Bitdefender GravityZone combines multiple security services into a single platform to reduce the cost of building a trusted environment for endpoints.
N/A
BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Cylance, a Blackberry company since the early 2019 acquisition, developed their flagship business antivirus and endpoint protection software in CylancePROTECT, featured in business and home editions boasting artificial intelligence guided protection. BlackBerry Protect is a post-acquisition evolution of CylanceProtect.
It just works. I have seen multiple viruses and malware get past other antivirus software like TrendMicro, Webroot, and Kaspersky. Bitdefender GravityZone always catches what others miss. It has a very light footprint when it comes to system resources. The centralized management console is nice, but I prefer the console before they redesigned the UI.
If I had to recommend an endpoint AV solution, [BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)] would be on the list...in fact at the top of the current list. It is a cost effective solution. When we did the bakeoff in our selection we built 3 generic W10 PCs. We located a Malware repository on the internet and downloaded a package of 100. The first solution stopped 80% from installing, the second stopped 100%, [BlackBerry (CylancePROTECT)] would not let the package download! Winner winner chicken dinner :)
Once installed, Bitdefender [GravityZone] runs silently in the background with little to no need for user interaction.
The cloud-based console provides for easy computer management and deployment.
Bitdefender [GravityZone] is extremely flexible, with a policy-based system wherein different profiles can be created (i.e. a policy to deactivate the firewall, a policy to allow for admin control on a machine, etc.) and pushed out to individual computers.
Computers can be grouped into different categories, with different policies automatically deployed to each category.
Bitdefender [GravityZone] is relatively resource-light and runs well even on lower-end computers.
Fast and Unobtrusive, users hardly notice that Cylance is running on their computer, except when it detects something malicious
User interface is simple for end users, and the management interface is streamlined and easy to get started with. The management interface has a quick tutorial that comes up upon first login that explains all the different aspects of how to configure CylanceProtect.
Customer support is fantastic - in that if you get stuck or need help understanding a feature/setting, they are quick to respond and help to ensure that your configuration is set as optimal as possible for your scenarios.
Who do I ask? This is my chief complaint is once the initial licenses were purchased through Bit Defender, there was no one to contact that could help navigate some of the initial questions I had with regard to specific policies to implement for our file server. The parent web site is, well, hard to navigate when one is trying to "learn" the system.
The second issue is in increasing the licenses. It took several days for the parent company (by contact and phone) to inform me that they could not increase the licenses and I would have to go through a private vendor. There was no intent to connect me to a vendor or provide a vendor list until I asked specifically. YET I continue to get email from the parent company reminding me to pay an annual fee for the licenses purchase through the private vendor. The parent company can see the number of licenses yet did not sell them to me.
Gravity Zone Dashboard, while excellent for those who have experience, is not particularly intuitive for those who have never used it. There does not seem to be a lot of documentation for those responsible for implementation.
It would be great if there was a way for an administrator to make a file as safe from the end user device when a false positive has occurred (which is rare). At present and administrator has to log into the web console, create an exception and then wait 60-120 seconds for this to be effective on the end user device, still great, but this can be frustrating for users that are urgently trying to use the file.
Executive reporting could be better. Just a single page dashboard report that could be included in other monthly reporting.
It works. I rely heavily on my vendors to provide a product that works, is easy to implement, and that they support. As well as be a decent value for the money
The console is easy to use, but has grown to have a lot of functionality. The only challenge is that all functions (even disabled and not installed ones) are shown. It would be great if only the functions that are active would be visible.
Support is an area Bitdefender has always struggled with. While their products work great, the GravityZone dashboard is very technical in nature. If you aren't IT inclined, it could be difficult to setup. While most times support is helpful, we tend to work with them over email because of their very thick accent, they are hard to understand over the phone.
I have only used CylancePROTECT support one time and they were very fast and responsive with the answers that solved my issue. That is the only reason I gave them a 7 as I have only had one interaction with them.
We were a Kaspersky shop for years. Kaspersky was a resource hog and it didn't even block half of what was thrown at it. We had more outbreaks and more end-user complaints in a year of Kaspersky then we have had in almost three years of Bitdefender.
Cylance, I believe is the only one that uses the predict and prevent execution of advanced threats and malware at the endpoint. Cylance is by far a superior product.
The ROI for Bitdefender is hard to quantify except that it requires very little maintenance time from our staff.
We've spent no time troubleshooting user complaints or issues from users, so it has been a big time-saver over our previously used anti-malware software.
Bitdefender's customer service is usually pretty good and also very responsive, so I don't have to wait by the phone or to keep checking email to resolve a problem--although our issues have been mostly informational and not a problem with functionality.
