I work in the industry where we use Microsoft 365 and its associated products like Office Works, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word.
Architect at BRF
Seamlessly integrated security enhances protection with an easy setup
Pros and Cons
- "We use Microsoft Defender for its ability to integrate with existing business technologies, which is beneficial for protecting business areas."
- "Configuration at the mid-level could be improved for the support team."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
We use Microsoft Defender to help protect our business areas by integrating it with our existing infrastructure, including Azure, which assists in defending the business areas.
What is most valuable?
We use Microsoft Defender for its ability to integrate with existing business technologies, which is beneficial for protecting business areas.
What needs improvement?
Configuration at the mid-level could be improved for the support team.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have about ten years of experience with Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable, and Microsoft products have general high availability within the company.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft 365 meets the needs of the company, which suggests that Microsoft Defender is a scalable solution.
How are customer service and support?
We have a premium contract for Microsoft support, which is rated nine or ten. Although I am not directly involved with their support, clients usually appear satisfied.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I do not have experience with other email security solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy and not difficult.
What was our ROI?
I do not understand the question regarding return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not know the value of the contracts or the cost compared to competitors.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have not evaluated other solutions for email security.
What other advice do I have?
Configuration for end users is simple, but improvements can be made in mid-level configurations to make it better for the team.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Cloud Security Specialist at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Covers customer’s IT assets and aggregates insights from different workloads
Pros and Cons
- "One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part."
- "Configuring the default strategies and policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps generates a lot of noise and false positives."
What is our primary use case?
As a specialist in SOC, we work closely with multiple customers to cover their IT assets using Microsoft 365 Defender. They have Microsoft Defender for Endpoint deployment, especially for Microsoft 365. We configure the tool to implement the different policies and requirements to cover the email security part and the cloud apps part with the different strategies available on the platform.
After that, we either work directly on the Microsoft 365 portal or configure the sending of the alerts from this portal to Microsoft Sentinel. This will act as a single pane of glass for us to follow the incidents and advise our customers based on that.
What is most valuable?
One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part. With the integration of Microsoft Defender for Identity and Microsoft Entra ID Protection, we will have insights from the identity part. Finally, with the Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, we'll also have insights about our cloud apps, either Microsoft 365 cloud apps or third-party cloud apps.
The aggregation of all of these insights into the tool's incident feature will help us have a global vision of the incidents and find multistage attacks at the first steps of the attacks.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a very good solution that allows you to use a single port or tool to control everything happening with your organization's different cloud applications.
Configuring the default strategies and policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps generates a lot of noise and false positives. Also, the documentation does not have many details about that. The bad configuration and lack of good documentation prevent professionals from taking the most advantage of this tool.
One of the big problems that some customers face is that Microsoft always changes its products' names. For example, four to six months ago, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 was renamed Microsoft Defender XDR. Microsoft comes up with a new name for the tool every one or two years, which sometimes is hard for customers to follow.
Microsoft should improve some integrations in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps sub-category. With a specific configuration to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, we can get logs and insights from network devices and other workloads on our system.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We configure the tool for different clients, and thousands of people work with the solution. The tool scales out very well and can cover and monitor devices and users ranging from a few hundred to thousands without any problem. Our clients for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are medium and small businesses. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a scalable solution. There are no issues with the solution's scalability or latency.
I rate the solution's scalability ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support for the solution is very good, and I didn't face any issues with it.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used CrowdStrike Falcon. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and CrowdStrike Falcon are both great tools. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion, CrowdStrike is more mature in the endpoint and classic antivirus parts. On the other hand, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is more mature regarding identity and Office 365.
For artificial intelligence integration, Microsoft 365 Defender is far ahead of others with the integration of CoPilot within the portal. This feature that helps analysts reduce time to analyze and respond to incidents does not exist in CrowdStrike.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is very straightforward. You have to go to the portal and click on the incident icon, and the tool will automatically start configuring itself. After that, the integration of the endpoints depends on your workload. For example, 1,000 devices will take much longer than two or three devices.
