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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Azure

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters.

    $29

    per month

    Zscaler Private Access

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AZscaler Private Access™ (ZPA) gives users secure access to private apps and OT devices while enabling zero trust connectivity for workloads.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft AzureZscaler Private Access
    Editions & Modules
    Developer
    $29
    per month
    Standard
    $100
    per month
    Professional Direct
    $1000
    per month
    Basic
    Free
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AzureZscaler Private Access
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsThe free tier lets users have access to a variety of services free for 12 months with limited usage after making an Azure account.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft AzureZscaler Private Access
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Zscaler
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    92%
    Would buy again
    34 Answers
    99%
    Would buy again
    84 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    31 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    67 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    35 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    84 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    24 Answers
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    59 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    34 Answers
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    68 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AzureZscaler Private Access
    Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
    Comparison of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) features of Microsoft Azure and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    8.4
    27 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Zscaler Private Access
    -
    Ratings
    Service-level Agreement (SLA) uptime8.126 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dynamic scaling8.725 Ratings00 Ratings
    Elastic load balancing8.624 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-configured templates8.225 Ratings00 Ratings
    Monitoring tools8.326 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-defined machine images8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
    Operating system support8.926 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security controls8.626 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automation8.224 Ratings00 Ratings
    Identity Management
    Comparison of Identity Management features of Microsoft Azure and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    9.2
    58 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Multi-Factor Authentication00 Ratings9.258 Ratings
    Endpoint Security
    Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Microsoft Azure and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    8.8
    27 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings8.827 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence
    Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Microsoft Azure and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    8.6
    65 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Network Analytics00 Ratings8.961 Ratings
    Threat Recognition00 Ratings9.053 Ratings
    Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings8.442 Ratings
    Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings8.255 Ratings
    Threat Analysis00 Ratings8.748 Ratings
    Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings8.245 Ratings
    Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings8.643 Ratings
    Zero Trust Security
    Comparison of Zero Trust Security features of Microsoft Azure and Zscaler Private Access
    Feature
    Microsoft Azure
    -
    Ratings
    Zscaler Private Access
    9.1
    78 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Continuous Verification00 Ratings9.171 Ratings
    Secure Web Gateways00 Ratings9.353 Ratings
    Network Flow Control00 Ratings9.158 Ratings
    Network Traffic Analysis00 Ratings9.165 Ratings
    Segmentation Leveraging00 Ratings9.264 Ratings
    Admin Access Control00 Ratings9.368 Ratings
    Network Data Encryption00 Ratings9.260 Ratings
    Network Topology Mapping00 Ratings8.752 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AzureZscaler Private Access
    Small Businesses
    IBM Cloud Object Storage
    Score9 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers
    Score8.7 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    SAP on IBM Cloud
    Score9 out of 10
    Forescout Vistaro Platform
    Score6.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AzureZscaler Private Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.7
    (96 ratings)
    9.4
    (85 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (17 ratings)
    8.4
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (36 ratings)
    9.0
    (80 ratings)
    Availability
    6.8
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (27 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft AzureZscaler Private Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Azure is particularly well suited for enterprise environments with existing Microsoft investments, those that require robust compliance features, and organizations that need hybrid cloud capabilities that bridge on-premises and cloud infrastructure. In my opinion, Azure is less appropriate for cost-sensitive startups or small businesses without dedicated cloud expertise and scenarios requiring edge computing use cases with limited connectivity. Azure offers comprehensive solutions for most business needs but can feel like there is a higher learning curve than other cloud-based providers, depending on the product and use case.
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    Zscaler Private Access works really well in environments setup for FQDNs and where you know what users should/shouldn't be accessing on what ports. You can use Zscaler Private Access to figure out these kinds of features but that doesn't always mean you'll be correct. It also provides a consistent experience for users as they can access their materials anywhere. It also makes the user the last line of defense. If a user's account is compromised then the attacker has access to everything they already did. It doesn't work great in OT environments or Server based environments. Flows have to be initiated from the client and not the server for stuff to behave properly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Azure is highly scalable and flexible. You can quickly scale up or down additional resources and computing power.
