure? nnAre there any consultants who are helping you evolve your
nnWho owns the budget? processes?
nnWho owns the security architecture and network transformation? nnWho are the main vendors/GSI who are influential to your
nnWho
strategy, architecture, and execution plans?
assesses fit for network and infrastructure?
nnWho is involved in the decision and what is the timeline?

6 7
Buying Process
(Decision Process/
Budgeting Status?) Solution Requirements
nnWhat is your typical process for making this type of nnWhat specific measurable outcomes must the ideal
procurement decision? solution deliver?
nnWhat time frame would be ideal to have an improved nnWhat are your key expectations for a solution vendor?
solution in place? nnWhat support do you need to design, build, test, evaluate,
implement, and operate?

8 9
Other Approaches Their Reasons to
or Competitors? Recommend Fortinet?
(Internal and External) (Why Fortinet?)
nnWhat attempts have you made in the past to address some nnWhat aspects about the Fortinet solution seem most
of the issues discussed? compelling to you?
nnWhat other major procurement initiatives are in nnWhat aspects of partnering with Fortinet look to be most
consideration right now? valuable to your company?
nnWhat other companies are you considering in this process?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
To access other FortiGate High-End NGFW assets, please visit the NGFW page on FUSE along with the corporate website.
nnLearn about Fortinet high-end firewall offerings nnEnable yourself through the sales stages
nnTake the High-End Firewall Market & Prospecting Sales Training nnPromote awareness, engagement, and consideration
nnUnderstand the product and competitors including key differentiators nnSell it
nnRead about third-party validations
Use these assets in conjunction with the FortiGate High-End NGFW Sales Discovery Guide to prospect for and progress opportunities.
Get informed, prospect, generate meetings, create pipeline, and generate revenue!

1
Three-tier architecture is composed of access, distribution, and core switches vs. two-tier spine-leaf architecture, which consists of access and core switches.

INTERNAL USE - CONFIDENTIAL 4