Forward Networks
★★★★★ 5.0 · 11 Reviews
What is Forward Networks?
Forward Networks, located in Santa Clara, California, was founded in July 2013 by four Ph.D. graduates from Stanford University, Brandon Heller, Peyman Kazemian, Nikhil Handigol, and David Erickson. Our four co-founders have spent their careers working to improve networking as contributors to OpenFlow and pioneers of software-defined networking (SDN). They saw deficiencies in network operations: extreme complexity, human error, and outdated tools. These deficiencies make networks easy to break and hard to fix. Forward Networks delivers an innovative platform that provides network visibility, policy verification, and change modeling. Designed to help network teams eliminate costly network outages, the Forward Networks platform enables engineers and operators to easily visualize and search complex networks, quickly debug problems, verify network-wide policy correctness, and predict network behavior prior to making changes to production equipment — for legacy, SDN, or hybrid environments. Fortune 100 financial institutions, large government agencies, and IT service providers use Forward Networks to de-risk business operations and drive operational efficiency.
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Forward Networks Reviews (11)
- ★★★★★11
- ★★★★★0
- ★★★★★0
- ★★★★★0
- ★★★★★0
Review Summary
Generated using AI from real user reviews
Forward Networks earns universal praise across all 11 reviews, with users consistently highlighting its ability to simplify network visibility and troubleshooting at scale.
Users value the platform most for its intuitive interface, fast search capabilities across large networks, and ability to trace packet flow and verify firewall policies end-to-end. The sandbox testing feature and automatic snapshots let teams validate configurations before production deployment. Beyond the product itself, reviewers repeatedly commend the company's responsive support team and willingness to implement customer suggestions and bug fixes within weeks to months. The vendor-agnostic mathematical model and SaaS delivery model appeal to organizations managing complex, multi-vendor environments without requiring full network overhauls.
Minor criticisms appear sporadically: some users note configurations aren't always current, the search function could be more robust, and snapshot capture could be faster. A few mention wanting better documentation with advanced use cases and additional predictive features like routing forecasts. One reviewer suggests extensive POC testing in a live environment before full deployment.
Overall, the feedback skews heavily positive, with reviewers describing the tool as a genuine time-saver for auditing, troubleshooting, and risk reduction during SDN and SD-WAN transitions.
★★★★★
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
“Forward Enterprise features a very user-friendly interface that makes it…”
Forward Enterprise features a very user-friendly interface that makes it simple to understand and operate. I also admire how quickly it can return results from queries across a huge network. Working with their support engineers has been a great pleasure as well. They are really responsive and can swiftly implement fixes. They are also highly receptive to suggestions and prepared to put them into action if they benefit the overall client base. It's incredibly valuable because it can track packet flow from source to destination. For my job of auditing different areas of the network, finding network devices and their model information as well as their configurations has saved me a lot of time. Path and firewall policy verification is the most significant issue we are addressing. The benefit we've observed is the speed at which consumers can confirm if their connectivity is failing due to a firewall regulation or because of an improper network path.
★★★★★
Sunday, December 5, 2021
“The vendor agnostic mathemetical model is helping solving such a…”
The vendor agnostic mathemetical model is helping solving such a complex piece of industry. I use ForwardNetwork for Verification and Validation of configuration. The product's strength is in its algorithm
★★★★★
Friday, January 17, 2020
“I like search features, detailed outputs from devices as well…”
I like search features, detailed outputs from devices as well as sandbox/test features which allow to test traffic flows and configurations before applying them into a production environment. In addition, automatic snapshots gather all necessary information and it is pretty useful. I do not recognize any major downsides of leveraging Forward Networks at this point. Possibly the search function could provide additional features and a time to take snapshots could be reduced. It is a great platform which helps maintain and improve IT operations. It does store all necessary configurations and updates them daily. In addition, it does provide testing capabilities which are very useful in the production environments. Lastly, it helps to maintain the appropriate levels of compliance for organizations. Forward Networks allows me to keep all backup configs in one place, have better capabilities to troubleshoot complicated issues and discover any intermediate issues in production infrastructures.