    • You have no longer upfront investments for hardware. You only pay for the use of your computing power, storage space, or services.
    • The uptime that can be achieved and guaranteed is very important for our company. This includes the rapid maintenance for security updates that are mostly carried out by Microsoft.
    • The wide range of capabilities of services that are possible in Microsoft Azure. You can practically put or create anything in Microsoft Azure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • Connecting users remotely with a secure connection. I am a service desk agent who works with end users, and if there is an issue due to ZPA, it's most likely due to configuration. A really good service.
    • Logging, I believe, works well as I troubleshoot end users and can gather extra details for my network admin. IP.zscaler.com, and the debug logs are nice. Additionally, I like how it shows the App policy assigned to the user's machine ECT.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • The cost of resources is difficult to determine, technical documentation is frequently out of date, and documentation and mapping capabilities are lacking.
    • The documentation needs to be improved, and some advanced configuration options require research and experimentation.
    • Microsoft's licensing scheme is too complex for the average user, and Azure SQL syntax is too different from traditional SQL.
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • Needs an interface for Support Desk/Help Desk to more easily understand that the problem is a lack of an FQDN or access is not allowed due to policy, not because of a technical shortcoming in ZPA.
    • Documentation of the BC solution is not well-detailed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    Moving to Azure was and still is an organizational strategy and not simply changing vendors. Our product roadmap revolved around Azure as we are in the business of humanitarian relief and Azure and Microsoft play an important part in quickly and efficiently serving all of the world. Migration and investment in Azure should be considered as an overall strategy of an organization and communicated companywide.
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    When it works - it works incredibly slick. It's only L4 which seems like a downgrade of security from solutions that promote L7.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    As Microsoft Azure is [doing a] really good with PaaS. The need of a market is to have [a] combo of PaaS and IaaS. While AWS is making [an] exceptionally well blend of both of them, Azure needs to work more on DevOps and Automation stuff. Apart from that, I would recommend Azure as a great platform for cloud services as scale.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    The environment feels more secure, and we are seeing that users are adapting to it fast. The fact that we have tools to assist the users with their day-to-day access helps, as we can hand it off to the helpdesk without any escalations to the Network team. It is a work in progress for our agency, but we are seeing the benefits from the solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    It has proven to be unreliable in our production environment and services become unavailable without proper notification to system administrators
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    We were running Windows Server and Active Directory, so [Microsoft] Azure was a seamless transition. We ran into a few, if any support issues, however, the availability of Microsoft Azure's support team was more than willing and able to guide us through the process. They even proposed solutions to issues we had not even thought of!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    As I have mentioned before the issue with my Oracle Mismatch Version issues that have put a delay on moving one of my platforms will justify my 7 rating.
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    As I continue to evaluate the "big three" cloud providers for our clients, I make the following distinctions, though this gap continues to close. AWS is more granular, and inherently powerful in the configuration options compared to [Microsoft] Azure. It is a "developer" platform for cloud. However, Azure PowerShell is helping close this gap. Google Cloud is the leading containerization platform, largely thanks to it building kubernetes from the ground up. Azure containerization is getting better at having the same storage/deployment options.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    ZPA is where the bulk of zero-trust access is found. While the functionality for ZIA is excellent, the policy we implement for internet access is more focused on threat prevention and not narrowly scoped access.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • For about 2 years we didn't have to do anything with our production VMs, the system ran without a hitch, which meant our engineers could focus on features rather than infrastructure.
    • DNS management was very easy in Azure, which made it easy to upgrade our cluster with zero downtime.
    • Azure Web UI was easy to work with and navigate, which meant our senior engineers and DevOps team could work with Azure without formal training.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zscaler
    • We used to get anywhere from 30 to 50 tickets surrounding our previous VPN solution every month. We now average 3-5 tickets regarding remote connectivity, and of those, only 1 or 2 are actual issues with ZPA.
    • Using ZPA Access Policies, we can now block endpoints that have outdated security software from ever connecting to our environment. This was simply not possible with our previous solution.
    • Some of our employee base skews older and had a harder time understanding the change from VPN to Zscaler.
    • There is significantly less downtime with ZPA when compared to other VPN solutions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Zscaler Private Access Screenshots

    Screenshot of how ZPA provides access for all users while minimizing the attack surface, eliminating lateral movement, and stopping zero day threats. A cloud native service, ZPA can be deployed in just hours to replace legacy remote access tools like VPNs and VDIs.