Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 6, 2023

We compared Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration and Microsoft Exchange Online Protection across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

  • Features: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration offers exceptional integration through APIs, advanced protection against data leaks, and the ability to detect complex social engineering attacks. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers seamless integration with Windows, a central alert console, and real-time monitoring of suspicious URLs.

  • Room for Improvement: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration could improve integration with Exchange and other SaaS clouds while enhancing its threat clouds and AI engines. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection could offer more training and enhance its security features. Users also requested better encryption, gray email management, and integration with non-Microsoft platforms.

  • Service and Support: Check Point has earned mixed reviews for its customer service. Some customers appreciate the technical support provided, while others are dissatisfied with response times. While some users found Microsoft support to be helpful and responsive, others experienced slower response times.

  • Ease of Deployment: Check Point Harmony Email is considered relatively easy to implement. Users had varied experiences setting up Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, ranging from easy to difficult. It may necessitate dedicated personnel for maintenance.

  • Pricing: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration is a cost-effective option. It offers competitive prices and is suitable for small to medium-sized organizations. Some users said Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is expensive, but others considered it reasonable.

  • ROI: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration delivers superior return on investment compared to other options. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection has proven to be a profitable investment.

Comparison Results: Check Point Harmony Email and Collaboration is an effective solution for blocking malicious attachments and detecting social engineering attacks. However, there is room for improvement in terms of integration and support, reducing false positives, and enhancing response times. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is praised for its seamless integration with Windows and useful features like URL holding and threat management. At the same time, users say it could improve in areas such as pricing, documentation, and security features.

772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the individuals within our organization who are affected.""At the moment we are satisfied with this product. It's a stable, scalable, and resilient solution for us.""Defender is a SaaS platform, so it offers more flexibility. Managing the permissions is easier. The solution's automated detection and response features are scalable.""Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has improved my organization's security. It makes it easier to manage the infrastructure without the help of third-party applications.""I like its investigation capabilities, as that is what is most important to me. It is fairly simple with a user-friendly interface.""The most valuable feature is protection against malicious links, fishing, and impersonation. You can train people to be aware of these threats, but they're not always careful. When they're using their phones between meetings, they click on a link, and it's game over.""It gives us visibility into threats and, for endpoints, it helps us to prioritize threats. We used to have a lack of visibility, but now our time to detect and respond has decreased.""The technical support is good and quick to resolve issues."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pros →

"It is fast and quite effective in terms of preventing any security incidents.""It is very intuitive. It is a point and click type of deal.""The API is its most valuable feature. On the API side, relative to the rest of the market, Check Point is decades ahead of its competitors.""In my opinion, it's one of the best products. It does protect other things like Slack and Salesforce, which are more about communication.""As a comprehensive solution, Check Point offers a very granular and best-in-class experience.""The program has a nice interface and it is easy to use.""Its characteristics are adapted to the most modern threats.""The product's environment is easy to work and comprehensive."

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"The initial setup of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection was easy.""It is easy to configure, easy to use, easy to add exclusions, easy to track, and easy to add anything else if you want.""The scalability is pretty good; it does what it is supposed to do.""The initial setup is just a standard process.""The solution uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, so you don't need train it to detect something. The detection and response times are short. It's an excellent product.""What I like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is its integration with Windows, so we have one central view for all alerts and incidents.""The threat management feature includes policies and alerts that are valuable.""The most valuable feature is the ease of administration. Other solutions require complex administration, but Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is easier."

More Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) Pros →

Cons
"We need to be able to whitelist data at the backend.""The GUI is sometimes slow to fetch the device report and could be improved.""The pre-sales cost calculations could be more transparent.""They have moved features from one console to another. Things have been moved around in the interface and it takes me time to find where certain features are.""There is room for improvement with the UI.""The certification training for Defender for 365 needs to be deeper and incorporate Sentinel. I took all the security courses except one, and Sentinel isn't included.""One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration.""In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."

More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Cons →

"Some undefined threats can bypass the security system when there is a networking failure in the organization.""Stability has been a pain point. I was going back and forth with my product engineer and project manager for a couple of months. I had the product in a demonstration mode and wasn't satisfied with the results initially. After a few alterations and a few revisions later, it is fine.""Its guides are not great.""Check Point has to continue refining the intelligence engine to minimize the number of false positives.""We are unable to export the reports from the dashboard, and if it is possible to do then it is not intuitive.""Check Point's technical support is very much of a low level, especially with respect to other vendors and OEMs.""A phishing simulator would be helpful as a user training module.""Check Point needs to address the pricing segment for SMEs."

