Item: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Microsoft Defender ATP to get visibility into systems, as well as provide antivirus protection for our Microsoft 365 resources. We currently have it set up for just our IT department and a select few users as we consider transitioning our entire organization away from our current, more traditional Antivirus to something like ATP.

Pros and Cons

Visibility: It's great to be able to see what KBs are missing, etc.
Lightweight AV protection built on the already included Windows Defender Application

Deployment: We've had some issues deploying, especially outside of the Windows environment.
Offboarding: There is currently no way to delete a computer. They disappear over time. We even renamed a computer, and it kept both the old and new name in there. Eventually, the older machines do go away, but there is no manual way to do this at the moment.

Return on Investment

It's less expensive than our previous AV, which was a bit more traditional and included a support suite of apps.
It's prevented viruses, which in turn increased production.

Alternatives Considered

Panda Adaptive Defense 360 and Kaseya IT Center

Panda Adaptive Defense, in combination with Panda Systems Management, was a pretty big and powerful suite of AV software. However, the AV is pretty traditional, all things considered. ATP will always have a slight advantage due to its ability to seamlessly integrate with the Windows OS.

We also used to use Kaseya to get visibility on stuff like patches, etc. To be honest, most of the data we can get from ATP is sufficient, and another product like that, or Panda Systems Management, seems so close to redundant, bar one or two small features.

Support Rating

Every time I've had a question or a problem, I was able to get it addressed quickly. Microsoft has a huge database for ATP support, and it has contained 90% of what I have looked for. It was a lifesaver during initial setup.

Key Insights

Do you think Microsoft Defender for Endpoint delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's feature set?

Yes

Did Microsoft Defender for Endpoint live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Adobe Photoshop, Vonage Business Cloud, Windstream ISP

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection is the perfect solution for a company that is completely invested in a Microsoft environment. We have Windows 10 machines joining our Azure Active Directory. We use Exchange Online for emails, and it feels like Defender ATP gives you visibility into each and every corner of our environment. It's super lightweight and fairly easy to deploy (though we had some isolated difficulties), and end users seem to not notice it, which is, in my opinion, a very positive thing.

Where it may not be great is in mixed-OS environments. It requires a bit of determination to get ATP installed on OSX or Linux. While these platforms do get fewer viruses in general, it's good to have the layer of visibility and security for web and browser based threats.

Microsoft Defender ATP offers a great alternative to traditional, and even cloud-based AV.

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)