CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Cayosoft vs WatchGuard Technologies

Cayosoft sells products for managing and protecting Microsoft environments, covering security and control across Active Directory, Azure AD, Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online. WatchGuard Technologies sells a Unified Security Platform that combines network, endpoint, identity and cloud protection, purpose-built for MSPs servicing midsize companies and SMBs. CISO Tribune files both under Identity threat detection and response. 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
  • WatchGuard Technologies
Cayosoft vs WatchGuard Technologies: 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.comWatchGuard TechnologiesWatchGuard Technologies sells a Unified Security Platform that combines network, endpoint, identity and cloud protection, purpose-built for MSPs servicing midsize companies and SMBs.watchguard.com
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.
  • Unified Security Platform[1][5]WatchGuard unifies network, endpoint, identity and cloud protection under one agent, one console and one AI intelligence layer.
  • Firebox M Series[9]Firebox M Series rackmount appliances provide NGFW features.
  • Endpoint Security 360[11]WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 is an autonomous zero trust endpoint detection and response solution.
  • AuthPoint[7][12][13]WatchGuard AuthPoint provides cloud-based authentication and access to applications.
  • Total Identity Security[13]Total Identity Security combines AuthPoint MFA with Dark Web Credential Monitoring.
  • WatchGuard Cloud[1][5][7][9][13]WatchGuard Cloud is built for MSPs and gives one place to deploy, standardize, monitor and report across all customers.
  • Compliance Reporting[15]WatchGuard Compliance Reporting offers configurable compliance controls and reports for regulatory needs.
Categories
Headquarters
Westerville, United States[1]Seattle, United States[4]
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Privately held[4]Owned by Vector Capital since 2022[6]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • July 7, 2026WatchGuard Technologies appointed Vincent Hwang as Chief Product Officer, reporting to CEO Joe Smolarski.[16]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen October 30, 2026[6]
Who it fits
Not written yetWatchGuard delivers its security to businesses exclusively through managed service provider and reseller partners. Businesses receive protection configured and managed for them by a local WatchGuard partner. WatchGuard describes its devices as suited to securing branch offices, distributed networks and large data centers. WatchGuard secure access points are described for small offices, retail locations, schools, warehouses and outdoor deployments. WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 is described as suited to organizations and MSPs.
Last verified
September 27, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies are both filed under Identity threat detection and response.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Cayosoft's primary category is Directory backup and recovery; WatchGuard Technologies's is Firewalls and NGFW.
  • Cayosoft is also filed under Identity governance and administration. WatchGuard Technologies is also filed under EDR and XDR and Workforce IAM and SSO.
  • Cayosoft lists Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore, Guardian Protector, Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite and Cayosoft Group Policy Management. WatchGuard Technologies lists Unified Security Platform, Firebox M Series, Endpoint Security 360, AuthPoint, Total Identity Security and 2 more.
  • Cayosoft is headquartered in Westerville, United States. WatchGuard Technologies is headquartered in Seattle, United States.
  • Cayosoft is privately held. WatchGuard Technologies is owned by Vector Capital, since 2022.

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: WatchGuard Technologies

What Firebox M Series does[9]
Firebox M Series rackmount appliances provide NGFW features. Firebox rackmount appliances integrate with WatchGuard Cloud and ThreatSync and offer centralized management and AI-powered XDR correlation.
What Endpoint Security 360 does[11]
WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 is an autonomous zero trust endpoint detection and response solution that blocks unknown applications automatically and continuously monitors trusted applications for signs of compromise. WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 provides visibility into blocked executions, compromised trusted applications and the progression of attacks across endpoints.
What AuthPoint does[7][12][13]
WatchGuard AuthPoint provides cloud-based authentication and access to applications. AuthPoint MFA supports push, passkeys, TOTP, QR codes, hardware tokens and zero trust policies. AuthPoint is managed in WatchGuard Cloud, which configures policies, synchronizes users and enforces controls from one interface.
What Total Identity Security does[13]
Total Identity Security combines AuthPoint MFA with Dark Web Credential Monitoring. WatchGuard continuously monitors workforce user credentials across dark web, deep web and breach databases using AI-driven intelligence, and can alert affected end users directly. WatchGuard Cloud lets MSPs manage MFA and credential monitoring across customer accounts.
What WatchGuard Cloud does[1][5][7][9][13]
WatchGuard Cloud is built for MSPs and gives one place to deploy, standardize, monitor and report across all customers. ThreatSync XDR is part of WatchGuard Cloud and correlates activity across WatchGuard security layers. WatchGuard Cloud provides visibility, configuration control and real-time threat monitoring so MSPs can manage network security from anywhere with an Internet connection.
What Compliance Reporting does[15]
WatchGuard Compliance Reporting offers configurable compliance controls and reports for regulatory needs. WatchGuard Compliance Reporting is integrated with WatchGuard NDR and WatchGuard SaaS, delivering over 100 AI-refined network cybersecurity controls. WatchGuard Compliance Reporting includes configurable compliance report templates for ISO-27001, NIST 800-53, NIST 171/CMMC, UK Cyber Essentials, FFIEC, CISA Ransomware Defense, Cyber Insurance Compliance and Supply Chain Compliance.

Questions about Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies

What do Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies sell?
Cayosoft sells Cayosoft Guardian Audit & Restore, Guardian Protector, Cayosoft Management and Protection Suite and Cayosoft Group Policy Management. WatchGuard Technologies sells Unified Security Platform, Firebox M Series, Endpoint Security 360, AuthPoint, Total Identity Security and 2 more.
Are Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies in the same category?
They share Identity threat detection and response. Cayosoft's primary category is Directory backup and recovery and WatchGuard Technologies's is Firewalls and NGFW.
Where are Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies headquartered?
Cayosoft is headquartered in Westerville, United States. WatchGuard Technologies is headquartered in Seattle, United States.
Who owns Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies?
Cayosoft is privately held. WatchGuard Technologies is owned by Vector Capital, since 2022.
Who are Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies sold to?
WatchGuard delivers its security to businesses exclusively through managed service provider and reseller partners.
What have Cayosoft and WatchGuard Technologies announced recently?
July 7, 2026: WatchGuard Technologies appointed Vincent Hwang as Chief Product Officer, reporting to CEO Joe Smolarski.

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

WatchGuard Technologies full record

  1. [1]watchguard.comWatchGuard Technologies · watchguard.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Watchguard launches new high performance firebox appliances secure modernWatchGuard Technologies · watchguard.com · published June 2, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]vectorcapital.comVector Capital · vectorcapital.com · published July 5, 2022 · Tier A
  4. [4]Dex991WatchGuard Technologies via SEC EDGAR · sec.gov · published July 25, 2006 · Tier A
  5. [5]WatchGuard | Comprehensive Cybersecurity SolutionsWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed October 30, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]WatchGuard Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 30, 2026 · Tier C
  7. [7]Centralized Management & Visibility | WatchGuard CloudWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Managed Security Services for MSPs | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Rackmount Firewall Appliances | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]WatchGuard Endpoint Security | AI-Powered ProtectionWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 - Zero Trust EDRWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]AuthPoint 30-Day Free Trial | WatchGuard Free AuthPointWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]AuthPoint Total Identity Security | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Secure Wireless APs for Your Business | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Compliance Reporting | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]WatchGuard Appoints Vincent Hwang as Chief Product OfficerWatchGuard Technologies · published July 7, 2026 · Tier A

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