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reviewer1007844 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Reseller
Oct 29, 2020
Good management over endpoints but the technical support needs to be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "From a management point of view, this product gives better control over endpoint devices because some processes can be stopped remotely."
  • "The scanning is slow when it is working with incoming emails."
  • "I don't recommend it to anybody as a standalone solution."

What is our primary use case?

We are a system integrator and I specialize in practically everything that is security-related. This is a product that we sell as part of Office 365, and rarely as a standalone solution.

Usually, if we have a customer with Office 365 and they need this type of solution then we increase the subscription to a point where it is included.

From the user's point of view, this is classic anti-virus software. From a management point of view, this product gives better control over endpoint devices because some processes can be stopped remotely. If you have a person that is watching over the system then they have a higher level of control over endpoints.

What is most valuable?

This is a cloud-based product so it is always updated by the end-user.

What needs improvement?

They have to improve the email scanning where email is coming from somewhere other than our private network. The scanning is slow when it is working with incoming emails. Often, I can see the email but the scanning process is not finished and I cannot open the attachment. In general, the scanning has to be faster.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution looks stable. Provided that Windows 10 is updated, everything is okay.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
April 2026
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How are customer service and support?

I have not been in contact with technical support in regards to this product. However, technical support for Microsoft products is always of bad quality. In my experience, if you cannot find the solution yourself then you will have a huge problem because it is not an easy task to have them understand and support you.

You can lose a lot of time explaining the problem before you receive something that works.

My advice to is look for a good support library and try to find the solution yourself. This means that you don't need to contact support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have worked with many different security solutions. For example, we are selling a Security Operations Center as a service. We implement EDR, Privileged Access Management, Identity Management, anti-fraud solutions, web application firewalls, database security, and more. We are working with practically everything in cybersecurity.

We are working with between 10 and 15 different vendors. Sometimes, this is too many, but it is useful to have information about each product, its quality, and how it compares to others. Two products that we are working with now are Cisco AMP and Carbon Black.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a free version of Windows Defender, although the paid version has EDR functionality. We sell this product as part of Office 365 and it is not expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I have never touched this product. I'm just selling it, and I don't recommend it to anybody as a standalone solution.

I would rate this solution a five 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?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Nadeem Abdulla - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager IT Infrastructure at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Oct 9, 2020
Stable threat protection with good support but it's expensive and has license restrictions
Pros and Cons
  • "It shows us the risky sign-ins, and if a user's password has been compromised."
  • "Technical support is good."
  • "I am not sure if I will be using this product in the future because of the price."
  • "I am not sure if I will be using this product in the future because of the price."

What is our primary use case?

We are using this solution for threat detection.

What is most valuable?

It shows us the risky sign-ins, and if a user's password has been compromised.

What needs improvement?

While have been using this solution for two years, I am not completely knowledgable. 

Due to license restrictions, we cannot use all of the features that are offered.

I am not sure if I will be using this product in the future because of the price.

I would like to see better pricing for this solution in the future.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Microsoft Defender ATP for two years.

We are always using the latest version because it's on the cloud.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

With what we have seen, it's a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are not using it widely because of the licensing limits.

We have three users only for Defender ATP, and if we are using the Microsoft ATA it applies to 500 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not use another solution previous to Microsoft Defender ATP.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It's included with the Windows 10 Operating System.

There is no time taken for deployment as it is included with the operating system.

What about the implementation team?

We completed the installation ourselves.

We have 15 administrators to deploy and maintain this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Microsoft Defender ATP is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

Because of my lack of knowledge or experience with the solutions full capacity, I cannot recommend this solution or offer any advice.

I would rate this solution a five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user903315 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Consultant at Brio Technologies Private Limited
Real User
Sep 21, 2020
Good with vulnerability assessment and integrates well with Office 365 and Azure
Pros and Cons
  • "Provides good vulnerability assessment."
  • "The product is very good when it comes to vulnerability assessment and, as a Microsoft flagship product, it integrates with Office 365, Azure, and Windows Server, offering far superior attack identification compared to Symantec."
  • "The GUI is very complex and could be more user friendly."
  • "The GUI is very complex, particularly for normal users who work on it."

What is our primary use case?

This is an endpoint security product. It helps detect and prevent attacks and is very good when it comes to vulnerability assessment. It automatically detects attacks. It provides support for all the end devices, whether it is a Mac OS, Windows, mobiles, Android and iOS, it has support for all. I mostly deal with smaller and medium sized companies, I don't deal much with enterprises. I'm a customer of Microsoft and I work as a solution architect.

What is most valuable?

The product is very good when it comes to vulnerability assessment. It's a Microsoft flagship product and it integrates with Office 365. If my customers are using Office 365 or Azure or a Windows server, it helps to use Defender. Other products like Symantec or McAfee don't have that kind of integration with Microsoft products. In terms of identifying the attacks, it's far superior to Symantec. 

What needs improvement?

