Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG) vs. Microsoft Exchange

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
UK headquartered multi-national company Clearswift is the developer of the SECURE Email Gateway (SEG) as a messaging security platform. Clearswift was acquired by HelpSystems in late 2019, and is now a HelpSystems brand.N/A
Microsoft Exchange
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Exchange is a secure email / messaging gateway with file archiving and encryption / data loss capability, available as a hosted service (Exchange Online) or installed (Exchange Server).N/A
Pricing
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)Microsoft Exchange
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)Microsoft Exchange
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)Microsoft Exchange
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons
Features
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)Microsoft Exchange
Secure Email Gateway
Comparison of Secure Email Gateway features of Product A and Product B
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)
8.2
1 Ratings
3% below category average
Microsoft Exchange
8.1
81 Ratings
4% below category average
Anti-malware9.01 Ratings8.164 Ratings
Customizability9.01 Ratings7.976 Ratings
Data Loss Protection9.01 Ratings8.666 Ratings
Threat Detection7.01 Ratings7.965 Ratings
Management Tools7.01 Ratings8.478 Ratings
Sandboxing00 Ratings7.445 Ratings
End-to-End Encryption00 Ratings8.365 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)Microsoft Exchange
Small Businesses
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
Barracuda Essentials
Barracuda Essentials
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Cloud Email Security
Cisco Cloud Email Security
Score 7.8 out of 10
Cisco Cloud Email Security
Cisco Cloud Email Security
Score 7.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)Microsoft Exchange
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.8
(99 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(12 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Clearswift SECURE Email Gateway (SEG)Microsoft Exchange
Likelihood to Recommend
Fortra
The CS SEG appliances are running as virtual appliances by now. They do need not much power in the ESX environment. I recommend to use at least two peers running in a cluster. The cluster feature is working very well. The CS SEG can process a huge number of emails in a very short time frame.
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Microsoft
You can use Microsoft Exchange Server with peace of mind for e-mail, calendar, communication, scheduling, and collaboration services. Microsoft's Exchange Server is a product designed to provide users with access to the messaging platform from mobile devices, desktops, and web-based systems. Telephony features in Exchange Server support voicemail. Exchange Server successfully offers high availability service with Microsoft Exchange Database availability groups.
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Pros
Fortra
  • CS SEG is fast in email processing
  • Managing the quarantine is easy
  • Display of the reasons why an email has been processed this is very detailed
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Microsoft
  • As we have a large user base of 11,000 users we use MailTips to avoid people getting confused with people with similar names in the organization.
  • The integration between Teams Meeting and Resource booking is generally very good. The Scheduling Assistance makes it easy to scan calendars and find free periods to provisionally scheduled events.
  • Marking yourself as Out of the Office and busy is easy, as is sharing your calendar within the team/organization or individuals.
  • Voicemail integration and the ability to receive missed chats in your inbox are highly used and useful.
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Cons
Fortra
  • Improvement is needed in the area of AV/Antispam update processing (internally)
  • Improvement is needed in the log file processing. Many log file entries are not understandable for an operator or administrator without special insider knowledge
  • Clearswift has recently changed the support provider. Now there are no german supporters anymore.
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Microsoft
  • The two main factors for the better reliability & Uptime of internally hosted Exchange Server depends on Exchange Server configuration and the level of investment the organization is willing to provide for hosting the Exchange Server On-Premise Environment. As the data is stored in the organization’s hardware, any disaster may lead to the loss of email and servers.
  • Losing data might affect business continuity and rebuilding it can be costly.
  • Security remains a major concern.
  • Security of data loss is main concern. To ensure that, organization needs to configure networks, systems and Exchange platform against possible threats.
  • Hardware and license costs are high.
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Likelihood to Renew
Fortra
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It is the best, and perhaps only, email solution worth considering.
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Usability
Fortra
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Microsoft Exchange is well suited for inexperienced Messaging Admins and veterans alike. If you have no idea of the fundamentals of modern email (SMTP, mail headers, MX Records, SPF/DKIM, Encryption, etc.) and just need to get people's mailboxes and calendars the support they need, you can use it with confidence. If you are an old pro and want to leverage and dovetail your Powershell and AD with Exchange, you will be rewarded for your efforts.
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Reliability and Availability
Fortra
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Exchange is setup with multiple servers behind load balancers to provide high availability.
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Performance
Fortra
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I would say it's the best email product I've experienced.
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Support Rating
Fortra
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
We have a good enterprise agreement with Microsoft which affords us quick phone support. I have found the support staff knowledgeable and prompt with a solution when required. At times it may be difficult to schedule a call back, this is mainly due to our need for calls early in the morning which happens to be during a shift change at Microsoft support.
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Implementation Rating
Fortra
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Implementation/conversion can be quite complex and, unless you have certified Exchange administrators in-house, you should strongly consider a 3rd party consultant for this implementation.
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Alternatives Considered
Fortra
The Clearswift Secure Email Gateway (CS SEG) has very low license costs. A two peer cluster is enough to run a complete emailing gateway environment. Compared to the Proofpoint PPS the CS SEG does not need a management appliance. The CS SEG peers can manage the quarantine by themselves. This is easy to use and quite fast.
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Microsoft
Most of the 365 subscriptions include desktop and cloud versions of Microsoft programs. These "traditional" software may be installed on a desktop computer and used offline without any problems, as long as you have a working Internet connection. Because so many firms still transmit each others file's developed locally using these applications, despite this being an era of cloud computing– there is a strong case for keeping desktop versions available.
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Scalability
Fortra
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The only time Exchange has failed us is when we did something to cause the failure.
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Return on Investment
Fortra
  • Since this CS SEG environment is operated for a customer, I cannot answer this question
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Microsoft
  • It has been an important factor in allowing seamless communication with clients and scheduling business meetings, which in turn works in the company's favor.
  • Haven't noticed any negative impact Exchange has had on our ROI. The support team is also responsive and helpful.
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ScreenShots