Protecting Your IT Environments with Microsoft Security Solutions

Modern enterprises face unprecedented security challenges that directly impact operational resilience
and strategic growth. As technologies advance and enterprise IT infrastructures adapt, the complexity of
environments increases, exposing businesses to heightened security vulnerabilities.

Traditional bolt-on IT security approaches are proving inadequate, not only failing to protect critical data
and infrastructure but also draining resources that could be better invested in innovation and growth.

Recognizing the integral role of robust security in sustaining business continuity, Microsoft has become
an industry leader in providing comprehensive and holistic security solutions. Microsoft security
solutions are designed to safeguard your enterprise's digital assets and enhance operational efficiency
and scalability by seamlessly integrating into your existing IT framework.

Moreover, Protera, as an expert Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), can extend the capabilities
of Microsoft's technologies. By aligning Microsoft’s cutting-edge security tools with your business's
specific needs and goals, Protera works as an extension of your IT bench and ensures that your security
strategy both defends against today's threats and prepares you for tomorrow's challenges.

This guide will explore how Microsoft security solutions, including Defender and Sentinel, create a
fortified enterprise IT environment, and how Protera’s expertise can maximize the effectiveness of these
tools, ensuring your enterprise remains secure and agile in a dynamic business world.

Quick Takeaways:

• Bolt-on IT security is no longer adequate for today’s complex, extensive enterprise IT ecosystems.
• Microsoft security solutions, including Defender and Sentinel, provide comprehensive protection
  across IT landscapes while remediating cost and vendor sprawl challenges.
• Microsoft offers the major advantage of seamless integration into familiar Microsoft-powered IT
  landscapes that include tools like Office Suite, Exchange, and Azure.
• As your MSSP, Protera can help you maximize the value of your Microsoft security solutions while
  tailoring your strategy directly to your budget, resources, needs, and goals.

The Problem with Bolt-On Security

Traditionally in modern IT—even in the recent cloud era—bolt-on approaches to security have been the
norm. Protera CISO Shane Brennan summarized it aptly:

“IT and security services were discrete and inherently uncoordinated,” Shane wrote in a previous article
on the topic. “A firm would hire a managed service provider to deliver network, application, and
infrastructure. But security isn’t typically the specialty of MSPs, so then a separate MSSP specializing in
security would be brought in and bolted on.”

The problem, as Shane explained, is that the MSP and MSSP are separate organizations. Consequently,
neither fully understand the customer’s IT environment. Instead, organizations should be implementing
shared responsibility models, where third-party teams and tools work in collaboration with their own
internal resources.

This approach also solves the prevalent problem of vendor sprawl. It’s not uncommon for companies to
have dozens of licenses active, ultimately leading to tools that are only partly deployed (or not at all in
use). Managing contracts, licensing, training, renewals, and vendor risk takes up invaluable time your IT
teams should be spending on more strategic, value-driving activities.

Microsoft’s Unified Security Approach

Microsoft provides a way for you—in an ecosystem you’re likely already part of with tools like Exchange,
Office Suite, Entra ID, Teams, and Azure—to embed a suite of advanced security tools into your existing
infrastructure. Microsoft directly remediates the problems of vendor sprawl and disjointed point
solutions with an integrated, unified approach that delivers high visibility and holistic real-time insights.

Microsoft’s comprehensive security offering is built around two hallmark solutions: Microsoft Defender
and Microsoft Sentinel, which work together to create a baked-in security strategy across the enterprise
IT landscape.

Microsoft Defender provides extensive coverage across endpoints, email, and identities, protecting
against a wide range of threats and equipping administrators with the tools needed to detect,
investigate, and respond to security incidents rapidly, all from within a single interface.

Microsoft Sentinel is Microsoft’s SIEM system and extends the capabilities of Defender by aggregating
security data from across the entire ecosystem—including non-Microsoft solutions like SAP or Salesforce.
Sentinel enables cross-platform monitoring and advanced threat detection by correlating disparate
security data across endpoints. 

Image Source

Alt-Text: Graphic showing how Microsoft security tools Sentinel and Defender work together
Integrating these systems into a single, cohesive set of dashboards simplifies the security management
process significantly and enables quick pivots from one security event to related activities—be it MFA
prompts, file downloads, or email exchanges—without the need to switch between tools. This not only
saves time but also enhances the accuracy and speed of security responses.

Moreover, Microsoft’s security tools come with pre-configured baselines that can be deployed instantly,
providing robust protection with minimal setup. This is particularly beneficial for organizations that may
lack high-level IT security expertise but still need to uphold strong security standards.

Overall, Microsoft’s comprehensive security solutions consolidate security management into familiar
platforms and help enterprises achieve a high level of security and effectiveness, enabling them to focus
more on growth and less on worrying about security risks.

Extend Your Microsoft Solutions with Protera

Even with Microsoft’s streamlined suite of solutions in place, handling IT security effectively still requires
expertise and active attention. Protera is your partner and MSSP for maximizing the value of your
security solutions and aligning your budget, needs, and goals into a focused security strategy.

Protera supports enterprise IT security needs at every stage—from initial discovery, security assessment,
deployment and configuration, running and maintenance, and education to end users. Our extended
network of industry experts and direct relationship with Microsoft means we have the expertise needed
to address any new challenge as it arises.

Further, our 24x7x365 availability means we supplement your internal IT staff at all times. Whether your
team is on or off the clock, Protera is actively monitoring your IT environments.

With Protera, you can be confident your security strategy is always aligned with the latest technologies
and capabilities. Protera’s team will work with your internal team to evaluate new products and features
as they’re rolled out, and effectively deploy the ones you need.

Perhaps most importantly, it’s our priority to serve as a true collaborative partner—one that helps you
map out a customized security roadmap and playbook tailored to your unique business. We guide you in
making intelligent decisions that help you get the results you want with the budget you have.

In turn, you can align your IT and business teams with your C-suite and board of directors, building a
shared vision and mutual understanding of security needs, priorities, and goals, as well as the actions and
resources required to achieve them.

For more than 25 years, Protera has been a leading MSSP building security into everything we do for
your business. If you’re looking for a security partner to be a true extension of your bench and serve as a
collaborative support system for building and executing your strategy, Protera is the right choice.

Talk to a Protera expert today to learn more and get started.