The GUI is very complex, particularly for normal users who work on it. It could be more user friendly. For future improvements, I'd be looking at internet security which we don't have as Microsoft does not distinguish whether a site is malicious or not. Kaspersky is very good at that but not Microsoft. It would be a big advantage for them if they were to include it. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for seven months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable product. Microsoft only recently entered this market and nobody believed that Microsoft antivirus would be good. They are now trying to prove everyone wrong in that sense by having a good security product. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scaling in or out is very easy. Scalability is really about licensing so you just have to request a registration license.

How are customer service and technical support?

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I'm able to solve the problem. I do not have access to Microsoft support so if I go to their open support page and try to login a request, it takes up to 24 hours for the support agent to get back to me. It's pretty average. If you have the premium support or if you're a support partner of Microsoft, they respond back in one or two hours, something like that.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I tested the difference between Symantec and Defender by taking a malware from the internet and downloading it. Symantec allowed me to do it, even though it shouldn't have, but Defender, gave me notification and wouldn't allow me to do it. That said, Symantec is a very stable product that's been on the market for a long time. They have more expertise in endpoint protection than Microsoft. Symantec is not a cost-effective product for most customers. It's integrated with third party companies and is good in protecting endpoint. Because my customer base is companies that use Office 365 and Microsoft Azure so Microsoft integration with these products is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple, you just have to attach it to the user's email address. Once the user logs in, it automatically downloads and starts working. I do the implementation.  In terms of maintenance, sometimes my engagement with the client is one time but sometimes, I do maintenance as well. This is a subscription-based, cloud-based product. They have to call me every year to renew. 

What other advice do I have?

I would suggest that if you're already using Microsoft products, then I think it makes sense to go with Microsoft Defender over any other product.

I would rate this solution an eight out of 10. 

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?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Anthony Alvarico - PeerSpot reviewer
Deliver Practice Director at DynTek
MSP
Top 5Leaderboard
Sep 13, 2020
Easy to manage, updated frequently, and comes included with Windows
Pros and Cons
  • "The patch management is very easy, as it can be done automatically or added to a schedule."
  • "The advanced threat protection has a large cloud presence in Azure that we can take advantage of, and they update their product frequently."
  • "I would like to see better integration with their other security products to give better visibility from a higher level."
  • "I would like to see better integration with their other security products to give better visibility from a higher level."

What is our primary use case?

We are a consulting company and we use this product for endpoint protection across the company, as well as for our clients.

How has it helped my organization?

Windows Defender makes it easy to streamline the updates so we don't really worry about managing it.

What is most valuable?

The patch management is very easy, as it can be done automatically or added to a schedule. This will update all of the virus signatures.

We have a hook from our on-premises application to the cloud services for advanced threat protection, so the management is in the cloud. Centralized management allows us to schedule malware scans.

When you hook it up to the cloud's advanced threat protection, it gives you more than protection from ransomware. It covers different types of malware and allows you to see what malicious software is being executed on the machine.

The product allows you to manage your machine through it, similarly to the way SCCM does.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better integration with their other security products to give better visibility from a higher level. Integrating with email, Azure, identity management, and other security applications, putting them all together, would be very good.

The first level of technical support is not very useful and it sometimes takes time to escalate to somebody more knowledgeable.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Microsoft Windows Defender for years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This product is pretty stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have had no issues with scalability. We deploy it anywhere from a small environment with a hundred users, to a large environment with 15,000 to 20,000 endpoints. The majority of our clients are small to medium-sized, with 3,000 to 4,000 users in the mid-range.

How are customer service and technical support?

I would rate Microsoft's technical support an eight out of ten. At the first level, the support is very limited. You have to escalate it to the more senior team to get good value.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Some of our clients have used different products from vendors such as Symantec and McAfee, and they were not happy with them. We steered them towards Windows Defender and they switched because of the ATP hook to the cloud.

With other products, you have a management console, so you have to push the signature updates. We still do that now, but it's all in the cloud.

Both Symantec and McAfee come at an additional charge because they are not included in the operating system.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We are using the version that is included with Windows 10. If you don't purchase the advanced threat protection then there is no additional charge.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for anybody who is implementing Windows Defender is to purchase the ATP, which is in addition to the version that comes with Windows 10. This will allow you to really get the benefits and manage your organization's endpoints as a whole. This requires a presence in the Microsoft environment, such as a subscription to Office 365 or Azure.

I think that people should explore Windows Defender before looking at third-party products. While they are not a pioneer in anti-malware and anti-virus software, they are attacking it and they have a good budget. The advanced threat protection has a large cloud presence in Azure that we can take advantage of, and they update their product frequently. As soon as there is a new threat, they act on it right away.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2237718 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Account Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Real User
Oct 8, 2023
Helps prioritize threats, and protects against ransomware, but threat detection could use some improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "The ransomware and malware protection is the most valuable feature."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is effective for validating work, but not ideal for investigations."

What is our primary use case?

