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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
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
45
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 2.0%, down 2.2% compared to last year.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365, on the other hand, focuses on Email Security, holds 15.9% mindshare, down 20.3% since last year.
Cloud Email
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Phakedi Mphela - PeerSpot reviewer
A great tool to detect threats that needs to introduce AI features in the future
Fortinet FortiMail Cloud doesn't have AI features, making it an outdated tool for me. Compared with Fortinet FortiMail Cloud, the top products in the market are its counterparts like Barracuda, TitanHQ, or Libraesva ESG. Fortinet FortiMail Cloud needs to catch up with its competitors in the market, especially in terms of features related to AI. Everything in Fortinet FortiMail is more analog and manual work instead of being automated.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Content disarming and analysis are essential features in our email security setup"
"FortiMail Cloud is very fast."
"The product's initial setup is straightforward and simple, making it an easy-to-use tool."
"The encryption features are most valuable to us."
"The most valuable feature is the advanced threat protection."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the ability to check to see if the email is real."
"This solution is easy to install. The deployment takes about forty-five minutes."
"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."
"The initial setup was easy."
"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."
"Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises."
"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."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps people to work remotely. It is a secure solution. We don't need to use our company's computers or get VPN connections to the networks. I can control how they share screens and what they send to the devices. It keeps our organizations confidential and sensitive information safe."
"The initial setup is straightforward. You just add the license, click it, and then you can set up the rules. It is quite simple."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is the ease of use."
"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."
 

Cons

"I would like to see more advanced sandbox features, where you can actually download to a machine where you can test."
"The product could be improved by extending reporting tools and adding options for notification."
"The setup of the rules can be improved. I think it should be simplified and would be the best improvement in the system."
"Its GUI needs improvement."
"They could look at strengthening anti-spam with the newly observed domains."
"This ease of use and user-friendliness is something we believe could be improved in FortiMail."
"I've not been able to use more than two domains in the back end. I like to view logs for the different domains. If I add any other domain I'm not able to get a proper cPanel for that domain. I am talking about the login factors. I'm not able to see logs for different domains in a different Window. Basically, it's an issue in the login process."
"This solution is slow and it should be made faster."
"There's room for improvement regarding the time frame for retrieving emails."
"Several simulation options are available within 365, and the phishing simulation could be better."
"The product must provide better malware detection."
"They can improve their security in a way where a customer can know if all their attachments are safe or not to open through a report. The solution does its job perfectly, but it never reports to the customer whether those attachments have been stopped before or not."
"Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"The visibility for the weaknesses in the system and unauthorized access can be improved."
"They have moved features from one console to another. Things have been moved around in the interface and it takes me time to find where certain features are."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"The price of this solution could be more competitive."
"It's on a subscribed basis."
"A license for our company using FortiMail and FortiCare (filtering and support) was $4000."
"I see how manageable and flexible the licenses are."
"The licensing is for three years. In the beginning, we did not pay monthly, it was paid once for three years."
"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."
"The product is very expensive."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"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."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Hospitality 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?
Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities. We also need alerting features for abnormal actions like unus...
 

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.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.