Automation tools are available within the platform to help us automatically deploy the sensors on different workloads that we will need to cover with this tool. The solution's initial configuration and deployment are very straightforward. A lot of videos and documentation are available for the same.
What about the implementation team?
The initial configuration and deployment of the tool for a specific tenant takes five to ten minutes. After that, it depends on what you want to do. You can implement specific strategies today. Based on the evolution of threats, you will need to configure different things tomorrow.
What other advice do I have?
We tried to solve a lot of issues by implementing the solution. The solution helps us detect problems related to the endpoints, like the detection of suspicious processes or suspicious installation of suspicious software. We will raise an alert, and it will show us a graph of the different entities included in the incident, including users, computers, or endpoints.
If it is related to email, it will show us the initial email and different insights about the incident. We'll go through those alerts and try to check them manually. Sometimes, the tool detects suspicious emails for some incidents and automatically quarantines them.
After that, we, as analysts, will do the manual review. If we find an action suspicious, we use the tool to blocklist the domain that has sent the email. If we find that it's a false positive, we will reject this automatic action by the XDR, and the email will be delivered to the end user.
Unified identity and access management is a new feature on the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. It's all about having a single pane of glass to give you insights into the different identities available on your tenant. Those identities are either on-premises, cloud-based, or synchronized between the on-premises and cloud-based workloads.
The solution's security covers more than just Microsoft technologies. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps have a specific configuration to get insights from third-party cloud applications or from within the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint sensors. We can also get logs and insights from other network devices present in our perimeter, like routers, switches, or firewalls. All those insights will help us gain some visibility into our security posture.
The product has gone through a lot of improvements, especially in the last few moments. It will be like a SOC unified platform with the integration of the Microsoft Sentinel tool within the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. This tool is available to cover all the perimeters. Even third-party solutions and workloads that do not have any security tools from where we can get insights, we can directly use something else to install the low connectors and get visibility about those.
Also, the most significant evolution is the integration of artificial intelligence with Microsoft Copilot for security. This is also a big added value that will help analysts investigate and minimize the meantime needed to respond to advanced threats.
The solution stops the lateral movement of advanced attacks, like ransomware or business email compromise, in a good way. Specific measures and configurations are implemented within the tool that will help us detect advanced attacks in the early stages. We can set configurations for business email compromise.
With the help of artificial intelligence, we'll get insights about emails that may be starting a business email compromise based on specific keywords. It's the same for ransomware and other advanced attacks.
The solution's integration into a company will help it be more resilient to cyber attacks. It will help the company prepare for attacks at an early stage and respond quickly, which will help it be more secure.
Being an XDR, the solution has detection and response capabilities. With adequate configuration, we can configure the required measures to stop or at least quarantine attacks and isolate the assets involved with the attacks in the early stage upon detection. After that, the manual site comes into the picture, and we do the manual review. Based on our review and feedback, the tool will learn from us and behave better in the next similar incident.
I saw a demo about the solution's multi-tenant management feature, and it's a very good feature. It will help big companies with multiple tenants and MSSPs that deal with multiple tenants for users. It will help them to work with multiple tenants by flipping a switch.
I'm a big fan of the solution. Having a Microsoft E5 license will help you to cover all the different types of security, including the identity, the endpoint, the email, and even the cloud. I'm just an engineer and work with whatever tool the client provides me. I noticed that many customers have a Microsoft E5 license, but they don't know a lot about the capabilities that come with it.
They buy or add other tools from third parties when they have that feature or capability included within the E5 license. Microsoft needs to talk to different customers and show them the capabilities that come with these types of licenses, which cover a lot of features.
The integration of Copilot has helped us a lot in concentrating on a single portal to get different insights. This will help a lot to reduce the meantime to respond to incidents by 50%.
