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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Mimecast Email Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (10th)
Mimecast Email Security
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Office 365 Protection (5th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Frank Rawson - PeerSpot reviewer
It gives clients peace of mind and helps them educate their users about threats
A few years ago, our team found the implementation to be somewhat challenging. It has gotten easier as we've grown more experienced. The difficulty depends on the expertise of the person doing it. I don't work with Mimecast every day, so it might be more difficult for me than it is for one of my techs who regularly does Mimecast implementations. It requires some specific in-depth product knowledge and an understanding of email solutions. The deployment time varies. In South Africa, it depends on who you use to deploy it. If you use one of Mimecast's local partners, it can take up to two weeks because of their process. However, it's only about four to eight hours of work. After deployment, there isn't much maintenance aside from supporting and educating your customers. Users require constant education on how to use the Mimecast client and release an email that has been blocked.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Our customers are satisfied with Defender for 365 because Microsoft products are easy to use and customize to meet the client's needs. Everything is in one place, so we can adjust policies as needed for phishing, DLP, ATP, or any other security features that our clients want to apply."
"The risk level notifications are most valuable. We get to know what kind of intrusion or attack is there, and we can fix a problem on time."
"Since we have started using the solution, there have been fewer compromises."
"The benefit that stands out to me is the ability for multiple individuals to collaborate simultaneously within the same document. Additionally, there is the option to save the document directly in the integrated OneDrive or SharePoint."
"Safe attachments, safe links, policies, and the ability to protect from zero-day threats are the most valuable features."
"Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors."
"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."
"We use Microsoft Defender for its ability to integrate with existing business technologies, which is beneficial for protecting business areas."
"Mimecast certainly helped my customers reduce phishing emails."
"URL inspection works pretty well."
"The setup was easy."
"The solution offers good technical support."
"We like the content filtering and secure messaging features."
"The integration is straightforward."
"Its administration console is very easy to use. The administration console is absolutely important because you interact with the platform through it."
"The product's most valuable features are impersonation protection and phishing countermeasures."
 

Cons

"The custom alerts have to improve a lot."
"The only thing they should improve is the licensing model. They should stop changing it. A year ago, the five features I mentioned were included in one product. Now, three of them are bundled into one product, and you have to pay extra for the other two. I don't mind paying extra, but I don't want them to change it every year or every six months. I need to know what I'm looking at and not worry about it next year."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could improve by giving customers information on techniques to prevent threats. For example, information about best practices on how to protect their own devices against hackers and scammers, such as educational information or training. This would help others have a better understanding of cyber security. Additionally, there can be more security features added."
"One area for improvement is integration. For example, when it comes to external SaaS platforms, we were not able to get a lot of information on integrations with such apps for security and authentication."
"We are always looking for others tools to increase automation on tasks. There can be better integration with other solutions, such as PowerPoint and email."
"There is room for improvement in terms of reporting."
"In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."
"Configuration requires going to a lot of places rather than just accessing one tab."
"While it's quick and easy, the initial setup could be more user-friendly."
"The reaction time between a new threat being identified and Mimecast picking it up needs to be narrowed a bit."
"The feature that should be included is to remove the block on the encrypted files."
"Their support should be improved. They are notorious for sending you to knowledge-based articles rather than actually talking to you, but that is, unfortunately, kind of becoming a trend with everything. In terms of features, I haven't had any complaints. However, I don't like the fact they moved to a paid training subscription model. They used to have a lot of free webinars for training, but they have started to charge for them in the past year."
"The installation is not so straightforward."
"Its pricing can be improved. It is a bit expensive."
"External security features need improvement."
"The filtering needs more flexibility."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"It's a user-base subscription."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
"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 pricing has become expensive."
"There are additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee."
"The product price is moderate. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"It is a bit expensive."
"I'm always going to say the price needs to be lower, but it's reasonable."
"The solution is expensive."
"We pay monthly fees to our provider."
"For what it is, the product is overpriced."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten."
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Answers from the Community

HM
May 4, 2023
May 4, 2023
In my opinion, all gateways including Mimecast or Defender for O365 or ProofPoint work hand-in-hand in their respective mechanics and algorithms built. And definitely has its own advantages. However, I have been using it for my customers' MDO which is far better. I would say relying on gateways is important but at the same time USER education and reporting back to the IT administrator far impor...
See 2 answers
TL
Apr 25, 2023
Greetings Matingou, Defender for O365 I would say would suffice as it has all the tools included in Mimecast in just one single tool, may take some time to navigate at first as it gives a lot of information in just one tool but once you know your way around, you will be able to have good visibility on your email threats landscape by provides a range of protections against email-based threats such as spam, phishing, malware, and etc. It also includes features such as URL protection and attachment scanning to prevent users from clicking on malicious links or downloading harmful files. but on the other hand, Mimecast might be needed, if you require compliance measures, including data loss prevention, archiving, and encryption. It also provides greater visibility and control over email security, allowing you to monitor and manage threats in real-time. Hope this helps.
BK
May 4, 2023
In my opinion, all gateways including Mimecast or Defender for O365 or ProofPoint work hand-in-hand in their respective mechanics and algorithms built. And definitely has its own advantages. However, I have been using it for my customers' MDO which is far better. I would say relying on gateways is important but at the same time USER education and reporting back to the IT administrator far important as well. 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the indi...
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 detection capabilities. We also need alerting features for abnormal actions like unus...
What do you like most about Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?
The interface of this solution is very easy to navigate and user-friendly. There is no delivery in email and other communications, making it reliable. The configuration is relatively easy.
What needs improvement with Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection?
The product's interface could be improved to be more user-friendly.
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Mimecast Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Azizi Developments, Affinity Credit Union, Aftercare, Al Abbar Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. Mimecast Email Security and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.