F5 and The Forrester Wave™: Web Application Firewalls, Q3 2022

Today, application portfolios are more diverse and complicated than ever. They span data centers, multiple clouds, the network, and the enterprise edge. They’re composed of a combination of legacy web apps as well as newer API-first developments. Their growing number and complexity, and the diversity of environments in which they’re deployed, open up a plethora of vectors on which to launch attacks.

That’s where web application firewalls (WAFs) come in. WAFs are a reliable, essential tool for app security. App-related complexities, coupled with the gap in numbers of skilled security practitioners, clearly highlight the necessity of deploying WAFs in front of all apps.

In The Forrester Wave™: Web Application Firewalls, Q3 2022, Forrester Research identified the 12 most significant WAF providers, then researched, analyzed, and scored them to see how they stack up relative to one another.

F5's WAF was identified as a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Web Application Firewalls, Q3 2022.

F5’s WAF features, strategy, and market presence play well, in our opinion, into Forrester’s recommendations. They include threat intelligence to improve analysis and automate protection in complex app environments, and ease of integration for both DevOps and SecOps teams, helping to simplify configuration and management of WAFs.

In their report, Forrester writes that F5 Advanced WAF offers leading API security features, such as API discovery, schema validation, and GraphQL support. Forrester also mentioned our WAF’s support for both Terraform and Ansible for infrastructure-as-code (IaC) to simplify rule creation and other configuration tasks that provide robust integrations.

Also, as part of The Forrester Wave™: Web Application Firewalls, Q3 2022, Forrester interviewed F5 WAF customers, identifying attack detection as a strength and “with more than one reference calling it excellent.” The F5 customers Forrester spoke with also touted F5 WAF’s support as “best-in-class” adoption support that is “unmatched by any other vendor.” (It's inspiring and gratifying to know when customers feel and speak as highly as they do about one’s products and services).

The Forrester Wave™: Web Application Firewalls, Q3 2022 also stated that our WAF product roadmap was one of the areas where F5 stood out and that it “ties back to core principles in the vision, and features several interesting new dashboards and extended API security features…” They also noted that “F5 is moving toward a unified platform with [F5 BIG-IP] Advanced WAF providing the core functionality for both on-prem and distributed cloud deployments.” Forrester recommended that any organization “seeking a unified solution with great customer support should look at F5’s BIG-IP Advanced WAF.”

As you work to increase protection for your growing swath of apps and APIs, please reach out to your F5 account manager or channel representative to evaluate the F5 WAF delivery model that best meets your needs.

Download your complimentary copy of The Forrester Wave™: Web Application Firewalls, Q3 2022 report to learn more about the state of the WAF market and how to better protect apps and APIs, as well as what Forrester and customers are saying about F5.

To learn more about F5 WAF solutions and our unified approach to WAF, click here.

Try F5 BIG-IP Advanced WAF on a 30-day free trial: AWS || Azure || GCP