Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (6th), Anti-Malware Tools (7th)
Symantec Messaging Gateway
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (6th)
 

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 1.3%, down 2.1% compared to last year.
Symantec Messaging Gateway, on the other hand, focuses on Secure Email Gateway (SEG), holds 2.6% mindshare, up 1.9% since last year.
Anti-Malware Tools
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.
Girish Vijay - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable and reasonably priced solution that performs well and has a very good malware database
Since Symantec merged with Broadcom, they might have lost some good technical engineers. Maybe that’s the reason why the product is performing poorly. When we have a good marketing and sales team, even though our product cannot perform, we will sell it at a high price because of the buzzwords. However, at the end of the day, the product should perform. Most of the products might not perform. Symantec is a very good product, but the services are basic. I rate the technical features of the product a nine out of ten. However, I would rate the services provided by the solution a six out of ten. Overall, I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is the best email solution with more features and robust security, making it ideal for corporate use."
"The initial setup of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection was easy."
"I rate Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) nine out of ten."
"The initial setup is just a standard process."
"The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward."
"The email policy configuration options in Microsoft EOP are satisfactory."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection has features like DLP (data loss protection), Safe Attachment, and Safe Links."
"You can use the product to create special accounts."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway is stable and scalable. Installation is easy, and the deployment and maintenance can be done by one administrative person."
"Messaging Gateway is stable."
"The solution is excellent at blocking spam."
"The feature that I like the best is the fingerprinting concept."
"It has very good capabilities for managing malware."
"Symantec’s spyware and malware signature database is very good compared to other products."
"The solution is "set and forget". You pay for it and everything is done for you."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway has a good GUI, and it is very powerful in detecting viruses and spam."
 

Cons

"Online Protection has an issue in that it doesn't provide an option to stop impersonation."
"Having orchestration features added to Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, particularly automation and remediation, would be quite useful."
"They should specify the difference between Defender for Office 365 and Exchange Online Protection."
"The solution must improve the user experience."
"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."
"Not all settings can be configured automatically and most still require manual configuration. However, there is an automation tool available that can be used to input all the configurations either as a script or a tool it would be helpful."
"Some of the searchability when looking for specifics in Exchange logs is tedious."
"The product's end-of-life cycle could be extended."
"Messaging Gateway's advanced malware detection could be improved."
"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."
"This product would benefit from better integration with Symantec Endpoint Protection."
"We've had issues in the past where the user finds spam, and Symantec does not recognize it as spam."
"The biggest problem is it's an on-prem product and we're trying to get out of having equipment in data centers."
"The false positive submissions must be improved."
"It will provide Excel reports and PDF reports, but it would be great if they supported the concept of Crystal Reports."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway should include better exclusions and exceptions for better administration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution falls on the higher or more expensive side of the spectrum."
"The tool's pricing is excellent."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable."
"Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is a good solution at an affordable price. It is a good investment."
"The pricing for the solution depends on what you are trying to achieve with the use of the product, but I know that it is not a cheaply priced product. Yearly payments have to be made towards the licensing fees of the solution."
"Regarding the price, it's comparable to other service providers. We've also looked at Check Point's offerings, and the pricing doesn't seem to be an issue."
"Apart from the license fee for the solution, there are no additional costs."
"The product's pricing is competitive for the US market."
"Symantec Messaging Gateway’s pricing is very cheap."
"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."
"For 150 users, we pay INR 1,60,000."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Anti-Malware Tools solutions are best for your needs.
863,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
Reporting could be one of the areas for improvement, as they could put more reporting into Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) natively rather than requiring additional licensing or connecti...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The company does work with this technology, but not me personally. I manage some other products currently, mainly in the modern workplace space, such as Azure Virtual Desktop and Microsoft 365. I d...
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.
863,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.