Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Email (7th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (9th)
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Average Rating
8.2
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

AbdulHannan - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 29, 2023
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.
Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
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

"I am impressed with the tool's ability to setup rules and destinations. It also helps to monitor suspicious items."
"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 deployment is simple."
"The scanners with FortiMail are valuable."
"This is a solid email monitoring and security system that learns and maintains a two-way dialog with email system administrators."
"It has the best feature for processed mail analysis."
"The most valuable features are email ATB and Malware Analysis."
"The most valuable features are the low price and its ability to integrate with other Fortinet products."
"The deployment capability is a great feature."
"Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises."
"We use Microsoft Defender for its ability to integrate with existing business technologies, which is beneficial for protecting business areas."
"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."
"Safe attachments, safe links, policies, and the ability to protect from zero-day threats are the most valuable features."
"The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning."
"Defender is a SaaS platform, so it offers more flexibility. Managing the permissions is easier. The solution's automated detection and response features are scalable."
"It gives us visibility into threats and, for endpoints, it helps us to prioritize threats. We used to have a lack of visibility, but now our time to detect and respond has decreased."
 

Cons

"They could look at strengthening anti-spam with the newly observed domains."
"Its GUI needs improvement."
"I would like to see more advanced sandbox features, where you can actually download to a machine where you can test."
"I can't see the feedback to the FortiMail gateway."
"The dashboard could use improvement."
"The setup of the rules can be improved. I think it should be simplified and would be the best improvement in the system."
"The product could be improved by extending reporting tools and adding options for notification."
"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."
"Configuring the default strategies and policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps generates a lot of noise and false positives."
"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."
"In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"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."
"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."
"There is room for improvement with the UI."
"The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's on a subscribed basis."
"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."
"It should cost around $60,000. We bought it as a bundle, so everything comes together in the license. That is standard."
"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 product's price is reasonable."
"You only have to purchase one license for multiple participants."
"A license for our company using FortiMail and FortiCare (filtering and support) was $4000."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"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 product is very expensive."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Email solutions are best for your needs.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
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.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.