Managed Firewall
What is a Managed Firewall?
A managed firewall is a network security service operated by a third-party provider rather than by an in-house IT team. It functions just like a traditional firewall - monitoring inbound and outbound network traffic and enforcing security policies - but with the added advantage that configuration, analysis, and maintenance are all handled by seasoned cybersecurity professionals.
Originating as organizations realized in-house management could be resource-intensive and error-prone, managed firewall services emerged to fill that gap, particularly valuable where internal cybersecurity expertise is limited or stretched thin.
Why are Managed Firewalls Important?
Managed firewalls are vital in modern cybersecurity strategies because they offer high levels of protection without burdening internal teams, reducing risks and improving compliance - especially important in a landscape where misconfigurations account for a significant portion of breaches.
Key Features of Managed Firewalls
Continuous and Centralized Oversight: A managed firewall is distinguished by its continuous and centralized oversight of your network’s perimeter security. At its core, this means that all firewall rules, configurations, and security policies are administered through a unified interface, streamlining management and minimizing complexity.
Expert Management & Maintenance: A dedicated service provider handles configuration, firmware updates, patching, policy tuning, and compliance documentation. When opting for a managed firewall service, organizations benefit from cybersecurity professionals who oversee every aspect of its operation - from tailored configuration and policy creation to regular firmware updates and patch deployments - ensuring defenses remain current and effective. These experts continuously analyze firewall policies, tuning rules as systems and threats evolve to maintain optimal balance between protection and accessibility. They also proactively generate thorough compliance documentation and audit-ready reports, simplifying adherence to standards like PCI-DSS or HIPAA. This comprehensive, behind-the-scenes management not only offsets the complexity and risk of manual oversight but also frees internal teams to focus on strategic projects with confidence the frontline security is being skillfully maintained.
Scalability & Flexibility: Scalability and adaptability are built-in advantages of managed firewall services. Whether an organization scales up its cloud infrastructure, expands to new sites, or shifts to hybrid or virtual environments, the service can adjust seamlessly to evolving security requirements without burdening internal teams. Complementing this flexibility is a rigorous automated update and patch management process, ensuring the firewall remains fortified against the latest threats without manual intervention.
24/7 Firewall Monitoring & Alerts: Remote access integration also features prominently: managed firewalls often include secure VPN support, ensuring encrypted, controlled access for remote users or offices while maintaining security policy consistency. Monitoring by a NOC helps ensure the firewall is always providing the protection that is expected, and that any local changes are authorized.
Extensive and Customized Reports: Finally, extensive logging and reporting round out the feature set. Detailed records of network traffic, events, and blocked attempts allow for audits, troubleshooting, and regulatory compliance. Many services offer customizable reports to help administrators assess overall security posture and meet industry standards with greater confidence.
Benefits of Managed Firewalls
Managed firewalls provide a robust and cost‑effective solution for organizations that lack the specialized personnel or resources to maintain firewall security in‑house. With a managed firewall, day‑to‑day operations such as configuration tuning and patch application, real‑time threat analysis, and incident management are all offloaded, enabling internal teams to redirect their focus toward strategic IT initiatives. This is especially valuable in multi‑site enterprises, small‑to‑medium businesses (SMBs), small MSPs, or any environment where internal security expertise is either limited or overwhelmed.
The continuous presence of expert monitoring ensures firewall configuration is updated regularly with new best practices and that new vulnerability patches are applied quickly. This is crucial, as threat actors often take advantage of new vulnerabilities within 48 hours.
From a compliance perspective, managed firewall service providers support audit trails and reporting, simplifying the burden of regulatory adherence. As the organization scales, managed firewall solutions easily grow with it - whether through hardware upgrades for physical deployments or elastic, cloud‑based management platforms that eliminate the need for manual firmware updates and offer predictable subscription pricing. Industries such as healthcare, finance, retail, and others handling sensitive data especially benefit from managed firewall services, as they combine high assurance with operational ease and regulatory alignment.
