Palo Alto, Fortinet, Check Point Control Firewall Gartner MQ

Cisco Visionary, HPE Juniper Challenger in Inaugural Hybrid Mesh Firewall Ranking Michael Novinson (MichaelNovinson) • August 29, 2025

Network security behemoths Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet and Check Point Software topped Gartner's first-ever Magic Quadrant for hybrid mesh firewalls.

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Gartner said the firewall market is moving toward centralized orchestration, interoperability and AI-powered automation, driven by growing hybrid environments and the explosion of new threat vectors like the internet of things, artificial intelligence and software-as-a-service. Organizations are prioritizing platform approaches and simplified licensing, Gartner said, with demand for open API frameworks and automation across continuous integration and delivery pipelines.

"The HMF market is rapidly evolving, driven by the need for unified firewall and threat prevention controls across hybrid environments - spanning on-premises, cloud and edge," Gartner wrote. Analysts weren't available for additional comment (see: Palo Alto, Fortinet, Check Point Top Firewall Forrester ...