The configuration of the Copilot assistant is very straightforward and doesn't take more than 30 minutes. After that, when the tool automatically detects incidents and you go to the analysis page of a specific incident, you will find an initial analysis of the whole incident by the Copilot security assistant.
You may also interact with it using chat, and it will help you if you haven't understood any specific terms from the initial analysis. It can be configured to automatically respond to specific incidents based on workbooks, which will help us automatically apply the measures to respond to specific incidents for remediation.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a cloud-based solution. Since it's a cloud-based solution, Microsoft does all the maintenance for the tool. We are notified via email if there is a shortage or a problem. The SLAs are usually very good, and I have not noticed any problems in the last two years where we could not access the tool.
I would recommend the solution to other users because it's a very good solution and one of the best XDRs in the world right now. If you go through reviews from Gartner or other companies, you will see that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a leader in the XDR market. It has the capability to collect and aggregate insights from different sources, either cloud-based or on-premises.
The integration of artificial intelligence will greatly help final users and security practitioners respond to incidents adequately and efficiently.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Pre-Sales Product Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Helped us to avoid malware in the system and prevent unwanted emails from entering our system
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its ability to protect us from malware."
- "The changes to customer service, specifically the new model for support agreements, are not favorable."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to avoid spam, malware, and similar threats.
How has it helped my organization?
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps us prioritize threats across our enterprise. I am able to let the system fix the malware while I focus on other tasks.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 automates routine tasks and highlights critical alerts, significantly improving our security operations. This automation saves us time by reducing repetitive tasks, allowing us to focus on developing new services instead of solely on security operations.
The threat intelligence feature helps us take proactive steps to prevent threats.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 saves us time and money and has helped decrease the time to detection and response.
It has helped us to avoid malware in the system and prevent unwanted emails from entering our system.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its ability to protect us from malware. This has effectively helped us avoid malware in the system and keep out unwanted emails. It allows us to spend less time on repeated tasks, enabling us to develop new services.
What needs improvement?
The changes to customer service, specifically the new model for support agreements, are not favorable. We have to pay $600 for every instance, making it too expensive. We might need to look at other support options.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for over ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is stable. It's doing what it's supposed to do.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is flexible with other security products we use. Our usage depends on Microsoft adding features.
How are customer service and support?
We have a premier support agreement. Initially, it worked well, but the new model, where we have to pay for every instance, is not satisfactory.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used alternative solutions prior to implementing Microsoft Defender for Office 365. We selected it due to its superior integration with our existing security infrastructure.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was completed in-house.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated other solutions before switching to Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partners
Last updated: Nov 24, 2024
Flag as inappropriateAssistant Manager-Networks at Amrita
Prioritizes threats across our enterprise and safeguards us from any incoming threats or viruses
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft Defender has a feature to protect each and every attachment. Even if it's an encrypted attachment, it will check for any potential threats."
- "Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."
What is our primary use case?
We mainly use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to secure our Office 365 combined application package, which includes Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Skype, and Teams. We have all of these combined packages in our cloud.
Before we deployed Defender, we didn't have the right solution to safeguard these applications because our data was moved from multiple locations, from Outlook to OneDrive, for instance. After the introduction of Defender, we could instantly control most threats.
We also use Microsoft Defender for Identity and Cloud Apps. We deployed Identity recently.
Integration is easy because Microsoft is the vendor of all of these security products. Most of these products are closely integrated, whether they're on-premise or deployed on the cloud.
These solutions work natively together to deliver coordinated detection and response across our environment. All of these features work on different security layers to ensure protection. Microsoft Defender for Identity gives protection to users. That's an application layer. Simultaneously, Defender for Cloud also provides a layer of security. Each Microsoft product offers a different layer of security, so our organization is secure.
These security products offer comprehensive threat protection. Each day, thousands of people send emails that contain malicious content. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 constantly monitors those attachments and gives us alerts so that we're able to focus on threats and prioritize them accordingly.
We use the bidirectional sync capabilities. It's an important feature to us because we need it for proper syncing and security, both on-premises and on the cloud.
