Microsoft Defender for Business vs Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management comparison

Microsoft Defender for Business and Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Microsoft Defender for Business is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.6, while Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management is ranked #34 with an average rating of 7.3. Microsoft Defender for Business holds a 3.3% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Microsoft Defender for Business users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Read 19 Microsoft Defender for Business reviews

4,907 Views
1,521 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Microsoft Purview Data Life...

Read 3 Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management reviews

490 Views
196 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Microsoft Purview Data Life...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender for Business and Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Microsoft Security Suite solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Business vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Business vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

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 for Busi...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

17th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (21st)

Microsoft Purview Data Life...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

34th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Governance (28th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Business is 3.3%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Takayuki-Umehara

Public Cloud Engineer at Prudential

Product deployment protects assets but needs improvement in system support

I am doing maintenance for Microsoft Defender for Business, and I'm currently working with it. We don't need to use the latest version of Microsoft Defender for Business. We still use the latest virus definition file that Microsoft Defender for Business has automatically updated. We implement a basic update mechanism. Our compliance division manages how many servers and PCs we have and whether those servers have antivirus solutions. I am not certain about how Microsoft Defender for Business helps with AI-driven security strategies. I just use it normally and don't know if it uses AI technology. I rate Microsoft Defender for Business a six out of ten.

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Al Mcpherson

Data Architect at Octopus

Provides clear visibility into our entire information estate, reduces our time to action, and saves us time

The integration across Azure is straightforward. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management has been a game-changer for our data governance. We now have clear visibility into our entire information estate, allowing us to pinpoint data location and implement effective classification. Even though real-time compliance isn't a current need, Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management offers that capability for future requirements. Purview Data Lifecycle Management has reduced our time to action – since we previously lacked such a tool, it's effectively cut our response time in half. Purview Data Lifecycle Management has saved us one working day per month.

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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

"The solution includes attack-savvy service and risk protection, part of data center management, and offers an effective single-dashboard view with Microsoft 365."

"Microsoft Defender for Business works well with the Microsoft Azure Security ecosystem, including Defender for Endpoint and Office 365 Cloud."

"The security features in Microsoft Defender for Business that have been most effective for our company include the way it's built-in and intertwined into all the operating systems, giving us a good opportunity to holistically block things for the organization using that tenant."

"The solution provides good scalability."

"The security features are valuable because they come with more capabilities that other licenses do not have, including the enterprise license like E3."

"Microsoft Defender for Business is good for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers solid security flexibility and integration with tools like Microsoft Lighthouse and some other software. It takes some of the features of Defender for Endpoint EDR and provides those services for small and medium-sized business environments."

"Defender's main strength is its integration with Microsoft Sentinel, offering valuable insights."

"A few things are valuable. One is the alerting we see when any kind of intrusion is happening, any kind of malware is being deployed across the endpoints, or any kind of suspicious activity is going on. We have a footprint across all of North America, Canada, and Mexico, so we want to make sure that all our endpoints are protected and we are able to look for any anomalous activity."

More Microsoft Defender for Business pros

"The system is stable; I haven't encountered any worldwide stability issues unlike other office products."

"The automatic data labeling is compelling, and we are investigating its use."

"The UI is the most valuable feature."

"Purview's built-in functionality provides immediate access to reports, streamlining the entire process."

Cons

"The user interface has a lot of features which can make it complex and hard to adapt to for some users."

"Microsoft should provide batch management solutions with the application, integrating pass management with roles."

"The solution's AI is notorious for false positives, and the time you have to spend training it is ridiculous."

"Pricing could be lowered as it is expensive and not suitable for low-budget organizations."

"The threat detection capabilities require significant customization for multistage threat detection."

"The technical support from Microsoft is very poor. I would rate it a one, as their technical staff are very junior and take a long time to respond to simple questions."

"Threat protection could be improved even though it is already a built-in feature."

"The user interface has a lot of features which can make it complex and hard to adapt to for some users."

More Microsoft Defender for Business cons

"Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management can be challenging to implement due to its complexity and dense documentation, making it difficult to get started."

"Microsoft's Purview Data Lifecycle Management preview features can be unreliable, hindering their usefulness."

"Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management can be challenging to implement due to its complexity and dense documentation, making it difficult to get started."

"The time it takes to scan is one issue; when we raise high-volume issues and tickets related to scanning failures, it relates to permission errors, which are technical challenges."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is cheap, while some other solutions are more expensive. I remember the tool cost about five euros for a workstation or for a user on a monthly basis."

"It has to get more competitive because we are starting to see some of the competitors providing better pricing, and some of it, of course, is to gain market share. The Defender product pricing is probably a little higher than the competitors."

"The tool's cost has been a little high, but I do not think it was terrible."

"Defender for Business is included by default with an Office 365 premium subscription."

"Since we're a nonprofit, we get pretty good discounts on the tool."

"The service operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, charging an extra one cent per field of metadata scanned in our data."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Government

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Business?

A few things are valuable. One is the alerting we see when any kind of intrusion is happening, any kind of malware is being deployed across the endpoints, or any kind of suspicious activity is goin...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Business?

Our thoughts on the pricing for Microsoft Defender for Business are that we wish it could be better. If the pricing was a little better, we would definitely increase what we currently have.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Business?

Microsoft Defender for Business could improve by offering more of their offerings available in the basic tenants since not everyone has a budget for higher-level licenses, but everyone needs securi...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management?

We opted for Purview Data Lifecycle Management due to its significant cost advantage over competitors. At a 95 percent price reduction, it was a clear winner. The service operates on a pay-as-you-g...

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What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management?

One of the requirements is to have data leak policies and data access policies. This is very critical to enforce data governance standards, which relate to data classification, access control, data...

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What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management?

I am a customer and user of the tools. We are a big shop, and both the companies I work for are Microsoft Office 365 customers with over eighty thousand seats. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Mana...

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Comparisons

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Compared 19% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 12% of the time

Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Suites vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 7% of the time

Norton Small Business vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Business Competitors

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management

Compared 78% of the time

Alation Data Catalog vs Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management

Compared 22% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Business

August 2025

Download Microsoft Defender for Business product report

Buyer's Guide

Data Governance

July 2025

Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management report

Download Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management product report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft Information Governance

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Business is a new endpoint security solution that was designed especially for the small and medium-sized business (up to 300 employees). With this endpoint security solution, your company's devices are better protected from ransomware, malware, phishing, and other threats.

Microsoft

Use Microsoft Information Governance (sometimes abbreviated to MIG) capabilities to govern your data for compliance or regulatory requirements.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Business vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management

July 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender for Business vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Business vs. Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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