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Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (6th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (6th)
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is designed for Cloud Email and holds a mindshare of 2.6%, up 1.6% compared to last year.
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), on the other hand, focuses on Anti-Malware Tools, holds 1.4% mindshare, down 2.2% since last year.
Cloud Email
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Pravin Mandlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides enhanced email security with potential agent compatibility issues
There are definitely features that Fortinet should work on. I'm not the right person to implement those features. For a portable cloud solution, a customer has more affinity towards a solution where endpoint security is already in place. In endpoint security, they are not at the latest quadrant. That is why a customer with existing endpoint security solutions like Trend Micro might prefer a main security solution from that vendor. If we go for FortiMail Cloud and have a separate endpoint security solution, there are two agents that have to sit on a customer endpoint. From that perspective, Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint. Maybe other solutions have an advantage when it comes to Fortinet.
Nur Mohammad - PeerSpot reviewer
An effective email security solution that provides DLP, Safe Attachment, and Safe Links
If you want extensive email security, you need to purchase a Plan 2 license. Plan 1 and Plan 2 are the two plans for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection. Some customers hesitate to purchase this product because it adds some costs to them, which is necessary for them. It would be helpful for customers if Plan 1 features were included with EOP. However, they still need to purchase Plan 2 for advanced security features. One of our clients recently requested to compare Zimbra's features with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection. Zimbra is open source, while Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is not. When I compare both the products, many free features are available in Zimbra because it is open-source software. It makes no sense to request Microsoft Exchange Online Protection add all the features people get on open-source software like Zimbra. Hence, I would say whatever features Microsoft Exchange Online Protection has are enough. Microsoft has a dedicated research team that should research and add new techniques like phishing and spamming solutions to the product.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"This is a solid email monitoring and security system that learns and maintains a two-way dialog with email system administrators."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the ability to check to see if the email is real."
"The deployment is simple."
"Fortinet and other software ensure that my company's email remains safe, helping to avoid access issues at some cost in production."
"The most valuable features are the low price and its ability to integrate with other Fortinet products."
"The quarantine feature of FortiMail is the most valuable, as it quarantines emails based on my policies."
"It has the best feature for processed mail analysis."
"This solution is easy to install. The deployment takes about forty-five minutes."
"The threat management feature includes policies and alerts that are valuable."
"The product's most valuable feature is third-party integrations."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection has features like DLP (data loss protection), Safe Attachment, and Safe Links."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is the best email solution with more features and robust security, making it ideal for corporate use."
"The security features provided by Microsoft are robust."
"It provides security to both on-premises and Azure infrastructures."
"It is scalable."
"Online Protection's most valuable feature is its admin interface."
 

Cons

"I've not been able to use more than two domains in the back end. I like to view logs for the different domains. If I add any other domain I'm not able to get a proper cPanel for that domain. I am talking about the login factors. I'm not able to see logs for different domains in a different Window. Basically, it's an issue in the login process."
"They could look at strengthening anti-spam with the newly observed domains."
"This solution is slow and it should be made faster."
"The customer service and technical support from Fortinet could improve. While they rate between seven and eight, reaching support can sometimes be challenging and time-consuming."
"Fortinet policies add an extra load to the endpoint."
"The URL filtering and handling should be enhanced because it doesn't support all languages. I believe that this would be easy to enhance in the future."
"Its GUI needs improvement."
"The tool's UI can be simple since it's cluttered now and you can't understand where you are going. It's not obvious to find out the menus or things that you are looking to find."
"The solution lacks to elaborate on its spam policies."
"They should specify the difference between Defender for Office 365 and Exchange Online Protection."
"Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious."
"The tool is not 100% stable."
"I think the implementation could be more streamlined."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection could be reduced to make it more competitive."
"We have experienced issues while migrating from on-prem to the cloud. The tool needs to improve its stability."
"The product could be more stable. Microsoft products could be more stable because sometimes, even though they are updating some things, we cannot find those updates."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing depends on various factors, including the type of licenses and subscriptions you have procured"
"A license for our company using FortiMail and FortiCare (filtering and support) was $4000."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"It's on a subscribed basis."
"The price of this solution could be more competitive."
"It should cost around $60,000. We bought it as a bundle, so everything comes together in the license. That is standard."
"I see how manageable and flexible the licenses are."
"The licensing is for three years. In the beginning, we did not pay monthly, it was paid once for three years."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection's pricing is a little bit more because its price has recently increased."
"The price could be lower."
"The pricing for the solution depends on what you are trying to achieve with the use of the product, but I know that it is not a cheaply priced product. Yearly payments have to be made towards the licensing fees of the solution."
"Online Protection is fairly expensive."
"The product is bundled with Microsoft 365."
"The solution is expensive but is backed by Microsoft's reputation."
"The tool's pricing is excellent."
"The product is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Hospitality Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
FortiMail is cost-efficient, however, Symantec Mail Gateway and DLP solutions might be comparable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
There are no specific new features I would suggest at this moment. FortiMail needs to develop further, particularly in integrating AI features, to keep up with rapidly advancing technology.
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious. Although eventually the information is located, it can be difficult if detailed information is lacking. Improving t...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
I use the tools to protect customers' emails, mostly utilizing Defender products to protect emails and links from SharePoint and email spam protection and links.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.