


Microsoft 365 Defender and Cisco XDR are powerful security solutions that excel in different areas. Microsoft 365 Defender is preferred for its seamless integration with other Microsoft products, while Cisco XDR stands out with comprehensive threat intelligence. Cisco XDR has an edge due to its broader scope of features.
Features: Microsoft 365 Defender offers robust threat protection, integration within the Microsoft ecosystem, and effective incident response capabilities. Cisco XDR provides extensive threat intelligence, advanced analytics, and cross-domain visibility features.
Room for Improvement: Microsoft 365 Defender could enhance threat detection accuracy, reduce false positives, and improve its non-Microsoft product compatibility. Cisco XDR needs to improve user-friendliness, provide better documentation, and streamline complex deployment processes.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft 365 Defender deployment is straightforward within Microsoft environments, with responsive customer service. Cisco XDR has a more complex deployment process but offers comprehensive support post-deployment.
Pricing and ROI: Microsoft 365 Defender is favored for its competitive pricing and value within Microsoft-centric organizations. Cisco XDR's cost is higher, reflecting its extensive features and threat intelligence. Microsoft 365 Defender delivers better ROI in Microsoft setups, while Cisco XDR justifies its higher cost for broader-spectrum security needs.
They appreciate the rich telemetry data from the solution, as it provides in-depth threat identification.
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks helps to reduce my total cost of ownership significantly.
I have seen a return on investment with Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, as this product is offered at a minimal cost, and we can find a good ROI from it.
Two customers faced a network breach and a bad configuration incident, but unlike in the past where recovery took days, they managed to shut down access points quickly.
The biggest return on investment when using Cisco XDR is the downtime aspect, specifically not having to roll out to sites and not having customers experience downtime.
Over time as the platform has evolved and more automations have been put in place, the number of human resources required has drastically reduced.
We can quarantine and isolate a device within minutes.
Microsoft Defender XDR has saved me at least 50% of my time.
It helped stop multiple intrusion points where we would have had millions in lost revenue if the attackers got in.
The technical support from Palo Alto deserves a mark of ten because they reach out within an hour whenever assistance is needed.
There is no back and forth, and they know what we are asking for and come up with the best resolution for a solution.
If any of these services are missed, it becomes a problem in terms of support tickets, follow-up, or special configuration that needs to be done in the system.
They responded quickly, they were always willing to meet, and they were always willing to work as per my schedule.
the tech support is excellent
I would rate Cisco customer service a ten out of ten.
You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain.
It's critical to escalate SEV B issues immediately to a domestic engineer.
Once issues are escalated to the second or third layer, the support is much better.
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks can be expanded anytime by purchasing another license without any issues related to scalability.
I think scalability for Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is good.
Cisco XDR is designed to handle significant scaling of endpoints, allowing management of a large scale of environments with thousands of sessions.
In terms of scalability, I rate it as the best.
In terms of scalability, Cisco XDR is quite scalable in terms of a licensing model and the number of assets we have integrated with it.
My concern is about the scale of events and alerts being generated, and the product is doing a very good job of only surfacing the important items for us.
Microsoft Defender XDR shows tremendous scalability, much more so than on-premises solutions.
Microsoft Defender XDR scales pretty well.
Cortex remains fast and responsive, even with increasing data and alerts.
The thresholds we've seen on our firewall boxes at some instances reached 80% to 85%, but even at that level of utilization, we don't observe any latency or any issues reported with respect to accessing the application.
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
Customers have mentioned that the stability and scalability are good compared to competitors.
Once they got it fixed and figured out the issue with the observables and with the character limit, it's been flawless.
The stability and reliability of Cisco XDR, similar to most Cisco products, are bulletproof.
The service has remained consistently online, with any issues isolated to specific components, suggesting a well-designed and modular architecture.
The services within our ecosystem have been reliable, meeting their SLAs.
It provides high-fidelity signals.
Improving reporting and dashboard customization, along with the addition of real-time and exportable reports, would help SOC teams greatly.
The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products.
If the per GB data could be provided at a certain level free of cost or at the same cost which the customer is taking for the entire bundle, that would be better.
