CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Cayosoft vs Scrut Automation

Cayosoft sells products for managing and protecting Microsoft environments, covering security and control across Active Directory, Azure AD, Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online. Scrut Automation sells a platform that brings compliance, risk and reporting together for every entity, with role-based access. CISO Tribune files both under Identity governance and administration. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Cayosoft
  • Scrut Automation
Cayosoft vs Scrut Automation: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
CayosoftCayosoft sells products for managing and protecting Microsoft environments, covering security and control across Active Directory, Azure AD, Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online.cayosoft.comScrut AutomationScrut Automation sells a platform that brings compliance, risk and reporting together for every entity, with role-based access.scrut.io
What it sells
  • Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore[5]Monitors all directory changes and lets administrators roll back those changes.
  • Guardian Protector[4][5]A free, agentless tool for continuous monitoring and real-time threat detection.
  • Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite[6]A suite that includes Cayosoft Administrator and Cayosoft Guardian standard.
  • Cayosoft Group Policy Management[12]Governs, documents and restores GPO changes across every domain.
  • Scrut Platform[2][3][5][10]A platform that brings compliance, risk and reporting together for every entity, with role-based access.
  • Scrut Watchdog Agent[10]An agent deployed to monitor key security settings and sync device data.
  • Scrut MCP Server[2]A server for querying a compliance program from Claude, Cursor or any MCP client.
Categories
Headquarters
Westerville, United States[1]Not stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Privately held[4]Not stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 14, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetFrom its own pages, Scrut Automation sells a compliance platform built for startups. Scrut Automation pitches a scalable, risk-first security program to growing companies. Scrut Automation addresses enterprises with flexible solutions fitted to enterprise needs. Scrut Automation supports enterprises that manage compliance across multiple business units with custom workspaces. Scrut Teammates are described as built for lean teams handling a lot of data.
Last verified
September 27, 2026November 13, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Cayosoft and Scrut Automation are both filed under Identity governance and administration.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Cayosoft's primary category is Directory backup and recovery; Scrut Automation's is Compliance automation.
  • Cayosoft is also filed under Identity threat detection and response. Scrut Automation is also filed under Third-party risk and security ratings and AI governance.
  • Cayosoft lists Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore, Guardian Protector, Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite and Cayosoft Group Policy Management. Scrut Automation lists Scrut Platform, Scrut Watchdog Agent and Scrut MCP Server.
  • Cayosoft is headquartered in Westerville, United States.
  • Cayosoft is privately held.

What it sells: Cayosoft

What Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore does[5]
Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore monitors all directory changes and lets administrators roll back those changes. Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore is for recovering and protecting Active Directory and hybrid AD data.
What Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite does[6]
The Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite includes Cayosoft Administrator and Cayosoft Guardian standard, to manage, monitor and recover hybrid Microsoft directories, users, groups and other critical objects and settings. The suite can be expanded by adding Cayosoft Guardian Forest Recovery, which protects Active Directory from ransomware and other full forest directory outages.
What Cayosoft Group Policy Management does[12]
Cayosoft Group Policy Management governs, documents and restores GPO changes across every domain. Each GPO moves through edit, check-in, submit, approve and deploy steps so that only approved policy reaches Active Directory. Each checked-in version is archived rather than overwritten, supporting comparison, documentation, rollback to a known-good state and audit review.

What it sells: Scrut Automation

What Scrut Platform does[2][3][5][10]
The Scrut Platform supports SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 preparation with prebuilt controls and automated evidence gathering. The Scrut Platform integrates with cloud infrastructure, application stacks and security toolkits. The Scrut Platform lets customers create audit projects and get direct access to SOC 2 auditors. Workforce security training, onboarding and offboarding, and endpoint device compliance tracking run on the Scrut Platform.
What Scrut Watchdog Agent does[10]
Customers can deploy the Scrut Watchdog Agent or integrate MDM tools to monitor key security settings and sync device data in one place. Scrut gives real-time device compliance updates whether a customer uses external MDM tools or the Watchdog Agent.
What Scrut MCP Server does[2]
The Scrut MCP Server lets customers query their compliance program from Claude, Cursor or any MCP client. Customers can file evidence through the Scrut MCP Server without leaving their AI workspace. Readiness, staleness and coverage can be queried from Claude or Cursor via MCP.

Questions about Cayosoft and Scrut Automation

What do Cayosoft and Scrut Automation sell?
Cayosoft sells Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore, Guardian Protector, Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite and Cayosoft Group Policy Management. Scrut Automation sells Scrut Platform, Scrut Watchdog Agent and Scrut MCP Server.
Are Cayosoft and Scrut Automation in the same category?
They share Identity governance and administration. Cayosoft's primary category is Directory backup and recovery and Scrut Automation's is Compliance automation.
Where are Cayosoft and Scrut Automation headquartered?
Cayosoft is headquartered in Westerville, United States.
Who owns Cayosoft and Scrut Automation?
Cayosoft is privately held.
Who are Cayosoft and Scrut Automation sold to?
From its own pages, Scrut Automation sells a compliance platform built for startups.