I use Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to protect my computer when downloading files. Whether it's documents from my email or web browser, this is the first thing I use the solution for. It also provides protection against ransomware. Additionally, the monthly report indicates the number of infected files that were blocked during that month.

How has it helped my organization?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides excellent visibility into known threats, thanks to their comprehensive database of malware information. 

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint helps us prioritize threats across our enterprise according to our needs. We focus on protecting against malware first, followed by email protection, and URLs.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has helped protect our organization against malware.

What is most valuable?

The ransomware and malware protection is the most valuable feature.

What needs improvement?

When there is a significant amount of malware, I believe that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint may not be as effective as other firewall solutions. I tested Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and found that it allowed me to download files infected with malware from certain sites, and its protection did not work as expected in that aspect of my work. I suspect this is because I use a GRAPH file with a password, and the solution only detects a file when it's related to clean files or open files. It doesn't seem to recognize encrypted log files that require a password for access.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint does not assist in automating routine tasks or identifying high-value alerts. Therefore, we had to turn to other solutions like Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. Additionally, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint lacks the capability to upload a list of IPs for blocking.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is effective for validating work, but not ideal for investigations. As a result, our experts have to dedicate more time when investigating threats using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compared to other solutions.

The zero-day detection, as well as the sandboxing for unknown malware and URL detection, needs to be improved. These settings were not functional when we tested the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I give the stability an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I give the scalability a ten out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment is straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is more affordable compared to some other endpoint solutions.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet. We found that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint was easier to deploy and offered a better price.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft Defender for Endpoint a seven out of ten. The solution is stable, easy to deploy, and scalable. However, threat detection could use some improvement.

Our organization is a cybersecurity company, and after using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for one year, we found that it lacked features such as endpoint detection and response. Additionally, it was weak in certain areas, like detecting a set of malware and providing email protection. As a result, we started exploring other solutions, even though they may be more costly.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Patrick Scolyer-Gray - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder & CEO at Pathbreaker Pty Ltd
Real User
May 16, 2022
Free, integrated with Windows, and no installation needed
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comes pre-installed in Microsoft Windows."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comes pre-installed in Microsoft Windows."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Endpoint should have more transparency. In the latest edition of Windows, Windows 11, it is a compulsory requirement to connect to a Microsoft account, which in turn has implications for Defender. This should be removed."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a basic endpoint protection solution. If you do not combine it with another solution then you will leave yourself open to vulnerabilities."

What is our primary use case?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a basic endpoint protection solution. If you do not combine it with another solution then you will leave yourself open to vulnerabilities. I used Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in conjunction with other solutions, such as Cylance.

What needs improvement?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint should have more transparency. In the latest edition of Windows, Windows 11, it is a compulsory requirement to connect to a Microsoft account, which in turn has implications for Defender. This should be removed.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for a few years.

How are customer service and support?

I have not called Microsoft technical support.

How was the initial setup?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comes pre-installed in Microsoft Windows.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution comes as part of Microsoft Windows. 

What other advice do I have?

I wouldn't call Microsoft Defender for Endpoint a solution, I'd call it part of a solution. I don't think I would be going around recommending it.

I rate Microsoft Defender for Endpoint an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
IT RM at KNV
Real User
May 1, 2022
It runs in the background
Pros and Cons
  • "Defender works in the background monitoring the traffic for viruses."
  • "Defender works in the background monitoring the traffic for viruses."
  • "Defender could be more secure and stable."
  • "Defender could be more secure and stable."

What is our primary use case?

Defender is an antivirus solution deployed on all Microsoft PCs. Thousands of employees at my company use it. 

What is most valuable?

Defender works in the background monitoring the traffic for viruses.  

What needs improvement?

Defender could be more secure and stable.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Microsoft Defender for a couple of years.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Defender is straightforward. My administrator takes care of all that. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft Defender eight out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Supriya Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at Ernst & Young
Real User
Apr 26, 2022
Reliable with good features but needs improvements on some of the technical aspects
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution can scale as needed."
  • "For companies that are Microsoft shops, I would recommend the product."
  • "In India at least, it seems to be a bit more expensive than other options."
  • "In India at least, it seems to be a bit more expensive than other options."

What is most valuable?

The stability has been good so far. 

If I compare its features to the other solutions in the market, it has some good features. It's comparable to others.

The solution can scale as needed. 

What needs improvement?

In India at least, it seems to be a bit more expensive than other options. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've just recently been introduced to the product. I haven't used it for very long. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability has been fine. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability has been great. If you need to expand, you can.

How are customer service and support?

I have never needed to contact technical support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is a bit high for the Indian market.

What other advice do I have?

We are a partner and we consult clients on security solutions. It's one of the solutions we take to our clients.

For companies that are Microsoft shops, I would recommend the product. It saves a lot of integration requirements as compared to other solutions. It's a good product that does what it says it will do. 

I would rate the product a seven out of ten. There are improvement opportunities in terms of the overall tech and commercial aspects of the product. It needs to be more competitive and technical. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.