Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 6, 2023

We compared Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration and Microsoft Exchange Online Protection across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

  • Features: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration offers exceptional integration through APIs, advanced protection against data leaks, and the ability to detect complex social engineering attacks. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers seamless integration with Windows, a central alert console, and real-time monitoring of suspicious URLs.

  • Room for Improvement: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration could improve integration with Exchange and other SaaS clouds while enhancing its threat clouds and AI engines. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection could offer more training and enhance its security features. Users also requested better encryption, gray email management, and integration with non-Microsoft platforms.

  • Service and Support: Check Point has earned mixed reviews for its customer service. Some customers appreciate the technical support provided, while others are dissatisfied with response times. While some users found Microsoft support to be helpful and responsive, others experienced slower response times.

  • Ease of Deployment: Check Point Harmony Email is considered relatively easy to implement. Users had varied experiences setting up Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, ranging from easy to difficult. It may necessitate dedicated personnel for maintenance.

  • Pricing: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration is a cost-effective option. It offers competitive prices and is suitable for small to medium-sized organizations. Some users said Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is expensive, but others considered it reasonable.

  • ROI: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration delivers superior return on investment compared to other options. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection has proven to be a profitable investment.

Comparison Results: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration is an effective solution for blocking malicious attachments and detecting social engineering attacks. However, there is room for improvement in terms of integration and support, reducing false positives, and enhancing response times. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is praised for its seamless integration with Windows and useful features like URL holding and threat management. At the same time, users say it could improve in areas such as pricing, documentation, and security features.

768,886 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
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps people to work remotely. It is a secure solution. We don't need to use our company's computers or get VPN connections to the networks. I can control how they share screens and what they send to the devices. It keeps our organizations confidential and sensitive information safe.""Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a stable solution.""The good part is that you don't have to configure it, which is very convenient.""The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning.""Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has improved my organization's security. It makes it easier to manage the infrastructure without the help of third-party applications.""I like its investigation capabilities, as that is what is most important to me. It is fairly simple with a user-friendly interface.""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.""Some of the valuable features on the email side are anti-phishing, anti-malware, and Safe Links."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pros →

"I can count the number of endpoints, emails, and collaborations being used in the environment.""The product is a fairly complete and centralized solution accessible through the Infinity Portal.""Check Point adds value with east-west protection in the data center.""The feature I find to be most valuable is very much the zero-touch provisioning. I was able to be up, operational, and 100 percent functional in less than a half an hour.""The solution has a very effective anti-phishing algorithm that detects a significantly higher number of phishing emails compared to the default Microsoft solution.""The ease of management and intuitive administration are excellent.""Getting reports and finding threats in the console is easy.""The solution helps to block spam emails."

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"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's all running in the backend, so it doesn't affect the app functionality.""The initial setup of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection was easy.""It is easy to configure, easy to use, easy to add exclusions, easy to track, and easy to add anything else if you want.""Online Protection's most valuable feature is its admin interface.""The product protects against malware.""We can migrate seamlessly without any disruptions to our operations.""It provides security to both on-premises and Azure infrastructures."

More Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) Pros →

Cons
"The only thing they should improve is the licensing model. They should stop changing it. A year ago, the five features I mentioned were included in one product. Now, three of them are bundled into one product, and you have to pay extra for the other two. I don't mind paying extra, but I don't want them to change it every year or every six months. I need to know what I'm looking at and not worry about it next year.""In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help.""Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization.""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.""There is room for improvement with the UI.""The GUI is sometimes slow to fetch the device report and could be improved.""There is room for improvement in terms of reporting.""Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should improve the troubleshooting tools. It's unclear whether the device is blocked at the firewall level or at the device itself. The granularity needed for troubleshooting is currently lacking. From my perspective, Microsoft should address this issue to benefit many users who likely share the same sentiment."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Cons →

"They could help us be integrating features with solutions from third parties.""There is too much functionality, which makes it difficult to use. More guidance for users would be helpful.""Check Point Infinity Portal sometimes feels a bit slow, and there are performance issues that should be easy to fix.""They could continue to offer more stringent security policy measures for threat point management.""There is always room for improvement and growth.""The left-hand feature can be made more granular for the implementation of the policy.""It would be nice to see them expand their collaboration capabilities to include other suites and integrate with lesser-known products.""It would be good to have the option to export the respective record data from dashboards or logs to .csv or other files."

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"If a company wants to put in line back-to-back anti-spam solutions, they need to work on that part because Microsoft recommends either you use EOP as a front line or you don't use it.""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 tool's classification for bulk email is cumbersome.""They should specify the difference between Defender for Office 365 and Exchange Online Protection.""We would like the solution to have more in-built intelligence in the way that it reviews potential security risks, rather than our team constantly having to update the policies.""Having orchestration features added to Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, particularly automation and remediation, would be quite useful.""The solution lacks to elaborate on its spam policies."

More Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It's a user-base subscription."
  • "From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
  • "The solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."
  • "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."
  • More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Having information stolen by a hacker would be more expensive than purchasing a license."
  • "Being able to keep the phishing campaigns out of my company has been ROI for me."
  • "Do a full feature evaluation (interactive) with a support person. That is what I did."
  • "The price is very good, based on what they deliver."
  • "One of the nice features is that the licensing model is elastic, so if you go over your license count, you can add users during your billing cycle and true-up later."
  • "There are absolutely no additional costs to the standard licensing fees. One of the wonderful pieces is that CloudGuard SaaS is all-inclusive in its licensing. There's no a-la-carte functionality. You're getting 100 percent of the product for the licensing that you're paying."
  • "The difference between [Check Point and its competitors] boiled down to money. Price-wise, Check Point was very good, it was very competitive."
  • "The pricing and licensing are always negotiable."
  • More Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price could be lower."
  • "The solution is priced high and could be less expensive compared to other solutions."
  • "The solution is expensive but is backed by Microsoft's reputation."
  • "The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
  • "It is a low-price solution."
  • "Apart from the license fee for the solution, there are no additional costs."
  • "Online Protection is fairly expensive."
  • "The tool's pricing is excellent."
  • More Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various… more »
    Top Answer:The product must provide better malware detection. The detection algorithms don't perform the way I hope they would.
    Top Answer:I don't even have details of the product's single license purchased by my company.
    Top Answer:I use the solution in my company to secure the users' environment so that there are no phishing attacks. The tool… more »
    Top Answer:The product offers good and easy integration capabilities with other products.
    Top Answer:The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
    Top Answer:We face challenges with reporting features and the lack of a proper dashboard in Microsoft's portal. There's no… more »
    Top Answer:The main use case is to block suspicious links in emails. However, some functionalities like SIPP attachment are not… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    MS Defender for Office 365
    Check Point CloudGuard, Check Point CloudGuard SaaS , Check Point Harmony Email & Office
    Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

    With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

    This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

    Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office is a cloud-based software offering complete protection to stop malware attacks through emails. The software is designed to provide protection for organizations using Office 365, G Suite, Google Workspace, and all other collaboration and file-sharing apps. Access permissions can be granted and custom policies can be defined for any user of choice.

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office identifies and blocks advanced malware, phishing, and ransomware attacks in real time before they reach the user’s inbox. In turn, this also helps protect sensitive business data from breaches. Harmony Email and Office was the first solution to implement machine learning, API, and AI for email security, and will ultimately prevent any attempts at account takeover via agentless multi-factor authentication.

    What is Complete Protection?

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office offers a superior catch rate for collaboration apps and cloud email with their API-based solution that detects attacks that other solutions miss, including account takeover, supply chain attacks, ransomware, and BEC. The complete protection offers:

    • Malware Protection - Recognized by NSS Labs as “most effective in breach prevention,” the solution leverages technologies to bring clean files to users within 1.5 seconds. In addition, enterprises can be safer as the solution prevents malicious messages and files from reaching the user’s inbox.
    • Data Leakage Protection - Any confidential or sensitive information will be marked and have a classified suffix added to the end of the message or file to help keep those materials safe. Those files are encrypted, and the user will be alerted to any attempted breach of those messages.
    • Phishing Protection - Before advanced phishing attacks reach the end user, Harmony Email and Office detects and blocks them, including outbound, inbound, and internal communications.
    • Account Takeover Protection - After a user connects their cloud app, the solution captures the user's history and creates a profile and a custom threat profile. In the event of a suspected account takeover, threat intelligence is leveraged through millions of Check Point-secured gateways and endpoints and is blocked.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office offers a revolutionary prevention solution to stop malware attacks through emails. Users particularly like its visibility and the ability to protect sensitive business data.

    David U., a CISO at IMC companies, notes, "It provides visibility of events, what's going on with the environment, what we're missing with our other solution, and the user behavior."

    Mantu S., a senior technology architect at Incedo Inc., writes, "We are able to protect sensitive business data and maintain regulatory compliance with advanced data leak prevention (DLP)."

    Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is a comprehensive email filtering and security service designed to protect organizations from spam, malware, and other email-based threats. It provides advanced threat protection, anti-malware and anti-spam filtering, and data loss prevention capabilities.

    With EOP, organizations can ensure the security and integrity of their email communications. It uses multiple layers of filtering and scanning to detect and block malicious content, including phishing attempts, viruses, and ransomware. EOP also leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to continuously improve its threat detection capabilities.

    In addition to its robust security features, EOP offers advanced anti-spam filtering to reduce unwanted and unsolicited emails. It uses a combination of reputation-based filtering, content filtering, and sender authentication techniques to identify and block spam messages.

    EOP also includes data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities to prevent sensitive information from being leaked or shared inappropriately. It allows organizations to define policies to detect and prevent the transmission of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers or social security numbers, via email.

    Furthermore, EOP integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange Online and other Office 365 services, providing a unified and integrated email security solution. It can be easily managed through the Exchange admin center, allowing administrators to configure and monitor security settings, review reports, and manage quarantined emails.

    Sample Customers
    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
    Helvetia, Denham Capital, Daymark Solutions, Neopharm Group
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Manufacturing Company16%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Energy/Utilities Company17%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Security Firm10%
    Healthcare Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Real Estate/Law Firm6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company25%
    Retailer13%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Security Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business42%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise42%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business51%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise32%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise46%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business64%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise21%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise55%
    Buyer's Guide
    Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is ranked 7th in Email Security with 47 reviews while Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is ranked 4th in Email Security with 34 reviews. Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is rated 8.8, while Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration writes "Has a user-friendly dashboard, a great anti-phishing algorithm, and sandboxing for testing". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) writes "An effective email security solution that provides DLP, Safe Attachment, and Safe Links". Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is most compared with Avanan, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Mimecast Email Security, Cisco Secure Email and Cloudflare Area 1 Email Security, whereas Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is most compared with Proofpoint Email Protection, Cisco Secure Email, Mimecast Email Security, Fortinet FortiMail and Barracuda Email Security Gateway. See our Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) report.

    See our list of best Email Security vendors.

    We monitor all Email Security 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.