Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Sophos Cloud Optix comparison

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Wiz Logo
Read 11 Wiz reviews
14,869 views|11,027 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
Microsoft Logo
10,074 views|7,491 comparisons
95% willing to recommend
Sophos Logo
408 views|286 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Sophos Cloud Optix based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,857 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
"Out of all the features, the one item that has been most valuable is the fact that Wiz puts into context all the pieces that create an issue, and applies a particular risk evaluation that helps us prioritize when we need to address a misconfiguration, vulnerability, or any issue that would put our environment into risk.""The solution is very user-friendly.""The vulnerability management modules and the discovery and inventory are the most valuable features. Before using Wiz, it was a very manual process for both. After implementing it, we're able to get all of the analytics into a single platform that gives us visibility across all the systems in our cloud. We're able to correspond and understand what the vulnerability landscape looks like a lot faster.""The security baseline and vulnerability assessments is the valuable feature.""I like Wiz's reporting, and it's easy to do queries. For example, it's pretty simple to find out how many servers we have and the applications installed on each. I like Wiz's security graph because you can use it to see the whole organization even if you have multiple accounts.""The CSPM module has been the most effective. It was easy to deploy and covered all our accounts through APIs, requiring no agents. Wiz provides instant visibility into high-level risks that we need to address.""The first thing that stood out was the ease of installation and the quick value we got out of the solution.""The automation roles are essential because we ultimately want to do less work and automate more. The dashboards are easy to read and visually pleasing. You can understand things quickly, which makes it easy for our other teams. The network and infrastructure teams don't know as much about security as we do, so it helps to have a tool that's accessible and nice to look at."

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"It helps you to identify the gaps in your solution and remediate them. It produces a compliance checklist against known standards such as ISO 27001, HIPAA, iTrust, etc.""The integration with Logic Apps allows for automated responses to incidents.""The security alerts and correlated alerts are most valuable. It correlates the logs and gives us correlated alerts, which can be fed into any security information and event management (SIEM) tool. It is an analyzed correlation tool for monitoring security. It gives us alerts when there is any kind of unauthorized access, or when there is any malfunctioning in multifactor authentication (MFA). If our Azure is connected with Azure Security Center, we get to know what types of authentication are happening in our infra.""Threat protection is comprehensive and simple.""The solution is very easy to deploy.""When we started out, our secure score was pretty low. We adopted some of the recommendations that Security Center set out and we were able to make good progress on improving it. It had been in the low thirties and is now in the upper eighties.""It works seamlessly on the Azure platform because it's a Microsoft app. Its setup is similar, so if you already have a Microsoft account, it just flows into it.""The security policy is the most valuable feature for us. We can go into the environment settings and attach any globally recognized framework like ISO or any benchmark."

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"DLP is a valuable feature that we use a lot for info audits.""The most valuable feature for me would be the solution's endpoint protection.""The most valuable feature of Sophos Cloud Optix is the simple way to manage my devices on the network. Additionally, it is easy to navigate and has a user-friendly interface."

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Cons
"The only small pain point has been around some of the logging integrations. Some of the complexities of the script integrations aren't supported with some of the more automated infrastructure components. So, it's not as universal. For example, they have great support for cloud formation and other services, but if you're using another type of management utility or governance language for your infrastructure-as-code automation components, it becomes a little bit trickier to navigate that.""Wiz's reporting capabilities could be refined a bit. They are making headway on that, but more executive-style dashboards would be nice. They just implemented a community aspect where you can share documents and feedback. This was something users had been requesting for a while. They are listening to customer feedback and making changes.""Given the level of visibility into all the cloud environments Wiz provides, it would be nice if they could integrate some kind of mechanism to better manage tenants on multiple platforms. For example, let's say that some servers don't have an application they need, such as an antivirus. Wiz could include an API or something to push those applications out to the servers. It would be great if you could remedy these issues directly from the Wiz platform.""One significant issue is that the searches are case-sensitive, so finding a misconfigured resource can become very challenging.""The solution's container security could be improved.""We're looking at some of the data compliance stuff that they've got Jon offer. I know they're looking at container security, which we gonna be looking at next.""We wish there were a way, beyond providing visibility and automated remediation, to wait on a given remediation, due to a critical aspect, such as the cost associated with a particular upgrade... We would like to see preventive controls that can be applied through Wiz to protect against vulnerabilities that we're not going to be able to remediate immediately.""The reporting isn't that great. They have executive summaries, but it's only a compliance report that maps all current issues to specific controls. Whether you look at one subscription or project, regardless of the size, you will get a multipage report on how the issues in that account map to that control. Our CSO isn't going to read through that. He won't filter that out or show that to his leadership and say, "Here's what we're doing." It isn't a helpful report. They're working on it, but it's a poor executive summary."

