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Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform vs Sophos Email comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
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Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (10th)
Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform
Ranking in Email Security
13th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (8th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (8th), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (7th), Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Protection (5th), Access Management (5th), Bot Management (3rd), ZTNA as a Service (4th), ZTNA (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (8th), Remote Browser Isolation (RBI) (2nd)
Sophos Email
Ranking in Email Security
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows for easy reporting of problems, valuable anti-phishing, and anti-malware support
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 lacks proactivity in assisting us with preparing for potential threats before they occur. While they employ a substantial amount of threat intelligence to preemptively prevent incidents, their effectiveness diminishes when it comes to delivering proactive threat intelligence alerts from Microsoft. Their focus primarily revolves around managing the internal environment. On the other hand, my other vendor, Check Point, along with my membership in MS-ISAC, supplements me with this type of information. The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement. It is adequate, but it doesn't match the quality of Proofpoint or Mimecast. However, it comes close in effectiveness. Plus, if we're obtaining it for free, investing in the other products seems impractical.
Leandro Soares Costa - PeerSpot reviewer
Replaces traditional VPN and enables endpoint exposition
It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it.
NaveedAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides good identity proxy features, but sandboxing and spam control features could be improved
Sophos gives you a feature set to manage your on-premises firewall on the cloud. I just integrated my on-premises firewall into the cloud, and I can manage the tool through the cloud as well if needed. I recommend using Sophos Email as a proxy. For email gateways, I advise choosing mature products with rich feature sets, like Trend Micro or CrowdStrike. The solution's integration with other tools is very simple. I easily integrated Sophos Email with my Active Directory. My organization needs a WAF with a limited feature set, which we use through Sophos. Purchasing additional WAF will be costly, but I get sandboxing and WAF features free of cost with Sophos, which is included in the license. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors."
"It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself."
"It also gives the vulnerability status according to the versions you have selected. Let's say you have Google Chrome. It mentions the versions it has, and it updates. Within two hours of an update, it is reflected in the dashboard. That's really nice to have."
"One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part."
"Our customers are satisfied with Defender for 365 because Microsoft products are easy to use and customize to meet the client's needs. Everything is in one place, so we can adjust policies as needed for phishing, DLP, ATP, or any other security features that our clients want to apply."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has improved my organization's security. It makes it easier to manage the infrastructure without the help of third-party applications."
"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."
"The product is not resource-intensive."
"This solution is easy to understand and easy to configure."
"It will take the blow rather than our applications should an attack occur."
"The simplicity of the solution is its valuable features as almost no effort was needed to learn the configurations. It is also one of the cheapest firewalls available in this category."
"It is a stable solution."
"Cloudflare Access is part of the Zero Trust philosophy."
"It's the endpoint exposition. We don't need to expose our VPN server to the internet and need a zero-test solution. I can apply some conditional access to the endpoint that's connecting to our network to check their security policies or the security condition of their workstation. Once the workstation is trying to connect to my internal network, then I would like to check the discrete condition of these endpoints that are trying to access my internal network. We created some conditional access. We have CrowdStrike, to check if the CrowdStrike is installed, to check if it's updated, and to check for Windows updates. We created some conditional policies to check it."
"For Cloudflare Access, I am using the free plan...The most valuable feature is their protection."
"Cloudflare DDoS mitigates DDoS attacks."
"The anti-spam functionality of Sophos Email is good."
"I have found Sophos Email to be scalable."
"The feature of Sophos Email that we find most effective for detecting suspicious emails is primarily based on their signatures."
"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."
"Good VIP protection, time of click protection and the Sandstorm feature."
"The best thing about it is the logs."
"Sophos Email is in the cloud and integrated with its firewall."
"The tool's most valuable feature is the anti-spam detection filter. Its threat email intelligence features help to identify email data."
 

Cons

"Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."
"There is room for improvement in terms of reporting."
