ControlNow (Discontinued) vs. Microsoft Defender for Business

Its middle of the road and should suit most applications well

Incentivized

Microsoft Defender for Business is well suited for small and medium businesses that are running on a smaller budget, with little to no IT department and require a quick and effective setup to manage and protect their endpoints. It can be deployed and managed very quickly, and the person doing it can have little to no experience as long as they follow directions.

Incentivized

• An instant scan of file level downloads so that introduction of a variant file is limited before the scan engine clears it.
• Dashboard use of the agents available allows for near real-time review and action without directed access to the station.

Incentivized

• Already integrated with Windows
• Allows for folder and executable-specific exceptions when combined with Intune.
• Incident response and analytics are fantastic.

Incentivized

• Dashboard refresh when you have over 100 end agents can be lagging at times
• The agent install process has potential to hang without alert or warning unless your paying attention through the complete install
• The silent install process can be problematic when dealing with large-scale networks with varied OS models

Incentivized

• Confusion between the different Defender products
• Ease of setup and configuration
• Reporting and Alerts

Incentivized

So far we have found no alternative that would overall offer us more than we are getting from Microsoft Defender for Business!

Incentivized

Microsoft Defender for Business is a solid tool for smaller businesses looking to manage their endpoints and devices, while staying on budget. The setup is minimal compared to the full-blown InTune and EMS suite, and the product can be included in some Small Business SKUs that they may already have.

Incentivized

ControlNow more nimble and less impactful on the local PC

Incentivized

Microsoft Defender for Business has better reporting and incident response. There is limited client rollout due to being integrated with Windows. Microsoft Defender for Business is much better at identifying asset risks and giving a broad security overview. Because we moved to Microsoft 365 to access the Office applications and Exchange online, Microsoft Defender for Business was essentially cost free to us. Where Microsoft Defender for Business falls short in comparison to Sophos is that it requires integration with Intune to enforce many of the physical controls that Sophos offers in their client.

Incentivized

• At current we are on build up and the ROI isnt a factor

Incentivized

• Improved cybersecurity
• Learning curve
• Resource consumption

Incentivized