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Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Defender for Cloud

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Defender for Cloud is a Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP) for Azure, on-premises, and multicloud (Amazon AWS and Google GCP) resources.N/A

    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds LEM is security information and event management (SIEM) software.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft Defender for CloudSolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft Defender for CloudSolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft Defender for CloudSolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    65 Answers
    88%
    Would buy again
    30 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    60 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    64 Answers
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    31 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    54 Answers
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    16 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    56 Answers
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft Defender for CloudSolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
    Comparison of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud and SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Feature
    Microsoft Defender for Cloud
    -
    Ratings
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    8.9
    18 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Centralized event and log data collection00 Ratings9.018 Ratings
    Correlation00 Ratings8.015 Ratings
    Event and log normalization/management00 Ratings8.018 Ratings
    Deployment flexibility00 Ratings10.018 Ratings
    Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools00 Ratings8.013 Ratings
    Custom dashboards and workspaces00 Ratings9.017 Ratings
    Host and network-based intrusion detection00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft Defender for CloudSolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
    Score8.9 out of 10
    IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Microsoft Sentinel
    Score8.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft Defender for CloudSolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (68 ratings)
    8.0
    (46 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (4 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    7.7
    (13 ratings)
    8.0
    (6 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (17 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft Defender for CloudSolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    I think it's good for cloud-native companies. A company that, from day zero, they're like, "We're going cloud, and this is how we're going to do it." They get it. It works well for them. Smaller organizations that are under X amount of resources- I don't know what that X might mean- but I feel like it plays well in smaller, more nimble organizations. If you're an older organization or if you're extremely large, it starts becoming a little difficult to manage at scale. And you have to sometimes throw bodies at the problem. Maybe not the most eloquent way of saying it, but that's what it feels like.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    Optimal for SolarWinds Security Event Manager needs for smaller companies - it is a very cool product but has some limitations around EPS (which gets chewed up quickly if you're doing it the right way & adding servers/storage/FW & other network devices)... Also pricing model is GREAT (not consumption-based, which is the greatest grift the SIEM industry has created).
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Microsoft
    • It's really well laid out, with an easy-to-use, accessible UI.
    • With Microsoft Defender for Cloud, it has everything you need with the Safelink attachment, the Safelink emails for URL, the way it scans those URLs and attachments within the product, and you're seeing the results. And that adds an extra layer of security for the user, so you feel comfortable knowing the product monitors those. That's something I really like about that product.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    • It does a great job of notifying us when accounts have been locked out. We can then find out the device on the network where the login attempt occurred.
    • Searching for incidents is now a lot faster with the implementation of the HTML 5 interface.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Integrations with on-premise workloads can sometimes be challenging. Needs improvement and well standardised integration points
    • Vulnerability categories can be difficult to understand. It should allow teams to focus on critical findings and help them keep aside low-severity or suppressed vulnerabilities
    • Pricing can be improved as it can be over-priced for smaller businesses and would potentially affect their ROI due to the small scale
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • All SolarWinds product suffer from slow response times in management portals. SolarWinds SEM is no exception. While it is much preferred over a "thick client" there is much room for improvement in speed.
    • If you use the email alert features with SolarWinds make sure to prepare you staff and team for the large amount of emails they could receive. Make sure to reduce the number of alerts so your team does not ignore the alerts.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    It is a great product that integrates nicely when running an Azure platform and even multi-cloud environment. Not looking for point-solutions but a suite that answers most requirements. It is very comfortable being able to use KQL, workbooks and automation that is native to the azure platform
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    It is pretty likely that we will renew SEM when the time comes up. It is easy to use and maintain so there isn't much of a need to replace this product. It is also a pretty fair price for the capabilities provided by the SEM
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Microsoft
    My visibility is limited because I'm only doing very small pieces of what the overall org does. And also, we have limitations on what we're allowed to use. It's not like we get a new product as users or leadership level users, and everything is on, and we can just do whatever we want. We're very restricted in what we can use any tooling within the org because of the different levels of regulatory constraints we have, because of just the nature of who we are inherently. So that's why. I don't think it's necessarily the product. I think it's more or less of what we're able to do with the product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    If you are familiar with SolarWinds then you can use this product it's as easy as that. If you have never used a SolarWinds product then it will take a minute to get how they do reports and make dashboards but that being said the tool is great and can make things very easy once you get a feel for how it works and get everything setup how you like it.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    The quality of support can vary depending on whom you end up speaking with. I was fortunate enough to work with a support representative who was very familiar with the product. He had even authored some of the support documentation on the website. On the flip side, I had two other experiences where I was simply directed to online training material.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    I believe Microsoft Defender for Cloud stacks up well against the other tools we looked at. It is native to the Azure platform and provides the same insights as the other tools. We selected Microsoft Defender for Cloud because it integrates well with the Azure resources and gives the needed insight, security alerts and recommendations.
    Incentivized
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    SolarWinds
    Fortianalzyer can only do logs from FortiGate so usefulness is limited. Elasticsearch was a lot slower than Solarwinds and the filters were a lot harder to set up and use. The connectors for SEM were far more stable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Ensuring compliance with data protection regulations can prevent costly fines and legal issues, positively impacting ROI.
    • Effective cloud resource protection can optimize cloud spending and resource utilization, ultimately reducing cloud infrastructure costs.
    • The subscription costs associated with Defender for Cloud can add to an organization's operational expenses, impacting ROI.
    • Smaller organizations may find the feature set and complexity of Defender for Cloud unnecessary, potentially overinvesting in security solutions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • For the price, it produced a decent value. It did a lot of the easy stuff well. I can't give any specific data given the objective of the product was to monitor very basic events in the environment.
    • There are free options that can do a better job.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Microsoft Defender for Cloud Screenshots

    Screenshot of Remediation of critical issues in codeScreenshot of Cloud security benchmark mapped to industry FramworksScreenshot of Prioritization of critical risks with contextual threat analysisScreenshot of Workload protectionScreenshot of Unified DevOps VisibilityScreenshot of Visualizations to improve security posture proactively

    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM) Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot