Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Download the complete report

Helped 787,779 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Lookout

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) category, the mindshare of Lookout is 0.8%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is 14.5%, down from 22.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is 23.6%, up from 17.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)

Unique Categories:

Secure Web Gateways (SWG)

0.4%

Mobile Data Protection

7.1%

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

1.1%

Microsoft Security Suite

1.3%

Enterprise Infrastructure VPN

6.6%

Featured Reviews

reviewer2173356

Manager of Product Development Team at a tech consulting company with 10,001+ employees

May 23, 2023

User-focused design makes it easy to understand, and operations running in background provide peace of mind

In any of the discussions that we've had with their technical teams, they have been very knowledgeable and helpful in certain aspects. They have a lot of partnerships, from what we can tell, and that does start to make the waters a little bit murky. They have third parties that provide functionality and there is a concern that we're going to be bounced around between five different groups to get help for a problem. If you describe it incorrectly, all of a sudden you're with a group that can't help you and they have to forward you to another group. They have been very responsive and super helpful when it comes to any of the issues we've identified. Still, that concern about being bounced around between multiple partners detracts from the overall experience.

Read full review

reviewer2315619

CTO at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Nov 28, 2023

Maintains a security baseline and helps to know what is going on in the environment

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps helps me, on the executive team, to have awareness and knowledge of what is going on in the environment. If a new administrator is created or one is trying to change their authentication types when they log in, or if new software gets put in there that should not have been there, we will get notifications on that. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps helps automate routine tasks and the finding of high-value alerts. We depend a lot on automation. Some of the things I saw with the XDR window at this Microsoft Event are beautiful. I would like to see that. It ties in Defender, Sentinel, and all that into one pane of glass, which has been a problem at times. We see that as moving in the right direction. It has helped us meet compliance requirements and has saved us costs. What we have now is an acceptable value. Cloud Apps helps with detection, but I do not have metrics for how much time it has reduced.

Read full review

Alikhayyam Guluzada

Chief Information Security Officer at Prosol LLC

May 10, 2023

Integrates easily with cybersecurity solutions and has been very effective in securing our environment

It helps with container security. Month by month, developer accounts in the company are increasing. Prisma Access supported and helped us very effectively in securing their workstations and working environment. Prisma Access is good for securing access and privileges. Our developers have a security background, and they have knowledge of cybersecurity. It gives us assurance that they would not be able to do anything as an insider cyber attacker. They would not be able to use their environment to jump to other servers because such functions are prevented by this solution. Prisma Access can protect all app traffic, but we classify the apps inside the company and choose the critical and the medium-risk level apps. This protection is important security-wise. On the IT side, it is important. It is also important on the business side, but they are only concerned about the price. We tried to connect with Palo Alto to get a discount on the first and second years to make the company get the maximum benefit and see the benefit of this solution. After that, they can remove the discounts, and it will be the decision of the company whether to continue with this solution or not. Prisma Access secures not just web-based apps but non-web apps as well. However, about 70% of our applications are web-based applications. If they do not get the discounts, we will only use them for critical web-based applications. Based on my experience, Prisma Access is good not only for web-based but also for non-web applications. It is effective. Prisma Access provides traffic analysis. We are also using Cortex XDR. It is Palo Alto's XDR solution that also supports us for traffic analysis. By using both of them in one environment, we have an end-to-end, more holistic, and zero-trust approach. Prisma Access provides millions of security updates per day. We are also from the cybersecurity side, so we understand that it is a new product. It has only been around for two or three years. In every new product, such updates are welcomed, but we hope that in the next few years, there will be fewer such updates and more targeted updates. Prisma Access enables us to deliver better applications on the security side but not the business and IT side. We are now more confident that our applications are secure.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The protection offered by the product is the most valuable feature. It detects vulnerabilities or traps on our users' phones and then prompts them to clean up their devices. Tools we used previously would only discover, which required us to gather information on the backend, so Lookout is a welcome upgrade."

"On the outside, the main differentiation is because Lookout ingest. They have ingested basically all of the apps for the last ten years and all the versions of all the apps, and we have that in a corporate database that allows us to do very large-scale machine learning and analysis on that data set. That's not something that any of the competitors really have the capability to do because they don't have access to the data set. A lot of the apps you can no longer get them because that version of the app is five or six years old, and it just doesn't exist anywhere anymore, except within our infrastructure. So, the ability to have that very rich dataset and learn from that dataset is a real differentiator."

"The most valuable features are the antivirus as a whole, the anti-malware, and all of the protection features that scan our enterprise devices."

"The solution is stable."

"I like the alert policies because they are quite robust. It has some built-in templates that we can easily pick up. One of them is the alert for mass downloads, when a particular user is running a massive download on your SharePoint site."

"I like the web GUI/the management interface. I also like the security of Microsoft. As compared to other manufacturers, it's less complex and easy to understand and work with."

"The feature that helps us in detecting the sensitive information being shared has been very useful. In addition, the feature that allows MCAS to apply policies with SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive is being used predominantly."

"The product’s most valuable feature is SQL database."

"All of the features are valuable because all of the features are related."

"The general usability of the solution is very straightforward."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its monitoring."

"Everything from Microsoft is integrated. You receive regular reports on them all. You can push your reports, logs, and security alerts, which are all integrated. It is crucial that these solutions work natively together to deliver coordinated detection and response across our environment."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pros

"The solution also provides traffic analysis, threat prevention, URL filtering, and segmentation. That combination is important because it enhances the protection and makes the traffic more secure. It also keeps things more up-to-date, enabling us to deal with more of the current threats."

"This solution provides a DLP on the cloud and very few people have a scanning device for data at rest."

"The visibility perspective is pretty cool. If I want to know how much data is being used for a specific project, I can look at how much data has been used, from which region, and which users have been connected. That visibility is very good so that I can see how many licenses we have and how many are used."

"It is easy to use, easy to integrate, and is stable. It's scalable as well."

"We have an application called ADEM that helps us troubleshoot network-related issues. It helps us to isolate an issue whether it is on the ISP level, endpoint level, or system access level."

"It's much faster and more secure than legacy solutions. It is also quite stable and scalable as well. We are able to see all the traffic in one place."

"The stacked policies, event policies, and routing policies are easy to understand for someone with general knowledge."

"The initial setup is very straightforward."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks pros

Cons

"Lookout was moving into the SSE space. And so their work on SecureWeb Gateway and SD-WAN is still sort of evolving."

"From the analysis that we've done, they do seem to be maybe a step behind in trying to enter the market with a new solution. But when they do pick up, they do come out with some good products."

"We just submitted an enhancement request reflecting the main area we want to see improvement in; the APIs. Currently, we're able to build dashboards, but it's somewhat backward because we use our MDM API to create them. Lookout should provide API to customers so we can query our data and use it in our cloud, and this is the only outstanding area for improvement with the product right now."

"The stability depends on the service from where you access it. Because sometimes, the place you are in, you have Gateway. You don't have Gateway. The gateway is overutilized. At the end, you need to go through their gateways. And this is the key point here. You have a tracking point. If it's not well orchestrated, and it scales up as you add more to the existing team, you will suffer"

"I believe it's only set to be integrated with Microsoft Defender for identity and identity protection. I would like to see it available for use with something like Office 365 Defender. I don't think it's integrated with that yet."

"Generally, the pricing can always be improved along with the management system."

"We would like to get more information from the endpoint. I don't get enough detailed information right now on why something failed. There is not enough visibility."

"There could be more granular roles that are out of the box included in the product."

"It takes some time to scan and apply the policies when there is some sensitive information. After it applies the policies, it works, but there is a delay. This is something for which we are working with Microsoft."

"Sometimes, we'll get false positive alarms. For example, when a SharePoint path has no file sharing, but there is an external user, it will trigger an alarm that the file has been shared with an external user... the alerting mechanism should be more precise when giving you an alert about what activity has been done with the file..."

"There are challenges with detection and there are challenges with false-positive rates."

"I would like more customization of notifications. Currently, you either get everything or you get limited information. I would like to have something in between where we can customize the data that is included in notifications."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps cons

"The solution needs to be more compatible with other solutions. This is specifically a problem for us when it comes to healthcare applications. They have proprietary connection types and things of that nature that make compatibility a challenge sometimes."

"The frequency of updates could be reduced."

"I would like to see support for custom applications."

"The licensing model isn't flexible enough. It's an all-or-nothing model. Other providers in the market allow you to buy modules or add-ons separately. With Prisma Access, you have to purchase the same module for all users."

"The one thing that I've been a little bit disappointed with is when we have had to open cases with Palo Alto about Prisma Access issues. Versus their other platforms, like their firewalls, where we tend to get really quick responses and very definitive answers, the few tickets I've had to open for Prisma Access have taken them longer to respond to. And they haven't necessarily given me the kind of answer I was looking for, meaning a fix to the problem."

"From any improvement perspective, the product's compatibility issues with Linux need to be resolved."

"I would like the solution to support a different type of authentication. We can't configure a secondary method for our portal."

"The documentation is generally good, but they could provide a more detailed description of all the configuration steps. I have to search for information or call support. Palo Alto could add more knowledge base articles about configuration with screenshots and walkthroughs. That would be helpful. When configuring a product, you want to see examples of how it is done."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Lookout is definitely on the lower end when it comes to price point and that seems to be the only differentiator. The technology is in place in this space and it's really about who is coming in at the better price point now."

"In terms of feature performance versus cost, they're a good value."

"The licensing costs are good. Prisma has much more options and support for security, but it has a higher cost. For example, Lookout costs 2/3rd of Prisma's licensing price."

"The pricing is fair; it's comparable to our previous solution, and we carried out multiple POCs and POVs (proof of value). The product is worth the money we pay for it."

"Its pricing is on the higher side. Its price is definitely very high for a small-scale company. As an enterprise client, we do get benefits from Microsoft. We get a discounted price because of the number of users we have in our company. We have a premier package, and with that, we do get a lot of discounts. There are no additional costs. It only comes in the top-tier packages. Generally, the top-tier license is the best license that you can get for your organization. If you want, you can buy it separately, but that's not a good idea."

"It has fair pricing. You pay for what you get. As far as I know, there are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fee."

"The price could be better and should be reconsidered."

"The product's pricing seems fair."

"Our clients normally use the Microsoft E1 licensing, which is renewed yearly."

"The pricing is fair."

"This product is not expensive."

"I'm not totally involved in the pricing part, but I think its pricing is quite aggressive, and its price is quite similar to Netskope. Netskope has separate licensing fees or additional charges if you want to monitor certain SaaS services, whereas, with MCAS, you get 5,000 applications with their Office 365. It is all bundled, and there's no cost for using that. You only have the operational costs. In the country I am in, it is a bit difficult to get people with the required skill sets."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pricing and cost advice

"Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks is an expensive solution, especially when compared to other solutions like Cisco. There are no additional charges apart from the standard licensing costs attached to the solution."

"Prisma Access is one of the best compared to other products on the market. The cost is favorable, and Palo Alto provides a simple architecture, so I recommend the solution to anyone using a different product. There are no hidden costs besides the license; what you see is what you get."

"Palo Alto is the Cadillac solution, so their products are pretty expensive. That's just the way it is. Their solution surpasses anything else. Cisco AnyConnect, Zscaler, and all of the other products don't compare. Palo Alto is the market leader with the most features. It saves you work, and you don't have to worry about it."

"Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has flexible licensing models with different categories. It comes with different features which can be removed if not needed. However, its pricing is high."

"The licensing model for this product is complicated and changes all the time, making it very hard for the user to comprehend the configuration."

"In terms of pricing, considering that it is a two or three years old solution, they should apply big discounts for the next two or three years. This approach will be better for them to capture the market."

"This is not an expensive product and everything is included with one license."

"It is a little expensive. Because it is one of the best in the market, it is a little bit more expensive than other vendors."

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

787,779 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Lookout?

The solution is stable.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lookout?

The licensing costs are good. Prisma has much more options and support for security, but it has a higher cost. For ex...

What needs improvement with Lookout?

The solution could improve identity integration as well. Zero trust, it's a good start as a zero-trust solution. More...

Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Microsoft Cloud App Security?

Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-nat...

What do you like most about Microsoft Cloud App Security?

It does a great job of monitoring and maintaining a security baseline. For us, that is a key element. The notificatio...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Cloud App Security?

Where we are right now, this is an acceptable pricing. I would like to see more transparency given to the end user. T...

What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?

We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure ac...

What do you like most about Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?

The most valuable features of the solution are in the areas of the secure remote access it provides while also being ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?

Palo Alto products are expensive, but they offer efficient features. We have to pay additional costs for maintenance ...

Check Point Harmony Mobile vs Lookout

Comparisons

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Lookout

Compared 14% of the time

Zimperium vs Lookout

Compared 12% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Lookout

Compared 7% of the time

Sophos Mobile vs Lookout

Compared 6% of the time

More Lookout Competitors

Zscaler Internet Access vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 23% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 20% of the time

Netskope vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 11% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 1% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Competitors

Netskope vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 11% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 10% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 7% of the time

Cloudflare Access vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 3% of the time

More Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Competitors

Product Reports

Lookout

Download Lookout product report

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps product report

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps report

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks

Download Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks product report

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks report

Also Known As

CipherCloud

MS Cloud App Security, Microsoft Cloud App Security

Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access

Learn More

Lookout

Microsoft

Palo Alto Networks

Overview

Lookout is a well-established and powerful secure web gateway (SWG) solution that protects more than 200 million users from threats that can result from the penetration of unsecured web traffic into their networks. Lookout is designed to enable organizations to work remotely while maintaining a tight blanket of security over their confidential business data. It provides administrators with security that extends from their endpoints to the cloud service that they are using to run their organization’s network.

Users of Lookout are able to proactively detect threats and keep themselves secure from a field of threats that constantly evolves. IT teams can protect their organizations without having to rely on any other security solutions. This singular solution can run on multiple kinds of mobile devices. The privacy of individuals is preserved while keeping compliance rules intact. Additionally, users gain access to a number of tools that enable them to prevent security breaches from taking place.

Lookout Benefits

Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by deploying Lookout include:

Ease of deployment. Lookout is a solution whose design makes it easy for users to deploy it. It provides users with simple, step-by-step instructions that remove the need for organizations to devote extensive amounts of time to make sure that it is properly set up. Anyone can quickly set up the solution without undergoing technical training.

Built-in support. Users of the Lookout application have access to built-in demos that can teach them how to use various solution features. Instead of spending time trying to figure out the application, users can watch the demo that is most relevant to them and see for themselves how that particular feature is used.

Easy-to-use user interface. Lookout’s user interface is laid out in an intuitive way that makes it easy for administrators to navigate. This interface is present in both the mobile and desktop versions of this solution.

Settings customization. Lookout has a built-in settings customization menu. This makes it possible for administrators to easily customize their settings so that they best conform to their needs.

Lookout Features

Activity monitoring and activity tracking. Lookout’s activity monitoring and activity tracking capabilities enable users to keep a close eye on the activities that are taking place in their networks. IT teams and administrators have the ability to watch their networks for any unusual activity. These features ensure that organizations can keep ahead of any potential threats. They provide the kinds of insights and warnings that make the jobs of those IT teams and administrators much easier and more streamlined.

Encryption. Organizations that employ Lookout can encrypt their networks and keep crucial business data from being read by unauthorized parties. This feature keeps the secrets organizations are trying to keep out of the wrong hands.

