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PeerSpot user
Owner at David Strom Inc.
Writer
ExpertTop 20
All-in-one endpoint security

What is most valuable?

This handles not just anti-virus, but a wide collection of other protective features including device and application control, network-based intrusions, and phishing attacks. It can also scan virtual machines too.

What needs improvement?

The reputation system relies on having a constant Internet connection for its operations.

What other advice do I have?

There are three versions, include a cloud-based one, that are very flexible and easy to install and manage.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Siddharth Narayanan - PeerSpot reviewer
Siddharth NarayananSpecialist at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User

With the latest feature of Machine learning & additional enhancements in SEP14, its almost next generation endpoint application in place.

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PeerSpot user
IT Security Engineer at Biztronz
Consultant
All the features are valuable

What is most valuable?

All the features are valuable.

How has it helped my organization?

Not applicable.

What needs improvement?

Administration, agent stability, and health.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used this solution for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The client agent is not stable. I have to keep fixing it on four to five percent.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is average.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We evaluated Sophos Endpoint Security and Control. We switched due to the scalability and feature set.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't have any idea about pricing and licensing, as they are related to another functional role.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated McAfee.

What other advice do I have?

it's up to them what they want to go for and what is the objective and scope they have.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Symantec Endpoint Security
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Symantec Endpoint Security. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
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it_user635907 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant
Vendor
​I've used the solution for 15 years

What is most valuable?

Detection in real time, because it's really good.

What needs improvement?

  • Machine Learning
  • Reports
  • Linux updates

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for 15 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No.

How is customer service and technical support?

Excellent.

How was the initial setup?

Straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Not applicable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

What other advice do I have?

Implementation and configuration with cloud services.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user701514 - PeerSpot reviewer
Responsable de Infraestructura at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Consultant
Useful against the day-to-day viruses and security threats

What is most valuable?

Confidence and stability are the most valuable features. For years, it has been top in this area.

How has it helped my organization?

It has been very useful against the day-to-day viruses and security threats.

What needs improvement?

The custom reporting and real-time monitoring (the customizable dashboard) need improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used this solution for more than 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have experienced a few stability issues in 10 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no scalability issues. I work in medium-sized organizations.

How are customer service and technical support?

The few times that I contacted technical support, it was very good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I was using McAfee. Ten years ago, the central administration was a lot better than Symantec.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is really intuitive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Symantec is a little more expensive, but it works!

What other advice do I have?

Read the best practice guidelines so as to configure/tune up your environment nice and easy.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user693255 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Manager at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
Vendor
It has excellent intrusion prevention features. It has an intuitive management GUI.

What is most valuable?

  • Fast deployment, even for highly distributed companies with centralized IT management using a distributed architecture.
  • Intuitive management GUI and very easy to learn.
  • Excellent intrusion prevention features.

How has it helped my organization?

It has been a time saver for operational and reporting tasks related to key security controls.

SEP provided visibility on threats and security incidents.

What needs improvement?

SEP could improve on virus detection, specially on Zero-Day threats.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used this for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We haven’t had stability issues. After finishing the product, customizing it worked as expected.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have had no scalability issues at all. Actually, it is far more scalable than other similar products.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is acceptable.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn’t have a previous solution.

How was the initial setup?

It was a very fast deployment using the client detection features and a transparent Active Directory integration.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Trend Micro and Kaspersky.

What other advice do I have?

I would advice choosing this product because it is very easy to deploy, has a performance host IPS and antivirus engine, and it provides a key source for security metrics.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Security Administrator at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
I like the intrusion prevention and sonar features. The deployment mechanism needs work.
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the intrusion prevention and Sonar features."
  • "Multi-domain policy options for exceptions and global blocks."

What is most valuable?

I like the intrusion prevention and Sonar features. The features have always helped strengthen our client’s proactive protection shield. The detection rate is good. False positives are less, which makes it a "perfect zero-day vulnerability encounter."

How has it helped my organization?

As a service-centric company, we have advised Symantec endpoint solution to various clients. They have been satisfied with the quality Symantec offers. It is easy on maintenance, has brilliant support. What else would a business need? It has helped to protect the endpoint infra in an efficient manner.

What needs improvement?

As an Endpoint Security Expert, I have worked on multiple anti-virus solutions of different vendors. They are turning the table in market. There are many ways in which I see Symantec overshadowing the same in near future.

The deployment mechanism needs work. There are various vendors who have been coming up with endpoint agents as small as size of a delta definition.
There are various options and tweaking which can help save the administrators a lot of effort, such as:

  • Multi-domain policy options for exceptions and global blocks
  • Deploying intelligent updates remotely
  • Deleting AV cache remotely
  • More versatile dashboard with more custom add-ons to monitor infra.

I see Symantec as being late in releasing certified definitions for the same day while other vendors are lightning fast. I would like to see a GUP monitoring tool being supported.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The Symantec agent is bulky in comparison to various vendors. It creates stability issues. We need a supported utility to wipe clear Symantec for a fresh installation during troubleshooting.

