CrowdStrike Falcon vs IBM Security QRadar comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jul 10, 2023

We performed a comparison between IBM Security QRadar and CrowdStrike Falcon based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Features: IBM Security QRadar users say the solution provides extensive information and helpful leads for locating pertinent data. QRadar stands out with its comprehensive network visibility and strong SIEM capabilities. CrowdStrike Falcon is praised for its machine-learning capabilities, optimal resource utilization, and precise threat detection. IBM Security QRadar could improve its rule deployment and lower its false positive rate. Users would also like expanded storage capacity, streamlined user management, and a more mature architecture. CrowdStrike Falcon could benefit from adding a sandbox feature and more detailed firewall management options.

  • Service and Support: Some customers of IBM Security QRadar have had trouble connecting with knowledgeable support staff and experienced delayed responses. CrowdStrike Falcon's customer service is considered prompt and helpful.

  • Ease of Deployment: IBM Security QRadar's initial setup can be complex for users without expertise, and the difficulty may vary depending on the size of the data set. CrowdStrike Falcon's setup is considered to be simple and efficient, with deployment times ranging from a few days to a month. While there may be some challenges during installation, they are generally manageable.

  • Pricing: IBM Security QRadar can be costly because users need to buy new hardware to upgrade. Some users find CrowdStrike Falcon costly and think the price should be lowered to make it more competitive.

  • ROI: IBM Security QRadar delivers a high return on investment, improving security through its advanced user behavior analytics. CrowdStrike Falcon offers cost savings by decreasing the required number of engineers and eliminating the need for onsite servers.

Comparison Results: Our users prefer IBM Security QRadar over CrowdStrike Falcon. The advanced security features and overall strength of QRadar make it the favored option. Users like QRadar's extensive and actionable insights, user-friendly interface, and adaptability. QRadar offers a comprehensive overview of network activity and risk management.

To learn more, read our detailed CrowdStrike Falcon vs. IBM Security QRadar Report (Updated: September 2023).
745,140 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 365 Defender is simple to upgrade.""It has been great for us. Previously, we didn't have a solution to protect us, especially from malware, whereas now, we are getting protection up front, especially from the malware attacks coming through emails or endpoints.""We can automate routine tasks and write scripts to carry out difficult tasks, which makes things easier for us.""The EDR and the way it automatically responds to ransomware and other attacks are valuable features.""In Microsoft 365 vendor products, monitoring and connectivity across all Microsoft and third-party connectors enable viewing of all activity within those environments.""The comprehensiveness of Microsoft's threat detection is good.""Setting up Microsoft 365 Defender is easy. It's a user-friendly solution that provides threat protection. It has good stability and scalability.""We also use Microsoft Sentinel, Defender for Cloud, Defender for Identity, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. They are all integrated and it was very easy to integrate them. In my experience with the integrations, it was just a click of a button and things were integrated. It's just a button."

More Microsoft Defender XDR Pros →

"The most valuable features are the complete IPS and IDS.""The solution has improved my organization by automating the detection and reporting of unwanted applications so we're aware of them and can respond appropriately.""Overall, what I found most valuable in CrowdStrike Falcon is its good mechanism. It also has a good reporting feature. CrowdStrike Falcon is an invaluable tool because, through it, you can take quick action, for example, when an OS is missing specific patches.""One of the most valuable features of CrowdStrike Falcon is when there are upgrades there are no additional fees.""The most valuable feature of CrowdStrike Falcon is its accuracy. That's very important for me. False-positive are very bad for everyone. As we are a financial institution, it's even worse. I like Falcon because it's very accurate.""It is an easy product to deploy.""The most valuable feature of CrowdStrike Falcon is its accuracy.""CrowdStrike Falcon's most valuable feature is the fact that it's not getting in the way of our workforce and their workflow."

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"It'll get you from point A to B.""The visibility it gives you into your infrastructure has been great.""This solution has excellent security analytics.""The simplicity of the solution is the best feature.""The most valuable features of IBM Security QRadar are flexibility, IBM support, and scalability.""We can easily monitor many things using this tool.""IBM QRadar User Behavior Analytics's most important feature is its ease of use.""Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

More IBM Security QRadar Pros →

Cons
"For some scenarios, it provides good visibility into threats, and for some scenarios, it doesn't. For example, sometimes the URLs within the emails have destinations, and you do get a screenshot and all further details, but it's not always the case. It would be good if they did a better job of enabling that for all the emails that they identified as malicious. When you get an email threat, you can go into the email and see more details, but the URL destination feature doesn't always show you a screenshot of the URL in that email. It also doesn't always give you the characteristics relating to that URL. It would be quite good if the information is complete where it says that we identified this URL, and this is what it looks like. There should be some threat intel about it. It should give you more details.""Defender also lacks automated detection and response. You need to resolve issues manually. You can manage multiple Microsoft security products from a single portal, and all your security recommendations are in one place. It's easy to understand and manage. However, I wouldn't say Defender is a single pane of glass. You still need to switch between all of the available Microsoft tools. You can see all the alerts in one panel, but you can't automate remediation.""Sometimes, configurations take much longer than expected.""When discussing the secure score, which includes overviews and recommended actions, some of these recommended actions are not applicable to us, particularly those related to Microsoft Internet Explorer, which we do not use in any of our environments.""We should be able to use the product on devices like Apple, Linux, etc.""The dashboard should be easier to use. There is also improvement needed in the reporting when it comes to exporting or scheduling reports.""Microsoft tends to provide too many features, which makes the solution prone to bugs.""In the Microsoft Azure Portal, in Active Directory, if there is anything on the user it will provide you with the information, but you still have to go through it a bit. And sometimes, I have experienced difficulties in understanding the information, especially because the synchronization between Microsoft Intune and the devices that are connected to the user in Azure Active Directory takes a lot of time."

