

Find out in this report how the two Microsoft Security Suite solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
Recently, they have been under serious attack with major exploits, such as Log4j, affecting Fortinet and Palo Alto, and even Cisco and VMware.
AI-based recommendations save on time and money.
If a customer is already using Microsoft’s ecosystem, the ROI can be positive due to seamless integration.
Our MTTR, mean time to response, improved by forty to fifty percent. Earlier, medium-severity incidents took two to three hours to resolve. Now, after Microsoft Sentinel, it is forty to fifty-five minutes.
For example, time saving on incidents is 40 to 50%, and previously, incident analysis took two to three hours, whereas now it takes 30 to 60 minutes.
They are good at troubleshooting and configuring things.
I am very satisfied with the response from Microsoft dedicated architects if it happens that I have to call for their support.
I reached out to their support, and they helped me resolve the issue effectively.
Microsoft invests significantly in support, which is crucial for companies.
I believe Microsoft could improve by keeping customer service within the US for Microsoft Sentinel customers who are within state and federal government sectors.
Working with a Sentinel engineer helped us tune settings effectively.
Some Azure applications, like the web application firewall, require a certain level of SKU for hosting setup.
For our company, Azure Web Application Firewall works effectively for scalability.
There is no need to add hardware or redesign infrastructure because it is cloud-native.
As our organization uses Microsoft Azure and Defender, everything grows together, and we can integrate various features seamlessly.
Being a SaaS solution, the scalability of Microsoft Sentinel is robust.
Very rarely do I see any latency issues.
I have never experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues with Microsoft Sentinel because it is SOC as a Service, so it maintains 100% uptime and scaling.
In the past two years, our team hasn't encountered any issues with the stability of Microsoft Sentinel from an operations perspective.
I need to be aware of deprecated connectors as they may disconnect, but the data continues to be sent with a need for quick adaptation.
Upgrading the platform regularly is necessary for security, however, frequent updates every six months or year from Azure can be a maintenance overhead.
The pricing needs improvement, and I think for beginners it will be a little bit complicated, so the ease of use could be enhanced.
Log ingestion and retention costs can grow quickly, and understanding which data source is driving cost is not always straightforward.
We have some tools, such as our off-site Meraki firewalls, that have not fully integrated with Sentinel.
There are complexities in calculating the right pricing tier for different customers, which makes it difficult for me as a consultant during upfront pricing.
It is even a lower cost compared to AWS and GCP.
Sometimes, when opting for a higher SKU, it's not the WAF itself that's costly but the additional requirements.
I would place Azure Web Application Firewall at an eight on a scale from one to 10, with one being cheap and 10 being expensive.
It has been beneficial that Microsoft Sentinel is included as part of the Microsoft package, making it more cost-effective.
Microsoft Sentinel is not a low-cost SIEM.
Microsoft Sentinel is provided at no cost, so we didn't have any issues with the cost.
With Microsoft, everything is within a single suite, making it easier to configure and plan.
It is almost impossible to access these assets from outside, requiring a very skilled attacker to obtain asset tokens of a customer using Azure.
It integrates effectively with things such as Sentinel and Defender for Cloud, so mostly it's the analytics and now the AI capabilities that have been introduced with Co-pilot.
Microsoft Sentinel's ability to correlate data from multiple sources and its detection capabilities are essential.
Microsoft Sentinel has improved cost efficiency, which is one of the key areas we're able to win business against the ability to have threat intelligence.
Microsoft Sentinel's ability to correlate data from multiple sources enhances our threat detection capabilities beyond what is a simple data lake solution by filtering out the noise and consolidating the signal down to a meaningful level that is easier to investigate and see.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Sentinel | 4.8% |
| Azure Web Application Firewall | 2.0% |
| Other | 93.2% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 12 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 45 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 23 |
| Large Enterprise | 46 |
Azure Web Application Firewall provides strong protection, easy setup, and smooth integration with Microsoft services. It excels in request filtering, custom rule creation, and protection against OWASP Top 10 attacks, ensuring scalable and reliable performance for businesses.
Azure Web Application Firewall offers flexible, affordable, and efficient protection against critical security threats like DDoS and SQL injection, with seamless integration with Azure tools, analytics, and AI capabilities. Users appreciate its ability to handle web requests through role-based access, automation features, and custom policies, especially valuable in cloud environments and ecommerce. Despite the need to improve reporting, management, proxy forwarding, and documentation, it remains a reliable choice for securing front-facing applications.
What are the most important features of Azure Web Application Firewall?Azure Web Application Firewall is widely used in ecommerce for securing transactions against cyber threats like phishing and SQL injection. It also supports reverse proxy setups, provides detailed log analytics, and offers layer 7 protection, making it suitable for businesses needing robust security for both front-facing and branch connectivity applications.
Microsoft Sentinel offers cloud-native SIEM and SOAR capabilities with AI-powered threat detection, automated responses, and integration with Microsoft products. It is designed for comprehensive threat management with flexible deployment and scalability.
Microsoft Sentinel provides centralized management of cloud-based security monitoring and incident detection. Leveraging AI capabilities, it enhances threat intelligence and automation, allowing users to streamline security operations across cloud and on-premises systems. Microsoft Sentinel efficiently aggregates logs, correlates security events from multiple sources, and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft security offerings such as Defender. While its flexible deployment options and robust automation through playbooks are advantageous, users may encounter challenges with integration outside of Microsoft products, potential log ingestion delays, and a complex query language. The platform would benefit from enhanced speed, a simplified interface, improved query performance, and stronger documentation support.
What are the most important features of Microsoft Sentinel?In specific industries, Microsoft Sentinel is utilized for its capability to monitor cloud-based workloads and detect incidents effectively. Users in healthcare, finance, and retail adopt it for its strong AI-driven threat detection and its ability to integrate with existing Microsoft solutions, ensuring high-level security operations and compliance with industry standards.
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