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Microsoft ATA [EOL] vs Varonis Platform comparison

Microsoft and Varonis are both solutions in the User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) category. Additionally, 50% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Varonis users who would recommend it.
Microsoft ATA [EOL]
Read 3 Microsoft ATA [EOL] reviews
    50% willing to recommend
    Varonis Platform
    Read 20 Varonis Platform reviews
    • 17,497 Views
    • 1,400 Comparison Views
    95% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 7, 2025

    Microsoft ATA [EOL] and Varonis Platform are competing products in the security and analysis domain. Varonis Platform seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features and capabilities, which make it a preferred choice for those prioritizing security and data governance at a premium.

    Features: Microsoft ATA [EOL] focuses on detecting advanced threats, offers a simplified security environment, and integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products. Varonis Platform provides robust data protection, user behavior analytics, and automated threat responses, highlighting a more comprehensive feature set appealing to those in need of extensive data management and security tools.

    Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft ATA [EOL] benefits from straightforward deployment due to integration within the Microsoft ecosystem. Varonis Platform requires a more involved setup process, reflecting its complexity and advanced capabilities. Varonis offers specialized support, which caters well to complex environments.

    Pricing and ROI: Microsoft ATA [EOL] is more cost-effective from a setup perspective and offers a reasonable ROI for smaller-scale security requirements. Varonis Platform, although demanding a higher initial investment, delivers a significant ROI through its advanced feature set and ability to address comprehensive data security needs effectively.

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    Buyer's Guide
    User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA)
    June 2026
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    Review summaries and opinions

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

    Categories and Ranking

    Microsoft ATA [EOL]
    Average Rating
    6.6
    Number of Reviews
    3
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
    Varonis Platform
    Average Rating
    8.4
    Reviews Sentiment
    6.3
    Number of Reviews
    20
    Ranking in other categories
    Email Security (15th), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (7th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (6th), Data Governance (6th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (3rd), Compliance Management (8th), Ransomware Protection (7th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (7th), Insider Risk Management (1st), AI Security (8th)
     

    Featured Reviews

    it_user1369068 - PeerSpot reviewer
    it_user1369068
    President and CEO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
    Good integration, simple to maintain, and very stable
    Scalability shouldn't be a problem, at least for the size of network team that I work with. Right now we have between 400 and 500 users. This is deployed in a network that is actually about 500 users. We don't plan to increase usage. We're already using it as fully as we can and we don't have any more room. We might look at all the Microsoft programs that relate to office 365, like the ATP, because there is a difference between the ATA and the ATP. We are going to look and see whether there's any gaps that we can close. I think if you compare ATA with the actual ATP it's basically the same functionality. One is more on-premises versus the cloud. Since we are progressively in moving to the cloud, we might look at the ATP, which integrates better with the Microsoft cloud.
    Read full review
    TarunKumar11 - PeerSpot reviewer
    TarunKumar11
    Global Leadership Council at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
    Data governance has strengthened and automation now reduces risk and manual compliance work
    Varonis Platform offers key features including data discovery, data classification, data analysis, governance, user and entity behavior analysis, also known as UEBA, which helps in ransomware detection, insider threat detection, and compliance reporting. It does a lot of automation from a remediation standpoint, as well as investigation and forensics. The number one feature that makes the biggest difference for my clients is visibility into unstructured data; that is the most difficult for organizations to achieve. They do not have a good understanding of where sensitive data resides, who has access to this data, whether this access is appropriate, and how data is being used. Varonis Platform provides visibility, governance, threat detection, and automated remediation around data. Varonis Platform is a great data discovery platform that provides visibility into sensitive data estimates and how it is being used. Clients have been able to reduce excessive permissions, strengthen their compliance posture, detect insider threats, and ransomware activity, which would otherwise be difficult and manual. Varonis Platform is deployed in my clients' organizations in a combination of all types. Many clients use Varonis Platform in a largely SaaS-based model since it is a data security platform consumed in this way, and many organizations still operate hybrid environments. As far as Varonis Platform is in a position to get the data source and identify systems, it can discover and classify more secure data. Deployment in most of our clients is cloud-based, connecting to Microsoft 365, AWS, or other SaaS applications such as Salesforce. In other environments, it is a hybrid deployment with SaaS and on-premises, including file servers, NAS devices, and AD servers.
    Read full review

    Quotes from Members

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

    Pros

    "I like the fact that it looks for some of those very, very obscure techniques and attacks like golden tickets; those are very difficult attacks to spot and with Microsoft ATA I was able to have visibility over those kinds of techniques and attacks."
    "The solution works well when used with other Microsoft solutions."
    "It has also measurably decreased our mean time to detect threats by about 50 percent, and helped increase staff productivity, saving about an hour per day."
    "One of the most valuable features is the ability to report on questionable activity."
    "The stability of the solution is very good."
    "Technical support from Varonis is rated as nine out of ten."
    "Varonis Platform's visibility feature helped us improve our data governance as we created a process that involved data classification and discovery over sensitive content."
    "The telemetry to capture everything and the reports are very easy to configure without having a developer degree."
    "I also appreciate the reporting feature, which allows for the extraction of various reports based on specific needs. These reports can be used for audit purposes, such as tracking changes in file locations or deletions."
    "Varonis Platform has definitely reduced the risk of data breaches at many client sites and has definitely lowered manual effort; manual effort has decreased by seventy percent due to automating data classification and permission reviews."
    "Varonis Platform has positively impacted my organization by providing clarity regarding data and permissions, improving visibility, security, and compliance."
    "The solution ensures that users have not accidentally shared sensitive information with the wrong people or too many people."
    "The most important feature is remediation. In remediation support, there is no group permission. We'll go ahead and remediate the access from the Dell folder to the parent folder."
    More Varonis Platform pros
     

