Cybersecurity firm Fortinet Inc. today announced new product and service additions to its Fortiflex program that deliver more flexible licensing options to customers.

Fortiflex is a suite of virtualized solutions for protecting cloud and virtual data center deployments and, with today’s announcement, now supports services for physical FortiGate next-generation firewall appliances. As of today, Fortiflex is also available via a private offer in the Amazon Web Services Inc. Marketplace as an additional purchasing option. 

Fortinet says that with highly distributed users accessing highly distributed applications and a growing number of edges, networks are evolving at an unprecedented rate. Information technology teams are often expected to procure and deploy solutions before they fully understand their needs, which frequently change.

Flexible licensing programs, which allow organizations to pay by usage, are a solution to navigating this challenge. Fortinet argues that though there will always be a need for traditional product licensing models, usage-based pricing offers customers an additional way to leverage the solutions they need and adapt to their business’ dynamic needs.

FortiFlex uses a points system to help customers track their balance, usage trends and total spending. Organizations can spend points on any combination of cloud, hybrid cloud and on-premises deployments. Budgets committed to certain cloud providers, such as Google Cloud and now Amazon Web Services, can be used to purchase FortiFlex points. FortiFlex also caters to managed security service providers, allowing them to pool licenses across their customer base and easily manage license migration and reassignment.

The updated FortiFlex now supports the FortiGuard AI-powered Security Services and FortiCare technical support for several FortiGate next-generation firewall appliances. The appliances support a hybrid mesh firewall architecture, offering a coordinated system of threat intelligence and security policies.

The FortiFlex program also now supports FortiGate 40F, FortiGate 60E/F series, FortiGate 70F, FortiGate 80F, FortiGate 100E/F series, FortiGate 200 E/F series, FortiGate 400F and FortiGate 600F.

For customers using the AWS Enterprise Discount Program, FortiFlex can help reduce their minimum spending threshold by converting portions of it into FortiFlex points. This allows customers to secure better AWS service prices and leverage Fortinet’s secure networking products.

“The solutions organizations deploy today are becoming more flexible to support highly distributed users and applications. Licensing models should be just as flexible,” John Maddison, executive vice president of products and chief marketing officer of Fortinet, said ahead of the news. “That’s why we’re excited to expand our FortiFlex program to give customers more licensing options to utilize Fortinet solutions and services according to their evolving needs.”

Photo: Robert Hof/SiliconANGLE