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"Azure Security Center takes a long time to update, compared to the on-premises version of Microsoft Defender.""Sometimes it's very difficult to determine when I need Microsoft Defender for Cloud for a special resource group or a special kind of product.""The remediation process could be improved.""No possibility to write or edit any capability.""You cannot create custom use cases.""I would like to see better automation when it comes to pushing out security features to the recommendations, and better documentation on the step-by-step procedures for enabling certain features.""Microsoft sources most of their threat intelligence internally, but I think they should open themselves up to bodies that provide feel intelligence to build a better engine. There may be threats out there that they don't report because their team is not doing anything on that and they don't have arrangements with another party that is involved in that research.""One of the main challenges that we have been facing with Azure Security Center is the cost. The costs are really a complex calculation, e.g., to calculate the monthly costs. Azure is calculating on an hourly basis for use of the resource. Because of this, we found it really complex to promote what will be our costs for the next couple of months. I think if Azure could reduce the complex calculation and come up with straightforward cost mapping that would be very useful from a product point of view."

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"There are times when the devices are at maximum capacity, and it takes a while before the device is updated. For example, if the device has a virus, and it's not aligned to connect to the network, even after you've scanned the device, and cleaned out the virus, once the management clears the system to allow it back on the network it takes some time. It can be frustrating when you have your line manager or in management affected trying to access the network.""The setup was a little bit complex.""The dashboard and the process for applying policies could be more intuitive. Cloud Optix isn't that difficult once you get the hang of it, but the IT folks managing this want it to be more user-friendly."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing seems pretty simple. We don't have to do a lot of calculations to figure out what the components are. They do it by enabling specific features, either basics or advanced, which makes it easy to select."
  • "The pricing is fair. Some of the more advanced features and functionalities and how the tiers are split can be somewhat confusing."
  • "The pricing is fair and comparable to their competitors. The cost seems to be going up, which is a concern. There are potential savings from consolidating tools, but we're uncertain how Wiz's pricing will change over time."
  • "I wish the pricing was more transparent."
  • "The cost of the other solutions is comparable to Wiz."
  • "Wiz is a moderately priced solution, where it is neither cheap nor costly."
  • More Wiz Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I'm not privy to that information, but I know it's probably close to a million dollars a year."
  • "We are using the free version of the Azure Security Center."
  • "Azure Defender is a bit pricey. The price could be lower."
  • "This is a worldwide service and depending on the country, there will be different prices."
  • "Security Center charges $15 per resource for any workload that you onboard into it. They charge per VM or per data-base server or per application. It's not like Microsoft 365 licensing, where there are levels like E3 and E5. Security Center is pretty straightforward."
  • "There is a helpful cost-reducing option that allows you to integrate production subscriptions with non-production subscriptions."
  • "Its pricing is a little bit high in terms of Azure Security Center, but the good thing is that we don't need to maintain and deploy it. So, while the pricing is high, it is native to Azure which is why we prefer using this tool."
  • "I am not involved in this area. However, I believe its price is okay because even small customers are using Azure Security Center. I don't think it is very expensive."
  • More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Regarding the pricing for Sophos Cloud Optix, I would say that it was a very good price."
  • More Sophos Cloud Optix Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solutions are best for your needs.
    768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Wiz and Lacework sucks... Buy Orca. 
    Top Answer:Whether or not the cost of third-party Cloud Security tools is justified would depend on your specific needs and budget… more »
    Top Answer:With Wiz, we get timely alerts for leaked data or any vulnerabilities already existing in our environment.
    Top Answer:Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening across… more »
    Top Answer:The entire Defender Suite is tightly coupled, integrated, and collaborative.
    Top Answer:Our clients complain about the cost of Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Microsoft needs to bring the cost down. What we're… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature for me would be the solution's endpoint protection.
    Top Answer:I guess that customer training is an area that needs improvement. What I've noticed is that we are not best trained for… more »
    Top Answer:Sophos Cloud Optix is the endpoint scanner for the workstations at my company, and they control the firewall and the… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
    Learn More
    Interactive Demo
    Wiz
    Demo Not Available
    Sophos
    Demo Not Available
    Overview

    Wiz is a highly efficient solution for data security posture management (DSPM), with a 100% API-based approach that provides quick connectivity and comprehensive scans of platform configurations and workloads. The solution allows companies to automatically correlate sensitive data with relevant cloud context, such as public exposure, user identities, entitlements, and vulnerabilities.This integration enables them to understand data accessibility, configuration, usage, and movement within their internal environments.