More Microsoft Defender XDR Cons →

"CrowdStrike needs to quit making up stuff about its features and functionality to bash its competition.""CrowdStrike should provide better visibility in its reporting. There should be more forensic details about detected threats.""Dashboard creation is one of the areas for improvement in CrowdStrike Falcon. Sometimes, management asks for a custom dashboard, so my team has to collect data from CrowdStrike Falcon, integrate that in Splunk, then create the dashboard in Splunk. The Splunk dashboard is more elaborate, so the CrowdStrike Falcon dashboard needs improvement. Another area for improvement in the tool is the malware detection report, as it needs to be more detailed and include some graphics so that if you want to present that data in a nutshell, it's easier to do. For example, the report should consist of some graphical representation that shows a month's worth of data. In terms of an additional feature I'd like CrowdStrike Falcon to have, it's the device posture assessment feature that detects the device posture within the network. Whichever device connects to the corporate network, my company should be able to analyze the device posture. Then there should be communication with the network, which means that as soon as a device connects, CrowdStrike Falcon can assess the device posture, detect its corporate asset, and decide whether it should be allowed on the network.""CrowdStrike Falcon could improve if it became an XDR. When we look only to an end-point, we lost the context of the environment. I know it's another line of design of the product. However, if CrowdStrike becomes an XDR, it could be very good.""Forensic controls have room for improvement.""I would like to see a more accurate integration and an option to check the local machine.""Crowdstrike Falcon XDR can improve the integration. There are some locks on the cloud to on-premise integrations.""CrowdStrike Falcon could improve by adding manual scanning or serverless scanning. It is not available at this time."

More CrowdStrike Falcon Cons →

"Integration could be better. They should make it easy to integrate with other solutions.""What needs to be improved in IBM QRadar User Behavior Analytics is the user experience. It's not optimal. Some screens are a bit clunky. The solution needs to be more user-friendly.""The playbook guide which specifies the rules for security use cases needs to be provided to support in case the organization needs help.""The dashboard and reports are not user-friendly or efficient so are of little help with threat hunting activity.""Whenever we are upgrading or installing any type of patch, at that time we have some delays.""I would like to see the update process simplified.""I have also been working with other SIEM solutions, and I have observed that they have extensive Linux-based and Unix-based integrations. They have been able to support some of the Linux-based agents, which is useful to investigate and process the information on the Linux and Unix side.""I think that the search speed of this solution could be improved."

More IBM Security QRadar Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Microsoft is not competitive with the pricing of the solution. The competitors are able to offer lower discounts. The price of the solution is higher."
  • "We have a lot of problems in Latin America regarding the price of Microsoft 365 Defender, because the relationship between dollars and the money of the different countries, it's is a lot. Many customers that have small businesses say that they would like the solution but it is too expensive. However, large companies do not find the cost an issue."
  • "The most valuable licensing option is expensive, so pricing could be improved. Licensing options for this solution also need to be consolidated, because they frequently change."
  • "Microsoft should provide lower-level licensing options. They should do it in such a way that even an individual could purchase a license, and it should be entirely flexible."
  • "They have moved from a licensing model to pay-per-use... The question is: What happens if, for any reason, there's not enough budget to accept this model? That could be a great problem."
  • "Its licensing and pricing are handled by someone else. My role is limited to incidents or issues with the portal, but you get what you pay for. It is worth the cost."
  • "The solution is affordable, and we haven't been hit with any hidden costs. The subscription model is straightforward, and it's easy to understand how much additional features cost. If we need to cancel a license or feature, we do that well in advance to avoid being charged for it, but overall, the pricing and licensing are simple and easy."
  • "I would like to have more security features in the lower licenses because not every customer is able to buy E5 licenses. The bundling isn't always easy for our customers to understand. Compared to other tools, it's a good price."
  • More Microsoft Defender XDR Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The cost of CrowdStrike Falcon could be reduced. It is quite expensive if you compare it to other solutions, such as Blue Coat, Symantec, McAfee, or Kaspersky."
  • "There is an annual license required to use this solution."
  • "We are on an annual subscription for the solution. There are not any additional costs."
  • "Annual licensing."
  • "The price of CrowdStrike Falcon is reasonable."
  • "The licensing model is straightforward. We choose the features we want and we then can download the package we want."
  • "There is no license required to use this solution."
  • "This solution offers annual subscriptions. The pricing for this solution could be reduced."
  • More CrowdStrike Falcon Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Pricing is good."
  • "You have a one-time payment, and you also can purchase it for one year as a subscription. We have it on-premise, and we have a permanent license for it. We have to pay for the support on a yearly basis. If you compare its cost with Sentinel for one year, QRadar would seem more expensive, but if you compare its cost over five or ten years, Azure Sentinel will be more expensive than QRadar. If you compare its cost with Sentinel for one year, QRadar would seem more expensive, but if you compare its cost over five or 10 years, Azure Sentinel can be more expensive than QRadar."
  • "Licensing can be costly depending on your architecture."
  • "There is an annual license required for this solution."
  • "QRadar's price is reasonable compared to LogRhythm."
  • "We pay approximately $40,000 to use the solution annually. This solution is a lot less expensive than Splunk."
  • "IBM QRadar User Behavior Analytics is an application framework and you can install many applications without any additional costs."
  • "I think my company pays for the license yearly."
  • More IBM Security QRadar Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:For me, the advanced hunting capabilities have been really great. It allowed querying the dataset with their own… more »
    Top Answer:All I can say again is the E5 gives you all the capabilities that it offers. It also gives Office 365 and one terabyte… more »
    Top Answer:For some scenarios, it provides good visibility into threats, and for some scenarios, it doesn't. For example, sometimes… more »
    Top Answer:Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions that… more »
    Top Answer:Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing… more »
    Top Answer:The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push… 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
    Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
    CrowdStrike Falcon, CrowdStrike Falcon XDR
    IBM QRadar, QRadar SIEM, QRadar UBA, QRadar on Cloud, QRadar, IBM QRadar User Behavior Analytics, IBM QRadar Advisor with Watson
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Defender XDR is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect against threats in the Microsoft 365 environment. 

