Bitdefender GravityZone EDR Reviews

The solution is an antivirus; it's our endpoint security.

This product is quite stable. I'm satisfied with the performance.

It's a scalable product.

I find the solution easy to use. 

We've had no issues so far.

The installation is straightforward. 

We'd like to have an encryption model within it. They need to improve their encryption capabilities. 

I've been using the solution for three years. It's been a while. 

The stability has been good. The performance is reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The scalability of the product is great. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so. It's not a problem. 

I've never contacted technical support in the past. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are. It's a simple installation and it was issue-free so far and therefore I've never needed help. 

I did not previously use any other solutions. 

The initial setup is straightforward. It's not difficult at all to implement it.

I can handle the implementation myself. It's not hard to do. You don't need an integrator or consultant to assist.

You do need to pay for a license in order to use the product.

I pay for a yearly license. 

Before choosing Bitdefender, I did not evaluate other solutions first. 

I have the solution deployed on my laptop. I use it for my own personal purposes. I am a customer and an end-user. 

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.

I would recommend the solution to other users. 

The way I have it configured for most of my clients is that I go through and I do an analysis of where they need to go from basically giving them absolutely no access. I literally block everything. Then I start opening up their modules for content control. It's for opening up and giving specific users specific access that they need on the internet. I try to go with the zero access approach. That's my main approach. And that's how I usually use it. Obviously I have a couple of clients that wanted everything open and then they wanted us to go backward and to leave everything open and start closing things once in a while if they saw a problem.

The most valuable feature for me is the ability to whitelist, blacklist, and be very granular as to what I blocked, what apps I blocked, and what websites I block. I think that's probably the most valuable feature.

The tech engineers don't complain about much. It's solid. My biggest thing is that I want to have more than one option for my clients.

The software itself is solid. It would be better if it was more of a real-time solution, like SentinelOne. The one thing that holds me back on the SentinelOne side is that I can blacklist websites and stuff like that, but it's not as granular as Bitdefender. With Bitdefender, I feel like I have more control over what I can whitelist and blacklist.

Bitdefender is not designed to work in real-time. It's a signature-based platform, it's going to work signature-based in that there are times that it has to get updates. For example, if I'm managing a hundred machines with Bitdefender and the staff is having internet issues or something, and Bitdefender does an update within a week, not all the machines are going to be up to date at the same time. I have it configured to run every day at a certain time but unfortunately, a lot of the people that use it have really bad internet and I can't run it during work hours, I have to run it after hours and they shut their computers off. The first thing Bitdefender does is it goes and looks for signatures in the morning and then it runs the updates at night and then it runs scans at night as well. Sometimes it can go three, four, five days without any update. I've had some that go up to 27. The longest I've had was 32 days and it didn't even run one scan.

I have a client in the Philippines and right now, because of COVID, they're all over the Philippines and in the provinces where they have a really bad internet connection, it's a struggle. I have to schedule with them. The internet is so bad that I have six people using phone data to work because internet companies don't even go that far out for them to have a stable internet connection.

In those cases, I'm struggling a little bit with Bitdefender. With a regular office set up, it runs like clockwork. But with this new normal that we have right now, it's been a little bit complicated. That's why I'm looking to add Cylance. I have a demo with them soon.

I have been using Bitdefender for three years. 

Right now I have about 150 licenses. I use Bitdefender as my go-to. Bitdefender is the default for any new client that signs up.

I've never needed to use technical support. 

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. When I deployed, I deployed it through SolarWind software. It took minutes. I just uploaded the installer and I pushed it through the machines. It went through and it did the clean up of the default AVs that come when they buy the machines and it cleaned most of those up. There were a few McAfees and a couple of Nortons that we had to go in and manually use the McAfee or the Norton removal tool to get rid of those before the Bitdefender would install. But that was a very small percentage. It cleaned up most of them and it was running with no problem.

If we're in a regular office scenario, it's pretty painless.

