Cisco Secure Email vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 6, 2023
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
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Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (9th)
Cisco Secure Email
Ranking in Email Security
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (10th)
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Ranking in Email Security
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 13.1%, down from 20.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Secure Email is 10.3%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is 7.3%, down from 13.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security
Unique Categories:
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
12.3%
Microsoft Security Suite
1.5%
Anti-Malware Tools
5.6%
 

Featured Reviews

Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
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.
Muhammad Naeemuddoja - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 14, 2023
Robust email security with advanced threat protection, seamless integration with the Cisco security ecosystem, and flexibility in deployment options
While Cisco is a preferred choice for larger enterprises, its products, especially in the realm of security, tend to be more expensive due to their advanced features. Many organizations commonly rely on Microsoft Outlook for their email needs. Transitioning to Cisco security solutions, including Cisco SecureMail, requires careful consideration and typically involves a learning stage. The decision between traditional hardware and virtual machines (VMs) for deploying solutions like Cisco Secure Mail often depends on financial considerations. VMs are generally more cost-effective compared to dedicated hardware, leading industries to increasingly favor VM deployment. The choice is particularly relevant when the server's capabilities are robust enough to meet organizational needs. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.
Luis Bastida - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 3, 2023
Excellent support, good functionality, and useful protection against online threats
I primarily use the solution for online protection. It protects us from malware and spam, among other threats. I can employ my own policies, for example, attached files and email, and I can apply security to them and analyze threats that may come in. I put together the best configurations to help…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's scalability is good."
"Some of the valuable features on the email side are anti-phishing, anti-malware, and Safe Links."
"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 individuals within our organization who are affected."
"Safe attachments, safe links, policies, and the ability to protect from zero-day threats are the most valuable features."
"The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies."
"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 two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning."
"The most valuable feature is the integration. It's a single console, so we don't have to switch around between multiple products. Another valuable feature is the ease of operations and maintenance."
"We like the in-built features, like the email filtering based on the IP and domain. Cisco has its own blacklisted domains and IPs, which is very good. This filters around 70 percent of emails from spam, and we are seeing fewer false positives with this."
"I love the Advanced Malware Protection feature. It works very well... The appliance has more security such as SDF, DKIM, DMARC, and encryption."
"The malicious URL scanning, as well as the anti-malware features, have been really useful for us in our environment."
"Cisco Secure Email is part of Cisco's extensive efforts and investments in technology, especially in the realm of cyber security. The product is one among many security solutions offered by Cisco."
"It has an intuitive, clear graphical interface where you can deploy your policies and understand the overall flow. There are a lot of things that you cannot handle on the graphic interface, like message filters. For this, you need to go to a lower level where you have more power, like command line interface. So, this solution has the best of both worlds. There are not a lot of bells and whistles. It is more practical with access to most features that you can configure."
"It integrates with Active Directory and we can limit specific users to using specific applications."
"The most valuable feature is the different content filters we are using, such as DKIM."
"It provides good IT assistance."
"We can migrate seamlessly without any disruptions to our operations."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection are the EOP, ATP, safe links, fishing, and antispam."
"The threat management feature includes policies and alerts that are valuable."
"The scalability is pretty good; it does what it is supposed to do."
"The solution uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, so you don't need train it to detect something. The detection and response times are short. It's an excellent product."
"With Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, if malware is attached to a mailer, it's very easy to go into the incident alert and find out what's happening with that identity and the mail."
"We use the solution in all our environments. We use it for remedy tickets and give them updates. It was our main communication point."
"It provides security to both on-premises and Azure infrastructures."
 

Cons

"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."
"We need a separate license and we don't know how to get the license that is required."
"Microsoft sometimes has downtime, and we'll get several incidents coming in back to back. We have a huge backlog of notifications, many of which may be false positives. However, there might be serious alerts, so we can't risk dismissing all of them at once."
"About eight months ago, we started to measure the quantity of phishing and spam that we have been receiving, and it has been increasing a lot. That means that protection for our email is not as good as we were expecting."
"Microsoft security solutions work as expected. They are constantly updating the solutions to make them better. At the same time, the changes can impact a customer's environment, and we need to adjust settings. Sometimes we aren't aware of the changes, and nothing is pushed from the backend automatically."
"Too many false positives and lacks an accurate capability to detect malicious SharePoint sites."
"The product must provide better malware detection."
"I'd like some additional features any product can give me to protect our environment in a better way."
"My opinion on the licensing of this solution is that it is a mess that needs sorting out. I am not particularly bothered by pricing as I administer it and make recommendations for people to buy or not to buy."
"It is not user-friendly, and it is quite complicated. So, it should be more user-friendly."
"The Forged Email Detection feature needs improvement, particularly with domain. The sensors are not that good and the rules sets are unclear."
"We have occasionally had hardware problems because we are using an appliance-based solution, but that might change. We may consider going to virtual systems."
"I would rate the stability a six out of ten. We had multiple issues with the stability."
"The user interface is a bit complex."
"The interface is dated. It has looked pretty much the same for 15 years or so. It would be helpful to be able to do everything from one spot. The centralized quarantine and reporting are completely separate from policy administration."
"They could improve the filters. In my time at the company, there were several times we had to contact support to update the filters."
"Microsoft 365 Defender and EOP policies are stable with the proper license. However, with the basic policy, it's hard to say it's stable due to configuration limitations."
"Online Protection has an issue in that it doesn't provide an option to stop impersonation."
"The solution lacks to elaborate on its spam policies."
"We have experienced issues while migrating from on-prem to the cloud. The tool needs to improve its stability."
"The tool's classification for bulk email is cumbersome."
"Our company faces difficulty with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) because it's too big, clunky, and difficult for a small client to implement quickly and easily."
"The solution needs to improve its backup."
"They should specify the difference between Defender for Office 365 and Exchange Online Protection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"The solution could be better by simplifying the business model of their licensing. It was hard to figure out how to get the licensing done for the environment, initially."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"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."
"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."
"The product is very expensive."
"I rate the product price as six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a very expensive tool."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is expensive. I would rate it 2 out of 10, where 1 is the most expensive and 10 is the cheapest."
"As per market availability, this solution is more expensive than other vendors."
"It is an expensive product. I rate its pricing an eight or nine."
"Cisco Secure Email is more expensive than other products. I rate it a five out of ten. There are no additional costs. You only need to pay the subscription amounts."
"Cisco Secure Email is expensive, but we get what we pay for."
"Pricing depends on your environment and which model you want to buy."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
"The tool's pricing is excellent."
"The pricing for the solution depends on what you are trying to achieve with the use of the product, but I know that it is not a cheaply priced product. Yearly payments have to be made towards the licensing fees of the solution."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is a good solution at an affordable price. It is a good investment."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection's pricing is a little bit more because its price has recently increased."
"It is a low-price solution."
"The price could be lower."
"The product's pricing is competitive for the US market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Educational Organization
17%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
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 Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of variou...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The product must provide better malware detection. The detection algorithms don't perform the way I hope they would.
What do you like most about Cisco Secure Email?
Cisco Secure Email is a budget-friendly solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Email?
The product's price falls on the higher side when compared to the other products on the market. Whether the product w...
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Email?
I am not satisfied with the solution's reporting and logging.
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
We face challenges with reporting features and the lack of a proper dashboard in Microsoft's portal. There's no graph...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The main use case is to block suspicious links in emails. However, some functionalities like SIPP attachment are not ...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Cisco Email Security, IronPort, Cisco Email Security, ESA, Email Security Appliances
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
SUNY Old Westbury, CoxHealth, City of Fullerton, Indra
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Email vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,779 professionals have used our research since 2012.