Alert Logic vs IBM Security QRadar comparison

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Binary Defense Logo
1,563 views|179 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
Alert Logic Logo
1,030 views|678 comparisons
92% willing to recommend
IBM Logo
285 views|138 comparisons
91% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Alert Logic and IBM Security QRadar based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Alert Logic vs. IBM Security QRadar Report (Updated: March 2024).
769,630 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Binary Defense's most valuable feature is the 24/7 monitoring and threat hunting. Their team checks the latest breaches and how they're done.""Among the valuable features are the agent, continuous reporting, and dashboard. It has all the features we need and we haven't had to customize it, other than turning on certain features that we wanted.""The customization has been the most valuable aspect and was really the reason we ended up selecting Binary Defense. They worked with us to provide exactly the level of support, features, response, and collaboration we needed.""The biggest aspect for us is that they are able to conform to our environment and utilize our tools. That way, we still maintain ownership of all the data and access to the applications, and we never lose control of the ability to run the solution ourselves if we need to.""The speed at which their services are reactive is valuable. Nowadays, when a threat hits an endpoint, you've got minutes, not hours or days. Their average response time is about four minutes on an alert. For anything that needs to be sent to us, it's about fourteen minutes, which is pretty good. They're the third SOC that I've used in fifteen years. By far, they are the quickest ones to act. When you're looking at prevention, that's a key factor.""Binary Defense has a human service department that provides live monitoring for our systems.""The best part about Binary Defense MDR is that it runs on everything, and they keep an eye on things 24/7.""The most valuable part of Binary Defense is its team of cybersecurity analysts. Their analysts filter out the noise and only forward the critical threats that require a response instead of false positives."

More Binary Defense MDR Pros →

"The installation and configuration were slick.""It improves our security. Before, we didn't have anything scanning our containers. We had software scanning all the physical servers, but we had nothing to scan our containers. With Alert Logic, we can do that.""The solution was consistently available, and I cannot recall any instances where it was down.""Everything is in one dashboard; I'm notified when there's an incident and advised on what steps to take.""We receive infrastructure security warnings from it. So, we know what is going on and what needs to be addressed.""While I still have on-premises appliances, I can remotely monitor everything from the cloud, and Alert Logic's ease-of-access features have helped me streamline my workflow and reduce implementation time.""Notifications and the detail of notifications are most valuable. It is a user-friendly solution.""It has the ability to install agents. It is pretty straightforward. You can automate the process pretty easily."

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"Integrations are quite a useful and key feature of this solution. It has integration with the CVSS score, which is a central point for all the data and scores about the threats. There is an IBM Bluemix dashboard that is integrated with the CVSS score.""The initial setup of QRadar is not complex because we have done it before and we are used to the development. It is getting easier all the time.""The stability is good.""The most valuable feature currently is security behaviors and the pdf files.""It is a very optimized engine.""The timeline and machine learning features are great.""The most valuable feature is the machine learning module.""There are a lot of great out-of-the-box features included."

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Cons
"I don't find any downside to them, but if I have to put one, it would be consistent manpower or staffing. The only area where the solution can be improved is going to be with people. As they grow, they are struggling with the same thing that every other company is, which is getting talent and getting that talent to stay, but they've just revised their tiering system to go from a flat analyst and manager to a three-tier solution where it goes through two or three before it gets elevated. That seems to have worked out well, so if one level misses it, the next one picks it up, and it works out fine.""It's hard to think of anything that they need to improve on, but just to point out something, I would like to see them provide advanced XDR.""I would like to see more frequent check-ins with our security status.""I would like to get more reports from Binary Defense about what they're blocking.""The most significant area for improvement is in support for non-English speakers; we're a global organization, so many of our users are not English speakers, which can make interacting with them a challenge. There's no Chinese language support, so we must rely on what we can do with the internet. We don't expect Binary Defense to build a language staff, but details can get lost in translation when we assume the whole world speaks English.""We found that an earlier version of the agent had high memory usage and that was a bit concerning, but we raised the concern with their support team and they immediately replied that they had noticed the same thing and had a candidate fix already available... it totally fixed the issue.""Binary Defense MDR could be even better with additional features, like automatic scans and file quarantine.""If I were shopping for an MDR solution today, I would not only look for a company that has the ability to alert, detect, and remediate, but also the ability to integrate vulnerability management. That's a big thing that they're lacking today."