About Cayosoft

Cayosoft sells products for managing and protecting Microsoft environments, covering security and control across Active Directory, Azure AD, Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online. Cayosoft products are designed for any step in the journey to Microsoft 365. Cayosoft solutions are purpose-built to help manage and protect Microsoft environments that are on-premises, hybrid or Microsoft 365-only. Cayosoft licenses its products by subscription.[5][6]

Cayosoft Administrator offers role-based delegation, rule-based automation, self-service and Microsoft 365 license optimization. Cayosoft Administrator enables IT teams to manage hybrid environments through a single interface. Cayosoft Administrator is a unified TrueHybrid management solution for control over administrators and help desk staff who make changes to Microsoft enterprise systems. Granular Roles and Rules limit administrators to authorized tasks.[5][7]

Cayosoft Administrator comes with more than 125 pre-built templates and requires no extra SQL, LDAP or synchronization. Administrators can run real-time reports on Office 365 or schedule those reports for e-mail delivery, local storage or shared storage. Cayosoft provides pre and post-collection filtering, and reports can be viewed in email, Excel or CSV. Cayosoft offers user-enabled password resets so that users can remedy lockouts without IT assistance. Direct report management lets users update their own attributes and those of subordinates in a web-based self-service portal. Cayosoft puts on-premises AD and Office 365 into one interface for help desk admins, with filtered access to only the necessary tasks.[8][9]

Inclusion Rules define the list of users that must be in a group, and Exclusion Rules define the list of users who should never be in it. Group membership updates can be triggered by events like user provisioning or user deprovisioning, or run on a schedule. Built-in group membership queries can be added to group membership rules to update any Microsoft group type, from Active Directory and Exchange to Azure AD and Microsoft 365 Groups. Self-service group management lets distribution list, application and data owners manage who has access to their resources. Cayosoft Administrator brings Teams administration with delegation, automatically updated groups and Teams membership, telephony management and policy assignment control. Cayosoft manages the available phone numbers, reclaims numbers when users leave and assigns Teams user policies required for Direct Routing. Cayosoft can alert and roll back undesired changes when they are detected.[10][11]

Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore monitors all directory changes and lets administrators roll back those changes. Recovery scenarios covered include AD object and attribute, partition, domain controller and forest recovery. Cayosoft supports cutting over to a clean, isolated, standby forest. Guardian Protector is a free, agentless tool that delivers continuous monitoring, real-time threat detection and audit-ready visibility across Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID and key Microsoft 365 services, without time limits or object caps. Cayosoft monitors human and non-human identity activity and supports rollback.[2][5]

The Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite is purpose-built for modern Microsoft environments. The Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite includes Cayosoft Administrator and Cayosoft Guardian standard, to manage, monitor and recover hybrid Microsoft directories, users, groups and other critical objects and settings. The suite can be expanded by adding Cayosoft Guardian Forest Recovery, which protects Active Directory from ransomware and other full forest directory outages.[5][6]

Cayosoft Group Policy Management governs, documents and restores GPO changes across every domain. Each GPO moves through edit, check-in, submit, approve and deploy steps so that only approved policy reaches Active Directory. Active Directory remains unchanged until an approved version is explicitly deployed. Each checked-in version is archived rather than overwritten, supporting comparison, documentation, rollback to a known-good state and audit review. Editing, approval and export or deployment rights can be assigned to different users or groups. Microsoft ended support for Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) on April 14, 2026, with no direct successor. Cayosoft provides a supported approach to Group Policy management with check-in and check-out, approvals, version control, role delegation, analysis, rollback and multi-domain governance.[12]

Cayosoft serves school districts and universities of all sizes, for students, faculty and staff. Cayosoft Administrator provides automated account provisioning and deprovisioning, group management, role-based delegation and group-based license assignment. A large U.S. state replaced a legacy AD management tool with Cayosoft Administrator. The IRS consolidated multiple identity management tools into Cayosoft.[2][3][13][14]

Cayosoft on the record

Sources

Cayosoft full record

  1. [1]AboutCayosoft · cayosoft.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]cayosoft.comCayosoft · cayosoft.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Cayosoft achieves record sales company growthCayosoft · cayosoft.com · published April 17, 2024 · Tier A
  4. [4]Cayosoft – Hybrid Active Directory Management & Recovery PlatformCayosoft · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Products - CayosoftCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Manage and Protect Microsoft AD and O365 for EnterprisesCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Hybrid Active Directory and Office 365 AdministrationCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Active Directory Reporting - Unified AD ReportingCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Hybrid Microsoft AD Self-Service and Help DeskCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Dynamic Groups - CayosoftCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Microsoft Teams ManagementCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Group Policy Management That Controls Every Change | Cayosoft Group Policy ManagementCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Manage and Protect Microsoft AD and O365 for K-12 school districts and higher educationCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Manage and Protect Microsoft AD and O365 for state, local and federal governmentCayosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

Scrut Automation full record

  1. [1]scrut.ioScrut Automation · scrut.io · undated page, accessed November 13, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]AI Compliance Automation Platform | Scrut AutomationScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Scrut Teammates: AI-powered Risk & Compliance | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]GRC Platform Purpose-Built for Security-First Teams | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]SOC 2 Compliance Automation Software | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Cyber GRC Platform for Enterprises | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Trust Center: Demonstrate Security Posture | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Risk Management: Monitor Cyber Risk Proactively | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Vendor Risk Management: Assess & Monitor Third Party Risk | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Empower Employees: Security Training & Device Monitoring | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]DAST: Continuous, automated vulnerability management | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Cyber GRC Platform for Startups | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Cyber GRC Platform for Growth-Stage Companies | ScrutScrut Automation · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Scrut Automation Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 14, 2026 · Tier C

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