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Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager 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
6.7
Microsoft Defender for Identity effectively prevents incidents, reduces administration time, is cost-effective, and helps satisfy client needs, despite mixed returns.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager offers cost-effective compliance, reducing expenses, processing time, and enhancing security within Office 365 E5.
The process is reduced from weeks to a day, showcasing a solid nine for return on investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.4
Microsoft Defender for Identity's support is effective yet inconsistent, with delays and variable service quality across subscription tiers.
Sentiment score
4.7
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager's support is slow and inefficient, with delays in resolving compliance issues, especially for smaller organizations.
The quality of support is very good, but troubleshooting can take time due to complex setups and the need to provide many logs.
Generally, the support is more effective than other providers like Oracle.
The support staff, who are often outsourced, seem not adequately equipped to handle issues quickly and efficiently.
Since I approach them with more complicated issues, it takes quite a bit of time to get through those two support tiers.
Users have no specific forum for addressing queries, which impacts the overall support experience.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.8
Microsoft Defender for Identity is scalable and adaptable, supporting diverse enterprises and seamlessly integrating within Microsoft infrastructures.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager scales well but faces limitations with detailed policy configurations in large deployments.
In a Microsoft-centric organization, especially with Azure infrastructure and Office 365, Microsoft Defender for Identity is scalable.
It is straightforward since it scans everything, covering all aspects needed in our operations.
As services increase, eDiscovery capabilities also increase, allowing easy deployment.
While the solution is scalable in terms of user numbers, there are limitations when creating more granular level policies.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Identity is highly stable, credited to Azure's infrastructure, despite occasional regional incidents and initial issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is reliable and stable but needs enhanced usability and competitiveness, especially for Outlook users.
Microsoft Defender for Identity is quite robust and built on Azure hyperscale infrastructure, with a 99% availability.
Searching logs for activities, such as critical data being sent outside, can be tricky.
Despite stability, it needs to be more user-friendly and competitive compared to other eDiscovery tools.
It is reliable and I can depend on it.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Identity requires enhancements in cloud security, SIEM integration, and user access controls, facing various operational challenges.
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager needs better integration, automation, monitoring, and cost-effective features for improved user experience, especially for non-profits.
One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform.
Reducing false positives is something we've been working on with Microsoft.
There is room for improvement in delivering knowledge to technical users, especially regarding what we can gain from the solution and how to apply it.
The speed and accessibility, particularly in the user interface, require significant work.
Microsoft Copilot Security converts human language to search queries using its AdLM language model.
The Purview Compliance Portal's log management could be more user-friendly, making data retrieval, like email logs, challenging.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Identity, integrated with Microsoft 365 E5, is competitively priced, offering value for Azure and Office 365 users.
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is competitively priced, benefiting from existing licenses and often cheaper than previous solutions and competitors.
the Microsoft Defender Suite is quite expensive, especially when integrated into Sentinel.
From an organization perspective, using E5 licenses is value for money, especially if Azure and Office 365 are already in use.
Ensuring a fair price according to market standards.
I rate the pricing as a one since it is included in what I am already paying for, as part of the Microsoft 365 E5 licensing.
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is priced at 60% to 70% compared to some competitors.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Identity excels in threat detection, offers customization, and enhances security across environments with synced capabilities and automation.
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager simplifies multi-cloud data protection with automation, real-time visibility, and extensive compliance and security features.
The most valuable features of Microsoft Defender for Identity include its automatic remedies, possibilities for avoiding incidents, the privilege manager, and the generation of logs that facilitate a safer environment.
The integration into the Microsoft Defender ecosystem is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Identity.
The seamless integration with other Microsoft solutions within our Microsoft-centric environment is also a major advantage.
It limits capabilities, however, with connectors, functionality improves, providing the best results possible.
The most valuable feature is data classification retention since I deal with terabytes of data, and managing and monitoring it simplifies the process.