    Wiz's Security Graph delivers automated alerts whenever risks emerge, allowing teams to prioritize and address the most critical issues before they escalate into breaches. Furthermore, Wiz ensures rapid and agentless visibility into critical data across various repositories, enabling organizations to easily determine the location of their data assets.

    Wiz Features

    Wiz provides various features in the following categories:

    • Agentless Scanning: The solution can scan every layer of a cloud environment without requiring agents, managing the entire process and providing comprehensive visibility.

    • Workflow Integration: Users can create customized workflows within Wiz to identify and assign actions based on urgency, integrating them with ticketing systems for quick and efficient remediation.

    • Vulnerability Management: Wiz's vulnerability management modules provide detailed analytics and visibility across cloud systems, streamlining the manual process of vulnerability discovery. The automated attack path analysis helps identify risks and trace potential points of exposure, allowing users to understand and mitigate them effectively and proactively.

    • CSPM (Cloud Security Posture Management): Wiz's CSPM module offers instant visibility into high-level risks to an enterprise’s cloud environment, covering all accounts without the need for agents.

    • Out-of-the-Box Reporting and Custom Queries: The service supports comprehensive reporting with asset context, allowing users to perform complex custom queries on the solution’s user-friendly interface.

    • Automation Roles and Dashboards: The solution facilitates automation by providing essential roles and dedicated dashboards that enable teams to understand security information quickly, even those with limited expertise.

    • Contextual Risk Evaluation: The service contextualizes the various components contributing to an issue, providing a risk evaluation framework that helps prioritize remediation efforts.

    • Security Graph and Visibility: Wiz's security graph offers visibility across the entire organization, even with multiple accounts, enabling users to understand their environment and assets effectively.

    The Benefits of Wiz

    Wiz offers the following benefits:


    • Comprehensive agentless scanning

    • Effective identification and mitigation of vulnerabilities

    • Streamlined vulnerability management

    • Robust reporting capabilities and customizable queries

    • Enhanced automation and role-based access control

    • Prioritized risk evaluation for efficient remediation

    • Security posture across multiple accounts

    Reviews from Real Users

    Kamran Siddique, VP Information Security at boxed.com, remarks his company has seen a ROI while using Wiz, as it simplifies the process by integrating multiple useful tools into one solution.

    According to a Senior Security Architect at Deliveroo, Wiz has given their company a fresh approach to vulnerability management, as Wiz's native integrations are extremely useful and paramount to the operational success of their platform.



    Get a demo | Wiz

    Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for cloud workloads. It offers real-time visibility into the security posture of cloud environments, enabling organizations to quickly identify and respond to potential threats. With its advanced machine learning capabilities, Microsoft Defender for Cloud can detect and block sophisticated attacks, including zero-day exploits and fileless malware.

    The solution also provides automated remediation capabilities, allowing security teams to quickly and easily respond to security incidents. With Microsoft Defender for Cloud, organizations can ensure the security and compliance of their cloud workloads, while reducing the burden on their security teams.

    Easily identify cloud resource vulnerabilities, ensure compliance, and respond to threats faster.

    Sample Customers
    Wiz is the fastest growing software company ever - $100M ARR in 18 months: Wiz becomes the fastest-growing software company ever | Wiz Blog  Discover why companies, including Salesforce, Morgan Stanley, Fox, and Bridgewater choose Wiz as their cloud security partner. Read their success stories here: Customers | Wiz
    Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company38%
    Retailer13%
    Outsourcing Company13%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Government6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Agriculture10%
    Consumer Goods Company10%
    Recruiting/Hr Firm10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Government11%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Wholesaler/Distributor8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise58%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise65%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise62%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise65%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business34%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise44%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Defender for Cloud is ranked 3rd in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) with 46 reviews while Sophos Cloud Optix is ranked 25th in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) with 3 reviews. Microsoft Defender for Cloud is rated 8.0, while Sophos Cloud Optix is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Microsoft Defender for Cloud writes "Provides multi-cloud capability, is plug-and-play, and improves our security posture". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos Cloud Optix writes "DLP is a valuable feature that we use a lot for info audits". Microsoft Defender for Cloud is most compared with AWS GuardDuty, Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft Defender XDR, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Microsoft Sentinel, whereas Sophos Cloud Optix is most compared with Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. See our Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix report.

    See our list of best Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) vendors.

    We monitor all Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) 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.