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"It wasn't easy or intuitive enough for me to start using it. So, the reason was that the solution changed.""The product could be more stable. Microsoft products could be more stable because sometimes, even though they are updating some things, we cannot find those updates.""If a company wants to put in line back-to-back anti-spam solutions, they need to work on that part because Microsoft recommends either you use EOP as a front line or you don't use it.""The reporting needs a little bit of improvement.""The security compliance features need to be improved. Sometimes, a client's mailbox becomes full because of retained information and not because of mail. I would like to see improvement in block rules as well.""Microsoft has some training portals, but more could be developed.""I think the implementation could be more streamlined.""The solution needs to improve its backup."

More Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It's a user-base subscription."
  • "From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
  • "Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
  • "For licensing, it's usually a yearly package for customers who are subscribed to Office 365, but they can also pay on a monthly basis."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
  • "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
  • "The solution saves money so we have seen a return on investment."
  • "Defender for 365 comes in various plans and licenses, along with other Microsoft security solutions. Purchasing this kind of package or security bundle gives good value for money, and that's what I recommend."
  • More Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Having information stolen by a hacker would be more expensive than purchasing a license."
  • "Being able to keep the phishing campaigns out of my company has been ROI for me."
  • "Do a full feature evaluation (interactive) with a support person. That is what I did."
  • "The price is very good, based on what they deliver."
  • "One of the nice features is that the licensing model is elastic, so if you go over your license count, you can add users during your billing cycle and true-up later."
  • "There are absolutely no additional costs to the standard licensing fees. One of the wonderful pieces is that CloudGuard SaaS is all-inclusive in its licensing. There's no a-la-carte functionality. You're getting 100 percent of the product for the licensing that you're paying."
  • "The difference between [Check Point and its competitors] boiled down to money. Price-wise, Check Point was very good, it was very competitive."
  • "The pricing and licensing are always negotiable."
  • More Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price could be lower."
  • "The solution is priced high and could be less expensive compared to other solutions."
  • "The solution is expensive but is backed by Microsoft's reputation."
  • "The price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reasonable."
  • "It is a low-price solution."
  • "Apart from the license fee for the solution, there are no additional costs."
  • "Online Protection is fairly expensive."
  • "The tool's pricing is excellent."
  • More Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various… more »
    Top Answer:The product must provide better malware detection. The detection algorithms don't perform the way I hope they would.
    Top Answer:I don't even have details of the product's single license purchased by my company.
    Top Answer:I use the solution in my company to secure the users' environment so that there are no phishing attacks. The tool… more »
    Top Answer:The product offers good and easy integration capabilities with other products.
    Top Answer:The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
    Top Answer:We face challenges with reporting features and the lack of a proper dashboard in Microsoft's portal. There's no… more »
    Top Answer:The main use case is to block suspicious links in emails. However, some functionalities like SIPP attachment are not… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    MS Defender for Office 365
    Check Point CloudGuard, Check Point CloudGuard SaaS , Check Point Harmony Email & Office
    Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect organizations against advanced threats in their email, collaboration, and productivity environments. It combines the power of Microsoft's threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection against phishing, malware, ransomware, and other malicious attacks.

    With Microsoft Defender for Office 365, organizations can safeguard their email communication by detecting and blocking malicious links, attachments, and unsafe email content. It employs advanced anti-phishing capabilities to identify and prevent sophisticated phishing attacks that attempt to steal sensitive information or compromise user credentials.

    This solution also offers robust protection against malware and ransomware. It leverages machine learning algorithms to analyze email attachments and URLs in real-time, identifying and blocking malicious content before it reaches users' inboxes. Additionally, it provides advanced threat-hunting capabilities, allowing security teams to proactively investigate and respond to potential threats.

    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 goes beyond email protection and extends its security features to other collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. It scans files and documents stored in these platforms, ensuring that they are free from malware and other malicious content. It also provides visibility into user activities, helping organizations detect and mitigate insider threats.

    Furthermore, this solution offers rich reporting and analytics capabilities, providing organizations with insights into their security posture and threat landscape. It enables security administrators to monitor and manage security incidents, track trends, and take proactive measures to enhance their overall security posture.

