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Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Secureworks Taegis XDR comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (10th), Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (9th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (7th)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (9th), Container Management (8th), Container Security (4th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (7th), Microsoft Security Suite (6th), Compliance Management (4th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (3rd)
Secureworks Taegis XDR
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Network Detection and Response (NDR) (10th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud10.1%
Wiz8.5%
AWS GuardDuty7.5%
Other73.9%
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Secureworks Taegis XDR1.2%
SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint6.4%
Wazuh5.3%
Other87.1%
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2859021 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Risk-based triage has transformed container security and now prioritizes high-impact threats
The best features Qualys TotalCloud offers currently include managing cloud infrastructure and container security while facing major challenges such as alert fatigue. Traditional vulnerability scanners flag hundreds of CVEs on short-lived Kubernetes containers, some of which have no internet exposure or are gone before we can even triage them. I leverage Qualys TotalCloud to move beyond static CVSS. I use it to implement runtime exposure, correlation risk reprioritization, and shift-left integration. This notifies developers to fix a base image upstream rather than patching live ephemeral instances. In my work with cloud and container security, the biggest operational hurdle was alert fatigue. I use Qualys to shift left from static CVSS severity to context-aware risk prioritization. I correlated raw vulnerability data with real-time risk factors such as public network exposure, active runtime execution, or overly permissive IAM roles. This allows us to immediately drop the priority of isolated containers and escalate lower-severity CVEs that sit on an exposed, high-risk path. We can map these findings directly back to our CI/CD pipelines so developers can patch the root base images upstream. We have drastically cut down the signal-to-noise ratio, saved a lot of manual hours doing triage work, and ensured engineering effort goes directly towards high-impact risk reduction.
RW
Head Of IT at Cirrus Response
Cloud security has cut investigation time and now reveals threats faster but needs simpler oversight
When deploying AI applications, my key security concerns with Microsoft Defender for Cloud are data loss, leakage of data, and guardrails around the actual AI, and I am hoping that this is going to help me put those guardrails in place and identify data exfiltration. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has not helped me manage and secure multi-cloud environments, as we are 100 percent Microsoft and have not really got it in any other environment at all. I am not yet using the unified AI-powered security feature offered by Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet using the integrated XDR feature of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet utilizing the GenAI threat protection features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud. That is also coming and a lot of that will come from learning it here. I have enabled the agentless scanning in my cloud environment with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Assessing the impact on my workload protection without needing to install agents with Microsoft Defender for Cloud makes it a lot easier, but it also identifies a lot more, which puts more load on me sometimes. I would advise another organization considering Microsoft Defender for Cloud that it is the most logical route to follow if their whole ecosystem is Microsoft. It is easy to implement and it is very self-explanatory when doing it, making sense to just follow the steps as it is too simple, really. I would rate this review a 7.5 out of 10.
Mohammad Jundiah - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at Qatar Datamation Systems
Centralized monitoring has strengthened threat hunting and improved ransomware protection
Threat hunting and SOC augmentation represent the most special features about Secureworks Taegis XDR, where some of the best people in cybersecurity proactively search, provide reports, and deliver indicators of compromise for any activity in your network. This monitoring and reporting can be conducted weekly or monthly. Centralized security monitoring and reporting is one of the most valuable aspects, as security fundamentally revolves around compliance. Having a centralized security monitoring platform that detects endpoints, networks, and cloud environments, including servers and switches, is essential. Secureworks Taegis XDR's architecture involves a collector device that collects all your data, even from small laptops, and allows you to monitor everything in one platform. This centralized system provides compliance and security visibility, ensuring evidence and visibility for your security and any compliance requirements you have. Analytics with Secureworks Taegis XDR give you a full preview of everything on your device. It takes all the inputs and outputs of your infrastructure; for example, if it is a firewall, it scans all of the traffic. While it is not a SIEM, it is an open XDR, which excels at conducting analytics. This represents one of its best features because Secureworks has implemented a machine learning model that can detect and analyze everything independently, providing AI-driven features. Integration with third-party tools is quite seamless. Secureworks Taegis XDR can integrate with virtually anything. One of the best features of this product is its integration capabilities with multiple sources of EDRs and any operating system, whether protecting Linux or Windows servers. It boasts very good integration, and if a specific integration is not available, you can raise a ticket to Secureworks, and they will work on your integration, whatever it is, even if it is custom-built software. Secureworks Taegis XDR absolutely aids in efficiency. SOC augmentation extends an organization's existing SOC, which helps reduce alert fatigue significantly. It provides additional threat intelligence and expert investigation, making it very useful for organizations that have a security team but lack twenty-four seven coverage.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"While automatic inventory detection upon connection is a helpful feature, a truly valuable capability would be assessing an environment's security posture against Azure and CIS best practices."
"TotalCloud provides the easiest and the best approach for cloud infrastructure management."
"Qualys TotalCloud is overall the best tool available in the market for scanning purposes."
"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable features are its security capabilities that help identify and mitigate risk factors."
"The dashboards are particularly valuable as they offer a comprehensive view of the environment, highlighting any misconfigurations."
"I rate the breadth of FlexScan in providing visibility into on-premises, multicloud, and container environments as fantastic."
"Its dashboards are brilliant. It provides in-depth insights."
"The ability to identify cloud misconfigurations, prioritize security risks, and monitor cloud resources from a single platform is quite valuable."
"Azure Security Center helped us in recovering from our mistake."
"Defender for Cloud has improved our security posture."
"The dashboard is very good; it gives our clients a lot of information and allows them to have a complete overview of the system, with everything visible in one glance."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud is stable and reliable as advertised."
