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Fortra's Alert Logic MDR vs Sophos MDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Fortra's Alert Logic MDR
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (29th), SOC as a Service (5th)
Sophos MDR
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Alert Logic MDR is 1.1%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos MDR is 6.1%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2191746 - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a highly mature, competitively priced solution that provides total visibility into your ecosystem. FORTRA's Alert Logic has the only Cybersecurity Platform that integrates XDR+WAF+VM+DLP in one.
Alert Logic offers total visibility into the client's IT ecosystem. The solution's intrusion detection system inspects 100 percent of the network packets and installs universal agents on all physical and virtual servers for log collection. Alert Logic also aggregates logs of the client's various 3rd Party security tools into a single pane of glass. All of the analytics from those data feeds got to a 24/7 SOC with sophisticated resources. Alert Logic has massive threat intelligence resources to provide additional context to the incident response declarations. They do all the heavy lifting for clients who lack the technology and resources to operate their own SOC. The client is solely responsible for the incident response component. The macro analytics resides on Alert Logic's cloud. You have the ECM response and business application team on the client side. Everything works in tandem, which is the only way you can deal with the advanced threats we face today, especially the ransomware families. If you don't respond in minutes, you're in trouble.
Shaun Gordon - PeerSpot reviewer
Extensive data lake, ease of use is great and you can really get started very quickly
Sophos MDR is a service. MDR is managed detection and response. It's a managed security service. So instead of having an anti-malware, which in Sophos' case would be Intercept X, with MDR, they add human-led threat hunting. It's a managed service. So it's not a product that you sell the client per se. You're selling them a service, which is almost like an SLA, and that includes Cloud MDR. MDR is not a product. It's a service. The reality is that when it comes to the likes of SentinelOne, McAfee, CrowdStrike, ESET, and all the other players out there, they're single-product security companies. CrowdStrike is an anti-malware. That's one thing. ESET, same thing. But if you look at the other vendors, within the appliances, you're looking at Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Checkpoint. They only sell firewalls. That's all they do. When you deal with Sophos, they are the entire product suite. They sell firewalls. They sell Intercept X, which is their anti-malware, Intercept X for Server with anti-malware, email protection with ties into Office 365, and Sophos Plus encryption. All of these security products pull telemetry. So every time somebody hits a firewall, it's called, for argument's sake, that goes into their central data lake. All the firewalls around the world add that information to a data lake. Now, when you're dealing with Sophos, because of their exposure, because they've got so many different products, their data lake is a lot more extensive than competing vendors because they're not relying on one threat factor. They're not relying on one area of expertise. They're a global company. So, I can't compare their telemetry, for instance, to the likes of CrowdStrike. If CrowdStrike has probably started doing appliances, then the users will get that benefit as well. Sophos is the only vendor that does do that. It's like hiring a security team. Sophos do things differently in that they've got more telemetry and more insight into a network because they offer a variety of products. The other part about it is Sophos MDR; the service, unlike other vendors like CrowdStrike, is not limited to their products. If you are running CrowdStrike in your company, for instance, you can get their integration packs, in which case Sophos will manage your CrowdStrike system for you. Whereas with CrowdStrike, it's only CrowdStrike. You are locked into that vendor. So Sophos offers that flexibility. It's a multi-vendor service as opposed to SentinelOne or CrowdStrike, which is a single-vendor service. For instance, if I'm running Sophos, I would like to go with CrowdStrike MDR. I would have to remove my entire security investment, in this case, Sophos, and reinstall CrowdStrike in order to use their service. Sophos doesn't have that problem. If you've got CrowdStrike and you've already invested in CrowdStrike, cool. You stay on CrowdStrike. They will still manage it for you.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Notifications and the detail of notifications are most valuable. It is a user-friendly solution."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"Everything is in one dashboard; I'm notified when there's an incident and advised on what steps to take."
"It has the ability to install agents. It is pretty straightforward. You can automate the process pretty easily."
"The quicker implementation of changes to our infrastructure from Alert Logic tell us if there are any problems."
"It improves our security. Before, we didn't have anything scanning our containers. We had software scanning all the physical servers, but we had nothing to scan our containers. With Alert Logic, we can do that."
"While I still have on-premises appliances, I can remotely monitor everything from the cloud, and Alert Logic's ease-of-access features have helped me streamline my workflow and reduce implementation time."
"The solution was consistently available, and I cannot recall any instances where it was down."
"The product's most valuable feature is its ability to view environmental activities."
"The tool's ability to work with security threats is competitive. The best part is monitoring and the way we receive automated emails and updates. When an issue arises, a ticket automatically gets raised, clearly outlining the necessary actions to be taken from our end."
"Sophos MDR has improved the threat detection process by identifying and addressing the issues before they become severe."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to integrate multiple functions into a single dashboard regardless of the vendors being integrated."
"It is stable and scalable. It has good technical support."
"The solution is stable."
"I like Sophos MDR's inbuilt feature for DLP (Data Loss Prevention)."
"The product’s most valuable feature is ease of use."
 