My advice would be to do it. For the most part, I've been happy. I would definitely recommend it.

I don't know if the software has the infrastructure for it, but in the next release, I would like for them to add some AI and some more predictive capabilities. It'll run more on a real-time basis instead of near real-time. I think that would work for me. I think it would be great.

I would rate Bitdefender a nine out of ten. 

We have been reselling Bitdefender for over twelve years now. Our primary use case for this solution is for a microfinance bank. They wanted a solution that can deliver security in the cloud. In fact, there was no other antivirus partner or manufacturer that has enterprise security that is hosted in the cloud. When they came to us, we told them that we have a solution that can do that, which is Bitdefender GravityZone. We told them exactly what it does:

• You don't need to buy a separate server to deploy it, which is major savings for the bank. 
• It is hosted in the cloud. Because it is hosted in the cloud, you can deploy it in the cloud and you can monitor it from anywhere in the world, whether you are in the office or not. It gives you the stability to know which clients have been updated, which clients have not been updated, which ones have been attacked, and which endpoints have been attacked. 
• You can generate your report. You don't necessarily have to be in the office to have the network working. 

Now, the good thing also about that, apart from the savings and the ability to have the stability of your reports no matter where you are, is the fact that at any point in time, you can have a central policy setting. With that, you can set your policy centrally and from there you push to all your clients. Then also, you can generate your report. You don't necessarily have to be in the office to have the network working. 

What happens is that a desktop will be configured to be what they call a relay server. Then the relay server within your line goes to Bitdefender.com to pick up updates and every client on your network gets updates from the local system. What that means is that it reduces your internet calls. They were happy with that.

The client also wanted to know what happens when they're out of office. I explained that if you're out of the office, once you're connected to the internet, using anything the system goes straight to Bitdefender.com. With the first attempt to view the local server, if it's unable to see the local server, then it takes the second route, which is going to Bitdefender.com. They were very happy about that. They asked all about the issue of memory and performance on systems. I explained that the performance is very light because if it's light, the overhead on the systems is also very low. They were also satisfied with that. 

They asked me how to install on the server and not the desktop and I told them that it's exactly the same as a critical file that you push to boot the server and the desktop. The system is intelligent enough to know which operating system is running and it will handle that. 

Lastly, they asked what happens if they have an existing antivirus. Bitdefender has the ability to automatically uninstall any existing antivirus but we can't make any change on your registry.  

We helped them to do a POC, they were happy with it and after that, they purchased a license of around 2,500 users for two years.

Bitdefender has improved my organization in the way that it has grown our revenue over the years. We have more clients that have signed on Bitdefender GravityZone. Then we have clients who are also migrating from other antivirus solutions to GravityZone because of the ease of use, ease of installation and the fact that it can be deployed in the cloud and the same software; you can actually install it on other servers or workstations. It automatically knows what it's protecting.

Most importantly, we've also had very good support from Bitdefender. Any time you get to Bitdefender support with any issue, their response has been very helpful.

The feature that I've found most valuable is the ability to configure updates to be hourly. Only very few antiviruses can do that. You can be protected from a wide range of malware because it can do hourly updates. We haven't heard of another solution that can do this.

The pricing should be improved. The user interface has been improved on a yearly basis. The key issue is that they need to look at their pricing.

Bitdefender is very productive because since we started selling Bitdefender for the past ten years, we've had almost about six different revisions. Every year and every six months there are improvements in their products, based on feedback, customer needs, changes in technology, and so on. 

For example, people were talking about encryption, so today you have GravityZone that has the ability to perform disc encryption. Disc encryption is done to ensure that your disc isn't attacked. 

Clients were requesting for endpoint detection EDR, which right now they have been able to incorporate. At any point in time, they have always been improving. 

