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Microsoft Defender for Business pros and cons

Vendor: Microsoft
3.9 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Microsoft Defender for Business provides strong integration with Microsoft Lighthouse and other tools, enhancing security for small and medium-sized businesses.
It offers effective threat detection and response capabilities, particularly managing vulnerabilities and ransomware attacks.
The service includes an effective single-dashboard view with Microsoft 365, providing a consolidated security management approach.
Microsoft Defender for Business works seamlessly with the Microsoft Azure Security ecosystem, particularly with Defender for Endpoint and Office 365 Cloud.
Its integration with Microsoft Sentinel offers valuable insights and enhances security measures.

CONS

Defender's reporting is scattershot, and URL filtering lacks effectiveness.
Security improvements are needed, with better integration into environments and faster threat response.
Pricing and contract terms pose issues, especially with multi-year contracts.
Technical support is slow, with support staff lacking experience and responsiveness.
Integration issues arise with licensing on Windows 11 Enterprise, affecting activation.
 

Microsoft Defender for Business Pros review quotes

MN
Manager, Information Technology Support at Innoveo
Jul 18, 2022
If you're an Intune user, you can bring in certain capabilities like system-hardening policies, which further enhances the security.
Raul Miranda - PeerSpot reviewer
Commercial Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Feb 13, 2023
It is scalable.
Nicolas Zafiriou - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Jun 15, 2023
The interface is quite user-friendly.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2264217 - PeerSpot reviewer
Testing and Production Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Sep 6, 2023
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.
reviewer1728189 - PeerSpot reviewer
CIO at Alaska Air
Dec 6, 2023
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.
reviewer2516193 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Infrasturcuture at a non-profit with 51-200 employees
Jul 22, 2024
The solution provides good scalability.
TC
IT Engineer at Consell Comarcal
Jul 29, 2024
The most valuable feature of the solution is its central console.
Tim_Howard - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at CarbonCents
Sep 11, 2024
I haven't had any problems with the tool's stability.
NS
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
Nov 25, 2024
The solution includes attack-savvy service and risk protection, part of data center management, and offers an effective single-dashboard view with Microsoft 365.
MG
Consultant at Dell Technologies
Dec 2, 2024
The most effective features of Microsoft Defender for Business include its threat detection and response capabilities in managing vulnerabilities and ransomware attacks.
 

Microsoft Defender for Business Cons review quotes

MN
Manager, Information Technology Support at Innoveo
Jul 18, 2022
Defender's reporting is rather scattered, and its URL filtering mechanism doesn't really work.
Raul Miranda - PeerSpot reviewer
Commercial Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Feb 13, 2023
The security could always be improved.
Nicolas Zafiriou - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Jun 15, 2023
We faced some issues while running some applications on Mac.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2264217 - PeerSpot reviewer
Testing and Production Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Sep 6, 2023
Defender's threat protection should be fine-tuned to reduce false positives. It could be more targeted, reflecting a continuous evolution in detecting. Also, it could be easier to integrate into other environments.
reviewer1728189 - PeerSpot reviewer
CIO at Alaska Air
Dec 6, 2023
The biggest one is that Defender needs to be more proactive to the emerging threats. There can be tighter integration with email, especially how it integrates with our email system, which is the Microsoft Outlook suite. There should be the ability to react a lot quicker to emerging threats because sometimes, it takes a few days before some of these new threats are fully identified, and we need that to be a few hours.
reviewer2516193 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Infrasturcuture at a non-profit with 51-200 employees
Jul 22, 2024
The solution's AI is notorious for false positives, and the time you have to spend training it is ridiculous.
TC
IT Engineer at Consell Comarcal
Jul 29, 2024
Talking with the tool's technician about any problem is very complicated.
Tim_Howard - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at CarbonCents
Sep 11, 2024
The tool's support is an area of concern where improvements are needed.
NS
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Microsoft should provide batch management solutions with the application, integrating pass management with roles.
MG
Consultant at Dell Technologies
Dec 2, 2024
Technical support could be faster to respond.