Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs Varonis Platform comparison

Microsoft and Varonis are both solutions in the Data Governance category. Microsoft is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.9, while Varonis is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 1.0% mindshare in DG, compared to Varonis’s 10.9% mindshare. Additionally, 66% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Varonis users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Purview Complianc...

Read 9 Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager reviews

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582 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

Varonis Platform

Read 14 Varonis Platform reviews

8,652 Views
4,326 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Microsoft Purview Complianc...

Varonis Platform

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager and Varonis Platform compete in the data protection and compliance management category. Varonis seems to have the upper hand with its stronger data access governance capabilities and threat management, especially for unstructured data sources.

Features: Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager offers automatic data labeling, data retention, and classification aligned with industry standards. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft and AWS environments, providing real-time compliance tracking. Meanwhile, Varonis Platform specializes in data access governance, effectively managing unstructured data sources and offering robust threat management. It also provides centralized reporting without impacting system performance.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager could improve its integration with Teams and enhance bulk task automation. The transition to a premium portal lacks significant enhancements, and the interface could be more streamlined. On the other hand, Varonis Platform needs faster calculation processes for large data and better cloud integration. Its licensing costs could be more transparent and the reliance on on-premises components reduced for ease of use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is primarily cloud-focused, offering some hybrid capabilities but with inconsistent customer support requiring lengthy resolutions. Varonis Platform supports both on-premises and cloud deployments, offering flexibility across environments. While its customer support is responsive and knowledgeable, the complexity of configuration may be a barrier for some users due to the technical knowledge required.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is cost-effective for users with existing Microsoft licenses, integrating as part of the Office 365 E5 suite and providing cost savings. Varonis Platform involves higher costs suitable for large enterprises due to its modular pricing but justifies this with a strong ROI by enhancing security and compliance posture. The high initial investment might be challenging for smaller companies despite its comprehensive features.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs. Varonis Platform Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs. Varonis Platform

July 2025

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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

Microsoft Purview Complianc...

Ranking in Data Governance

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (24th)

Varonis Platform

Ranking in Data Governance

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (9th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (3rd), Compliance Management (7th), Ransomware Protection (11th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is 1.0%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Varonis Platform is 10.9%, up from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Governance

Featured Reviews

Peter-Murphy

Head of Technology Operations at Pobl Group

Streamlined data management and improved compliance with efficient document classification

The most valuable feature is data classification retention since I deal with terabytes of data, and managing and monitoring it simplifies the process. Additionally, the system provides a dashboard showing our compliance status, which aids in managing compliance tasks. The compliance score feature allows me to assess and compare our compliance across organizations. I've also noticed efficiency gains, especially in handling subject access requests. Previously, these tasks were manual and time-consuming, but now they are streamlined, reducing the process from weeks to just a day.

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Herman Pienaar

Senior Security Consultant at Intalock Technologies

Has valuable data alerting capabilities and efficient reporting features

The solution's classification engine is highly configurable and efficient. It provides good reporting and visualization, which is superior to previous tools like Microsoft's. The platform's data alerting capabilities and automation features for managing broken permissions are particularly notable. It offers robust automation capabilities, including global permission repair, broken access repairs, and data transport engine features for archiving and migration. The automation tools are useful for managing permissions and performing cleanup tasks efficiently. It provides strong reporting capabilities that help customers adhere to regulations and maintain compliance. Automating reporting is beneficial for maintaining robust governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) posture. It does incorporate some AI elements, particularly in its data alerting module. However, AI integration has yet to be the primary focus of my implementations. AI is expected to play a larger role in future enhancements. I recommend Varonis, particularly its effectiveness in performing data security remediation tasks. Despite its high cost, it is valuable for its capabilities and the lack of impact on end users. Overall, I rate it a nine out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is tightly integrated with email solutions like Office 365."

"Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is necessary when using Outlook."

"Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager's eDiscovery is essential for organizations using Outlook as their email service."

"Purview delivers data protection across multi-cloud and multi-platform environments."

"The system provides a dashboard showing our compliance status, which aids in managing compliance tasks."

"The setup complexity depends on what features you want to implement in Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager."

"The most valuable feature is its ability to apply regulations and ensure compliance with various policies. It also provides tools for investigation, risk assessment, and security score evaluations."

"We have more visibility of data and how it is being shared."

More Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager pros

"It can easily identify unusual behavior or access patterns that may pose a potential threat, while operating as a unified reporting system."

"The most important feature is remediation. In remediation support, there is no group permission. We'll go ahead and remediate the access from the Dell folder to the parent folder."

"The solution ensures that users have not accidentally shared sensitive information with the wrong people or too many people."

"Technical support from Varonis is rated as nine out of ten."

"The solution's classification engine is highly configurable and efficient."

"Varonis Platform is transparent and captures everything in the environment without impacting the performance. The tool helps us unify data feeds into a single reporting system."

"Varonis offers robust data access governance, allowing us to understand which sensitive data exists and who has access to it."

"I also appreciate the reporting feature, which allows for the extraction of various reports based on specific needs. These reports can be used for audit purposes, such as tracking changes in file locations or deletions."