The solution is deployed on a public cloud.
Defender is used in one tenant, and multiple departments use it. It provides security for about 2,000 users.
How has it helped my organization?
We have seen multiple benefits from using Defender. Our data was on-premises about five years ago. We migrated our data to the cloud to improve our security. It's awesome to get all of the security features in the cloud. To apply these features on-premises requires different hardware and multiple vendors. With Microsoft Defender, we're able to have a single manufacturer.
Microsoft Defender for 365 helps automate routine tasks and the finding of high-value alerts. It's a detection mechanism, so it doesn't solve the issue, but it will give us alerts and other notifications. It provides system alerting and patches.
The alerting automation definitely affects our security because our organization requires alerts constantly. The Defender setup for Office 365 applications gives us a clear alerting dashboard. The dashboard has multiple features that are linked to most of our applications, so it's more secure.
This solution helps eliminate the need to look at multiple dashboards. With different vendors for security, we obviously had vertical dashboards. Microsoft Defender gives us a single dashboard that we can link to other applications.
Defender has reduced time spent by 50%.
It definitely saves us money because other vendor products cost more. The hardware itself costs money. Defender's subscription costs less. We have saved 50% compared to other solutions.
Defender decreases the time it takes to detect and respond. We're able to detect 20-30% faster.
What is most valuable?
Most of our files are being stored in OneDrive. We need to safeguard those links because users have to forward them to multiple locations. Microsoft Defender has a feature to protect each and every attachment. Even if it's an encrypted attachment, it will check for any potential threats.
If there are any spam contents in an email, we will be notified. With the implementation of Defender, we're able to correctly monitor attachments, files, and safeguard the required data.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides us with visibility into threats. Our emailing system is Microsoft Office Outlook. We also use a mail server from Microsoft. If there's an issue, we're able to troubleshoot it right away and give a solution. All of the administrators are properly alerted in their dashboards.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps us prioritize threats across our enterprise. It safeguards us from any incoming threats or viruses. It scans every bit of information from the software cloud, including attachments, links, or malicious emails that hackers generate to break the security system.
It's definitely important that Defender helps us prioritize threats across the enterprise because some of the security breaches are less serious, so there is more time to troubleshoot. We're able to see everything in the dashboard, so we're notified about the important threats and can act accordingly to resolve them.
What needs improvement?
The advanced threat protection requires awareness and knowledge from administrators. Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's completely stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is really good. I would rate them as nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We haven't used any other solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was straightforward.
Maintenance isn't required because the solution auto-updates.
What about the implementation team?
We received support from Microsoft for implementation. Four system administrators were needed for implementation.
What was our ROI?
We have definitely seen a return on investment. OneDrive stores a lot of data, and maintaining the security of that data is a large task. It would be expensive to integrate another solution for that task. Since implementing Defender, we have saved a lot of money.
There are other Microsoft products included in the package, so we're able to save more money. I think there's a great return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We haven't evaluated other options. To secure Microsoft Office 365 applications, we wouldn't necessarily go for other third-party solutions because Microsoft has its own proprietary solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as nine out of ten.
My advice for other people who are in security is to try Defender. It's much better than other top security appliances and it's completely affordable. For large and medium enterprises, it's definitely worth trying because applications like OneDrive require constant monitoring.
Multiple security solutions must be monitored constantly, and the maintenance cost will be much higher. Dependency issues will arise, and you will need multiple support people to troubleshoot issues. Sometimes the issue won't be found if it involves multiple dependencies from other vendors. We prefer to go with a single-vendor product like Microsoft because of their support.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Systems Administrator at Kishto Technologies
Multiple people can collaborate on a single document but needs improvement in troubleshooting tools
Pros and Cons
- "The benefit that stands out to me is the ability for multiple individuals to collaborate simultaneously within the same document. Additionally, there is the option to save the document directly in the integrated OneDrive or SharePoint."