"Good compliance policies."
"I have not experienced any difficulties or issues with the stability of Microsoft Defender for Cloud."
"We can create alerts that trigger if there is any malicious activity happening in the workflow and these alerts can be retrieved using the query language."
"The technical support is very good."
"Threat hunting and SOC augmentation represent the most special features about Secureworks Taegis XDR, where some of the best people in cybersecurity proactively search, provide reports, and deliver indicators of compromise for any activity in your network."
"Definitely, Secureworks Taegis XDR is cost effective for the long run since the product is at a lower cost rather than other brands."
"It's a complete solution package."
"The price for Secureworks Taegis XDR is very competitive."
"Secureworks Taegis XDR has positively impacted our organization by improving detection rates and reducing our time; as I mentioned, it saves us from manually going through all the logs, which is not practical."
"The features I find most valuable are the fact that Secureworks Taegis XDR runs itself without any form of intervention."
"Sophos is a good XDR, and I recommend it for large companies since they have approximately 2,000 or 3,000 devices and can implement it as it is the best XDR."
"Using Secureworks Taegis XDR has positively impacted our organization overall."
 

Cons

"Enhancing clarity regarding its compliance capabilities would be beneficial, as the current scope is limited in geographic coverage."
"There is room for improvement in vulnerability scanning, particularly for PaaS environments. Currently, Qualys does not have full access to these instances, which limits its effectiveness."
"The support process is inefficient due to the excessive number of replies required when submitting tickets."
"We encountered challenges identifying the correct resource category for certain items, such as those in containers or storage."
"One thing that could be improved is the user experience and navigation."
"Qualys TotalCloud has the potential to improve by integrating a hybrid platform for comprehensive management of both on-premises and cloud infrastructures."
"To improve the user experience, reporting could be simplified for better comprehension by end users and project managers, facilitating issue resolution."
"An area for improvement would be to focus on risks related to AI, such as large language models and potential data leakage."
"So, Azure Security Center fell short from the regulatory compliance point of view, and we had to use one more product."
"Defender could improve how data is represented. It can be unstructured or slow to load. The recent update allowing policy grouping into control groups is beneficial, but further enhancements for speed and clarity are needed."
"It's very expensive in terms of the need to maintain it actively."
"Customizing some of the compliance requirements based on individual needs seems like the biggest area of improvement. There should be an option to turn specific controls on and off based on how your solution is configured."
"Early on, the lack of transparency is a challenge. Microsoft does not tell you the cost when they launch something."
"I don't appreciate Microsoft Defender for Cloud because it seems to interfere with many things. That's the problem I've been experiencing with it."
"As an analyst, there is no way to configure or create a playbook to automate the process of flagging suspicious domains."
"They could always work to make the pricing a bit lower."
"We found limitations in the XDR's detections, lacking the ability to create customized detection and log parsing rules."
"To improve Secureworks Taegis XDR, we need to enhance the support part."
"I do not see any other problems with Secureworks Taegis XDR besides pricing."
"Secureworks Taegis XDR is a good product, but it should include AI technology."
"Customer support for Secureworks Taegis XDR is not that bad; they are reachable but not super efficient."
"One negative aspect I always hear from customers is about the cost."
"The efficiency or the smooth navigation of the website or the application can be improved in Secureworks Taegis XDR."
"Hardware compatibility could be an area for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not sure about the pricing. From what I understand, it is a bit on the higher side, but I do not have the exact numbers."
"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."
"TotalCloud's price is about right where I would expect it to be."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."
"Qualys TotalCloud is cost-efficient and was selected for its value compared to other products."
"The pricing for TotalCloud is attractive and competitive in the market. Given the features, especially the dashboard, I have no concerns regarding pricing."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."
"The pricing is very difficult because every type of Defender for Cloud has its own metrics and pricing. If you have Cloud for Key Vault, the pricing is different than it is for storage. Every type has its own pricing list and rules."
"We are using the free version of the Azure Security Center."
"The pricing model for most plans is generally good, but the cost of the new Defender for Storage plan is high and should be revisited, as it could lead to disabling desirable security features due to cost."
"The product's pricing policy is generally favorable."
"It is bundled with our enterprise subscription, which makes it easy to go for it. It is available by default, and there is no extra cost for using the standard features."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud is pricey, especially for Kubernetes clusters."
"I am not involved much with the pricing but the bundle offering is good."
"Defender for Cloud is pretty costly for a single line. It's incredibly high to pay monthly for security per server. The cost is considerable for an enterprise with 500-plus virtual machines, and the monthly bill can spike."
"The pricing is six out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise37
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise49
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?
I was not involved in pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but I can say that the setup was fast, within a quarter, an...
What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
In terms of improvements, the features we are using in Qualys TotalCloud are working in the best optimal way, and I d...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
I have been using Qualys TotalCloud for the last eight months to scan the hardware and the virtual devices in our inf...
How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?
Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening acros...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was that the license cost was the only consideration. Setup an...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
To improve Microsoft Defender for Cloud, I think pricing-wise, the license price is a little bit higher from an inges...
What needs improvement with Secureworks Taegis XDR?
If there were a next release of the product, I would like to see an increase in playbooks, specifically for augmentat...
What is your primary use case for Secureworks Taegis XDR?
Clients are primarily using Secureworks Taegis XDR for securing endpoints, networks, and extending to cloud, identity...
What advice do you have for others considering Secureworks Taegis XDR?
One of the best features of this product is its integration capabilities with multiple sources of EDRs and any operat...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
Secureworks Taegis NDR
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Wiz, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP). Updated: October 2026.
916,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.