Competitors offer more visibility without any additional licensing, which is a significant drawback for Cisco.
If it can capture threats from worldwide new threats and publish them into a particular database linked with an AI-driven system that can immediately alert people, that would be very good for zero-day threats.
Offering some free XDR licenses for testing features, similar to VPN licenses, could have a significant impact on costs.
The licensing process needs improvement and clarification.
Improvements are needed in automated response capabilities.
Some inconsistencies exist between blades, which could be improved for a more seamless user and UI experience.
The pricing on SentinelOne is far more reasonable and cheaper than Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
I would say it is definitely not a cheap product, considering how mature it is and how scalable all Palo Alto products are together.
Cortex XDR is perceived as expensive by some customers, yet offers dynamic pricing.
This integration and discounting are something we cannot get from competitors, leading to reduced security costs.
Users can customize their use of Cisco XDR significantly from the onset, which has resulted in a lower total cost of ownership.
Overall, the price is a bit expensive compared to local competitors.
There are certainly savings when using Microsoft Defender XDR, which can range from 30%, 40%, and even up to 50%.
I would rate the pricing as eight out of ten, indicating it is a reasonable cost for the product.
Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
It includes machine learning to easily analyze data and detect complex threats across endpoints, networks, or clouds.
Between the clarity, the granularity, and the dashboard, it just works.
The feature I appreciate the most about Cisco XDR is the flexibility for a user to be able to create their own reporting and dashboards.
Cisco XDR helps prevent data loss during ransomware attacks by integrating with multiple levels of security, tying to identity management systems, and allowing placement of blocks at the endpoint level.
With Microsoft threat intelligence information, it detects various types of threats, including insider attacks, malicious content, and data exfiltration.
This allows us to secure our systems in advance and proactively improve security, rather than waiting for incidents to occur.
Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender XDR | 4.8% |
| Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks | 4.8% |
| Cisco XDR | 1.8% |
| Other | 88.6% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 42 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 21 |
| Large Enterprise | 47 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 4 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 5 |
| Large Enterprise | 2 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 46 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 26 |
| Large Enterprise | 38 |
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks provides advanced threat detection with AI-driven endpoint protection and seamless integration, ensuring multi-layered security and automatic threat response.
Cortex XDR is designed to safeguard endpoints against malware and suspicious activities. It offers advanced threat detection and response capabilities using behavioral analysis, AI, and machine learning. It seamlessly integrates with security infrastructures, providing endpoint security, firewall integration, and enhanced visibility in both cloud-based and on-premises environments.
What are the key features of Cortex XDR?Organizations in diverse sectors deploy Cortex XDR to protect against malware, leveraging its advanced threat detection capabilities. Its integration with existing security infrastructures appeals to those seeking comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments, providing enhanced visibility and threat intelligence.
Cisco XDR delivers an advanced threat detection and response experience through integration with Cisco's security suite, offering enhanced visibility, intelligence, and automation for network protection and system evaluations.
Cisco XDR integrates with Cisco Meraki and Splunk, excelling in threat intelligence and zero-day attack detection. Its automated response features provide crucial support in managing extensive networks, while the comprehensive log management facilitates detailed troubleshooting. Dashboards assist in system evaluation for effective gap mitigation. Despite its licensing complexity and upfront costs, it remains a key tool for Security Operations Center analysts and internet service providers, helping isolate threats and ensuring consistent security monitoring.
What features make Cisco XDR stand out?Cisco XDR is widely implemented in sectors requiring robust network management and monitoring. Organizations use it alongside Cisco Firepower Threat Defense and Meraki for comprehensive security measures, benefiting global customers and internet service providers for traffic and routing insights across devices and data centers.
Microsoft Defender XDR is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect against threats in the Microsoft 365 environment.
It offers robust security measures, comprehensive threat detection capabilities, and an efficient incident response system. With seamless integration with other Microsoft products and a user-friendly interface, it simplifies security management tasks.
Users have found it effective in detecting and preventing various types of attacks, such as phishing attempts, malware infections, and data breaches.
Watch the Microsoft demo video here: Microsoft Defender XDR demo video.
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