Challenges and Considerations
While managed firewalls offer considerable advantages, several challenges and considerations remain in choosing and deploying them. Organizations must carefully evaluate provider selection, focusing not just on technology but also on service-level agreements (SLAs) and provider expertise—because even minor misconfigurations or delayed responses can lead to major breaches.
Cost is another factor: although overall more economical than assembling a full internal security team, managed firewall services typically operate via subscription models, which may strain budgets if service tiers escalate over time or require significant scaling.
There’s also the matter of control and trust: some organizations may hesitate to relinquish full control over their perimeter security, especially if the provider’s response procedures aren’t transparent or customizable. Integration with existing IT infrastructure, including legacy systems or hybrid cloud environments, can also pose technical challenges, particularly if the managed service lacks compatibility with certain systems or protocols.
From a cybersecurity posture perspective, it’s important that the managed firewall remains aligned with the organization’s evolving policies, compliance mandates, and threat landscape; the provider must remain proactive in updating policies and applying patches.
Despite these challenges, managed firewall solutions help address many of them: by providing expert-level monitoring, configuration, scalable deployment, and regulatory support, they reduce vulnerability, free internal teams for higher-level work, and make firm security posture more accessible and maintainable. When thoughtfully selected and managed, a managed firewall can serve as both a powerful defense mechanism and a strategic enabler in modern cybersecurity frameworks.
Industry Trends & Developments
The managed firewall landscape is evolving rapidly, driven by advances in AI, cloud platforms, threat complexity, and demand from MSPs.
Cloud Managed Firewall Platforms: Cloud-native, multi-tenant management platforms have also gained prominence. Services built on microservices and unified dashboards allow MSPs and large organizations to manage firewall fleets across regions or customers with minimal friction, zero-touch provisioning, and centralized visibility.
Bundled Services: Another rising trend is the consolidation of services. Managed firewalls are increasingly bundled with endpoint protection, secure remote access (e.g., replacing VPN with ZTNA), and co-managed NOC/SOC capabilities - offering comprehensive, layered security rather than standalone firewall services.
Cyber Warranties: Cyber warranties are also emerging as a value-add. Managed firewall providers now offer financial backstops against breach incidents, enhancing customer confidence and differentiating service offerings.
As cybersecurity threats grow more sophisticated and regulatory scrutiny increases, managed firewall services are likely to further converge with overall security platforms: expect broader integration with services like threat intelligence sharing, SOAR capabilities, and managed detection & response (MDR), enabling organizations to shift from fragmented security stacks to coordinated, proactive defense ecosystems.
Managed Firewall Solution: SonicWall’s MPSS
SonicWall has positioned itself at the forefront of this evolution by offering advanced managed firewall capabilities tailored for MSPs and SMBs. Our Managed Protection Security Suite (MPSS) delivers 24/7 firewall management, configuration, patching, and health checks, backed by the SonicSentry Network Operations Center (NOC) team, ensuring expert handling of firewall monitoring and configuration.
At the core of SonicWall’s managed firewall strategy is its cloud-native unified management platform (formerly SonicPlatform and now known as SonicWall Unified Management), which offers a single-pane-of-glass interface for administering firewalls, endpoints, access points, switches, and more across multi-tenant environments.
Embedded AI-driven monitoring and insights (SAMI) help automate routine tasks, prioritize alerts, and improve response times, reducing alert fatigue and making operations more efficient. SonicWall's next-generation firewalls, including the latest Generation 8, are designed for SMB to mid-enterprise use. They provide advanced threat protection, a key part of MPSS deployments. These firewalls also include robust cyber warranties, with coverage up to $100K for qualified devices, and up to $200K when managed under MPSS—adding a financial safeguard that many standard managed firewall services do not offer.
SonicWall’s ecosystem further extends to advanced access control like Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), replacing VPNs with policy-based, one-click connectors for secure remote access.
Overall, SonicWall distinguishes itself by offering a tightly integrated managed firewall experience - blending expert management, unified control, automation, advanced protection, and financial assurance - built especially for MSPs seeking scalable, secure, and profitable services.
Find out more about SonicWalls’s Managed Protection Security Suite.