    It offers robust security measures, comprehensive threat detection capabilities, and an efficient incident response system. With seamless integration with other Microsoft products and a user-friendly interface, it simplifies security management tasks. 

    Users have found it effective in detecting and preventing various types of attacks, such as phishing attempts, malware infections, and data breaches.

    CrowdStrike is the leader in cloud-delivered next-generation endpoint protection. CrowdStrike has revolutionized endpoint protection by being the first and only company to unify next-generation antivirus (AV), endpoint detection and response (EDR), and a 24/7 managed hunting service — all delivered via a single lightweight agent. 

    Many of the world’s largest organizations already put their trust in CrowdStrike, including three of the 10 largest global companies by revenue, five of the 10 largest financial institutions, three of the top 10 health care providers, and three of the top 10 energy companies.

    Request a free trial here: https://go.crowdstrike.com/try-falcon-prevent

    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."

    Offer
    Learn more about Microsoft Defender XDR
    Get Fast and Easy Protection Against All Threats

    Protect your organization from all threats - not just malware - even when computers and servers aren’t connected to the internet. Start your free trial and deploy CrowdStrike Falcon within minutes to start receiving full threat protection.

    Want to Hear More?

    IBM Security QRadar is a security and analytics platform designed to defend against threats and scale security operations.

    Sample Customers
    1. Accenture 2. Coca-Cola 3. Deloitte 4. ExxonMobil 5. General Electric 6. IBM 7. Johnson & Johnson 8. Kellogg's 9. L'Oréal 10. Microsoft (self-use) 11. Nestlé 12. Oracle 13. PepsiCo 14. Qualcomm 15. Rolls-Royce 16. Siemens 17. Target 18. Unilever 19. Verizon 20. Walmart 21. Xerox 22. Yahoo 23. Zara 24. Adobe 25. Boeing 26. Cisco 27. Disney 28. eBay 29. Ford 30. Google 31. HP 32. Intel
    Information Not Available
    Clients across multiple industries, such as energy, financial, retail, healthcare, government, communications, and education use QRadar.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company19%
    Government12%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Computer Software Company12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Energy/Utilities Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm23%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Security Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization17%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise58%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise57%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise45%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise28%
    Large Enterprise52%
    Buyer's Guide
    CrowdStrike Falcon vs. IBM Security QRadar
    September 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike Falcon vs. IBM Security QRadar and other solutions. Updated: September 2023.
    745,140 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    CrowdStrike Falcon is ranked 3rd in EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) with 49 reviews while IBM Security QRadar is ranked 15th in EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) with 45 reviews. CrowdStrike Falcon is rated 8.6, while IBM Security QRadar is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of CrowdStrike Falcon writes "Robust threat hunting and great ability to do on-keyboard remote response and quarantining of devices". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM Security QRadar writes "Good dashboard and helpful third-party plugins but technical support could be better". CrowdStrike Falcon is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Trend Micro Deep Security, Darktrace, SentinelOne Singularity Complete and Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, whereas IBM Security QRadar is most compared with Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk Enterprise Security, Wazuh, LogRhythm SIEM and Elastic Security. See our CrowdStrike Falcon vs. IBM Security QRadar report.

    See our list of best EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) vendors and best Extended Detection and Response (XDR) vendors.

    We monitor all EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) 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.