Cons

"We'd like to have triggered alerts sent to us so we see errors quicker."
"Could be more of an endpoint protector."
"I would like to see it do initial scans and start capturing data, which it will truly analyze, not just be a reporting system saying, "Here is an email. Here is an email. Here is an email.""
"I would like more data on the alert payload. It would be good to have the ability to customize the alert payload to add whatever data that we want on there. Right now, it is a bit limited."
"Alert Logic needs to expand its SOCs to serve more markets, such as the Middle East and Asia. There should be infrastructure that covers more time zones. The company should also develop an EDR that is natively integrated into their solution. Currently, a client must buy another EDR solution like CrowdStrike or Sophos. I think Alert Logic is developing this. Built-in email security could also be developed and integrated."
"The documentation, especially with the initial setup, needs improvement."
"The product needs to mature. We don't want to be bombarded with unnecessary issues and have the real ones slip through."
"As a user involved with the user interface, I believe there is a need to continue improving it based on feedback from our customers."
"It could be more secure."
"Sophos MDR's support and basic training of their devices could be improved."
"Threat intelligence is an area for improvement for MDR."
"The reports should be more comprehensive and easier to organize."
"The only challenge we face with the tool is the pricing. Clients often compare it with other products in the market and try to negotiate prices. This concern has caused some challenges in closing deals. Otherwise, as a product, we have no worries."
"Maybe the reporting needs improvement."
"There is room for improvement in performance and upgrades."
"The technical team for Sophos MDR is not so good since they take a long time, like a week, to provide a solution to a simple case or problem we face in our company."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Almost any product that is on the AWS Marketplace is super easy to subscribe to."
"Alert Logic has better competitive pricing than some of its competitors."
"Its pricing is very reasonable considering what you get for what you pay. There is quite a good value there. Its licensing is also very logical. They've got the licensing price points at a reasonable level. It is on a monthly license but a yearly contract. There are no additional costs to the standard licensing fees."
"Price of the solution was very reasonable considering the size of our organization at the time, and so it worked out perfectly."
"Our ROI would probably be zero. We don't even use it. It sits in there. We get emails and just delete them. Around the world, we don't even use it."
"I rate Sophos MDR’s pricing a seven or eight out of ten."
"Sophos MDR is not a cheap product. Compared with other solutions in the market, Sophos MDR is available at a good price, especially considering its performance."
"The cost of the solution is based on how many users use it."
"It is an expensive platform."
"I would rate the price of Sophos MDR as a nine out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."
"Sophos MDR could be more affordable."
"Sophos MDR is a cheap solution."
"Compared to other tools, Sophos has a pretty good price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alert Logic?
The most valuable aspect of Alert Logic is its technology platform. They have SOCs in the US and Europe, giving them global visibility of the threat landscape. They detect and respond to threats in...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alert Logic?
Alert Logic's license is one of the most competitive. They deliver a high-quality service for a competitive price.
What needs improvement with Alert Logic?
Alert Logic should also develop an EDR that is natively integrated into their solution. Currently, a client must buy another EDR solution like SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, or Sophos. I think Alert Log...
What do you like most about Sophos MDR?
The user doesn't need a technician; it offers 24/7 support to identify and manage your infrastructure and take complete care of any technological incidents.
What needs improvement with Sophos MDR?
There could be improvement in features like more detailed reporting for the end customer. For example, reports should be in simple language that is easy to read and understand for management level ...
What advice do you have for others considering Sophos MDR?
I would absolutely recommend Sophos MDR to other organizations. It is rated ten out of ten overall, with a deduction of one point only due to the commercial cost. I'd rate the solution nine out of ...
 

Also Known As

Alert Logic MDR, Alert Logic Managed Detection and ResponseAlert Logic Threat Manager, Alert Logic Cloud Defender, Critical Watch FusionVM
Sophos Managed Threat Response
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Alert Logic MDR vs. Sophos MDR and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.