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Microsoft Defender for Business vs Microsoft Purview Data Governance comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.2
Microsoft Defender for Business boosts ROI with increased productivity, cost savings, improved security, and enhanced business opportunities.
Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Purview Data Governance enhances data management, reduces risks, and boosts reputations, offering long-term advantages across industries.
Using Microsoft Defender for Business results in cost reductions as it consolidates various features under one product, saving around 20% to 30% of the budget.
It is pretty good because it offers various features such as Exchange, OfficeSuite, OneDrive, and SharePoint.
The value I see in Microsoft Defender for Business is in its ability to track and respond to application usage and security threats through its CASB and automation features, which are cost-beneficial.
Clients benefit from using a one-stop-shop solution, increasing their visibility across different platforms.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.4
Microsoft Defender for Business offers prompt support but lacks efficiency, with slower resolutions and mixed user satisfaction ratings.
Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft Purview support varies; quick and knowledgeable or delayed and less informed, rating six to ten overall.
It is rated ten out of ten for its quality and assistance.
The onboarding support is exceptional, ensuring seamless integration and implementation.
Faster support is needed for endpoint security solutions.
Overall, it doesn't meet our expectations.
They're skillful people who know what they're doing in their space.
I have a dedicated team as a government agency, and Microsoft assists us promptly.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Defender for Business is praised for scalability, with high ratings, despite configuration challenges across sectors like IT and government.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Purview offers scalable data management, seamlessly integrates with Azure, handles numerous sources efficiently, but may incur high costs.
The cloud-based nature of the solution ensures high scalability.
The scalability of Microsoft Defender for Business is rated as ten, indicating it is very scalable.
In terms of scalability, I find Microsoft Defender for Business to be good and reliable.
With automation, you can label five documents or 50,000 with the same amount of clicks.
It allows for one-to-one connections with different types of servers, either cloud-based like AWS, or physical servers.
The product is scalable and works across multi-cloud and multi-platform environments.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Business is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and occasional bugs, maintaining user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Purview Data Governance is stable with minimal issues, requires careful patch management, and supports a 99.9% SLA.
No customer complaints about its functionality or reliability.
Although it generally works, there are occasional issues and errors that sometimes require a complete system format to rectify.
Threat detection capabilities could be improved.
It can take seven days to 24 hours to determine whether a policy is effective.
Microsoft Purview Data Governance is absolutely fine in terms of stability.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Business needs enhancements in reporting, integration, support efficiency, and pricing, with user-friendliness and communication issues.
Microsoft Purview needs improved integration, functionality, and support in data lineage, API, compliance, notifications, and third-party connections.
Microsoft should provide batch management solutions with the application, integrating pass management with roles.
Features related to Advanced Persistent Threat detection vectors and cyber kill chain integrations are not available out-of-the-box.
There can be improvements in the user interface to make it more intuitive.
It's essential to know if a feature isn't working due to missing licenses.
There are some problems with DLP rules, and it would be great if the security around DLP could be expanded.
A watermark feature or similar tools to help enhance security for end users could be added.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Business offers cost-effective pricing within Office 365 Premium, valued for features and nonprofit discounts, despite some competitors.
Microsoft Purview Data Governance is cost-effective with flexible pricing but may require additional licenses for certain features.
Single-year pricing remains good.
The pricing is quite affordable at the enterprise level with no extra expenses noted.
The package with Business Premium is good for what you get for the price.
The feature might be available in the console, but it won't work without the proper license, creating confusion.
Microsoft Purview Data Governance is quite affordable compared to other market solutions, which have high initial costs.
The experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was smooth, as most Purview functionalities were included in the e5 licenses we migrated to for other reasons.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Business provides scalable, cost-effective security with AI-powered threat detection, easy integration, and user-friendly features.
Microsoft Purview Data Governance enhances data protection, classification, and compliance across multi-cloud environments with intuitive tools and automation features.
The threat detection capabilities are robust, with a dedicated research team and a continuously updated threat feed.
Its vulnerability management is regarded as one of the best in the industry.
The most effective features of Microsoft Defender for Business include its threat detection and response capabilities in managing vulnerabilities and ransomware attacks.
It provides a comprehensive view of the entire ecosystem's threats and compliance in real time.
The sensitivity labeling is the most valuable feature because it is the foundation for automating the encryption process and ensuring proper data handling across the organization.
The feature that I find most valuable is its ability to block unintended data sharing, like forcing unencrypted emails to be encrypted.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Busi...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
15th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (25th)
Microsoft Purview Data Gove...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Data Governance (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Business is 2.9%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Data Governance is 4.8%, up from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Abid  - PeerSpot reviewer
Advanced threat protection secures diverse workloads with cost-effective deployment
If I need logs and don't have local storage bundled with Defender, I need to add workspace and log analytics, which is costly for storing logs of 2 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB. A default storage of 5 GB for logs should be included with Defender. There are limitations in whitelisting folders and files, and the whitelisting feature for Defender threat protection was deprecated. A straightforward feature for this should be added.
James McDowall - PeerSpot reviewer
The sensitivity and retention options in Purview are excellent
Some of the menu headings may not be easy to understand for some people. For example, when I first used Purview, I noticed that one of the self-compliance centers had changed its name. Microsoft has done a huge amount of updates, and sometimes it's hard to keep track of what Purview can do. We almost constantly have to explore it. Maybe Microsoft could have a 365 roadmap where we can look at upcoming features, or some kind of bulletin announcement for Purview users that explains new features and what they can do in simple terms. We could also look at the menu settings. In my experience of using Purview, we've never used it as an exclusive system for IT professionals or technical staff. We were very keen that other specialists around the business made use of some of these features because we thought that some of what Purview could do was relevant to other departments as well as IT. For example, we have HR managers and financial staff who use it. I think that some of the terminology in Purview is pitched toward IT and tech professionals, and it may not be immediately understood by other specialists. This is something that could be improved.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Retailer
7%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Business?
A few things are valuable. One is the alerting we see when any kind of intrusion is happening, any kind of malware is being deployed across the endpoints, or any kind of suspicious activity is goin...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Business?
Microsoft Defender for Business offers the best pricing option in the market and is very cost-effective.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Business?
The areas where Microsoft Defender for Business could improve include the support, installation process, and wiki. I should be able to find solutions to issues quickly without having to delve too d...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Purview?
It is designed to seamlessly connect to various data sources, which is particularly beneficial for our customers who primarily use Microsoft technologies.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Purview?
The auto-tagging feature should be available at a lower licensing level.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Purview?
Auto-tagging should be available at lower levels of licensing. Right now, a high level of licensing is needed for auto-tagging, and this feature should be made available at a lower license level.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Purview, MS Azure Purview
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Business vs. Microsoft Purview Data Governance and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
848,207 professionals have used our research since 2012.