More Binary Defense MDR Cons →

"The product needs to mature. We don't want to be bombarded with unnecessary issues and have the real ones slip through.""They have ideas and email you whatever they find, but they don't have a dedicated security team who will work on an attack or a specific security instance.""This product needs to mature more. While it is a good product, there are some areas where it needs work.""Could be more of an endpoint protector.""We'd like to have triggered alerts sent to us so we see errors quicker.""I would like to see it do initial scans and start capturing data, which it will truly analyze, not just be a reporting system saying, "Here is an email. Here is an email. Here is an email."""Alert Logic needs to expand its SOCs to serve more markets, such as the Middle East and Asia. There should be infrastructure that covers more time zones. The company should also develop an EDR that is natively integrated into their solution. Currently, a client must buy another EDR solution like CrowdStrike or Sophos. I think Alert Logic is developing this. Built-in email security could also be developed and integrated.""Its menu is not very intuitive. I would like to see the user menu expanded a bit. The user menu is very layered, and because of the layers, you have to go down a path that is not very intuitive."

More Alert Logic Cons →

"I have noticed a few things while working on this. After the restart of the server, sometimes, the services misbehave, and you need to manually start or restart the service. I have seen that specifically with the Tomcat service. Sometimes, when you click on log sources, instead of opening the log source extension, it redirects you over the internet.""There needs to be better integration with other applications.""The quality of technical support depends on the IBM support person. Sometimes, it's hard to get the right person on the other side. A ticket coordinator could be the key to better quality delivery.""If you have too many events that occur, then the storage capacity becomes a problem. You need to have more storage.""The user interface is a bit clunky, a bit hard to find what you need.""From a functionality point of view there are issues sometimes.""The biggest problem was built on top of the QRadar in the executive operations center network. The integration was not using the network security specialist properly, and all the incidents were inferior with QRadar. Its compatibility is not really good.""The user interface is a bit difficult to get used to."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The solution's price is spot on; if anything, it's slightly below the norm for most services. Compared to building the same team internally, it would cost more to create the same amount of capability than what we get from an external team. Price-wise, Binary Defense is in a great spot."
  • "From the initial cost that Binary Defense came in with, we pared it down quite a bit over the course of 30 or 60 days. My leadership would say that their cost was high, but realistically, they were in line with the market."
  • "The pricing is on target. Working with their sales team on pricing negotiations was a pleasant process. They were very respectful of the constraints we had and I feel that we're paying a fair price."
  • "It's valued at the right price. Even with the number of endpoints we have, we don't feel that it's a lot more than any competitor. In fact, it might be less expensive when you look at the fact that you're getting a full flex SOC out of it along with the tools."
  • "Binary Defense has changed its pricing model from being primarily based on the volume of data to one based on escalations and incidents they handle."
  • "Binary Defense MDR is priced competitively and may be slightly lower than CrowdStrike."
  • "After we acquired this platform, we met with a number of different vendors. Binary Defense came in with a proposal that was surprisingly affordable. In fact, we were able to recoup the cost of their services within a short period of time. This is because Binary Defense is able to provide the same level of security as a team of two or three in-house analysts but at a fraction of the cost. As a result, Binary Defense is saving us an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 per year."
  • "The pricing isn't that bad, it's very competitive. I don't feel that it's over-priced and I don't feel that it's under-priced."
  • More Binary Defense MDR Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Our ROI would probably be zero. We don't even use it. It sits in there. We get emails and just delete them. Around the world, we don't even use it."
