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Microsoft Defender for Business pros and cons

Vendor: Microsoft
3.6 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Microsoft Defender for Business enhances security with system-hardening policies and integration with tools like Microsoft Lighthouse.
It offers scalable solutions and solid security flexibility optimized for small and medium-sized businesses.
The alerting feature detects intrusions, malware, and suspicious activities, ensuring comprehensive endpoint protection.
The central console is a valuable feature, allowing for effective management and monitoring of security threats.
Microsoft Defender for Business includes attack-savvy service and risk protection, offering a single-dashboard view with Microsoft 365.

CONS

Defender's reporting is scattered, and its URL filtering mechanism is ineffective.
The threat protection needs fine-tuning to reduce false positives and better target detection.
Integration with email systems, particularly Microsoft Outlook, requires improvement and quicker response to emerging threats.
The AI is prone to false positives, and the training process is time-consuming.
Pricing policy poses challenges, especially in multi-year contracts, where more affordable options are available.
 

Microsoft Defender for Business Pros review quotes

reviewer1728189 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 6, 2023
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 going on. We have a footprint across all of North America, Canada, and Mexico, so we want to make sure that all our endpoints are protected and we are able to look for any anomalous activity.
TC
Jul 29, 2024
The most valuable feature of the solution is its central console.
Tim_Howard - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 11, 2024
I haven't had any problems with the tool's stability.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2516193 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 22, 2024
The solution provides good scalability.
NS
Nov 25, 2024
The solution includes attack-savvy service and risk protection, part of data center management, and offers an effective single-dashboard view with Microsoft 365.
Vincent Gagnon - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 18, 2024
The security features are valuable because they come with more capabilities that other licenses do not have, including the enterprise license like E3.
reviewer2264217 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 6, 2023
Microsoft Defender for Business is good for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers solid security flexibility and integration with tools like Microsoft Lighthouse and some other software. It takes some of the features of Defender for Endpoint EDR and provides those services for small and medium-sized business environments.
Raul Miranda - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 13, 2023
It is scalable.
MN
Jul 18, 2022
If you're an Intune user, you can bring in certain capabilities like system-hardening policies, which further enhances the security.
Nicolas Zafiriou - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 15, 2023
The interface is quite user-friendly.
 

Microsoft Defender for Business Cons review quotes

reviewer1728189 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 6, 2023
The biggest one is that Defender needs to be more proactive to the emerging threats. There can be tighter integration with email, especially how it integrates with our email system, which is the Microsoft Outlook suite. There should be the ability to react a lot quicker to emerging threats because sometimes, it takes a few days before some of these new threats are fully identified, and we need that to be a few hours.
TC
Jul 29, 2024
Talking with the tool's technician about any problem is very complicated.
Tim_Howard - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 11, 2024
The tool's support is an area of concern where improvements are needed.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2516193 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 22, 2024
The solution's AI is notorious for false positives, and the time you have to spend training it is ridiculous.
NS
Nov 25, 2024
Microsoft should provide batch management solutions with the application, integrating pass management with roles.
Vincent Gagnon - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 18, 2024
It is not quick to make exclusions or specific configurations compared to other antiviruses on the market.
reviewer2264217 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 6, 2023
Defender's threat protection should be fine-tuned to reduce false positives. It could be more targeted, reflecting a continuous evolution in detecting. Also, it could be easier to integrate into other environments.
Raul Miranda - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 13, 2023
The security could always be improved.
MN
Jul 18, 2022
Defender's reporting is rather scattered, and its URL filtering mechanism doesn't really work.
Nicolas Zafiriou - PeerSpot reviewer
Jun 15, 2023
We faced some issues while running some applications on Mac.