How are customer service and technical support?

Symantec Customer support is very good. Indeed, it is one of the best so far. The KB articles are good and helpful.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have worked with Sophos, McAfee, and F-Secure. All have pros and cons. The console management and policy options are pretty sorted in Symantec, so it always has a upper hand over other products.

How was the initial setup?

I find other vendors' console options pretty good. Remotely evoking agent and real time results were good. Symantec’s command status is holding it back from a swift administration.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it ourselves. I have already mentioned that we do need real time results on the console and a better deployment mechanism. We have to work with custom scripts for the removal of third-party software which makes it bit tricky.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I never dealt in purchases, so I have no input.

What other advice do I have?

Go for it. Symantec is a promising vendor and indeed a market leader in various technologies.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
it_user676353 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Project Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Uses both SONAR and IPS to help protect the system.
Pros and Cons
  • "No maintenance is required after a successful installation phase."
  • "The management of the server is a bit complex."

What is most valuable?

  • It is stable
  • No maintenance is required after a successful installation phase
  • It is more than a classic Anti-virus solution: both SONAR and IPS help to protect the system
  • The application and device policies are great features to help administration

How has it helped my organization?

After the initial setup, you don’t have to worry about the AV clients. It simply works.

What needs improvement?

The management of the server is a bit complex. It takes time get used to it. When upgrading the software for clients, you have to link the upgrade package to every sub-folder, and there is no inheritance.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have used this solution for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I did not encounter any issues with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I did not encounter any issues with scalability.

How are customer service and technical support?

We needed help for one or two issues and the support team was good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used another product and we switched to SEP because of the costs.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. The ability of the package to uninstall the old AV was a big plus in my case.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I’d say SEP deserves the money.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did not evaluable other options. Anti-virus is not something you can test in 3-4 days. The pros and cons take time to show up.

What other advice do I have?

Before installation, take your time to plan how you will manage your environment. If you already have another AV, please first check if SEP can auto-uninstall the old AV.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Info Sec Consultant at Size 41 Digital
Real User
Top 5
Problem free and effective AV

It is unacceptable for an organisation to be without some form of Anti-virus protection. Symantec Endpoint Protection was a product we picked because we were coming off of Sophos as the charity discount expired. Charities tend to shop around for AV yearly to take advantage of discounts to standard pricing.Whilst this means install costs (time and/or money) it means we get to experience a lot of products and vendors. Now, that is a good and bad thing.

We had some teething problems on install. It wasn't the product at fault per se but the IT Company who installed a 2011 version instead of the current 2013 version. This resulted in multiple BSOD for our W7 users. I used Symantec support and logged an online ticket. Literally, within 10mins I had a call from a Symantec support engineer. I supplied the log files. 20mins later I had a suggested fix - which was an install of the correct version. I then had another couple of calls over the next week to check that the problem was corrected. Yes, our fault but it did highlight the level of support Symantec give you. This is a small thing to watch out for. 

My issue with AVs is they can be like running a marathon in treacle - slow and unpleasant. Symantec didn't have that problem. It was inoffensive, with minimal pop-ups and scans that didn't slow down machines running W7, dual core and 3GB RAM. There aren't the best user machines in the world but they had no problem handling the installed AV.

The management console on the server kept track of any recurring issues and e-mailed reports to me. It also highlighted an infection on someone's machine in real time. This allowed me to get to the user and pop them on a laptop whilst we scrubbed the virus. The graphical reports were handy to provide proof of any KPIs for my monthly reporting process.

Endpoint protection is more than just AV. It features Symantec Insight and SONAR. They basically deal with zero day threats - okay, it simply won't catch everything but I've yet to find an AV that will. It's performed just fine. We had the odd catch and then it bubbled under the surface, tirelessly checking our systems for bad stuff. This is a great way of reducing reputational risk to your organisation.

Symantec Endpoint Protection

Browser protection did prevent some users visiting scam sites or those genuinely deemed to be distributing malware (that we then blocked using OpenDNS).

Updates were pushed via GUP (group update provider) and any machines that, for whatever reason, were not included, ended up on my report.

Our W7 machines, Servers and the Macs were able to be protected. Yes, this is common these days but it's worth a mention. It also handled our VMs well - some of them using quite ancient software.

On the whole it did exactly what it was meant to do - protected the servers and end users seamlessly and gave us access to reporting that meant showing we'd hit KPIs was easy.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Mostafa - PeerSpot reviewer
MostafaSystem Administrator at Suez Canal Insurance
Top 5Real User

Dear arthurHRD
Symantec Endpoint Protection is designed for maximum efficiency, as i said
it have email scan for outlook but it's not powerful compared to Kaspersky endpoint
I had reviewed Kaspersky endpoint
You can take alook on it
www.itcentralstation.com

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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Symantec Endpoint Security Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Symantec Endpoint Security Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.