Every six months there are new features. Every three months new features come in to address the needs of these customers. Bitdefender has consistently been very pro-active in virtually all the places we've installed. We ask our clients if they have any issues with the product. All of them say that it's very easy to install and to understand and that they don't have any problems with it. Any global requirements are constantly incorporated. Our clients want to see some intelligence built into reporting but they saw that most antivirus solutions don't do analytics. Bitdefender has acquired a new company that does analytics so the analytics software gets input from the antivirus then it is able to correlate and give you the analytics that are required.

Once we install it properly, it is stable.

We don't have any issues with the scalability. 

In terms of the number of users that use this solution, it depends on the client. One of our clients has a 2,500 user license. We have another one using an over 4,000 user license. We have some using a 5 user license. 

Usually, the roles of the people who manage it within the organization are on the security team. It's usually people in the network administration, working with IT security

Bitdefender has very good technical support because all you need to do is send an email to support and in less than five minutes somebody is online. You can also chat with them if you need to chat. They have the option to email. If you are in a remote area, they have telephonic support as well. 

We have been using Bitdefender for a long time. We've never used any other antivirus. Other customers have moved from other platforms to Bitdefender because of the possibility of the cloud solution. 

They also choose Bitdefender because it has competitive pricing compared to solutions like McAfee and Symantec. They have local support and it's easy to use.

The initial setup is very straightforward and easy. All you need to do is set up your account in Bitdefender Central. Once you open up your accounts, an email is sent to you, you accept the email, and set up your password then it gives you space on the cloud and that's all. It's good to go. The next thing is to link it to your active directory. Once you link it to the active directory, you can see all the users and you just send them an email and they will click and once they click, that's all. It's very easy.

Usually, deployments can take up to six months but can vary from two days to three months as well. It depends on one, the environment in the sense that, if for example, we are deploying to an organization with about 9,000 users, and they are distributed across a large geographical location, they cannot do an antivirus deployment immediately. They need to do what is called a phased implementation. Usually, phases are done off work periods, either in the night or weekends. The reason is that we don't want anything that would disrupt operations. 

Two, usually before we do implementation we do what they call a checklist. We need to know which systems they have if they're Windows, Android or IOS. We want to know which versions because not all versions are supported at any point in time. If they're not supported, we need to do an upgrade on these systems before implementations start. 

Thirdly, we look at the memory and what resources they have. Usually, there is what we call minimum and there's recommended. We go for recommended in terms of specification. Once the recommended is done, we look at the structure of their active directory then after that, we sit down with the IT team who are going to be part of the implementation and take them through the product portfolio of what we want to implement. We show them all the features, show them the various implementation methodologies and configuration options. We show them how updates are done. We now move farther to tell them some of the other requirements like some ports that must be left open in each of these systems at the routers so that the packages can pass through, they are not considered as malicious.

If you have any other security software running in your environment, you'll need to create exceptions for the Bitdefender package. After that, we start implementation with one or two systems then we allow them to then shadow us and do it on their own. If there are issues, we show them where the mistake was made. We continue to give them offline support or on-site support depending on the contract they have signed with us or with our resellers.

Ordinarily, the number of staff we require for deployment is a function of how large the organization is. On average, it's a maximum of five people because for very large organizations we have to do phased implementations and depending on which implementation methodology is chosen, whether it's going to be on-prem or cloud. If it's cloud, it's very simple. Somebody just logs on to the computer and begins to deploy very easily. Just control the systems and do the installation. 

We're a value-added distributor. We have technical expertise in-house, we give resellers the options to either deploy or we deploy on their behalf. There are some resellers who don't have deployment abilities, there are some resellers who have deployment abilities, and there are some users who have deployment abilities, there are some users who don't have deployment skills. It depends on the scenario. If a user wants to do the deployment themselves it's fine but if they run into a problem during installation, we are going to charge them for the installation. We usually draw a line between installation issues and support issues especially for new clients because some clients want to install it themselves then in the course of the installation, they don't install properly and they tell us it's a support issue.