- "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should improve the troubleshooting tools. It's unclear whether the device is blocked at the firewall level or at the device itself. The granularity needed for troubleshooting is currently lacking. From my perspective, Microsoft should address this issue to benefit many users who likely share the same sentiment."
What is most valuable?
The benefit that stands out to me is the ability for multiple individuals to collaborate simultaneously within the same document. Additionally, there is the option to save the document directly in the integrated OneDrive or SharePoint.
What needs improvement?
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should improve the troubleshooting tools. It's unclear whether the device is blocked at the firewall level or at the device itself. The granularity needed for troubleshooting is currently lacking.
From my perspective, Microsoft should address this issue to benefit many users who likely share the same sentiment.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You can scale up as you pay.
How are customer service and support?
Evaluating Microsoft support can be a bit mixed. Sometimes, it's good, but not so much. The initial contact is typically with the help desk. When I call, I usually need someone at a higher level, maybe level three, to assist with more complex problems. The challenge is that it can take up to two weeks to resolve issues, and my main complaint is the waiting times and the basic nature of level-one support. Getting to the expert who can fix the problem often takes a couple of weeks.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
My clients used Norton and McAfee before Microsoft Defender for Office 365. It makes sense in the long term, especially when many clients already have Microsoft 365 in their licenses. Paying more to get the security features with Microsoft instead of additional licensing costs with a different company is a practical choice. It seems to be mainly about saving money.
How was the initial setup?
The tool's deployment is not straightforward. However, it has good documentation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is good but not cheap. It offers a big ecosystem where you can manage everything from one place.
What other advice do I have?
Integrating identity and access management into Microsoft 365 Defender is important for my customers and me. The ability to centrally manage these aspects within the platform is highly valuable. Rather than navigating through numerous consoles to verify various aspects, having almost everything in a single location saves time. This integrated approach streamlines operations and reduces the complexity of learning and managing different products.
Nowadays, everyone uses not just Microsoft products but also third-party ones. It would be good if Microsoft could make its security tools work with all kinds of software. Nowadays, there are so many cyber attacks and security threats. Having one product that can handle and manage all these threats across the board is beneficial.
We have stopped using Trend Micro in a couple of places. I am not sure if it was due to cost or pricing.
The product is more convenient to manage, and it saves time. Instead of navigating through different controls, having everything in one place allows the security team to take action on threats or issues.
I rate the product a nine out of ten. I have used it for security and compliance. In my experience, they're doing quite well; it's a good product. If people are considering Microsoft products, I would say, why not? It's just that support during implementation could be better sometimes. However, it's a good product with frequent updates.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. implementator
DevSecOps Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Reduces our response time such that what once took at least an hour can now be resolved in minutes
Pros and Cons
- "The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies."
- "Several simulation options are available within 365, and the phishing simulation could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We're an MSP, and we deploy security solutions to our clients based in the UAE. We are currently implementing the product ourselves and developing the capacity to deploy it to our clients. We have around 200 total end users.
In addition to Defender for Office 365, we also use Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel. The products are integrated.
The integration was straightforward, as most of our clients and we operate an Azure environment, so integration is usually as simple as a few clicks.
How has it helped my organization?
Defender for Office 365 helps automate routine tasks and find high-value alerts, which we can do using Azure Logic Apps. We can create operations, automate them, and make a workflow using automation. One of our clients didn't have the budget to invest in a SOC team, but we deployed the solution for them, and they now run a SOC with only one analyst. They can achieve this kind of maturity through the product's automation.
The solution's threat intelligence helps prepare us for potential threats before they hit and take proactive steps. Sentinel also features robust threat hunting, which provides indicators of possible attacks and is beneficial information to have.
Defender for Office 365 saved us time, we have seen many improvements to the product, and Microsoft regularly brings out new features. The tool is at a good point right now and is on the path to improvement. Time saved is in the region of 30-40%.
It decreased our time for detection and response, especially with its SOAR capabilities. We can activate automated runbooks in a few clicks and block a malicious or unauthorized user in a single click. We rapidly receive alerts, which reduces our response time such that what once took at least an hour can now be resolved in minutes.
