Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Microsoft Purview Data Governance comparison

Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs. Microsoft Purview Data Governance

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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 Defender External...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

34th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Attack Surface Management (ASM) (12th)

Microsoft Purview Data Gove...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

8th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Governance (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Data Governance is 4.6%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

AndyChan3

General manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Enhanced visibility and exposes vulnerabilities but needs more integration

I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will move to full-scale production in another year, maybe Microsoft External Attack Surface Management…

Read full review

James McDowall

Senior Microsoft Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The sensitivity and retention options in Purview are excellent

Some of the menu headings may not be easy to understand for some people. For example, when I first used Purview, I noticed that one of the self-compliance centers had changed its name. Microsoft has done a huge amount of updates, and sometimes it's hard to keep track of what Purview can do. We almost constantly have to explore it. Maybe Microsoft could have a 365 roadmap where we can look at upcoming features, or some kind of bulletin announcement for Purview users that explains new features and what they can do in simple terms. We could also look at the menu settings. In my experience of using Purview, we've never used it as an exclusive system for IT professionals or technical staff. We were very keen that other specialists around the business made use of some of these features because we thought that some of what Purview could do was relevant to other departments as well as IT. For example, we have HR managers and financial staff who use it. I think that some of the terminology in Purview is pitched toward IT and tech professionals, and it may not be immediately understood by other specialists. This is something that could be improved.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."

"It seems to be better at protecting from cyberattacks."

"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."

"Their data labeling or data classification is particularly valuable because we want to categorize all of our data into confidential, public, or internal."

"Microsoft Purview stands out for its automatic data recovery system, which prioritizes critical data for the fastest restoration."

"The data classification part of the solution is excellent, especially as it gives us an insight into our sensitive data within Microsoft 365."

"I really like the entire system for auto-labeling content. It's a very refined system. I use the Keyword Query Language to define refined string-based metadata, and then I can really go deep into the specific data with the specific properties labeled in such and such a way."

"The most valuable feature is the tracking activity and device onboarding."

"The data protection feature is vital as it controls who can access data when it moves out of our protected boundary."

"Microsoft Purview offers data protection across a multi-cloud and multi-platform environment."

"It's certainly easy to work with all Microsoft data sources like SQL Server, Synapse, and data lakes, but it also has great functionality working with Oracle. And of particular interest to us is the ability to pull data from Excel, CVS files, and other types of flat files."

More Microsoft Purview Data Governance pros

Cons

"Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement."

"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."

"The integration is not as seamless compared to competitors like Palo Alto."

"One area for improvement is better documentation on what is working and what is not, as well as what features are allowed depending on your licensing model. It's essential to know if a feature isn't working due to missing licenses."

"I rate Microsoft support six out of 10. The standard support is acceptable, but sometimes it doesn't respond fast enough. Overall, it doesn't meet our expectations."

"It is lacking a bit because I've opened some tickets, and it's taken months to resolve, or I've never even had them resolved."

"I lose a little bit of that control when we're talking about third-party connectors. Compliance-wise, I would like to see more ability to audit from a user perspective, where I could extrapolate what the user was thinking or trying to do."

"Auto-tagging should be available at lower levels of licensing. Right now, a high level of licensing is needed for auto-tagging, and this feature should be made available at a lower license level."

"Although you can explore the data, that creates a great interest in data lineage or the data flow. How does it go from a source to a platform to a Power BI report, for example? It is possible, to some extent, to see that with Purview, but the lineage feature requires some manual work on the development side or more work from Microsoft to improve on it."

"There should be more clarity about the costing, particularly how the cost is calculated, especially when utilizing health reports and quality features."

"I try to avoid opening tickets with Microsoft due to long response times, which is frustrating."

More Microsoft Purview Data Governance cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The pricing is decent. It is neither too low nor too high. Given its capabilities, the pricing is justified."

"I consider it cost-efficient because of the metrics it provides."

"The pricing is reasonable because it's part of the 365 E3 or E5 license you buy."

"It is cheap. It is based on consumption. If somebody wants to start using it, the price is definitely cheaper than a tool like Collibra."

"There is some competition out there, but the other solutions are quite expensive. They are enterprise tools that are a bit more mature but the license costs $100,000 for some of them. Purview is pay-per-use and a lot of companies are interested in that."

"While Purview's standard pricing might not be accessible to most small businesses, we were fortunate to benefit from the educational pricing which made it a financially viable option for our needs."

"Aside from the complexity of the pricing model, the price itself is realistic. Features like AI components and automatic classification require additional licenses. Still, anyone can start using Purview with a basic E3 license if they're using Microsoft 365 and grow with additional licenses as needed. Overall, we're satisfied with the price."

"The price is reasonable considering its value."

More Microsoft Purview Data Governance pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?

I rate the pricing of the solution as eight out of ten.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?

Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement. Introduction of more AI automation into the products would also be beneficial. The integration is not as seamless co...

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Purview?

It is designed to seamlessly connect to various data sources, which is particularly beneficial for our customers who primarily use Microsoft technologies.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Purview?

The auto-tagging feature should be available at a lower licensing level.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Purview?

Auto-tagging should be available at lower levels of licensing. Right now, a high level of licensing is needed for auto-tagging, and this feature should be made available at a lower license level.

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

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Product Reports

Attack Surface Management (ASM)

Download Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management product report

Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management report

Microsoft Purview Data Governance

Download Microsoft Purview Data Governance product report

Microsoft Purview Data Governance report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft Purview, MS Azure Purview

Overview

In this era of hybrid work, shadow IT creates an increasingly serious security risk. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management helps cloud security teams see unknown and unmanaged resources outside the firewall.

Microsoft

The new Microsoft Purview portal offers an enhanced governance experience, serving as a unified platform for managing and governing data across various sources, including Azure, Microsoft 365, on-premises, and multicloud environments. Designed to streamline governance, compliance, risk, and security efforts, the new portal provides a user-friendly interface and unlocks advanced features like live view and preset scans. Existing users of Microsoft Purview can upgrade to this enhanced experience, gaining access to improved user interface, enhanced capabilities, and consolidated management of data assets. Additionally, the upgrade sets the stage for future developments, including account consolidation and fine-grained access control.

Microsoft

Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs. Microsoft Purview Data Governance