The licensing cost is on a monthly basis when you're doing the MSP model. MSP is a managed security service model. If you're doing the regular one year license, the licensing is based on what we call, a licensing band, so you get the minimum. The minimum is a three-user license. The pricing depends on the nature of the customer's environment, the number of users, and the infrastructure the customer has. 

For example, if you have Microsoft Exchange in your environment and you want to protect it then you have to take a different option because you have the options of GravityZone business, you have the GravityZone Advance then you have the GravityZone Enterprise. It depends on the function of your infrastructure. Once we are able to know the infrastructure a customer has then we'll be able to come up with the right option.

There are additional costs apart from the initial licensing fee. The additional costs will come from things like the local support of the partner. If you're looking for on-site support then that would be an additional cost. They offer free offsite support, like telephonic and email support. 

We evaluated all other solutions like Symantec and McAfee which has no local support. We evaluated ESET but their rating was not good. We evaluated Kaspersky but Kaspersky required many resources.

My advice to somebody considering this solution would be to one, make sure that you get the exact model of the product you're looking for based on your environment. Two, you must ensure that you meet the minimum requirements because for Bitdefender if you don't meet the minimum requirements, it will not install. It will not install and if it does not install you will never know where the problem is coming from. 

I would rate Bitdefender a ten out of ten. 

POC on an sample of workstations on various profiles

We tested it in a laboratory, not yet in real life, and we ran Zero-day. The antivirus found that it was trying to write in a particular memory zone. It blocked the payload to prevent it from executing it. It did so even though it was a Zero-day, meaning that it was not known at that moment by any antivirus on the market.

One of the most valuable features is the signature updating in near real-time. Also, the behavior of the processes - what's happening on the work station, which is not necessarily signature based - gives us a compartmentalized level of analysis.

The solution performed very well in handling threats, antivirus is baseline for any organization and it is very dangerous not to take care of the basics.

We would like to see more improvements on the reporting side, such as more granular or customization abilities, or compliance-ready template reports.

The stability is good. There have been no particular consequences or conflicts with other programs. At the end of the day, the stability is good.

It's working on all Window systems, so from this point of view there are no restrictions.

The guys are very responsive, even careful. Even though we did not ask particular questions, they asked us if we had any questions or issues. They invited us to tell them whether everything was okay. They also visited us onsite, to discuss and analyze our security.

This is a complementary solution, it was not intended to replace a particular solution.

The initial setup was quite simple, and then it was integrated with Microsoft's official deployment system. You don't have to go to any workstation to do the setup. It is automatic.

The deployment was done directly with Bitdefender.

It has been supporting the business' activity. That is the objective of a security solution, and to do so without incident, detecting and preventing whenever a threat arises. I can't say that this solution has increased business activity, because there is not a direct connection between business activity and the solution. However, the objective, enabling the business to do its job, has been achieved.

Security is like insurance. When you pay car insurance there is no return on your investment. You pay for the insurance because you need the car.

Licensing is done on a yearly basis and it's workstation-based. The actual price is confidential. There are no additional costs beyond the standard license.

yes - Symantec, Mcafee, Avast

Take this solution into consideration. Evaluate it, analyze it, do a PoC, and then make a decision. Having this solution in your portfolio, or at least having analyzed it, is important.

We tested the antivirus part of the solution and the EDR, Endpoint Detection and Response. We have not yet tested social-for-clients, but we are interested in adopting this software. It should help with confidence, for ideal trust, which would be a good step forward in the market for protection of clients' terminal workstations.

I would rate the product at eight out ten. It is on the right track. It still needs the improvements I mentioned.

I primarily use this product for antivirus and anti-malware. It is a next-generation antivirus solution.

I use GravityZone Ultra for conducting threat assessments.

It provides pretty good insights into threats within the network.

The performance is great.

It's not quite so easy to use, but it's good enough and powerful.