What is most valuable?
The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies.
The solution's information protection around sensitive labels and compliance-related security features are also very valuable.
Defender for Office 365 provides excellent visibility into threats; we can see the attacks and phishing campaigns running against our users from the portal.
The product helps us prioritize threats across the enterprise, which is essential because most of our clients come to us with alert fatigue. They have so many alerts they often need help determining which ones to work on, and the solution's threat prioritization helps us narrow that down.
The comprehensiveness of the threat protection provided by Microsoft security products is excellent; we wouldn't use any other third-party security solutions, and it all comes packaged with Azure or an E5 license.
Microsoft Sentinel enables us to ingest data from our entire ecosystem, which is vital because when we deliver security products for clients, one of their primary requirements is to collect all the on-prem logs and put them in the cloud. Sentinel is capable of this and requires some expertise to operate in this way.
Sentinel allows us to investigate threats and respond holistically from one place; that's what it's built for. We work offsite as we aren't in the same region as our clients, so the ability to respond remotely is essential to us.
What needs improvement?
Several simulation options are available within 365, and the phishing simulation could be better.
I want to see improvements that will make the tool easier to operate.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using the solution for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Defender for Office 365 is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We never had to contact technical support. When we encounter an issue, we can search for a solution on the internet or YouTube, for example, for specific configurations. There's excellent community support available.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't previously use a different solution. When I joined the company, we were and remained Microsoft Gold Partners, so we don't have any other third-party tools.
How was the initial setup?
I wasn't involved in the initial setup, and the solution is lightweight in terms of maintenance. A yearly configuration review is sufficient.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend.
To a colleague who says it's better to go with a best-of-breed strategy rather than a single vendor's security suite, in terms of pricing, it's better to get a good package for security solutions from one vendor rather than multiple vendors.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution eight out of ten.
Multiple integrated Microsoft solutions work natively together to deliver coordinated detection and response across our environment, and we Microsoft Sentinel to our clients. It's a SIEM tool, and once we configure Defender, we can push alerts to Sentinel, which is valuable.
We leverage Sentinel's SOAR capabilities with the help of Logic Apps, and many libraries are available to make automation easier. However, some complexity is involved in developing Logic Apps, so it requires some expertise.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. MSP
Self Employed, Freelance, Consultor, Sales - Learning Time at SpectralByte
It's a reasonably priced, scalable cloud-based solution
Pros and Cons
- "Defender for 365 is a comprehensive cloud-based solution. The value of the cloud is that you aren't alone. Threat intelligence and analytics are shared in the cloud. We don't have to find the solution alone. If you face an unknown threat with traditional solutions like Trend Micro and Symantec, you need to open a case and send your information to them to analyze forensically and identify the source of the attack."
- "The certification training for Defender for 365 needs to be deeper and incorporate Sentinel. I took all the security courses except one, and Sentinel isn't included."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use Defender for 365 for email protection.
How has it helped my organization?
My company receives 100,000 emails daily. We implemented Defender to supplement our Broadcom anti-spam solution. Our Broadcom solution wasn't analyzing the server or the body of the messages.
What is most valuable?
Defender for 365 is a comprehensive cloud-based solution. The value of the cloud is that you aren't alone. Threat intelligence and analytics are shared in the cloud. We don't have to find the solution alone. If you face an unknown threat with traditional solutions like Trend Micro and Symantec, you need to open a case and send your information to them to analyze forensically and identify the source of the attack.
What needs improvement?
The certification training for Defender for 365 needs to be deeper and incorporate Sentinel. I took all the security courses except one, and Sentinel isn't included.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Defender for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Defender for 365 is stable. You can subscribe to all the alerts and notifications of every service in the cloud, and it won't affect the stability. Your devices will be seamlessly updated from the cloud automatically with no problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Defender for 365 is scalable because it's in the cloud. It will give you more resources as needed, whereas the scalability of an on-premise solution is determined by your processing power and other hardware limitations.
