Rent or Buy a Firewall? A Network Security Expert’s Perspective

So here I sit, at my desk after a third coffee, still buzzing, not just from the caffeine, but caffeine in combination with the topsy turvy-ness that is Defcon, and specifically hardware hacking village. It’s wild world out there for network security, and to be honest, choosing the best path for choosing whether to rent or purchase a firewall is something with which I’ve struggled since the time I started as a network admin—way back in 1993, when Networking and mux for voice/data over PSTN was the hot topic and before Slammer worm destroyed the internet. Fast forward to today; I own a cybersecurity consulting company, P J Networks, and I get this question all the time: Should I rent my firewall or buy it outright? So here we go, a dime’s worth based on experience, including recent gigs where we’ve assisted three banks with their zero trust upgrade.

Cost Comparison

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: money talks and bullshit walks. When you look at rent vs buy in the firewall space that cost is not just the price tag on the box – it’s also about cashflow, capex vs opex, tax treatment, and what your IT spend actually looks like.

Buying is analogous to owning a car outright. You pay up front — a larger bite of the apple — and then you’re on your own for maintenance and updates and possibly stuck with out-of-sync gear. But hey, once you pay off those costs, that firewall is yours. No more monthly bills, and you can try to eke as much performance out of it as possible.

Renting? More like leasing a car. The lower initial cost, the predictable monthly expense, and you get to upgrade hardware as technologies change. And you don’t get stuck dealing with the headache of aging hardware.

From what I’ve seen, notably assisting banks with zero-trust rollouts, the decision often comes down to your company’s financial strategy:

• Renting: less of a cash-flow burden. No big upfront capital. Great for startups or quickly scaling up.
• Buying: cheaper in the long run if you know your firewall needs and have IT muscle to run gear.

But here’s the catch — if you have an unexpected spike in your firewall requirements or can’t negotiate a good contract, the cost savings from renting can evaporate faster than you can say “boo.”

Flexibility and Scalability

Here’s the thing about alerts and new threats —  they don’t respect business quarters. Firewalls must do the same, with scalability and flexibility being must-haves.

Equipment purchased is like a classic car — you love it but beefing up the horsepower is pricey and complex. Yes, you can patch it, but digital security changes at a pace quicker than the old highway cruisers.

Renting a firewall, however, enables you to keep up with network changes, traffic surges, or new compliance guidelines quickly, without having to reevaluate an existing budget. During the terms of your rental agreement, you can change models, add modules or boost throughput. When we moved those three banks up to zero-trust, flexibility was a life saver–they could defend-in-depth-enhance bit by bit, no massive capital dumps.

But don’t confuse that flexibility for a free for all — these leases often tie you to pay for plans you’ll end up overpaying on if your needs don’t swing all that much.

Maintenance and Support

Ah, this one’s a personal hot-button of mine. Flash back to early 2000, and I was trying to help build and deploy patches and firmware around the damage from Slammer worm. I learnt real quick: a firewall without regular updates and decent support is nothing more than a very expensive paperweight.

Purchasing comes with the commitment of maintenance. You either have an in-house team (like I did back in the days of network admin) or your hire outside help. That can mean longer down time, delayed patches if your team is overloaded (trust me, I’ve been there).

When renting, maintenance and support are often bundled into the rental. You pick up the phone to the provider for problems, firmware updates, and even occasionally for cyber incident response. For SMBs that aren’t staffed with security teams this can be a huge weight off their backs.

But — and this is a big but — not all rental agreements are created equal. A few of those, however, nickel-and-dime for support outside very basic scope. And if you become too dependent on the outside help, you will lose the crucial in-house expertise you need to keep your inquiry safe and credible. A firewalled company that doesn’t know what’s behind the curtain? Doesn’t sit well with me.

PJ Networks’ Rental Solutions

P J Networks (office equipment Denver) We are a full service rental organization with experience in the rent vs buy firewall tryalon maze for over two decades.

• Free Consultation
• Free Phone Consultation
• Security Solutions Customized to your specific security requirements, risk tolerances and budget.

In the last little while we have started to design rental systems that is more than just renting of hardware:

• Flexible contract durations so you’re not bound for years; perfect for fast growing companies or temporary projects
• Proactive support and monitoring included for F’ sake, fuck yelling and screaming you about your firewall after a data breach occured at a client site…
• Flexible upgrade paths when the security posture must change rapidly

Trust me, when you rent from P J Networks, it’s not just about peddling hardware, it’s about futureproofing. You have the latest gear to align to your risk and you don’t have the overheads of owning and supporting all that gear.

Quick Take

For those of my readers who can’t stand super long blog posts (I hear you):

• Rent if you prefer lower upfront costs, flexibility and having someone else take care of maintenance.
• Buy if you want full control and potentially lower overall cost over the long run.

If your company’s networking needs shift quickly, or you’re growing, that flexibility is gold.

Renting support contracts will save you from firefights (not pun intended).

“But having your own firewall can be a pride of ownership — like tuning your own muscle car.”

Conclusion

Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this. Whether to rent vs buy firewall will depend on how large of a business you are, how much of an IT team you have, how much security you can stand and yes, what your IT budgeting attitude will be. From an early-detector of worms slaving away in the trenches to helping banks embrace zero-trust architectures, I have seen both sides win.

Here’s what I’m convinced of:

• No firewall is better than the person who maintains it. And your team? Rented or owned, your team still has to keep sharp — keep patching, monitoring, testing.
• Don’t be beguiled by buzzwords — especially not the AI flavored ones. It’s a bunch of fluff with a few blobs of real tech in there.
• Your firewall plan should be integrated into a comprehensive cyber security plan. I often say to people, Your firewall is not a magic bullet — it’s a cooking pot. You need the right ingredients (policies, training, monitoring) to cook a secure meal.

Mad respect to those who own the firewall gear and keep it tight. But if you need flexibility, options and predictability and solid support, rentals — like those offered by P J Networks — could rapidly become your best friend.

And if you’re still not sure —next time we chat, coffee number four is on me.