  • "Alert Logic has better competitive pricing than some of its competitors."
  • "Almost any product that is on the AWS Marketplace is super easy to subscribe to."
  • "Its pricing is very reasonable considering what you get for what you pay. There is quite a good value there. Its licensing is also very logical. They've got the licensing price points at a reasonable level. It is on a monthly license but a yearly contract. There are no additional costs to the standard licensing fees."
  • "Price of the solution was very reasonable considering the size of our organization at the time, and so it worked out perfectly."
  • More Alert Logic Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "found other solutions, with more features at the same cost or less. You don’t have to leave the Gartner Magic Quadrant to beat their price."
  • "Most of the time, it is easier and cheaper to buy a new product or the QRadar box."
  • "IBM's Qradar is not for small companie. Unfortunately, it would be 'overkill' to place it plainly. The pricing would be too much."
  • "IBM's Qradar is not for small companie. Unfortunately, it would be 'overkill' to place it plainly. The pricing would be too much."
  • "Go through a vulnerability assessment review for price breaks. A virtualized solution will also cut down on cost."
  • "It is expensive. It is not a product that I can provide for SMBs. It is a program that I can only provide for really large enterprises."
  • "The maintenance costs are high."
  • "Pricing (based on EPS) will be more accurate."
  • More IBM Security QRadar Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Vinod Shankar
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature is reviewing tickets and the notes added by technicians.
    Top Answer:Binary Defense is fairly priced. I would say that Binary Defense is flexible in negotiating and tailoring a solution… more »
    Top Answer:The only area I see for improvement with Binary Defense is their service portal. It could benefit from some… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable aspect of Alert Logic is its technology platform. They have SOCs in the US and Europe, giving them… more »
    Top Answer:Alert Logic's license is one of the most competitive. They deliver a high-quality service for a competitive price.
    Top Answer:Alert Logic should also develop an EDR that is natively integrated into their solution. Currently, a client must buy… more »
    Top Answer:It mostly depends on your use-cases and environment. Exabeam and Securonix have a stronger UEBA feature set, friendlier… more »
    Top Answer:For tools I’d recommend:  -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is… more »
    Top Answer:The event collector, flow collector, PCAP and SOAR are valuable.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Binary Defense Vision, Binary Defense Managed Detection and Response, Binary Defense Managed Detection & Response
    Alert Logic MDR, Alert Logic Managed Detection and ResponseAlert Logic Threat Manager, Alert Logic Cloud Defender, Critical Watch FusionVM
    IBM QRadar, QRadar SIEM, QRadar UBA, QRadar on Cloud, QRadar, IBM QRadar User Behavior Analytics, IBM QRadar Advisor with Watson
    Learn More
    Overview

    Binary Defense provides a Managed Detection and Response service using an Open XDR strategy that detects and isolates threats early in the attack lifecycle. Expert security analysts in the Binary Defense Security Operations Center leverage an attacker’s mindset, monitoring your environments for security events 24x7x365 and acting as an extension of your security teams. When a security event occurs, Binary Defense analysts triage, disposition, and prioritize the event. Analysts conduct full kill chain analysis and supply tactical and strategic mitigation recommendations to your security team with the goal of increasing your organization’s security posture against the latest adversary threats.

    Visit us online at https://www.binarydefense.com

    Alert Logic is a cloud-based security and compliance solution that provides threat detection and response, log management, and compliance automation. Its primary use case is to manage lag and protect the network, identify configuration issues related to security and cloud infrastructure, and serve as the primary SIEM tool before escalating tickets. 

    The most valuable feature is that it has everything in one dashboard, including being notified of incidents and receiving advice on what steps to take. Alert Logic has helped organizations process large amounts of data, remotely monitor everything from the cloud, and streamline workflow while reducing implementation time.