    Cons

    "There are occasions where it generates some false positives and you have to embark into figuring it out. You need to find out if it was a true alert or a false positive. It's a little bit cumbersome in that area."
    "It would be ideal if the interface allowed for more granular configurations. For example, if I were to set a rule that is a deviation from the pre-defined rules in the Microsoft product, there's conflict."
    "Some of the newer features are not completely there yet... For example, there's a tool that allows you to grade your overall internal security and I don't feel that it's completely accurate."
    "The software is not as advanced as many competitors."
    "We have Microsoft Office 365. I just saw an article today which says that they're actually getting integrated with Microsoft Office 365, which would be a useful feature. For user-based reports, log on activity, and stuff like that, it doesn't seem to really be present like Log360. That could just be my inexperience with it. I've been dealing with it for only about two and a half months."
    "The troubleshooting capabilities could be improved. It has so many interconnected components."
    "For user-based reports, log on activity, and stuff like that, it doesn't seem to really be present like Log360."
    "Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."
    "I'd like to see automatic updates for this solution. Currently, it's a manual process to update all the keywords."
    "It would be beneficial if the reporting in Varonis Platform could use PDFs instead of Excel for better graphs, as the dashboards are really good, and it would be nice to have simplified dashboards in PDF for business reporting purposes."
    "I would like it to have cloud integration."
    "While Varonis Platform is powerful, the initial data scanning and indexing can take significant time in large environments."
    More Varonis Platform cons
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "I believe we are looking into new licenses. They may be called the E5. Honestly, I don't have it on top of my mind, but I think it's around seven to $10 a user per month."
    "Varonis Platform wasn't certainly the cheapest solution."
    "Licensing is on an annual basis. Maintenance and renewal fees are separate. Varonis Datalert is quite expensive."
    "It's expensive, kind of, really expensive."
    "You could do a subscription, where you pay yearly, or you could purchase it outright. The licensing cost is based on the number of users on the system that you are monitoring."
    "The pricing is good. It neither expensive nor cheap. It is average."
    "I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."
    "The platform is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    No data available
    Financial Services Firm
    15%
    Manufacturing Company
    11%
    Healthcare Company
    7%
    Insurance Company
    7%
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
    No data available
    By reviewers
    Company SizeCount
    Small Business3
    Midsize Enterprise2
    Large Enterprise15
     

    Questions from the Community

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    What needs improvement with Varonis Platform?
    Varonis Platform could be improved because when I used it, we had a significant issue related to the large volume of data on that file share. Although Varonis Platform helped us gain more visibilit...
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Varonis Platform?
    My main use case for Varonis Platform is to monitor access to sensitive data across file shares, Microsoft 365, and SharePoint. The main objective is to identify overexposed data, reduce access ris...
    See all answers
    What advice do you have for others considering Varonis Platform?
    Varonis Platform receives a rating of seven out of ten. I chose seven out of ten because the user experience was easy, we could apply it and gain more visibility, but the performance of the solutio...
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    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA)
    June 2026
    Microsoft ATA [EOL] reportDownload Microsoft ATA [EOL] product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Varonis Platform
    June 2026
    Varonis Platform reportDownload Varonis Platform product report
     

    Also Known As

    Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics, MS ATA [EOL]
    SlashNext Complete
     

    Overview

    Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA) provides a simple and fast way to understand what is happening within your network by identifying suspicious user and device activity with built-in intelligence and providing clear and relevant threat information on a simple attack timeline. Microsoft ATA is an on-premises platform to help you protect your enterprise from advanced targeted attacks by automatically analyzing, learning, and identifying normal and abnormal entity (user, devices, and resources) behavior. It detects suspicious activities and malicious attacks with behavioral analytics, adapts to the changing nature of cyber-security threats, focuses on what is important with a simple attack timeline and reduces false positive fatigue.
    Microsoft

    Varonis Platform enhances data security and governance with advanced analytics, identifying unusual access patterns and sensitive areas. Its centralized interface manages permissions across systems, offering essential capabilities for alerting and reporting.

    Varonis Platform provides continuous data protection and monitoring by identifying and alerting on unauthorized data access. It offers comprehensive insights into file access and user activities, supporting data classification and simplifying compliance with tracking and monitoring capabilities. Integration with storage systems enables users to manage permissions and access effectively. Room for improvement includes cloud integration and simplifying its interface and calculation engine for ease of use. Challenges include on-premises dependency, licensing costs, and a need for enhanced DLP capabilities.

    What are the primary features of Varonis Platform?

    • 24/7 Technical Support: Ensures continuous assistance and issue resolution.
    • Advanced Analytics: Identifies unusual data access patterns for increased security.
    • Centralized Permission Management: Manages access permissions across systems.
    • Data Classification: Categorizes data to enhance protection measures.
    • Integration with Storage Systems: Simplifies compliance through tracking and monitoring.

    What benefits and ROI should users expect?

    • Increased Security: Protects against unauthorized data access.
    • Compliance Simplification: Offers comprehensive tracking and monitoring to meet compliance standards.
    • Efficient Permission Management: Simplifies access controls across platforms.
    • Enhanced Alerting: Provides timely notifications of potential security breaches.

    In finance, Varonis aids in safeguarding sensitive financial data, while in healthcare, it secures patient records. Legal industries utilize it for protecting client information, and retail sectors manage sensitive customer data. These industries benefit from Varonis' ability to prevent unauthorized access and streamline compliance.

    Varonis
     

    Sample Customers

    Turkish Airlines, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Empa, The Alberta Teachers' Association
    Nottingham Building Society
    Buyer's Guide
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    June 2026
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