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office is a cloud-based software offering complete protection to stop malware attacks through emails. The software is designed to provide protection for organizations using Office 365, G Suite, Google Workspace, and all other collaboration and file-sharing apps. Access permissions can be granted and custom policies can be defined for any user of choice.

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office identifies and blocks advanced malware, phishing, and ransomware attacks in real time before they reach the user’s inbox. In turn, this also helps protect sensitive business data from breaches. Harmony Email and Office was the first solution to implement machine learning, API, and AI for email security, and will ultimately prevent any attempts at account takeover via agentless multi-factor authentication.

    What is Complete Protection?

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office offers a superior catch rate for collaboration apps and cloud email with their API-based solution that detects attacks that other solutions miss, including account takeover, supply chain attacks, ransomware, and BEC. The complete protection offers:

    • Malware Protection - Recognized by NSS Labs as “most effective in breach prevention,” the solution leverages technologies to bring clean files to users within 1.5 seconds. In addition, enterprises can be safer as the solution prevents malicious messages and files from reaching the user’s inbox.
    • Data Leakage Protection - Any confidential or sensitive information will be marked and have a classified suffix added to the end of the message or file to help keep those materials safe. Those files are encrypted, and the user will be alerted to any attempted breach of those messages.
    • Phishing Protection - Before advanced phishing attacks reach the end user, Harmony Email and Office detects and blocks them, including outbound, inbound, and internal communications.
    • Account Takeover Protection - After a user connects their cloud app, the solution captures the user's history and creates a profile and a custom threat profile. In the event of a suspected account takeover, threat intelligence is leveraged through millions of Check Point-secured gateways and endpoints and is blocked.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Check Point Harmony Email and Office offers a revolutionary prevention solution to stop malware attacks through emails. Users particularly like its visibility and the ability to protect sensitive business data.

    David U., a CISO at IMC companies, notes, "It provides visibility of events, what's going on with the environment, what we're missing with our other solution, and the user behavior."

    Mantu S., a senior technology architect at Incedo Inc., writes, "We are able to protect sensitive business data and maintain regulatory compliance with advanced data leak prevention (DLP)."

    Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is a comprehensive email filtering and security service designed to protect organizations from spam, malware, and other email-based threats. It provides advanced threat protection, anti-malware and anti-spam filtering, and data loss prevention capabilities.

    With EOP, organizations can ensure the security and integrity of their email communications. It uses multiple layers of filtering and scanning to detect and block malicious content, including phishing attempts, viruses, and ransomware. EOP also leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to continuously improve its threat detection capabilities.

    In addition to its robust security features, EOP offers advanced anti-spam filtering to reduce unwanted and unsolicited emails. It uses a combination of reputation-based filtering, content filtering, and sender authentication techniques to identify and block spam messages.

    EOP also includes data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities to prevent sensitive information from being leaked or shared inappropriately. It allows organizations to define policies to detect and prevent the transmission of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers or social security numbers, via email.

    Furthermore, EOP integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange Online and other Office 365 services, providing a unified and integrated email security solution. It can be easily managed through the Exchange admin center, allowing administrators to configure and monitor security settings, review reports, and manage quarantined emails.

    Sample Customers
    Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
    Helvetia, Denham Capital, Daymark Solutions, Neopharm Group
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Manufacturing Company17%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Energy/Utilities Company16%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Security Firm9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Real Estate/Law Firm5%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company25%
    Retailer13%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Security Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business45%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise40%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise51%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise31%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise46%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business64%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise21%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise54%
    Buyer's Guide
    Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is ranked 7th in Email Security with 49 reviews while Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is ranked 3rd in Email Security with 34 reviews. Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is rated 8.6, while Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration writes "Has a user-friendly dashboard, a great anti-phishing algorithm, and sandboxing for testing". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) writes "An effective email security solution that provides DLP, Safe Attachment, and Safe Links". Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is most compared with Avanan, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Mimecast Email Security, Cisco Secure Email and IRONSCALES, whereas Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is most compared with Proofpoint Email Protection, Cisco Secure Email, Fortinet FortiMail, Mimecast Email Security and Barracuda Email Security Gateway. See our Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) report.

    See our list of best Email Security vendors.

    We monitor all Email Security reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.