Using this product requires quite a bit of training, which is hard to get. If it were easier to use and there were more training available then it would be helpful.

We have been using GravityZone Ultra for a few months. We installed it this past January.

We are a solution provider and implement this product for our clients, as well as use it in our own organization.

This product is quite stable in our infrastructure.

It scales well for up to 220 computers. I don't know how it works beyond this point.

In my own company, there are only two of us who use it. Within our clients' companies, there are 98 users. Depending on the economy, our usage of it will grow in the future.

We have been in contact with technical support for one only issue, and it was solved after our second interaction with them.

We used Kaspersky and applications by other vendors. However, we switched away from them because of the licensing issues. The offer that we received from Bitdefender was pretty good.

The installation and initial setup are straightforward. It took us at most 10 days, going from computer to computer.

We deployed it with an in-house team.

Price-wise, we have a better licensing agreement with Bitdefender than we did with competing vendors.

Overall, this is a very good solution and if the training were easier to get, then I would give it a perfect score. It is one of the best and well-featured solutions at the moment, and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use this solution for the anti-malware. We intend to replace Bitdefender with Windows Defender gradually. Bitdefender is deployed on all our endpoints.

The most valuable features are the anti-malware and firewall policies. The runtime scans and execution have been beneficial to our business.

Windows Defender is becoming a default component of the Windows operating system. The on-premises setup for Bitdefender sometimes faces issues with connectivity. Management of Windows Defender is a bit easier compared to Bitdefender.

They need to increase their capability to scan cloud services.

I have been using this solution for six years.

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable solution. 

We faced issues in the past with customer support for this solution as we waited a long time for replies to emails. 

Positive

I would recommend the cloud version of this solution because it is much more scalable. Bitdefender is a good product but there are other good competitors so it all depends on the use case.

I would rate the on-prem version an eight out of ten. 

The primary use of the solution is to obtain or to control all clients in only one place.

For example, with this, I can add patch management. For me, it's a good way to update the clients without, for example, a server from my company. I can manage the patch management for my clients from one simple central console.

The advantage of the solution is that it has a console on the cloud and you can update the clients. You don't need to put it on the server on your company or on-premise. You can manage the clients through the console on the cloud and you can send policies and updates and other things without the need to put a client into your own network.

Bitdefender has a EDR solution in the client. It offers protection for the exchange and can check services. It has a patch management feature, which is quite useful for us. 

We're able to implement a sandbox solution, to try to detect any malware on devices. It helps keep us safe.

So far, the solution has been problem-free. We have never had to reach out to technical support to troubleshoot as it just seems to work very well.

The reporting is much too simple. It should be more in-depth and offer more details and more information. They could really build out the reporting aspect of the product overall. We need more information, for example, about traffic and logs. It would be much more helpful if we had a bit more visibility.

We've never had to reach out to technical support. That's due to the fact that we haven't run into any issues at all. It's been very easy to use without any problems that would require an intervention.

We're resellers of this solution. We offer it to our clients.

In general, I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We've been pretty happy overall with how it has been working for us. We have no complaints.

I used Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra for endpoint security.

The firewall security could be better.

I have been using Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra for approximately three years.

Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra is stable.

I have found Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra to be highly scalable.

We have approximately 10 people using this solution in my organization.

I have not needed to use technical support.

I have previously used Panda Security, and I switched because I did not trust it.

The initial setup of Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra was easy. The full process took two weeks.

I did the implementation of the solution myself.

We have the head of the IT department who does the deployment and maintenance of Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra.

I have not seen a return on investment with this solution.

When I first started using this solution I was paying $80 annually. I did not pay any additional fees. There are other solutions that are cheaper on the market.

I have recently changed from Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra to Check Point Harmony because my IT security partner recommended it.

Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra is a good solution, but it's not the best. The Check Point Harmony solution is cheaper, and the firewall is safer.

I rate Bitdefender GravityZone Ultra a seven out of ten.