"About eight months ago, we started to measure the quantity of phishing and spam that we have been receiving, and it has been increasing a lot. That means that protection for our email is not as good as we were expecting."
"Too many false positives and lacks an accurate capability to detect malicious SharePoint sites."
"In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help."
"One area for improvement is integration. For example, when it comes to external SaaS platforms, we were not able to get a lot of information on integrations with such apps for security and authentication."
"The XDR dashboard has room for improvement."
"Microsoft sometimes has downtime, and we'll get several incidents coming in back to back. We have a huge backlog of notifications, many of which may be false positives. However, there might be serious alerts, so we can't risk dismissing all of them at once."
"They don't have a person to provide support for customers using the solution under their free plan."
"Our customers no longer use Cloudflare because its service is subpar."
"Our subscription plan for the solution has a limitation of bot signatures."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform needs to improve its documentation. It took time to do the implementation."
"Lacks a VPN feature to provide a secure connection to the data center."
"Cloudflare DDoS has poor technical support."
"The initial onboarding was causing us some confusion."
"The free plan has limitations. For example, I can only set up three rules, and the application firewall is unavailable."
"It was sometimes hard to find the settings in the solution's interface."
"Enhancing rule creation and customization features would provide users with greater control over their email security settings."
"The installation of Sophos Email could be easier. It's a bit difficult because setting up the email virtually requires some bit of technical knowledge."
"The tool's pricing is expensive. In its future release, the tool should make reporting easier to view."
"The tool's integration becomes an issue when the internet connection is weak."
"Sophos Email needs to increase the number of promos."
"Their technical support is slow to respond."
"The tool’s stability should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."
"The pricing has become expensive."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"The solution could be better by simplifying the business model of their licensing. It was hard to figure out how to get the licensing done for the environment, initially."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"For licensing, it's usually a yearly package for customers who are subscribed to Office 365, but they can also pay on a monthly basis."
"While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offered by these licenses across various Microsoft products justifies the investment."
"The prices are slightly expensive."
"The solution's pricing lacks transparency."
"Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform's pricing is good."
"The solution is not that expensive."
"The price tag is no longer $200,000, but rather $300,000 to $400,000. It's twice."
"The pricing of the solution is cheap. The licensing cost is also very low. I rate the cost and pricing a three out of ten."
"My company has to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution. There are no hidden charges apart from the licensing costs of the solution."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The solution is expensive."
"Most of our clients are on a perpetual license. If there is a budget issue, they can choose a subscription. However, most of the clients choose the perpetual license."
"I rate the price of Sophos Email a four out of five."
"The pricing is fair."
"We use exchange licenses, for which we get immediate support from Sophos."
"Sophos Email is priced lower than its competitors."
"I would rate the pricing of Sophos Email as a six. It is considered affordable as a standalone product, and there are no additional costs besides licensing. The pricing is fixed."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The pricing is reasonable since it comes integrated with our Office 365 license.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detec...
What do you like most about Cloudflare Access?
The tool also offers good scalability, and the dashboard, along with real-time analytics, is very good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudflare Access?
The price of Cloudflare Access is the same as compared to Akamai, but I get better performance from Cloudflare. My co...
What needs improvement with Cloudflare Access?
Cloudflare Access has strong integration with Microsoft, among other platforms. However, when it comes to Kaspersky, ...
What do you like most about Sophos Email?
The solution's identity proxy feature is very good and reliable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Email?
The pricing is affordable, so I’d rate it around a four out of ten on the pricing scale. We pay about fifty pounds a ...
What needs improvement with Sophos Email?
However, the setup was tricky, particularly with the DNS routing between Microsoft Exchange Online and Sophos cloud s...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, Cloudflare Bot Management, Cloudflare Gateway, Cloudflare Zero Trust Platform, Cloudflare DDoS
Sophos Email Security
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
23andMe
Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School
Find out what your peers are saying about Cloudflare SASE & SSE Platform vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,636 professionals have used our research since 2012.