What is our primary use case?
We wanted a very high level of endpoint protection and intrusion detection. Based on all the reviews, you have a bunch of products out there to choose from. One differentiator of CrowdStrike is that it's nearly what I would call zero-touch on the workstation. You don't have to worry about upgrades and all that. Then, when something suspicious is detected, the CrowdStrike team investigates that for us. It's part of the service that we purchased from them. Basically, we use the solution for security.
How has it helped my organization?
Basically, from an overall management perspective of the devices, you really only install the sensor once, and then you set up policies on the portal to say, okay, we want to stay on the N minus one version of the sensor. If there's an update that's required, the portal pushes it to the workstation. It makes everything very easy and doesn't require any touch.
What is most valuable?
It's mainly the next-generation antivirus that we are leveraging.
In the traditional antivirus, like McAfee, for example, you'd have to maintain signature files and all that on the workstation. We don't have to do that. On top of that, the footprint on the workstation is nearly zero.
One unique thing that they offer is a breach warranty. We basically have a warranty of up to $100,000 should there be any breach that they're not able to manage.
What needs improvement?
The downside is that if you are using a device offline, not connected to the internet, you will potentially have exposure. Intrusion detection and endpoint protection is all driven using the internet. You have to be connected. If you're not connected, basically, unlike some antivirus software packages, if you introduce something, let's say through a USB port, and you are not online, you have potential exposure.
I'd like to see a capability where the solution can do offline intrusion detection if needed. For example, if you have offline workstations or devices, then there's new data introduced into the device using, I guess, portable data devices. If there was a way to detect that while the device was not connected, that would be great.
It's not a major concern for us since 100% of the time, our devices are connected to the internet because most of our business applications are using cloud-based applications.
The pricing can look expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
We started using the solution in April or May of this year. It's only been a few months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's stable. So far, so good. I've not had any issues around it in terms of impacting usage, et cetera. It's pretty transparent to us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's pretty scalable. I've talked to some users from huge companies, Fortune 500 companies, so I know that it's scalable.
We don't really have any users for it. It's pretty much myself and one other person who just monitors the portal, and that's about it. In terms of devices, we have 100 to 150 devices.
We intend to explore the other capabilities of what the sensor can provide us. However, right now, we're just focused on antivirus and intrusion detection. That's about it.
The intent is obviously to deploy. Every time we have new devices, et cetera, we just deploy this and go.
How are customer service and support?
Support is pretty transparent for me. We've had probably five or six incidents, and they were minor, however, then those are handled by the CrowdStrike team.
They would notify me if I needed to take action on my side. So far, they are good. I haven't needed to take any drastic action, like shutting down the device and all that.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had decentralized solutions. They were mainly workstation-based and was McAfee. We went to a centralized solution so that it can be centrally managed.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is pretty straightforward. We started out with a lot of effort since we didn't have managed devices when we installed it. We didn't have a device management system in place for Windows, so we had to install it at each workstation.
The deployment probably took us a week. We had to install the sensors manually. However, the installation process is very straightforward. It takes less than five minutes.
In terms of maintenance, it's all maintained on the CrowdStrike side.
What about the implementation team?
We did the initial setup ourselves in-house.
What was our ROI?
There's potentially really no ROI. It addresses an area of risk. That is all. You're putting the investment in the service as a kind of insurance against cyber attacks, data breaches, et cetera.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a subscription.
The cost, the overall cost of the service, is something that could be improved. If you compare it to other antivirus systems, it'll seem more expensive as there's one piece that people overlook - you have a technical team monitoring for you behind the scenes.
The cost is approximately $35,000 to $40,000 a year. It covers up to 300 devices and 300 Windows or Mac OS devices, and about 150 mobile devices. There are no additional costs beyond the main fee. It's all paid on an annual lease.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at Microsoft Defender, McAfee, Norton, and two other solutions, however, this one came up on top. The only downside is the overall cost when you compare it to the competition.
What other advice do I have?
We are customers and end-users.
I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. Typically, we set ourselves to N minus one. We're typically one version behind the most current.
I'd warn potential new users that they have to look at the total cost of ownership. One item that's overlooked is when you get an antivirus or a security product, you will need experts to manage and maintain it. CrowdStrike basically provides you with the software solution and the technical support behind it. If you basically add up all those things, it'll probably be on a total cost basis; it'll be reasonable.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.