CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

IBM vs Microsoft

IBM Vault is offered for securing machine and agent identities. Microsoft Defender offers threat prevention, detection and response capabilities. CISO Tribune files both under Workforce IAM and SSO and Endpoint management and application control. 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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  • IBM
  • Microsoft
IBM vs Microsoft: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
IBMIBM Vault is offered for securing machine and agent identities.ibm.comMicrosoftMicrosoft Defender offers threat prevention, detection and response capabilities.microsoft.com
What it sells
  • IBM Cloudant[7]A JSON document database built on CouchDB technology.
  • IBM Maximo Application Suite[9]A unified asset and facilities management solution.
  • Microsoft Defender[1][11][12][23][25]Threat protection that prevents, detects and responds to attacks across devices, identities, applications, email, data, workloads and cloud environments.
  • Microsoft Sentinel[1][23]A cloud-native SIEM built for AI.
  • Microsoft Purview[1][14][23][24][25]Unified information protection, governance and compliance products.
  • Microsoft Entra[1][15][23][25]Identity and access products that verify every identity and access request across clouds, platforms and devices.
  • Microsoft Intune[1][16][23][25]Endpoint management products for device security and hybrid work.
  • Microsoft Defender Suite[12]Threat protection and detection and response across endpoints, identities, email and SaaS apps.
  • Microsoft Entra Suite[15]An extension to Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 for secure workforce use of apps and AI.
  • Microsoft Purview Suite[14]A suite that provides advanced data security and compliance capabilities.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesRedmond, United States[3]
Founded
1911[2]1975[2]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesPublic (NASDAQ: MSFT)[4][10][22]
Named customers
Not stated on its pages
  • Best Buy[5]
  • Danfoss[6]
  • Oregon State University[7]
Recent news
  • September 24, 2026IBM UK announced its acquisition of Logiq Consulting, a UK cybersecurity consultancy.[16]
  • May 21, 2026IBM joined Project Glasswing, a security initiative focused on protecting critical software infrastructure.[17]
  • March 17, 2026IBM completed its acquisition of Confluent, adding event streaming to its data, integration and enterprise infrastructure portfolio.[15]
  • July 29, 2026Microsoft reported revenue of $90.0 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up 18% year over year.[8]
  • July 27, 2026Microsoft introduced Project Perception, an agentic security system that uses AI to turn signals into real-time protections.[21]
  • May 1, 2026Microsoft announced general availability of Microsoft 365 E7 and Microsoft Agent 365 on May 1, 2026.[28]
  • April 29, 2026Microsoft reported revenue of $82.9 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, up 18% from a year earlier.[9]
  • December 22, 2025Microsoft announced the Defender Experts suite, an expert-led security offering for resellers and scale solution providers, generally available from January 1, 2026.[20]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[18]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[10]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, IBM sells to operations, maintenance and facility teams through its asset and facilities management solution. IBM also addresses energy operators with solar, wind and battery storage portfolios. IBM Bob is aimed at development teams working on complex software. IBM offers purchase options aimed at asset-intensive businesses. Maximo Application Suite is delivered as client managed software or software as a service. IBM supports developing optimization models for on-premises, cloud or hybrid environments.From its own pages, Microsoft sells security products for businesses of any size. Microsoft 365 Business Premium is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, and Microsoft Defender is designed to protect individuals, businesses and enterprises. Microsoft refers to enterprise and government cloud customers, and Providence Care, a healthcare organization, uses Microsoft 365 E5 for healthcare security.
Last verified
November 4, 2026November 2, 2026

Where they overlap

  • IBM and Microsoft are both filed under Workforce IAM and SSO and Endpoint management and application control.

Where they differ, field by field

  • IBM's primary category is Data security posture management; Microsoft's is EDR and XDR.
  • IBM is also filed under AI governance. Microsoft is also filed under SIEM.
  • IBM lists IBM Cloudant and IBM Maximo Application Suite. Microsoft lists Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Intune and 3 more.
  • Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, United States.
  • IBM was founded in 1911. Microsoft was founded in 1975.
  • Microsoft is a public company listed on NASDAQ as MSFT.
  • Microsoft publicly names Best Buy, Danfoss and Oregon State University.

