What is our primary use case?
We used it as an antivirus for endpoints.
How has it helped my organization?
We implemented Apex One to have secure endpoints. I am an IT administrator, and I look into security. We chose this product because there is a SaaS-based platform through which the manageability is easy. No on-premise-specific connectivity is required for centralized management. The agents that are installed on the endpoints can communicate well with Trend Micro Cloud and get the latest updates. All the logs and other things flow seamlessly between the endpoint and Trend Micro Cloud.
We saw a plethora of benefits, specifically in terms of managed endpoints. We could see all the AV statuses in the console, and we could sort all the alerts and other things in a single console. It was easy from the management point of view and the compliance point of view. We were happy with the product.
Apex One is good for defending endpoints against threats such as malware, ransomware, and malicious scripts. It does not detect ransomware on every occasion with its runtime machine-learning capabilities, but it is pretty good.
It provides a single console for cross-layer detection, threat hunting, and investigation. These capabilities are pretty important for us. Security is one of the most important parts of any enterprise, especially in the hybrid work culture environment where everybody is not working from an office location. The workforce is mobile. People are working from home and other locations. In those scenarios, security becomes a requirement.
Apex One's single console does not provide end-to-end visibility into the entire IT security environment, but it does give visibility into the antivirus side. With security, there are multiple things such as multifactor authentication, single sign-on, access management, rule-based accesses, automated detection and response, and cloud-based security. All this is not there with Apex One. The scope of Apex One is the endpoint. It is installed on endpoints as an antivirus, and it gives a complete view of that but not the overall IT security.
Apex One is a pretty simple solution. It is pretty easy to master.
It was pretty helpful in reducing the employee workload. There was ease of management and deployment. We did not have to install it manually. It was automated onboarding. It was pretty good. It reduced our workload by 10% to 20%.
Apex One reduced viruses and malware. There was a 20% to 30% reduction.
Apex One has advanced protection capabilities that adapt to protect against unknown and stealthy new threats, but for the automated response, you need an XDR solution so that no IT admin is required to respond to any threat. Apex One does not have this capability. For this, you need a higher product or subscription from Trend Micro.
Apex One is easy to manage, but there is an administrative overhead because of the way Apex One creates a structure of the organization with OUs and other things. If you have a large number of devices in the organization, it is a bit of an administrative overhead to manage them because you have to look into each and every device and its compliance. Around 5% to 10% of devices would act as rogue, would not be compliant, or would not be connecting. They require manual intervention where you go and reinstall Apex One agent on the device.
What is most valuable?
In terms of security, Trend Micro is pretty fast and good at dealing with any outbreaks or vulnerabilities exposed in the environment. The updates and patches that come through Trend Micro are pretty good, and they are fast to respond to any malicious or vulnerable things in the environment. That is one of the best features.
The antivirus itself is also lightweight. It does not hamper the performance. It is not resource-hungry. It does not impact the overall performance of the device. It is just there, and it is easy to use.
What needs improvement?
The console can be better in terms of management and viewing the hierarchy of devices. Currently, setting up the hierarchy OU-wise is a bit cumbersome. It can be made a bit easier. If that can be more user-friendly and easier to manage, it would be great.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Trend Micro Apex One for the last two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution. If it is given the right amount of management and administration, it is a good solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is good. It is a cloud solution. It is easy to expand your capacity. You just have to buy a new set of licenses or additional licenses, and they can mount that capacity in your cloud platform.
We have multiple locations and multiple departments. In our organization, we have around 6,000 users who are scattered globally. Most of them are based in India. About 40% are in the United States of America, and 10% to 20% are in Europe.
How are customer service and support?
I am satisfied with their support. I would rate them a seven out of ten. They are like any other company's support. If you are facing a specific problem that requires in-depth analysis, it can get hard to get to the right engineer. It can take time to get through to the right engineer.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using McAfee before using Apex One. Pricing, functionality, and ease of management were the reasons for moving to Apex One.
We have recently migrated from Apex One to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Apex One is an Endpoint Detection and Response or EDR solution, whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has XDR capabilities. Apart from detection, it is also helping in responding to those detections and providing automated responses to those detections. In addition, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is bundled with our subscription. Security is a part of it, so we decided to go for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, but Apex One was our solution for two years. During the COVID time, when we went into a hybrid work environment and people were working from home, it helped us very well during that time.
How was the initial setup?
It was overall straightforward, but there were a few challenges. The reason we went for Apex One was that it is a cloud-based solution.
It was pretty straightforward to enroll the endpoints. We integrated it with our Active Directory and all the devices were easily enrolled.
The removal of Trend Micro was challenging. When we moved away from Trend Micro, it was a bit of a challenge to remove the tool.
In terms of maintenance, it does require maintenance. From time to time, there will be new agent versions that need to be deployed. The first time also, we had to deploy the agents through SCCM. There are regular updates from Trend Micro. About 80% to 90% of devices get those updates and about 10% to 20% lag behind, so it does require regular monitoring and sometimes manual intervention to check why the updates are not happening. You might have to reinstall the agent on a device.
In a few scenarios, we did engage with Trend Micro where we had an additional or early release of the patches that can be deployed, and we did use that support.
What about the implementation team?
There were two people from our organization, and there were two people from our partner who helped us with the solution.
What was our ROI?
It was as per expectations. It did the job well. We were using it for our internal IT, so there was not much return on the investment. It was covering the cost, and it was doing the job as expected.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend doing a proof of concept. I would recommend this product in certain scenarios. If you are just sticking to Apex One and not going for the XDR solution from Trend Micro, you are missing out on modern-day security practices. Just going for Apex One might not help your environment if you are into security and have users based in different locations. I would suggest going for an XDR solution if you are going for Trend Micro. Also, if you are using Microsoft 365 subscriptions or any higher subscription with Microsoft that includes Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, then you can go for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. It is a good XDR solution, so you can use it instead of investing in another security solution.
Overall, I would rate Trend Micro Apex One an eight out of ten. As a product, it is pretty cool. It delivers what is promised.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.