F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

In the current digital world we are moving into, I would recommend F5 for all SMB to enterprise organizations. There are various models to pick from. This helps secure the environment and make the network robust to any sort of attacks. I am not able to think of any reason why one should not deploy or this device is less appropriate because nowadays every small company has application / ERPs. It is also worthwhile to note in case if all your apps are being deployed in the cloud by another service provider who provides you SAAS access, in that case, you can be at ease as securing these app falls on to the provider. However, should the budget be available I would recommend deploy this and enhancing your security.

Incentivized

The feature that helps us in detecting the sensitive information being shared has been very useful. In addition, the feature that allows [Microsoft Cloud App Security] to apply policies with SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive is being used predominantly. It is a kind of unified solution. As compared to other solutions such as Netskope, Symantec, or McAfee, it provides a more unified reporting structure. It also integrates with other technologies. We have Azure Information Protection, and it goes well with the solutions that we are already using.

Incentivized

• Source and destination IP Base policy
• Source and application base policy
• Ssl VPN with load balancing and fail over policy working fine.

Incentivized

• Integrates with Microsoft Products
• Has a fair share of popular SasS connectors
• Is constantly releasing new connectors for new SaaS platforms

Incentivized

• CCU Licenses are limited by device and are not shared between APM devices
• User sessions are not stored globally, so persistence can be an issue with users all over the world
• Configuration can get complicated when split up between multiple sites

Incentivized

• Cloud discovery throws away found services not found in the MCAS database of SaaS apps.
• Many panes of glass required for a fully enabled implementation to administer, configure and utilize 100% of the product.
• Room for improvement in the reporting realm - not enough records are visible and exportable for high record count policy reports.

Incentivized

Integration with F5 BIG-IP systems that we plan to keep using for a while.

Incentivized

If F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager usability is fine it's not hard to use if you read the documentation but it does feel dated and could use a responsive design update to modernize user interface to current standards.

Incentivized

The interface is pretty simple and easy to use; however, you will need to do a lot of investigative research on your own to get comfortable with it. Originally, many of the Microsoft security tools had their own seperate consoles. Overtime, they have blended into one interface which is the ideal state. In some cases it is clear Microsoft had to pick which console a certain feature or setting was going to reside in and this leads to some confusion. For example, DLP is managed through Defender for Cloud Apps but you will also need to jump into Purview. For things like reverse proxy on your M365 tenant, you will need to go into Azure and setup conditional access rules. Not a big problem and I can understand why the settings are located where they are but for someone just starting out with Defender for Cloud Apps, it will take some time to figure out.

Incentivized

I have not utilized actual support but the Sales and Product teams have been super helpful in moving our implementation forward and showing us the best practices.

Incentivized

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager integrates extremely well with the rest of our F5 infrastructure which is a big plus and provides us with a familiar user interface, but it isn't as scalable in its current iteration as something like Zscaler Private Access.

Incentivized

More flexible and more features with easy integration with cloud services like Microsoft Azure and other cloud services. Overall both gives similar features but we prefer Microsoft cloud app security due to its high threat detection rate. mostly we have been able to stop the threat in very very less time.

Incentivized

• Positive is that due to how much F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager can do, the F5 is the landing spot in our environment for MFA authentication.
• It has allowed a technology the company originally bought for load balancing to be used for multiple purposes.
• F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has made the environment more trusting of F5 as a MFA.

Incentivized

• Cloud App Security saves us thousands of dollars finding and rectifying apps security issues
• Identity Security Posture helps the organization identity stay in shape, saving thousands of dollars on security consultations
• The cost of suffering a breach cannot be quantified, CAS helps minimize the chances of the attackers succeeding, with excellent historical logging for most operations

Incentivized