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Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiMail Cloud
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (7th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (9th)
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Fortinet FortiMail Cloud is designed for Cloud Email and holds a mindshare of 2.2%, down 2.2% compared to last year.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365, on the other hand, focuses on Email Security, holds 15.8% mindshare, down 20.2% since last year.
Cloud Email
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

AbdulHannan - PeerSpot reviewer
A reliable email security solution with deep integration capabilities and exceptionally strong support
During our deployment and in our day-to-day operations, we've encountered certain challenges with our email security setup. When a user or administrator needs to locate a specific email, it can be a time-sensitive issue. If an email administrator receives a query from a recipient or end user about undelivered or suspicious emails, the ability to quickly and easily locate the email in question, along with details about why it wasn't sent, is crucial. We've faced difficulties in ensuring that our reporting system is efficient and delivers this information promptly for administrators to address the issue promptly. Another challenge we've experienced is complexity. The email security solution should ideally be user-friendly and intuitive and it should offer straightforward access to settings and features. We encountered situations where our users have found the tool overly complex and difficult to learn quickly. This ease of use and user-friendliness is something we believe could be improved in FortiMail.
Jamie LeClair - PeerSpot reviewer
File-sharing options and ease of collaboration or meetings allow for quick collaborations and chats
I work in my company's IT department, so I use all of the products under Office 365 daily, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, and all the other components in the product. My company can't make it through a day or go by without using the products offered under Office 365. Some of our manufacturing workers may use Office 365 a lot less, but it is still necessary for things like Microsoft Outlook and Exchange. I found Microsoft Teams to be the most valuable feature of the solution, along with all of the products and features offered under Office 365. My organization has remote workers, and we can't run the company without meetings organized with the help of Microsoft Teams.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The deployment is simple."
"The most valuable feature is the advanced threat protection."
"The most valuable features are the low price and its ability to integrate with other Fortinet products."
"FortiMail Cloud is very fast."
"The most valuable features are filtering and sandboxing."
"The scanners with FortiMail are valuable."
"The implementation was very professional. There are a lot of features I can get through Fortinet and FortiMail, such as security. FortiGuard is the most reliable and professional mitigation center to handle incidents and risk that I have to face."
"Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup"
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is data backups that we can provide through ticket requests."
"The benefit that stands out to me is the ability for multiple individuals to collaborate simultaneously within the same document. Additionally, there is the option to save the document directly in the integrated OneDrive or SharePoint."
"Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."
"Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its spam filter."
"The technical support is good and quick to resolve issues."
"We use Microsoft Defender for its ability to integrate with existing business technologies, which is beneficial for protecting business areas."
 

Cons

"This ease of use and user-friendliness is something we believe could be improved in FortiMail."
"The URL filtering and handling should be enhanced because it doesn't support all languages. I believe that this would be easy to enhance in the future."
"Email sorting is missing from this solution."
"This solution is slow and it should be made faster."
"The tool's UI can be simple since it's cluttered now and you can't understand where you are going. It's not obvious to find out the menus or things that you are looking to find."
"They could look at strengthening anti-spam with the newly observed domains."
"The dashboard could use improvement."
"The downside of this solution is that it is difficult to implement policies on FortiMail."
"In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."
"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."
"We are always looking for others tools to increase automation on tasks. There can be better integration with other solutions, such as PowerPoint and email."
"Configuring the default strategies and policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps generates a lot of noise and false positives."
"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should be more proactive."
"We need to be able to whitelist data at the backend."
"You should be able to deploy Defender for every subscription without the need to add servers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I see how manageable and flexible the licenses are."
"It's on a subscribed basis."
"I rate the price of Fortinet FortiMail Cloud a five on a one to ten scale, where one is the low price, and ten is the high price. It is an averagely priced product."
"The price of this solution could be more competitive."
"The licensing is for three years. In the beginning, we did not pay monthly, it was paid once for three years."
"The pricing depends on various factors, including the type of licenses and subscriptions you have procured"
"You only have to purchase one license for multiple participants."
"A license for our company using FortiMail and FortiCare (filtering and support) was $4000."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Hospitality Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
The pricing depends on various factors, including the type of licenses and subscriptions you have procured. The cost structure can vary for small and medium-sized enterprises as opposed to larger o...
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud?
During our deployment and in our day-to-day operations, we've encountered certain challenges with our email security setup. When a user or administrator needs to locate a specific email, it can be ...
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 various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the indi...
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?
Microsoft needs to broaden its global support presence by establishing teams of subject-matter experts in all regions.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiMail Cloud vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.