Recognizing Microsoft’s balanced progress and effort alongside people and capabilities to deliver strong solutions
December 10, 2019, Hong Kong – Gartner has named Microsoft Security a Leader in five Magic Quadrants, recognizing Microsoft’s balanced progress and effort in all execution and vision. This significant recognition from Gartner also symbolizes that Microsoft has the people and capabilities to deliver strong solutions, with deep understanding of the market and the right strategy to meet customer needs
Microsoft was identified as a Leader in the following five security areas:
- Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) solutions
- Access Management
- Enterprise Information Archiving
- Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) tools
- Endpoint Protection Platforms
“We are excited to be one of the very few companies that achieved such significant recognition from Gartner. This is a testament to our continued commitment to building the best possible cybersecurity solutions for our customers. It also reflects our goal to find innovative ways to provide holistic protection for our customers and users,” said Fred Sheu, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Hong Kong.
A Leader in CASB
Microsoft is named a Leader in Gartner’s third annual Magic Quadrant for Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB), after evaluating the offerings and capabilities from nine companies.
Microsoft Cloud App Security (MCAS), which is available stand alone and as part of Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 suite, provides best-in-class shadow IT discovery, data security, threat protection and compliance support. Gartner also pointed out that when MCAS combines with Microsoft 365 suites, it provides even more complete functionality.
With MCAS having the largest installed base of any vendor in Gartner’s report, Microsoft demonstrates its commitment to equivalent governance of Microsoft and non-Microsoft cloud services.
A Leader in Access Management
Gartner defines the Access Management (AM) market as vendors providing solutions that use access control engines to provide centralized authentication, Single Sign-On (SSO), session management and authorization enforcement for target applications in multiple use cases (B2E, B2B and B2C).
Microsoft offers AM through Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Premium and Azure AD B2C. All AM solutions from Microsoft through Azure are offered as a multitenant SaaS platform. Azure AD offers very strong adaptive and contextual authentication through Conditional Access, and offers an extensive assortment of user authentication mechanisms. In addition, Microsoft’s Intelligent Security Graph is a promising risk-scoring mechanism that leverages AI and machine learning technologies to process 8.2 trillion of signals daily and generates risk scores for users accessing any Microsoft platform, which can then be leveraged to make authentication and authorization decisions by Azure.
Microsoft was recognized for high scores in market understanding and customer experience for consecutive years.
A Leader in Enterprise Information Archiving
Enterprise information archiving solutions help organizations archive emails, instant messages, SMS, and social media content. Gartner recognized us as a Leader in this Magic Quadrant based on ability to execute and completeness of vision for consecutive years.
According to Gartner, Microsoft has a proactive vision across Office 365 as an end-to-end suite for governance, compliance and information protection. It brings architectural simplicity and ease of use for end-user archiving in Office 365, with native drag-and-drop and right-click archiving functions. Microsoft customers praise the product support, including reporting and integration, with improved labeling and classification in the archive and advanced e-discovery features. We believe this recognition represents our ability to provide best-in-class protection and deliver on innovations that keep pace with today’s compliance needs.
A Leader in Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solutions provide a comprehensive solution to manage mobile devices and traditional endpoints, like PCs and Macs. Microsoft’s solution, Microsoft Intune, allows users to securely support company-provided devices and bring the company’s own device policies. Company apps and data on unmanaged devices can also be protected.
Microsoft is recognized as a Leader with highest ranking in the “Ability to Execute” axis for consecutive years. Microsoft offers Intune as a core component of the foundation of Microsoft’s UEM strategy. Intune can be used as a stand-alone tool to manage mobile devices, Windows 10 and macOS, as well as co-management tool of Windows through a two-way integration with System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr). Co-management provides flexibility in assigning discrete management workloads (for example, OS updates, app distribution, etc.) to either tool as requirements dictate. It also allows organizations making a gradual transition from the traditional Windows management approach to modern management.
A Leader in Endpoint Protection Platforms
An endpoint protection platform (EPP) is a solution deployed on endpoint devices to prevent file-based malware, malicious scripts and memory-based threats. It is also deployed to detect and block malicious activity from trusted and untrusted applications, and to provide the investigation and remediation capabilities needed to dynamically respond to security incidents and alerts.
According to Gartner, “Microsoft is unique in the EPP space, as it is the only vendor that can provide built-in endpoint protection capabilities tightly integrated with the OS.” Windows Defender Antivirus provides PCs with real-time cloud-assisted attack protection against software threats like viruses, malware, and spyware across email, apps, the cloud, and the web. Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) provides an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) capability, protecting endpoints from cyber threats, detecting advanced attacks and data breaches, automating security incidents, and improving security posture.
Gartner notes, “A Leader in this category will have broad capabilities in advanced malware protection, and proven management capabilities for large-enterprise accounts.”
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Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Access Security Brokers, Steve Riley, Craig Lawson, 22 October 2019.
*This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.
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