Anti-virus tools. Lookout provides users with tools to block threats from harming their networks. These tools can successfully block 99.6 percent of threats without raising false alarms.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a comprehensive security solution that provides protection for cloud-based applications and services. It offers real-time threat detection and response, as well as advanced analytics and reporting capabilities. With Defender for Cloud Apps, organizations can ensure the security of their cloud environments and safeguard against cyber threats. Whether you're running SaaS applications, IaaS workloads, or PaaS services, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps can help you secure your cloud environment and protect your business from cyber threats.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Benefits:

Provides comprehensive security for cloud applications
Integrates with other Microsoft security tools
Easy to use and deploy
Provides real-time threat detection and response
Strong protection against phishing attacks and other common threats
Highly customizable to meet specific needs of different organizations

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Use Cases:

Governance, authentication, security, and compliance.
Detects shadow IT and anomalous user behavior
Controls access to applications
Provides auditing and filtering setups
Used for end-user compute devices, file monitoring, user investigation, and activity
Used for data governance, threat detection, and getting visibility over cloud applications
Used to identify information about applications beyond organizational boundaries
Prevent exfiltration and data filtration of corporate data
Used to deal with spam emails and detect shadow IT

Reviews from Real Users

Ram-Krish, Cloud Security & Governance at a financial services firm, says that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps "Integrates well and helps us in protecting sensitive information, but takes time to scan and apply the policies and cannot detect everything we need".

PeerSpot user, Senior Cloud & Security Consultant at a tech services, writes that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps "Great for monitoring user activity and protecting data while integrating well with other applications".

Simon Burgess,Infrastructure Engineer at SBITSC, states that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is "A fluid, intelligent product for great visibility, centralized management, and increased uptime".

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks provides consistent security for all users and applications across your remote networks. Prisma Access grants users safe access to the cloud and data center applications and the internet as well. In addition, the solution combines all of your security and networking capabilities into a single cloud-delivered platform, enabling flexible hybrid workforces.

Prisma Access can be managed two ways:

Cloud Managed
Panorama Managed

Prisma Access delivers both networking and security services, including:

SD-WAN
VPN
Zero Trust network access (ZTNA)
Quality of service (QoS)
Clean Pipe
Firewall as a service (FWaaS)
DNS Security
Threat Prevention
Cloud secure web gateway (SWG)
Data loss prevention (DLP)
Cloud access security broker (CASB)

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Features

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has many valuable key features including: App-ID, User-ID, Device-ID, SSL Decryption, Dynamic User Group (DUG) Monitoring, AI/ML-Based Detection, IoT Security, Reporting, URL Filtering, Enterprise Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)*, Logging, Policy Automation, Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and many more.

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks Benefits

Some of the benefits of using Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks include:

Security: Prisma Access gives you consistent security to protect against cyberattacks, with enforcement of policy at every location. By implementing Prisma Access, you also gain protection that works to prevent known and unknown malware, exploits, credential theft, command and control, and many other attack vectors across all ports and protocols.
Global connectivity: Prisma Access provides global coverage through use of its connectivity layer.
Scalability: With Prisma Access, scaling is automatically managed and is scalable, flexible, and agile.
Instant deployment: Deployment is fast, eliminating wasted time that may otherwise be associated with setting up a solution, operating it, or shipping hardware in order to get started.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics

users who are currently using the solution.

PeerSpot user Partha D., Global Network Tech Lead at a computer software company, speaks about his experience using the product, saying, "It protects all app traffic so that users can gain access to all apps. Unlike other solutions that only work from ports 80 and 443, which are predominantly for web traffic, Prisma Access covers all protocols and works on all traffic patterns... The most sophisticated attacks can arise from sources that are not behind 80/443."

Tejas J., a Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a computer software company, mentions that "it is geographically dispersed, and it sits on top of Google and AWS platforms. Therefore, you don't face the standard issues, such as latency or bandwidth issues, that you usually face in the case of on-prem data centers.”

Another PeerSpot reviewer, Max I., Associate Director at Cognizant, comments that "Security is absolutely spot-on, really top-notch. It's the result of all the components that come together, such as the HIP [Host Information Profile] and components like Forcepoint, providing end-user content inspection, and antivirus. It incorporates DLP features and that's fantastic because Prisma Access makes sure that all of the essential prerequisites are in place before a user can log in or can be tunneled into."

Sample Customers

Customers for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps include Accenture, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and Nakilat.

Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs. Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks