Today's enterprise firewalls must be able to secure an increasingly complex network that includes traditional on-premises data center deployments, remote offices and a range of cloud environments.

Then you have to implement and test the firewall once it's installed. Perhaps the only element more complex than configuring, testing and managing a next-generation firewall is the decision-making process regarding which product to trust with your enterprise security.

You know you need to protect your company from unauthorized or unwanted access. You need a network security tool that examines the flow of data packets in and out of the enterprise, governed by rules that decide whether that flow is safe, malicious or questionable and in need of inspection.

You need a firewall. Recognizing that you need a firewall is the first - and most obvious -- step. The next crucial step in the decision-making process is determining which firewall features and policies best-suit your company's needs.