Microsoft did not rate other cybersecurity firms in the 2025 rankings most relevant to this headline. ISG assessed 57 providers across four cybersecurity software categories and named Microsoft an Overall Leader in SIEM, identity and access management (IAM), and endpoint detection and response (EDR). AWS led data recovery, where Microsoft and IBM had the same performance score. These are category-specific software evaluations, not a universal ranking of cybersecurity companies or a Microsoft-issued comparison.
How the 2025 rankings break down
ISG’s 2025 Buyers Guides evaluated software providers separately by the job their products perform. The category leaders were:
| Software category | Top-ranked providers |
|---|---|
| SIEM | Microsoft first, Splunk second, ManageEngine third |
| Identity and access management (IAM) | Microsoft first, IBM second, Oracle third |
| Endpoint detection and response (EDR) | Microsoft first, SentinelOne second, Palo Alto Networks third |
| Data recovery | AWS first; Microsoft and IBM followed with the same performance score |
These results come from ISG’s 2025 cybersecurity software Buyers Guides announcement. A vendor’s position in one category does not establish how it compares in another.
What ISG measured—and what “Overall Leader” means
ISG says the guides assessed providers in seven evaluation categories: five product-experience dimensions—usability, manageability, reliability, capability, and adaptability—and two customer-assurance dimensions: validation and total cost of ownership/return on investment. A provider placed in the top three for a category is named a Leader; the provider with the most Leader designations within a platform category becomes its Overall Leader.
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That method produces category-specific designations, not one universal quality score. ISG’s release says it assessed 57 providers across the four Buyers Guides; a separate 2025 ISG Provider Lens report assessed 61 providers across three quadrants and has a different scope, so those populations should not be combined.
What the EDR result says about Microsoft and its rivals
In ISG’s EDR guide, Microsoft was named a Leader in all seven evaluation categories. SentinelOne and Palo Alto Networks were each named a Leader in one. The guide considers areas including threat detection and hunting, automated response, incident forensics, integrations, GenAI and machine learning, and the possibility of moving to a managed-service-provider relationship. Its stated market scope is products marketed for large-enterprise licensing. The public EDR guide summary cautions that close provider scores do not mean packages are functionally identical or equally suitable for every enterprise or process.
Rank #2
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For a buyer, the ranking is a useful starting point for a shortlist, not a substitute for matching product capabilities and operating requirements to the organization’s environment.
How to use the rankings when comparing providers
Start with the security function you need, then compare candidates against the work your team must perform. For an EDR evaluation, ISG’s published dimensions suggest examining:
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Rank #3
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- REAL-TIME PROTECTION Advanced security protects against existing and emerging malware threats, including ransomware and viruses, and it won’t slow down your device performance.
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- How the product detects threats and supports threat hunting.
- What response actions it can automate and how those actions fit incident workflows.
- Whether its forensic capabilities support the investigations your team conducts.
- How it integrates with the tools and systems already in use.
- How product experience and customer-assurance factors, including validation and total cost of ownership/return on investment, affect the purchase.
- Whether the offering fits large-enterprise licensing and any plans to work with a managed service provider.
Then validate those dimensions against your own systems, workflows, requirements, and buying context. ISG’s guide provides the category comparison; it does not establish which package is best for a particular organization.
Don’t confuse ISG rankings with Microsoft’s own recognitions
Microsoft separately publishes a list of analyst recognitions it says it received. Its page includes 2025 Gartner designations for endpoint protection and SIEM, as well as a Q3 2025 Forrester Zero Trust Platform Providers designation. Those are third-party evaluations of Microsoft, not ratings Microsoft issued about competing firms. Microsoft’s recognition page reproduces Gartner’s disclaimer that its research is opinion and should not be treated as advice to select only the highest-rated vendors.
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A separate ISG report covers cybersecurity services
ISG also published a 2025 global Cybersecurity — Services and Solutions Provider Lens report. It evaluates service-provider capabilities across Identity and Access Management, Extended Detection and Response, and Security Service Edge. Broadcom, Fortinet, IBM, Microsoft, and Palo Alto Networks were named Leaders in two quadrants each; PwC was named the global ISG CX Star Performer for 2025 based on ISG’s Voice of the Customer survey. ISG said the report was available by subscription or one-time purchase when it announced it. These are services-and-solutions quadrants, not the software Buyers Guide rankings above. See ISG’s July 29, 2025 announcement.
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