    IBM Security QRadar is a security and analytics platform designed to defend against threats and scale security operations. This is done through integrated visibility, investigation, detection, and response. QRadar empowers security groups with actionable insights into high-priority threats by providing visibility into enterprise security data. Through centralized visibility, security teams and analysts can determine their security stance, which areas pose a potential threat, and which areas are critical. This will help streamline workflows by eliminating the need to pivot between tools.

    IBM Security QRadar is built to address a wide range of security issues and can be easily scaled with minimal customization effort required. As data is ingested, QRadar administers automated, real-time security intelligence to swiftly and precisely discover and prioritize threats. The platform will issue alerts with actionable, rich context into developing threats. Security teams and analysts can then rapidly respond to minimize the attackers' strike. The solution will provide a complete view of activity in both cloud-based and on-premise environments as a large amount of data is ingested throughout the enterprise. Additionally, QRadar’s anomaly detection intelligence enables security teams to identify any user behavior changes that could be indicators of potential threats. 

    IBM QRadar Log Manager

    To better help organizations protect themselves against potential security threats, attacks, and breaches, IBM QRadar Log Manager gathers, analyzes, preserves, and reports on security log events using QRadar Sense Analytics. All operating systems and applications, servers, devices, and applications are converted into searchable and actionable intelligent data. QRadar Log Manager then helps organizations meet compliance reporting and monitoring requirements, which can be further upgraded to QRadar SIEM for a more superior level of threat protection.

    Some of QRadar Log Manager’s key features include:

    • Data processing and capture on any security event
    • Disaster recovery options and high availability 
    • Scalability for large enterprises
    • SoftLayer cloud installation capability
    • Advanced threat protection

    Reviews from Real Users

    IBM Security QRadar is a solution of choice among users because it provides a complete solution for security teams by integrating network analysis, log management, user behavior analytics, threat intelligence, and AI-powered investigations into a single solution. Users particularly like having a single window into their network and its ability to be used for larger enterprises.

    Simon T., a cyber security services operations manager at an aerospace/defense firm, notes, "The most valuable thing about QRadar is that you have a single window into your network, SIEM, network flows, and risk management of your assets. If you use Splunk, for instance, then you still need a full packet capture solution, whereas the full packet capture solution is integrated within QRadar. Its application ecosystem makes it very powerful in terms of doing analysis."

    A management executive at a security firm says, "What we like about QRadar and the models that IBM has, is it can go from a small-to-medium enterprise to a larger organization, and it gives you the same value."

    Sample Customers
    Securitas USA, Black Hills Energy, Lincoln Electric,The J.M. Smuckers Company, New York Community Bank, State of Connecticut, NCR
    TIME, Genome Next, Rentalcargroup.com, Travel Tripper, C&J Energy Services, Investis, Retail Insights
    Clients across multiple industries, such as energy, financial, retail, healthcare, government, communications, and education use QRadar.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company33%
    Wholesaler/Distributor8%
    Insurance Company8%
    Energy/Utilities Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Healthcare Company8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Healthcare Company8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm23%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Security Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization18%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise31%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise45%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise50%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise50%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise45%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise29%
    Large Enterprise50%
    Buyer's Guide
    Alert Logic vs. IBM Security QRadar
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Alert Logic vs. IBM Security QRadar and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    769,630 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Alert Logic is ranked 18th in Managed Detection and Response (MDR) with 11 reviews while IBM Security QRadar is ranked 10th in Managed Detection and Response (MDR) with 198 reviews. Alert Logic is rated 8.0, while IBM Security QRadar is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Alert Logic writes "Great reporting and session logic with an easy initial setup". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM Security QRadar writes "A highly stable and scalable solution that provides good technical support". Alert Logic is most compared with CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Sophos MDR, Rapid7 InsightIDR and SentinelOne Vigilance, whereas IBM Security QRadar is most compared with Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk Enterprise Security, Wazuh, LogRhythm SIEM and Elastic Security. See our Alert Logic vs. IBM Security QRadar report.

    See our list of best Managed Detection and Response (MDR) vendors.

    We monitor all Managed Detection and Response (MDR) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.