Item: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Rating: 9
Author: Vernon Gibson

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As a system administrator it was important for me to utilize all available resources I have to protect the organization and its data. When we updated our licensing for our MS 365 implementation we opted to use Microsoft Defender for Endpoints to additional protection for our devices with proactive, instead of reactive, strategies made possible with MS Defender for Endpoint.

Pros and Cons

Provides quick response to stopping threats identified on company owned devices.
It has helped us discover multiple misconfigurations and exposed vulnerabilities we didn't know we had.
Being able to utilize MS Defender for Endpoint on all of our devices from Windows to Mobile (iOS and Android) has really help secure our business.

Initial configuration can be daunting and there's a lot of details to pour over to make it work properly.
Reporting has been a challenge to get setup the way we want it to work.

Return on Investment

The ROI on a technology such as this is hard to quantify... until you need it. But peace of mind if priceless when you have protection.
Microsoft Defender for EndPoint has allowed out modest internal IT team to keep up-to-date with risk mitigation for our devices overall and brought protection to our mobile devices which previously were not protected.

Key Differentiators

Cloud Solutions
Scalability
Integration with Other Systems
Ease of Use

We are a Microsoft house so it was not a hard decision. But, because we are so ingrained with Microsoft 365 it just made sense when we started talking about what we could do to improve our overall security stance and protect the organization as a whole.

Components

Vulnerability management to identify issues and review recommendations. Configuration management and monitoring. Endpoint detection and response to identify potential threats and shut them down before the prove to be an issue. Incident reporting and root cause remediation research when issues are found. Email threat detection and response to protect end users from the ever growing issue of Phishing.

Protection Scope

We are currently deployed with over 60 endpoints ranging from Windows Operating systems (10 and 11 Pro), One Azure VM server, and about 15 mobile devices on both iOS and Android.

Alternatives Considered

Huntress, SentinelOne Vigilance and Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Suite

We choose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint as an additional solution to fill gaps and also to keep more of our solutions under one pane of glass (Microsoft 365).

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

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has help our team identify and correct device configuration issues and provide additional layers of security to our organization that were otherwise not covered by our other security platforms at the operating system level. We've been able to successfully identify and remediate vulnerabilities in our organization and create new policies based on recommendations thanks to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

Endpoint Defense You Can Count On

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint