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Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.7
Microsoft Defender for Identity improves incident management, reduces costs, enhances ROI, and saves time despite unclear financial benefits.
Sentiment score
6.4
Users report varied ROI from Splunk, with productivity gains and security cost savings, but costs remain a concern.
The solution can save costs by improving incident resolution times and reducing security incident costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.5
Microsoft Defender for Identity's support receives mixed feedback, with users praising premium service but noting poorer lower-tier support responses.
Sentiment score
6.8
Splunk User Behavior Analytics support is mostly praised, with professional service, tiered options, and valuable user groups enhancing experience.
Generally, the support is more effective than other providers like Oracle.
The quality of support is very good, but troubleshooting can take time due to complex setups and the need to provide many logs.
Mission-critical offering a dedicated team, proactive monitoring, and fast resolution.
From the responsiveness perspective, Splunk is very responsive with SLA-bound support for premium tiers.
I would rate the support at eight, meaning there's some room for improvement.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Microsoft Defender for Identity is scalable, efficiently supports large networks, and integrates well into Microsoft-centric environments with minimal effort.
Sentiment score
7.5
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is scalable and adaptable across environments, though storage limitations may affect scalability.
In a Microsoft-centric organization, especially with Azure infrastructure and Office 365, Microsoft Defender for Identity is scalable.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is highly scalable, designed for enterprise scalability, allowing expansion of data ingestion, indexing, and search capabilities as log volumes grow.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Defender for Identity is stable and reliable, though occasional sensor restarts occur, generally scoring 6-9/10 in stability.
Sentiment score
8.1
Splunk User Behavior Analytics offers reliable performance and stability, with 99.9% uptime and ease of configuration in enterprises.
Microsoft Defender for Identity is quite robust and built on Azure hyperscale infrastructure, with a 99% availability.
We do not see any issues with the stability of Microsoft Defender for Identity.
Having recently started using it, reliability is affirmed, but manual investigation is often performed to verify if alerts identified by auto-remediation are accurate.
With built-in redundancy across zones and regions, 99.9% uptime is achievable.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is a one hundred percent stable solution.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is highly stable and reliable, even in large-scale enterprise environments with high log injection rates.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Identity needs better integration, usability, and support, with improved detection and cost efficiency highlighted by users.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics needs better pricing, integration, user-friendly interfaces, enhanced features, and improved scalability and infrastructure.
If Microsoft could develop a feature that indicates when impossible travel is caused by VPN connections, it would prevent unnecessary password resets and session disruptions, especially for VIP users in organizations.
One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform.
Reducing false positives is something we've been working on with Microsoft.
Global reach allows deployment of apps and services closer to users worldwide, but data sovereignty concerns exist and region selection must align with compliance requirements.
I encountered several issues while trying to create solutions for this advanced version, which seem unrelated to query or data issues.
High data ingestion costs can be an issue, especially for large enterprises, as Splunk charges based on the amount of data processed.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Identity is cost-effective within E5, offering flexibility compared to standalone purchases or E3 add-ons.
Enterprise buyers find Splunk's User Behavior Analytics costly, with variable pricing based on data, hardware, and additional applications.
If they can reduce the costs, organizations will be happy, and it will compensate for using the Azure environment, which is more expensive on the infrastructure as a service side.
Ensuring a fair price according to market standards.
From an organization perspective, using E5 licenses is value for money, especially if Azure and Office 365 are already in use.
Reserved instances with one or three-year commitments offer lower rates, providing up to 70% savings.
Comparing with the competitors, it's a bit expensive.
The pricing is based on the amount of data processed, and it is considered a high-level investment for enterprises.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Identity excels in integration, real-time detection, privilege management, AI analytics, and comprehensive security monitoring features.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics provides scalable, user-friendly threat detection with advanced analytics, machine learning, and seamless data integration and reporting.
We receive an advance report of risky users, allowing us to take preemptive action before an attack causes damage to organization details.
The most valuable feature is its hybrid artificial intelligence, which gathers forensic data to track and counteract security threats, much like the CSI series in effect.
The advanced threat protection is one of the strengths of Microsoft Defender for Identity, as it utilizes user and entity analytics and can detect indicative attacks.
I also utilize it for anomaly detection and behavior analysis, particularly using Splunk's machine learning environment.
Features like alerts and auto report generation are valuable.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics offers several beneficial features, such as Insider Threat Detection, account compromise detection, risk scoring, threat detection, and machine anomaly detection.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Iden...
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (5th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (3rd)
Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (12th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Defender for Identity is designed for Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) and holds a mindshare of 16.3%, down 25.0% compared to last year.
Splunk User Behavior Analytics, on the other hand, focuses on User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), holds 8.9% mindshare, down 11.1% since last year.
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA)
 

Featured Reviews

ROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration within the ecosystem enhances collaboration and automates functionalities
The integration into the Microsoft Defender ecosystem is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Identity. It fits very nicely with all the other Defender tools, allowing for excellent collaboration among them. It also fits seamlessly into Microsoft Sentinel SIEM. Furthermore, Microsoft security solutions can save time as they allow the automation of numerous functionalities, and the reporting inside the Microsoft ecosystem is commendable.
Subhayu Chakraborty - PeerSpot reviewer
Automatic reports streamline tasks and offers easy report gathering
The dashboard part could be improved. While using it, I noticed two options: Classic, which is adequate yet only in black and white, and another one that is more advanced or smart, though I forgot the exact term. I encountered several issues while trying to create solutions for this advanced version, which seem unrelated to query or data issues.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) solutions are best for your needs.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Identity?
Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?
For improvement, I need to complete the testing. We are currently in the initial phase. Improvement insights will be shared post the thorough testing phase. We have just started using it a month ag...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?
We are performing testing under Microsoft Defender for Identity ( /products/microsoft-defender-for-identity-reviews ). The implementation is very recent, as we started using it about a month ago.We...
What do you like most about Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
The solution's most valuable feature is Splunk queries, which allow us to query the logs and analyze the attack vectors.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
In terms of setup cost, pricing, and licensing, Splunk User Behavior Analytics is not an inexpensive product. The setup requires numerous components including storage, networking, identity access, ...
What needs improvement with Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
There are improvements that could be made to Splunk User Behavior Analytics as any product will have advantages and disadvantages. Scalability is one consideration. For example, the advantages incl...
 

Also Known As

Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity
Caspida, Splunk UBA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.
8 Securities, AAA Western, AdvancedMD, Amaya, Cerner Corporation, CJ O Shopping, CloudShare, Crossroads Foundation, 7-Eleven Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Splunk User Behavior Analytics and other solutions. Updated: July 2023.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.