How can we face the demise of Forefront TMG?

You may already know that Microsoft has told Gartner this spring that it will not release the new Forefront TMG.

Specifically, Microsoft said it was strange that the information only appeared in the report and was not disclosed in any other external communication): TMG will be in a continuous engineering mode. In the future, Microsoft will not provide firewall and Security Gateway products. In fact, the TMG product will no longer exist. In the future, some products will only be used to fix security updates and critical errors, and further innovation will not be made.

This surprised many people. From Microsoft ISA servers to the Forefront product line, TMG is regarded as the "best" product in the security and edge management fields. Although it is not regarded by some customers as an integrated software and hardware application, the reason why it became a member of Microsoft products is that TMG's intelligent and intuitive status packet Detection Service, and its Web Cache function.

Therefore, users who use TMG in their daily network operations will consider where Microsoft's move will allow them to go. More importantly, without TMG, what will they choose in the future?

The clearest and most direct option provided by Microsoft is to use the unified application gateway UAG. UAG includes the TMG function, it is essentially a filter for inbound access to enterprise resources. UAG has the same filtering engine as TMG and can easily switch data transmission. For software giants like Microsoft, it is logical and simple to integrate obsolete TMG functions into new products. However, UAG also has its disadvantages: it is a product that combines hardware and software. It has many interfaces and the cost is higher than that of TMG. After a popular product is classified as a relatively unpopular product, Microsoft may launch more UAG application methods to bring the final cost to the customer's expectations.

Integrating TMG core functions into Windows Server 8 is undoubtedly a very popular option, but this is not yet confirmed. From the perspective of in-depth defense, Microsoft has been emphasizing the importance of the device firewall and the ability to ensure that the terminal devices are under attack. Integrating the TMG engine into Windows Server is logical and beneficial to the existing TMG customer base. This will also have a positive impact on the disappearance of TMG products.

Obviously, our concerns about the invested ISA Server and TMG are mainly focused on the termination of the product line and the provision of security patches for existing products only within a limited period of time. Now, the most important thing to consider is to start looking for other vendors to migrate TMG. After all, Microsoft has withdrawn from this market. If you are rethinking your edge protection, it is wise to exclude Microsoft. In any case, Microsoft has made a decision and you should make your own decision.