★★★★★
Friday, January 17, 2020
“Great Tool for Gaining Valuable Insights Into a Highly Complex…”
Great Tool for Gaining Valuable Insights Into a Highly Complex Network! Forward Enterprise has a highly intuitive interface making it easy to learn and use. I also like the speed at which it can return searches about a large network. Working with their support engineers has also been a very pleasant experience. They are highly responsive and are able to roll out fixes quickly. They are also very open to suggestions and willing to implement those if its something the entire population of customers can benefit from. Highly recommend doing a Proof of Concept so that you can see if Forward Networks meets your requirements. A simple POC can run simple checks on your network that fine misconfigurations that would not otherwise be possible to find. The biggest problem we are solving is path and firewall policy verification. The benefit we've realized is the speed in which users can confirm if their connectivity is failing because of a firewall policy or because of an invalid network path.
★★★★★
Friday, November 22, 2019
“Very Good Tool to Troubleshoot Networks The way it can…”
Very Good Tool to Troubleshoot Networks The way it can trace packet flow from source to destination is extremely useful. Finding network devices and their model information as well as their configurations has been a huge time saver for my job of auditing different aspects of the network. Not much I don't like about forward networks. the configurations sometimes is not as up to date as it should be and the search functionality can be improved. Also a user guide and blog detailing how to use advanced functions within forward networks espeacially with user case examples would be really good. Its a useful tool and one that can save a huge amount of time Troubleshooting end to end flows, working out sources and destinations and the path packets can take between them. finding devices, finding configurations has been made a lot easier with forward networks. I have been able to resolve trouble tickets a lot faster and work out end to end flows quicker with access to forward networks.
★★★★★
Monday, August 26, 2019
“Product Is Great And The Company Account Team Is Very…”
Product Is Great And The Company Account Team Is Very Responsive! My experience of working with Forward Networks was good. They have a very good product and a responsive team who is willing to work with you to make sure the product works as expected. They are great about taking feature requests and implementing bug fixes. Typical turn around time for bug fixes was a couple of weeks and we have seen a few suggested feature enhancements within months of asking for them. I like it being a SaaS application which results in up-to-date software and easy maintenance. I would recommend doing extensive testing (ie POC) in your live environment to make sure all features work as expected.
★★★★★
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
“Automate Today For A Risk Reduction Migration To Next-Gen SDN…”
Automate Today For A Risk Reduction Migration To Next-Gen SDN And SDWAN Forward Networks has rapidly developed to make the network visible, easy to understand, improve automation, and reduce outages to the network, applications and business process. This tool is impressive wow factor to all engineers who review it. It can help reduce risks and ensure outcomes for SRE teams, DevOps and CI/CD functions. Forward Networks has developed testing for the most common errors that are root cause for Sev1 events. Most importantly, Forward Networks is ready to go NOW, on today's current architectures and vendors. CTO/CIO's do not need to invest in a full network refresh - Forward Networks has proven benefits on existing install base. Moreover, CTO will want to know exactly what you have today before automating a risk reduced path to next generation SDN and SDWAN investments. Invest in Forward Networks now, before SDN and SDWAN transformations programs.
★★★★★
Thursday, December 20, 2018
“Forward Enterprise Can Provide Us Easy To Manage The Complicated…”
Forward Enterprise Can Provide Us Easy To Manage The Complicated Network Environment. It can make system high reliability and avoid mistake. Especially critical network environment can get a great value by this solution. I hope to implement a capability of additional predict feature like a routing predict function.
★★★★★
Friday, December 14, 2018
“Outstanding Product Developed By A Passionate Team Forward Networks has…”
Outstanding Product Developed By A Passionate Team Forward Networks has carefully crafted a robust product and provides all the support needed to help its customers achieve success. Passionate engagements from team leaders and strong desire to gather feedback and improve the product makes FN standout as a reliable and continually evolving solution. If you are considering using Forward Networks in your environment don't hesitate; They will make your success their success.
★★★★★
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
“Fantastic Software To Simulate Your Network And Identify And Resolve…”
Fantastic Software To Simulate Your Network And Identify And Resolve More Problems good experience with Forward Netowrks, all team are very competent and helped me to POC with my customer. The search feature are very impressive when you try in a complex network. The predict feature eases the modify in the infrastructure. This product is a good choice to reduce the time and costs on enterprice customer The search feature are great on a big enviroment, you find all path to the traffic and reduce the time of the analytics. the other fantastic feature are the predict that help and reduce the incident and problem on complex infrastructure
