When Should I Replace My Firewall?

We’ve worked with a lot of firewalls here at AlphaRidge. Every now and again we encounter a real dinosaur, firewalls as old and clunky as a cassette player (okay, maybe not that old but you get the picture). While Apple might push you on a yearly upgrade, not all hardware has nor should it have such a short lifecycle. Tasked with preventing and allowing access to and from your businesses private computer network, firewalls are an integral component of your IT environment. So it’s important to ask, when is the right time to replace your firewall? Well, there are a few things to consider.

Policy & Budget

In the ever-evolving threat lanscape, having an active replacement schedule for your firewall device(s) is not a bad idea. Even if it still works, a firewall from 10 years ago is not going to be as effective and manageable as a firewall from 2018. Aggressive replacement schedules can be cost prohibitive for many small businesses. Consult your IT support provider on what the best options for your environment are. They should be aware of the policy and functions that your business needs, and can provide constructive insights to help guide your decision.

Support

It’s a good idea to look into replacing your firewall once the device no longer receives support from the manufacturer. If you can no longer retain active support on the device, it can be cheaper to replace it rather than invest and unlimited amount of time troubleshooting when you encounter issues with the device or need to deploy new features or policy. It’s worth noting that in many cases, if your firewall is out of support, it’s also out of compliance.

Business Growth

As your business grows, the security needs of your environment will naturally evolve. Replacing a basic firewall with one designed to handle the growth and traffic of your business is critical as a new firewall can increase throughput, have greater VPN capability, and will be able to handle administrative complexities.

Not sure if your IT environment is secure? Not sure if you need to replace a firewall or if you even have one? Let our team help! Click here to book a meeting with us today.

AlphaRidge is a leading IT support provider, located in NY.  With over 15 years of managed services experience, AlphaRidge experts have solutions for your specific needs. We place the highest value on the protection and privacy of your data, and we maintain transparency to you with every service we provide. Our white glove on-site and remote service is designed to demystify IT and streamline your concerns into rapid solutions, so that you can focus on what you do best. Consider our team, your team.

Disclaimer: This blog post, in addition to any posts presented on the AlphaRidge blog are written for informational purposes only, and should not be seen as technological, financial, healthcare, legal, etc advice.