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Comparison
SecurityManaged firewall vs owned appliance
The question is who's on call when something breaks at 3 AM
Both models often use the same kind of firewall technology (for example, FortiGate or a cloud-based solution like Cloudflare). The difference isn't the technology itself, but who designs the policies, who responds to an incident, and who takes on ongoing maintenance.
This comparison is about the operating model, not one brand against another — within DITAP Security we implement both approaches depending on what the client needs to manage.
Criterion-by-criterion comparison
| Criterion | Managed firewall | Owned appliance |
|---|---|---|
| Who manages the policies | DITAP, as part of an ongoing service | The client's IT team, with point-in-time support from DITAP |
| Visibility and reporting | Periodic reports and a dashboard shared with the client | Depends on the client configuring and reviewing their own reports |
| Incident response speed | 24/7 monitoring as part of the managed service | Depends on the client's internal team availability |
| Cost structure | Predictable monthly fee that includes management | Hardware purchase plus the cost of staff to administer it |
| Multi-site scalability | Centralized policies applied consistently across sites | Requires manually replicating configuration at each site |
| Direct client control | Lower — policies are defined by DITAP together with the client | Total — the client controls every configuration change |
| Required internal learning curve | Low — no specialized staff needed at the client | High — requires staff trained on the specific platform |
| Reaction time to a new vulnerability | Fast — DITAP applies the patch as soon as the vendor publishes it | Depends on the internal team staying current with security bulletins |
What we recommend depending on your case
What we recommend depending on your case:
- A company with no IT team dedicated to security, or a small team focused on other priorities. Managed firewall — DITAP takes on day-to-day operations and incident response.
- An organization with regulatory requirements demanding total, auditable internal control over every policy change. Owned appliance, run by the client's own certified staff.
- A chain with multiple sites that needs consistent security policies without relying on each site configuring them separately. Managed firewall with centralized policies.
- A client who already has a mature internal security team and only needs occasional support from DITAP. Owned appliance, with DITAP as backup for specific projects.
- A company going through a merger or integrating another company's systems, with no defined security team yet. Managed firewall during the transition, until the combined team defines its own model.
Neither model is inherently more secure — security depends on someone, managed or in-house, actively reviewing the policies. A managed firewall solves the case where that "someone" doesn't yet exist inside the client's team.
This comparison is technical and unbiased: we receive no commission or commercial arrangement from any of the vendors or approaches mentioned. The recommendations reflect what we see working on real projects.
Need to decide this for your company?
Every site is different — let's talk about yours before deciding based on a generic comparison.
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