It covers data leakage prevention by monitoring interfaces such as email and web-based platforms.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Iden...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (5th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (1st)
Microsoft Purview Complianc...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Data Governance (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Identity is 6.6%, up from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is 1.3%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Easily detects advanced attacks based on user behavior
The best feature is security monitoring, which detects and investigates suspicious user activities. It can easily detect advanced attacks based on the behavior. The credentials are securely stored, so it reduces the risk of compromise. It will monitor user behavior based on artificial intelligence to protect the identities in your organization. It will even help secure the on-premise Active Directory. It syncs from the cloud to on-premise, and on-premise modifications will be reflected in the cloud. Identity harvesting is the most common threat. Legacy Microsoft solutions and Amazon face the same issues in the cloud. Users don't implement other security mechanisms in the cloud. In an on-premise environment, we would have multiple security devices like firewalls and several layers of security. Cloud users are less bothered because cloud features are there and only need to be configured. Microsoft Defender for Cloud is the best solution because all threats are completely visible, and it has a great dashboard. The dashboard displays each threat and score, so we can identify the threat rating and act efficiently to avoid compromising user identities. We have a single sign-on feature on the cloud. If we lose a single set of identities, it can compromise the entire organization, including cloud and on-premise. The same identities are being used everywhere. The user activity has to be completely visible on the dashboard, and it has to generate a pattern. It will notify us if there is any security breach. It is a complete monitoring set. Minor changes in the user identity can lead to data leakage. If a password is changed in the cloud, it will be reflected automatically in the on-premise. This minor change will trigger an alert in Microsoft Defender for Identity. It ensures that each cloud identity is well protected from spoofing. It has a comprehensive database of well-known spoofing techniques, enabling us to provide cloud identity protection completely. It has a vast scope because it is completely single sign-on. In the emerging industry, we use single sign-on because users need to authenticate, but it's challenging to remember multiple passwords. Once your user signs in, you can access all the data. An identity compromise would lead to various issues and affect the data on-premises. Defender maintains a constantly updated database with the latest signatures, attack models, and threats. If it detects one threat, it will monitor the suspicious event and give us frequent alerts. Identity protection is vital because we use an identity mechanism for everything, including firewall-related activities. The exact identity used in the cloud is used in the most complex firewalls. We require an excellent migration technique to regain this user credential if something gets compromised. Blocking this requires a massive set of procedures. Microsoft Defender comprehensively monitors identity and provides frequent alerts regarding any issue, so we don't need to think of anything else. Defender's bidirectional sync capabilities are helpful because we need to sync data from multiple directions, including tenant-to-tenant, on-premise-to-cloud, and cloud-to-cloud syncing. As a university, we have multiple tenants, so we need to sync or access data across platforms. That way, everything is more secure, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud also provides ample security for cloud transfers. The bidirectional sync capabilities are flawless—10 out of 10. Our on-premise Active Directory is perfectly synced with the Azure AD. Everything is synced with on-premise, and changes are reflected in minutes. If a problem with identity is addressed on the cloud, the fix will be mirrored on-premise and vice versa. Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Identity are bundled. If we have these two solutions, we don't need to worry about anything else or third-party antivirus. Microsoft Defender for Identity acts as a link to all the Microsoft security features that require identity-based validation. Microsoft Defender instantly provides identity security for all our applications, and users need not worry about typing their passwords. Even in situations with less complex encryption mechanisms, users don't need to worry about typing in their passwords. Defender will check and monitor if there are any flaws in that, and it will let us know if there are any issues. We're a Microsoft shop, so everything works together. If one feature isn't working, everything will be affected. If Defender isn't working, half of our Microsoft security features will be dead. Without identity security, user data can easily be compromised, and data can fall into the hands of intruders or other hackers. The solutions have to complement each other. If anything got wrong, the entire setup would have flaws. Microsoft security has a legacy security mechanism. A while back, we might have gone with Defender for Endpoint, but Microsoft has also grown into the face of the cloud. The same Defender solution is completely maintaining cloud security. We can imagine Microsoft's vast scale and how Defender can protect the cloud environment from vulnerabilities and attacks. We are definitely delighted with Microsoft products. The dashboard features are fantastic because it provides a comprehensive overview. It has a great alert mechanism and log inspector that tracks when users access various servers. With this kind of identity validation, we can control which servers the users can access. We have total visibility from the dashboard. We can track identity usage even if there are no issues. That is an essential advantage.
Peter-Murphy - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined data management and improved compliance with efficient document classification
The most valuable feature is data classification retention since I deal with terabytes of data, and managing and monitoring it simplifies the process. Additionally, the system provides a dashboard showing our compliance status, which aids in managing compliance tasks. The compliance score feature allows me to assess and compare our compliance across organizations. I've also noticed efficiency gains, especially in handling subject access requests. Previously, these tasks were manual and time-consuming, but now they are streamlined, reducing the process from weeks to just a day.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
7%
Healthcare 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 Identity?
Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?
One area that needs improvement is the number of alerts generated, leading to alert fatigue. Reducing false positives is something we've been working on with Microsoft.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?
Microsoft Defender for Identity ( /products/microsoft-defender-for-identity-reviews ) is used to protect our on-premises and hybrid Active Directory environment. Our organization has a hybrid infra...
What do you like most about Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?
We have more visibility of data and how it is being shared.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?
While not cheap, Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is priced at 60% to 70% compared to some competitors. Additional costs may involve OCR page scanning.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager?
I am primarily using Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager for data leakage prevention, blocking USBs, and monitoring data sharing through OneDrive and web-based interfaces.
 

Also Known As

Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity
Microsoft Compliance Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
847,646 professionals have used our research since 2012.