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Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway 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
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (10th)
Fortra's Clearswift Secure ...
Ranking in Email Security
39th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
0
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sophos Email
Ranking in Email Security
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 15.9%, down from 20.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway is 0.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Email is 3.1%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

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.
it_user746937 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 2, 2017
Facilitates creation of your own content-filtering policies with relative ease
Ability to create message bypasses for groups and/or individuals. Meaning, you do not have to "whitelist" email domains or addresses when a specific bypass will do. Personal Message Manager (PMM): It allows users to release or delete quarantined messages. Also, allows users to add people to a…
NaveedAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 25, 2024
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

"I like its investigation capabilities, as that is what is most important to me. It is fairly simple with a user-friendly interface."
"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."
"Defender for 365 is a comprehensive cloud-based solution. The value of the cloud is that you aren't alone. Threat intelligence and analytics are shared in the cloud. We don't have to find the solution alone. If you face an unknown threat with traditional solutions like Trend Micro and Symantec, you need to open a case and send your information to them to analyze forensically and identify the source of the attack."
"The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning."
"The product is not resource-intensive."
"The good part is that you don't have to configure it, which is very convenient."
"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."
"The basic features are okay and I'm satisfied with the Defender."
"Ability to create your own content-filtering policies with relative ease."
"A stable solution."
"The most significant aspect is the response filtering concerning attachments and links."
"The deployment is very easy. It's quite straightforward."
"The anti-malware, risk scanning has been pretty spot on."
"It has enhanced our approach to tackling malware and spam. It is a reliable product with a good user interface."
"Sophos Email is a stable solution."
"The best thing about it is the logs."
"The solution protects users from phishing links and spam."
"It's easy to use and the configuration is straightforward."
 

Cons

"There's room for improvement regarding the time frame for retrieving emails."
"One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration."
"The XDR dashboard has room for improvement."
"I'd like some additional features any product can give me to protect our environment in a better way."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should be more proactive."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"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."
"There needs to be an improvement in integrating the product to work across multiple operating systems, and to have better support for non-Microsoft file types."
"FTP server and TRUST Manager functionality."
"Malware needs improvement."
"The main drawback is regarding the technical support."
"Their technical support is slow to respond."
"It was sometimes hard to find the settings in the solution's interface."
"Sophos Email has few improvements to implement, including the handling of incoming emails in the systems. It needs to add additional feature that helps in enhancing the scanning processes of these emails. While adding these features, it should work towards improving the current features also."
"The solution's sandboxing and spam control features could be improved."
"There have been some issues with compatibility and effectiveness, particularly when integrating it with our firewall. The main challenge has been email protection, especially due to compatibility issues and difficulties with log access and email relay configuration."
"Sophos Email can improve mail security."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"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 solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."
"Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"It's a user-base subscription."
"The pricing has become expensive."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
Information not available
"The tool's price is reasonable. On a yearly basis, there is a 20 percent increase in prices, but it is not an issue."
"The pricing is quite reasonable, with a fixed cost and no additional charges."
"The platform is inexpensive. It offers a cost-effective licensing model. We purchase its yearly license."
"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."
"The pricing could improve by having additional discounts. For example, when customers buy have more than 50 or more users, there should be additional discounts."
"The solution is expensive."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The product is cheaper compared to other solutions."
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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
21%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
12%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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...
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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
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Sophos Email Security
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Information Not Available
Del Monte Foods, Terra Verde, spicerhaart, RIVERLITE, Dataprise, SureBridge, Reed's School, Sayfol International School
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Clearswift Secure Email Gateway vs. Sophos Email and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.