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Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs Symantec Messaging Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Exchange Online P...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (7th), Anti-Malware Tools (8th)
Symantec Messaging Gateway
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is designed for Anti-Malware Tools and holds a mindshare of 1.2%, down 1.8% compared to last year.
Symantec Messaging Gateway, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Email Gateway (SEG), holds 2.6% mindshare, up 2.5% since last year.
Anti-Malware Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)1.2%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint13.7%
F-Secure Total5.9%
Other79.2%
Anti-Malware Tools
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Symantec Messaging Gateway2.6%
Microsoft Defender for Office 36527.6%
Proofpoint Email Protection21.0%
Other48.8%
Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
 

Featured Reviews

Amber Worth - PeerSpot reviewer
Retrieves data from quarantines and easy to read logs with robust security features
Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious. Although eventually the information is located, it can be difficult if detailed information is lacking. Improving the search process by allowing searches with different types of parameters and facilitating searches within emails would be advantageous. Simplifying interfaces would also be appreciated.
Dennis O'Reilly - PeerSpot reviewer
The product provides good content filtering options, but the false positive submissions must be improved
The tool is very stable. I rate the stability a seven out of ten. It's an on-premise application that runs on a virtual machine. It has dependencies on the hypervisor host that we're running it on. If it's not configured, the application can be influenced by it. Sometimes, there is a service stop error while the service is still running. Sometimes, the service just stops. Some policies do not act the way that we intend them to respond.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is an easy solution."
"It has a really nice web-based administration console."
"The threat management feature includes policies and alerts that are valuable."
"I like the product's ZAP feature."
"In general, my company is happy with Microsoft support...My company hasn't faced any stability issues with the solution."
"The initial setup is just a standard process."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection are the EOP, ATP, safe links, fishing, and antispam."
"The pre-set policies and configuration analyzer are the most valuable features."
"The cloud-based interface is very user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the content filtering policies because the solution offers huge options for configuration, such as hardware manipulation, et cetera, and the dictionaries make the work easier."
"I like that it's simple and easy to configure, deploy, and manage. The reporting function has all the features we're looking for, and we are fine with that."
"It is a solid and stable product."
"Symantec is a secure product."
"Symantec’s spyware and malware signature database is very good compared to other products."
"The solution is excellent at blocking spam."
"The solution is highly customizable. You can make rules for domains and configure policies for spam or malware. Messaging Gateway is an on-prem solution, so it's useful for companies without a cloud presence."
 

Cons

"The solution can be complex at times. It would be nice to have the on-server version. It needs to improve the stability as well."
"The licensing can be on the expensive side, especially in the cloud space."
"Online Protection has an issue in that it doesn't provide an option to stop impersonation."
"I think the implementation could be more streamlined."
"The security compliance features need to be improved. Sometimes, a client's mailbox becomes full because of retained information and not because of mail. I would like to see improvement in block rules as well."
"When the product is being updated, it changes some of the setups. The support team is also not good."
"Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious."
"The reporting needs a little bit of improvement."
"We've had issues in the past where the user finds spam, and Symantec does not recognize it as spam."
"It is a nice product but is not user friendly in terms of the graphical interface. It is poor and is not rich in terms of the human interface."
"It will provide Excel reports and PDF reports, but it would be great if they supported the concept of Crystal Reports."
"Sometimes the solution picks up false positive for viruses during scans."
"The solution takes up a lot of memory."
"They really need to create a good package that competes with Microsoft."
"They have updated the version of the Messaging Gateway and the new features they are adding the need to be re-evaluated. They have done some changes on the policy."
"What's lacking when you compare it with Proofpoint and other threat protection solutions is that it does the basic stuff, but we need more advanced threat handling."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Apart from the license fee for the solution, there are no additional costs."
"Online Protection is fairly expensive."
"It is a low-price solution."
"The solution is priced high and could be less expensive compared to other solutions."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is a good solution at an affordable price. It is a good investment."
"The solution falls on the higher or more expensive side of the spectrum."
"The tool's pricing is excellent."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection's pricing is a little bit more because its price has recently increased."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."
"The cost of Symantec Messaging Gateway is too expensive in general. However, the appliance also includes the price of the license in the same bundle."
"For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."
"They're a little costly compared to Microsoft."
"It's a bit expensive compared to its competitor Barracuda Email Security Gateway but cheaper than Sophos Email."
"A subscription for technical support costs extra."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The user interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) has room for improvement, as at times it doesn't make sense where to go to access certain features.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
My use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is basically to protect ourselves from phishing emails and to improve our email security.
What needs improvement with Symantec Messaging Gateway?
The solution takes up a lot of memory. The system becomes slow. The performance must be improved.
What is your primary use case for Symantec Messaging Gateway?
We use the solution to secure our data and emails.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
Symantec.cloud, Symantec Email Security.cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Doric, Joblink Plus, Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, PPB Advisory, Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Sydney Adventist Hospital Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) vs. Symantec Messaging Gateway and other solutions. Updated: January 2024.
872,655 professionals have used our research since 2012.