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Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Netsurion comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.8
Qualys TotalCloud boosts security, reduces manual labor, and improves efficiency, saving users 15-40% in time and resources.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Defender for Cloud enhances ROI by improving security, productivity, and cost efficiency, despite perceived licensing costs.
Sentiment score
7.5
Netsurion boosts productivity and cost-efficiency, saving users over $200,000 yearly, with positive impacts in six months.
We are able to scan all our assets with less human intervention and achieve overall effective outcomes.
Dns architect at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
It has saved about 90% of our time.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
TotalCloud has generated overall savings of 30 to 40 percent across various departments.
Security Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Defender proactively indexes and analyzes documents, identifying potential threats even when inactive, enhancing preventative security.
Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees
Identifying potential vulnerabilities has helped us avoid costly data losses.
Manager at CBTS
Compared to not having Microsoft Defender for Cloud in place, we definitely saw an advantage by not having downtime due to a security threat.
Principal Microsoft Consultant at MicroAge
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Qualys TotalCloud support is knowledgeable and responsive, though some users report delays, especially with low-tier issues.
Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft Defender for Cloud support is knowledgeable with effective documentation, but first-tier delays impact overall satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.5
Netsurion's customer service is responsive and efficient, with high satisfaction ratings despite some challenges in complex environments.
On a scale from one to ten, I would rate customer support a ten.
Head of IT at a insurance company with 201-500 employees
The technical support from Qualys is excellent, always available 24/7 for any urgent needs.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The technical support team is strong and helpful in solving issues promptly.
Security Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Since security is critical, we prefer a quicker response time.
Manager at CBTS
They understand their product, but much like us, they struggle with the finer details, especially with new features.
Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees
Even for high-severity cases, response or resolution time can extend to three or four weeks.
Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Qualys TotalCloud is scalable and robust, supporting multi-cloud environments, though improvements are needed in user-friendliness and reporting.
Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is highly scalable, seamlessly integrates across platforms, and efficiently handles growth, with room for feature improvement.
Sentiment score
7.2
Netsurion excels in scalability and integration, handling diverse environments efficiently, though on-prem server management could improve.
I would rate its scalability a ten out of ten.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The scalability of Qualys TotalCloud is excellent, and I would rate it as ten out of ten.
IT Architect at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
For scalability, I would rate it a ten out of ten.
Cyber Security Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
As we have reduced our on-premises infrastructure, it is about how we can migrate workloads to the cloud to make it easier, and then having everything fully encompassed and secured within that area makes it much easier for us to scale as needed and grow.
Principal Microsoft Consultant at MicroAge
We are using infrastructure as a code, so we do not have any scalability issues with Microsoft Defender for Cloud implementation because our cloud automatically does it.
Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse
It has multiple licenses and features, covering infrastructures from a hundred to five hundred virtual machines, without any issues.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Qualys TotalCloud is dependable and efficient, with minimal downtime and quick bug fixes, ensuring reliable operations across environments.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is stable and reliable, though minor update issues occur with older systems and internet latency.
Sentiment score
7.3
Netsurion is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and low maintenance, but may have minor logging issues and resource concerns.
It has a lot of scanning mechanisms, which are agentless APIs, eBPF, and cloud agents, that are highly reliable.
Sr Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would rate it a ten out of ten for stability.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
We have not encountered any lagging or crashing from the tool.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Defender's stability has been flawless for us.
Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
I have not experienced any crashes or downtime.
Head Of IT at Cirrus Response
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is very stable.
Cloud architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Qualys TotalCloud requires improvements in UI/UX, integration, automation, AI, onboarding, support, and security features for better user experience.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud needs improved customization, automation, UI performance, policy management, integration, AI functions, and reduced licensing complexities.
Netsurion should streamline agent deployment, enhance dashboards, improve Linux integration, and optimize user interface and threat detection.
Ideally, updates should be more immediate, enabling quicker implementation of solutions.
Project Lead at Persistent Systems
Our goal is to integrate all these functions into Qualys, creating a single dashboard for comprehensive security monitoring and management.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
If we find a critical or high vulnerability on an IP or server, the remediation steps should be communicated clearly.
Cyber Security Manager at RJ Corp Retail
Microsoft, in general, could significantly improve its communication and support.
Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees
It would be beneficial to streamline recommendations to avoid unnecessary alerts and to refine the severity of alerts based on specific environments or environmental attributes.
Works at Coca-Cola HBC
The artificial intelligence features could be expanded to allow the system to autonomously manage security issues without needing intervention from admins.
Cloud Consultant at i-Community AG
 

Setup Cost

Qualys TotalCloud pricing is competitive for enterprises but may be expensive for smaller businesses, offering flexible, scalable features.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud offers flexible pricing but gets complex and costly, requiring careful evaluation, especially for advanced plans.
Netsurion's pricing is flexible, with varied opinions on cost and value, offering both device-based and subscription models.
In our case, replacing the tool will give us better functionalities without increasing the cost compared to what we pay today for the competitor.
Head of IT at a insurance company with 201-500 employees
Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform.
IT Architect at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Security has essentially no cost when compared to the cost of a breach.
Director, Cloud and Modern Workplace at Informanix Technology Group
We appreciate the licensing approach based on employee count rather than a big enterprise license.
Manager, Microsoft Technology Alliance at Silverfort
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is pricey, especially for Kubernetes clusters.
Project Cloud Center of Excellence Leader at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Qualys TotalCloud excels in cloud security, offering AI-driven vulnerability prioritization, centralized visibility, and comprehensive asset discovery.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud enhances security and compliance with AI-powered threat intelligence, automation, and multi-cloud integration for improved protection.