More Varonis Platform pros

Cons

"Integrating add-on licenses, which currently offer additional features at a cost, into the base product would be beneficial, especially for a charity organization to avoid incurring extra costs."

"When I tried to set up Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager for my organization to ensure people are not sending PII documents, especially payment cards, using keywords for flagging, it disrupted our services, so we had to deactivate it."

"We've had issues with data connectors for Teams."

"We'd like to see the solution expanded to include firewalls and endpoints."

"There could be improved automation for handling tasks in bulk or in an automated way."

"Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is a stable product used by organizations utilizing Outlook as their email client. Despite stability, it needs to be more user-friendly and competitive compared to other eDiscovery tools."

"The speed and accessibility, particularly in the user interface, require significant work."

"The customer service experience is not satisfactory. The support staff, who are often outsourced, seem not adequately equipped to handle issues quickly and efficiently."

More Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager cons

"The remediation process can be improved. There will be no existing permission group for the McAfee channel domains. We can create a new permissions group for the required folder."

"I'd like to see automatic updates for this solution. Currently, it's a manual process to update all the keywords"

"For unstructured data monitoring, it's one of the top ones, if not the top one, due to its usability."

"Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."

"We have Microsoft Office 365. I just saw an article today which says that they're actually getting integrated with Microsoft Office 365, which would be a useful feature. For user-based reports, log on activity, and stuff like that, it doesn't seem to really be present like Log360. That could just be my inexperience with it. I've been dealing with it for only about two and a half months."

"The GUI should be more functional. There should be a process for connecting through Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc."

"The solution's interface is a little complicated with regard to setting up filters and reports."

"The product is very complicated."

More Varonis Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing and licensing are moderate because we have other licenses for Microsoft services. The pricing is in line with that."

"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."

"The platform is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."

"The pricing is good. It neither expensive nor cheap. It is average."

"It's expensive, kind of, really expensive."

"Licensing is on an annual basis. Maintenance and renewal fees are separate. Varonis Datalert is quite expensive."

"You could do a subscription, where you pay yearly, or you could purchase it outright. The licensing cost is based on the number of users on the system that you are monitoring."

"Varonis Platform wasn't certainly the cheapest solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Healthcare Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?

We have more visibility of data and how it is being shared.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?

While not cheap, Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is priced at 60% to 70% compared to some competitors. Additional costs may involve OCR page scanning.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?

When I tried to set up Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager for my organization to ensure people are not sending PII documents, especially payment cards, using keywords for flagging, it disrupted o...

See all answers

What do you like most about Varonis Platform?

The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand w...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Varonis Platform?

Varonis started as an on-premises solution and is transitioning to cloud. It hasn't fully moved yet, which is an area for improvement. Varonis requires more access permissions for its core function...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Varonis Platform?

The primary use case for Varonis Platform is data discovery, specifically for discovering sensitive data in our organization to protect it. We are looking for a solution that can scan our repositor...

See all answers

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager

August 2025

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager report

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Buyer's Guide

Varonis Platform

July 2025

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Also Known As

Microsoft Compliance Manager

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is a feature in the Microsoft 365 compliance center that helps you manage your organization’s compliance requirements with greater ease and convenience. Compliance Manager can help you throughout your compliance journey, from taking inventory of your data protection risks to managing the complexities of implementing controls, staying current with regulations and certifications, and reporting to auditors.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Varonis Platform specializes in network security and data monitoring with modules for alerting, data classification, and access management, benefiting environments like Microsoft 365.

Varonis is designed to secure data by auditing and tracking data movement. It leverages data alert and classification modules to identify and manage sensitive information. The platform enhances network security by alerting users to unexpected data modifications and deletions, crucial for effective data loss prevention. It supports unstructured data management, ensuring proper data access and permission controls. Known for its 24/7 support, Varonis offers comprehensive analytics and unified reporting, helping prevent data overexposure and facilitating compliance efforts.

What are the key features of Varonis Platform?

24/7 Support: Provides round-the-clock assistance.
Data Monitoring: Tracks data activities efficiently.
Unified Reporting: Consolidates data access reports.
Data Classification: Identifies sensitive data effectively.
Permission Management: Simplifies managing access rights.
Behavior Analytics: Detects abnormal behavior patterns.

What benefits should be highlighted in user reviews?

Enhanced Security: Improves data protection measures.
Compliance Support: Assists in meeting compliance standards.
Data Transparency: Offers clarity in data access activities.
Access Control: Ensures proper access to data.
Centralized Remediation: Eases remediation procedures.

Varonis Platform is widely utilized in industries needing stringent data confidentiality and management, such as finance and healthcare, for tracking data modifications and unauthorized access. Enterprises deploy it to manage permissions within large datasets, benefiting Microsoft 365 environments. While Varonis requires enhancements in cloud integration, the current deployment is often based on-premises, with attention to addressing the security needs and effective data handling for critical infrastructure.

Varonis

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Nottingham Building Society

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs. Varonis Platform

July 2025

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