How was the initial setup?
Deploying Defender isn't complex. You only need to buy the license and connect your devices to the cloud.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Defender for 365 is reasonably priced, but it isn't cheap. I think the price per user is $3 or $6, depending on the license.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 nine out of 10. Before deploying Defender, you can compare its engine with that of Symantec, Trend Micro, and other brands.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Security analyst at a educational organization with 1,001-5,000 employees
Comprehensive protection for email security with responsive support and valuable features like attack simulation offering robust threat detection, efficient automation, and excellent scalability
Pros and Cons
- "Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected."
- "There's room for improvement regarding the time frame for retrieving emails."
What is our primary use case?
It allows us to effectively detect and manage malicious URLs within emails. This proactive approach allows your team to identify and resolve security incidents promptly. We optimize our security by incorporating Microsoft's IOCs into both Defender for Office 365 and endpoint protection. This integration prevents our devices from accessing known threats, saving significant time weekly. Centralized management of threat indicators proves highly efficient, potentially saving hours. This comprehensive strategy enhances our proactive security measures across our systems.
How has it helped my organization?
When dealing with a large volume of emails, whether received or sent by users, Defender solutions, particularly Threat Explorer, prove to be highly effective. In instances where users may have inadvertently interacted with potentially harmful emails, it enables me to isolate and analyze these emails by placing them in a secure sandbox environment. This insight is crucial for addressing incidents promptly and collaboratively, fostering a cooperative approach to resolving potential security issues within the organization. In Defender 365, we've implemented a dual-pronged approach for automating tasks and managing security incidents. When alerts like a user clicking on a malicious URL occur, data is directed to Sentinel or Log Analytics. A logic app is then employed to analyze the user's actions using Defender for Endpoint, tracking device activities, and making informed decisions. This integrated system enables us to swiftly identify, analyze, and respond to security incidents, enhancing our ability to manage and mitigate potential threats effectively. It has significantly reduced our time to detect and respond to security incidents. While I don't have an exact figure, the impact has been substantial. By consolidating multiple solutions into logic apps and gaining visibility, we can now respond much more efficiently than before. Without this integrated approach, lacking visibility hampers our ability to identify and address potential threats promptly.
What is most valuable?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected. The convenience of having a centralized location for extracting comprehensive data is particularly noteworthy. With Threat Explorer, I can efficiently manage and mitigate the impact of these campaigns by removing problematic emails from mailboxes, all in one centralized location, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple areas. Effectively prioritizing threats across our enterprise is crucial for us, given that the primary avenue of attack is often through phishing emails. By having robust protection in place, we're able to significantly mitigate this prevalent threat, essentially clearing a major portion of the cybersecurity landscape.
What needs improvement?
There's room for improvement regarding the time frame for retrieving emails. Currently, the limitation allows users to go back only thirty days when pulling emails or conducting related actions. Enhancing this capability to extend the timeframe, perhaps to sixty or ninety days, would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with it for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been reliable. I haven't encountered any instances of downtime or significant bugs; occasionally, signing out and back in resolves minor issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, our institution has expanded with more students and staff, and we haven't experienced any performance issues with Defender for Office 365. It has proven to be effective and adaptable to the growth of our organization. We currently have approximately four thousand staff members.
How are customer service and support?
The support team, not only for Defender for Office 365 but for any issues I've encountered, has been exceptional. Whether reaching out through email or submitting a support ticket, I typically receive a callback within hours. I've never personally faced any challenges in contacting Microsoft support—they've consistently been prompt and responsive. The account managers, or whatever they're officially called, have been quick to answer and address any inquiries, making the support experience highly satisfactory. I would rate it ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What other advice do I have?
I would highly recommend it as it offers numerous features that can significantly enhance your security posture. Overall, I would rate it ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Buyer's Guide
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Updated: August 2025
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
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