Forward Enterprise
Digital twin software
Network automation tools
Cloud security posture management (CSPM) software
Cloud security software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
Take the quiz to check if Forward Enterprise and its alternatives fit your requirements.
Contact the product provider
Free Trial unavailableFree version unavailable
Small
Medium
Large
- Public sector and nonprofit organizations
- Banking and insurance
- Healthcare and life sciences
What is Forward Enterprise
Forward Enterprise is a network digital twin and automation platform used to model, verify, and continuously validate enterprise and cloud network configurations against intended design and security policies. It targets network engineering and NetOps/SecOps teams that need pre-change testing, compliance checks, and troubleshooting across hybrid environments. The product builds a mathematical model of network behavior from device and cloud configurations to simulate reachability and policy outcomes without generating traffic. It also supports automated checks and workflows to reduce configuration drift and change risk.
Configuration-based network digital twin
The platform derives its digital twin from device and cloud configuration/state data rather than relying on packet capture or synthetic traffic generation. This enables reachability and policy analysis even when test traffic is difficult to generate or when environments are segmented. It is well-suited to validating intent and security controls before and after changes across complex networks.
Pre-change verification workflows
Forward Enterprise supports “what-if” analysis to evaluate the impact of planned changes on connectivity and security policy outcomes. This helps teams catch misconfigurations and unintended access paths prior to deployment. It aligns with change-management processes by providing repeatable checks that can be integrated into engineering workflows.
Continuous compliance and drift detection
The product can continuously compare observed configuration/state to intended policies and highlight deviations. This supports ongoing posture management for network segmentation, access controls, and routing behavior across hybrid environments. It provides a structured way to operationalize network policy validation beyond periodic audits.
Not a full CSPM suite
While it can validate cloud networking and security controls, it does not replace broader CSPM capabilities such as multi-service cloud asset inventory, vulnerability findings, and governance across a wide range of managed services. Organizations typically still need separate tooling for comprehensive cloud configuration compliance beyond networking. Fit is strongest where the primary risk is network connectivity and policy behavior.
Model accuracy depends on inputs
The quality of analysis depends on the completeness and correctness of collected configurations, routing state, and cloud constructs. Gaps in data collection, unsupported features, or inconsistent configuration sources can reduce fidelity of the digital twin. Teams may need to invest time in normalizing inputs and validating coverage for their environment.
Operational learning and integration effort
Adopting the platform typically requires mapping organizational intent (policies, segmentation rules, change standards) into the product’s policy and verification constructs. Integrations with CI/CD, ITSM, and network data sources can require engineering effort to operationalize at scale. Teams may need process changes to consistently use pre-change testing and continuous validation.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Forward Enterprise (Enterprise network digital twin) | Not publicly listed — contact Forward Networks / Request a demo | Enterprise-grade network digital twin for hybrid on-prem & cloud; pricing is set in customer Orders and treated as confidential per the Master Services Agreement. Cloud capabilities have been described by Forward as based on “pay-as-you-grow” cloud consumption in official blog posts. |
Seller details
Forward Networks, Inc.
Santa Clara, California, USA
2013
Private
https://www.forwardnetworks.com/
https://x.com/ForwardNetworks
https://www.linkedin.com/company/forward-networks/