Netsurion offers SIEM services with real-time alerts, integration capabilities, and 24/7 threat intelligence for enhanced security management.
The AI enhancements simplify vulnerability management by eliminating the need for SQL queries to create policies.
Project Lead at Persistent Systems
For example, if some machines have open vulnerabilities and the remediation team resolves them, the on-demand feature allows us to verify vulnerability resolution promptly.
Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP
Qualys TotalCloud is also used to provide unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IaaS and SaaS.
Group IT Cloud and Cybersecurity Engineer at Safetykleen
This feature significantly aids in threat detection and enhances the user experience by streamlining security management.
Cloud Consultant at i-Community AG
The most valuable feature is the recommendations provided on how to improve security.
Cloud architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Its integration with Sentinel provides prioritized remediation steps for security issues identified through both Azure Policy and Sentinel, increasing visibility into PaaS resources and streamlining our security operations.
Project Cloud Center of Excellence Leader at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (5th), Container Security (8th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (7th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (6th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (6th)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (11th), Container Management (8th), Container Security (4th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (3rd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (7th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Compliance Management (4th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (3rd)
Netsurion
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) (21st), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (50th), SOC as a Service (9th), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (31st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (46th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud6.5%
Wiz12.5%
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks10.1%
Other70.9%
Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Netsurion1.4%
Secureworks Taegis Managed XDR / MDR6.5%
LevelBlue Managed Security Services3.9%
Other88.2%
Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2859021 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Risk-based triage has transformed container security and now prioritizes high-impact threats
The best features Qualys TotalCloud offers currently include managing cloud infrastructure and container security while facing major challenges such as alert fatigue. Traditional vulnerability scanners flag hundreds of CVEs on short-lived Kubernetes containers, some of which have no internet exposure or are gone before we can even triage them. I leverage Qualys TotalCloud to move beyond static CVSS. I use it to implement runtime exposure, correlation risk reprioritization, and shift-left integration. This notifies developers to fix a base image upstream rather than patching live ephemeral instances. In my work with cloud and container security, the biggest operational hurdle was alert fatigue. I use Qualys to shift left from static CVSS severity to context-aware risk prioritization. I correlated raw vulnerability data with real-time risk factors such as public network exposure, active runtime execution, or overly permissive IAM roles. This allows us to immediately drop the priority of isolated containers and escalate lower-severity CVEs that sit on an exposed, high-risk path. We can map these findings directly back to our CI/CD pipelines so developers can patch the root base images upstream. We have drastically cut down the signal-to-noise ratio, saved a lot of manual hours doing triage work, and ensured engineering effort goes directly towards high-impact risk reduction.
RW
Head Of IT at Cirrus Response
Cloud security has cut investigation time and now reveals threats faster but needs simpler oversight
When deploying AI applications, my key security concerns with Microsoft Defender for Cloud are data loss, leakage of data, and guardrails around the actual AI, and I am hoping that this is going to help me put those guardrails in place and identify data exfiltration. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has not helped me manage and secure multi-cloud environments, as we are 100 percent Microsoft and have not really got it in any other environment at all. I am not yet using the unified AI-powered security feature offered by Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet using the integrated XDR feature of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet utilizing the GenAI threat protection features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud. That is also coming and a lot of that will come from learning it here. I have enabled the agentless scanning in my cloud environment with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Assessing the impact on my workload protection without needing to install agents with Microsoft Defender for Cloud makes it a lot easier, but it also identifies a lot more, which puts more load on me sometimes. I would advise another organization considering Microsoft Defender for Cloud that it is the most logical route to follow if their whole ecosystem is Microsoft. It is easy to implement and it is very self-explanatory when doing it, making sense to just follow the steps as it is too simple, really. I would rate this review a 7.5 out of 10.
John-Berry - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Manager at ProfitSolv
The SOC center monitors, hunts, and notifies us of threats around the clock
I know they are working to resolve this issue, but Netsurion is currently unable to retrieve logs from S3 buckets. We use WP Engine for a lot of web hosting as well as AWS, and both of these platforms use S3 buckets. I would like Netsurion to be able to pull logs from Linux devices. We have some of that capability, and I believe they can do it. However, the way it works with Amazon is strange and glitchy. Therefore, working something out with Amazon would be great. Netsurion's SOC can be a bit too aggressive at times. We have asked them to adjust their playbook because I am tired of being notified about the same issue multiple times a day. I am aware of the issue, and it is not a cause for concern. Let's only take action on this issue if we see an actual problem.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
19%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise39
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise49
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?
We purchased Qualys TotalCloud for GCP and Azure as well. It is comparatively better than others regarding pricing. T...
What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
I am unsure about how Qualys TotalCloud can be improved. I do not have anything else to add about the needed improvem...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
My main use case for Qualys TotalCloud is telemetry, although I am unsure about the specifics. A quick specific examp...
How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?
Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening acros...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was that the license cost was the only consideration. Setup an...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
To improve Microsoft Defender for Cloud, I think pricing-wise, the license price is a little bit higher from an inges...
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Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
Netsurion Managed Threat Protection, Netsurion EventTracker
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
The Salvation Army, The FRESH Market, Pacific Western Bank, NASA, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), and Talbot’s Stores
Find out what your peers are saying about Wiz, SentinelOne, Palo Alto Networks and others in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP). Updated: October 2026.
921,749 professionals have used our research since 2012.