Symantec Endpoint Security vs. Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Suite

We have found that Symantec Endpoint Security is better suited to newer systems running faster processors and more than 8GB RAM otherwise the client agent takes up too many resources and slows the system down. However, if you have a reasonably modern fleet of systems it does everything you would expect from an Endpoint Protection solution and works well as part of a multi-layered cybersecurity policy.

Incentivized

With around 80 users and 150 devices (including 6 server instances), this solution served us very well, with instant admin notifications and scheduled overall reports. Detection appears extremely reliable, and the memory and CPU footprint of the service seemed less intrusive than Panda, which we had issues running on Terminal Services instances, as it seems to hog excessive memory allocation. Rollout was smooth and we never had an instance of a corrupt installation.

Incentivized

• The virus and spyware protection has worked well for us, catching several things and quarantining the items or cleaning them.
• The virus definitions very rarely fail to update for the users, so I feel confident that my client machines are kept up to date.
• I like the report I get daily telling me about threats found and action taken without having to login to the console to look it up myself.

Incentivized

• Adds a second layer to office 365 filtering and often finds things that were missed.
• Built in XDR provides more details on a threat than you'd normally have.
• Overall Easy to use but still very powerfull.
• Built in web filtering is easy to use and helps when users are offsite.

Incentivized

• Removing dead clients from the console. This is nearly impossible to do, and makes keeping the console clean a very difficult task.
• Poorly tested versions are sometimes released that cause serious issues for users. This ranges from browsers malfunctioning to BSOD errors.
• Malware detection is good but not great. We are not confident in SEP by itself to neutralize malware threats. It's detection rate just isn't high enough for next generation and zero day threats.

• Apple Mac client is troublesome.
• Policies are clunky and difficult to understand.
• Security Agent dashboard lacks tools needed to remediate problems.
• Technical support was less than satisfactory.

Incentivized

Continued satisfied support. The saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it..." comes to mind. It works, and we'll continue to use it and support Symantec.

Incentivized

The rating reflects Symantec Endpoint Security's ability to balance enterprise grade security with user-friendly workflows or advanced configurations require extra effort. For most organizations, the streamlined management and robust automation justify the high score. Management GUI is old fashined and need to be improve. Older devices may experience slowdowns during full scans without careful configuration.

Incentivized

Configuration and support resources provided gave us everything we needed to configure the environment out of the box to meet the various needs of the business.

Incentivized

We've used it for years and the software is easy to use. The dashboard is easy to read, and you can easily figure out where to go to troubleshoot or deploy software. Symantec is there for emergencies like backup restoration or file retrieval. It's pretty low maintenance. Symantec is there when your IT infrastructure needs it

Incentivized

Support is completely awful! You can never get anyone to help if you can even find a number to call. The support web portal is a joke and their response time if you're even able to submit a ticket is ridiculously slow.

Incentivized

The few times I needed to contact support I was fully satisfied. They worked all the way through the issue, no matter how long it took, and made sure I had a permanent solution. I was pleased with the professionalism, courteousness, and knowledge of the product they were supporting.

Incentivized

Use a third party deployment tool and not the deployment option within the SEP Manager itself.

Incentivized

Symantec Endpoint Security seems to be a more mature solution compared with CrowdStrike, particularly when CS was just recently getting their USB blocking functionality rolled out for macOS endpoints this year. Another differentiator with CrowdStrike is that Symantec ES still provides both on-demand scanning & real-time signature-based detection in addition to solely real-time machine learning detection whereas on-demand scanning and signatures are not available on CrowdStrike. This means there is a doubt as to whether we can use CS to comply with some of our PCI DSS obligations which specifically require the use of signature-based antivirus solutions.

Incentivized

Trend Micro is a leader in Gartner Quadrant for endpoint protection, with the best awards and 3rd party certification about their readiness and capabilities with zero day threat and unknown attacks. The single feature that with the hosted solution you do not need internal resources to get the protection caught up better. Optimization for SMBs is a plus to consider, and as in the name of the solution, there should not be worries once you get things set up and running. It has been a great experience for sure.

Incentivized

• Symantec [Endpoint Security] cost 50k less than other options while providing similar benefits over the last year
• Cylance conflicted with Symantec [Endpoint Security] and Cisco Umbrella Client (All 3 at the same time) causing us to rebuild many desktops
• Symantec [Endpoint Security] made it easy to detect where issues were and repair them

Incentivized

• It was a step up from what we were using before and has been a solid tool.
• For the number of sites and malicious files blocked I'd say it is a good product at a good price.
• Managing the admin portal and devices has been a huge time saver. Deployment can be via .msi or .exe.

Incentivized