What it sells: IBM

What IBM Cloudant does[7]
IBM Cloudant supports flexible, schema-free JSON document storage and is built on CouchDB technology with compatible API and replication protocols. IBM Cloudant encrypts all data, with optional user-defined encryption key management through IBM Key Protect, and integrates with IBM Identity and Access Management.
What IBM Maximo Application Suite does[9]
IBM Maximo Application Suite is a unified asset and facilities management solution that brings maintenance, inspections and reliability together in one place for critical equipment and infrastructure. Maximo Application Suite comes in two packages: client managed software or software as a service. MAS is purchased through a credit-based system called AppPoints.

What it sells: Microsoft

What Microsoft Defender does[1][11][12][23][25]
Microsoft Defender is a threat protection solution designed to protect individuals, businesses and enterprises from malicious cyberthreats. Microsoft Defender coordinates protection across endpoints, identity, email, apps and cloud.
What Microsoft Purview does[1][14][23][24][25]
Microsoft Purview offers a unified approach to help organizations secure and govern data across their heterogenous data estate. Microsoft Purview covers on-premises, multicloud and SaaS environments, and structured and unstructured data. Microsoft Purview features are purchased through different licenses or on a pay-as-you-go basis.
What Microsoft Entra does[1][15][23][25]
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) was renamed Microsoft Entra ID in 2023. Purchase starts with Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2 license subscriptions, which can also be purchased as part of a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license.
What Microsoft Intune does[1][16][23][25]
Microsoft Intune offers advanced endpoint management and security capabilities available as standalone add-ons or as part of the Intune Suite. Microsoft Intune Plan 1 is the endpoint management solution included in most Microsoft 365 enterprise licenses. Plan 1 covers cross-platform device management, built-in security, mobile application management and endpoint analytics.
What Microsoft Defender Suite does[12]
Microsoft Defender Suite focuses on threat protection and detection and response across endpoints, identities, email and SaaS apps. The integrated security operations center (ISOC) is included in the Defender Suite.
What Microsoft Entra Suite does[15]
Microsoft Entra Suite extends Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 to enable secure workforce use of apps and AI with continuous, adaptive identity and network access controls across employees, apps and networks. Microsoft Entra Suite requires a subscription to Microsoft Entra ID P1 or a package that includes Microsoft Entra ID P1.

Questions about IBM and Microsoft

What do IBM and Microsoft sell?
IBM sells IBM Cloudant and IBM Maximo Application Suite. Microsoft sells Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Intune and 3 more.
Are IBM and Microsoft in the same category?
They share Workforce IAM and SSO and Endpoint management and application control. IBM's primary category is Data security posture management and Microsoft's is EDR and XDR.
Where are IBM and Microsoft headquartered?
Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, United States.
When were IBM and Microsoft founded?
IBM was founded in 1911. Microsoft was founded in 1975.
Who owns IBM and Microsoft?
Microsoft is a public company listed on NASDAQ as MSFT.
Which customers do IBM and Microsoft name?
Microsoft publicly names Best Buy, Danfoss and Oregon State University.
Who are IBM and Microsoft sold to?
From its own pages, IBM sells to operations, maintenance and facility teams through its asset and facilities management solution. From its own pages, Microsoft sells security products for businesses of any size.
What have IBM and Microsoft announced recently?
September 24, 2026: IBM UK announced its acquisition of Logiq Consulting, a UK cybersecurity consultancy. July 29, 2026: Microsoft reported revenue of $90.0 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up 18% year over year.

About IBM

IBM Vault is offered for securing machine and agent identities. IBM provides governance of machine identities, secrets and access across hybrid environments. Riverty is named as a user of built-in security from IBM Vault. IBM sells watsonx Orchestrate for bringing agents under control. IBM offers management, governance, security and optimization of AI agents across their complete lifecycle, regardless of where they were built or run. Scuderia Ferrari is named as a user of watsonx Orchestrate to automate fan content. Skechers is named as a customer that modernized its cloud infrastructure with IBM Terraform.[1][3]

IBM offers automated governance for managing AI risks, simplifying regulatory compliance and creating responsible, explainable AI workflows. IBM offers an integrated, collaborative, end-to-end developer studio that features an AI developer toolkit and full AI lifecycle management for developing custom AI applications. IBM offers data management that prepares and integrates data from anywhere, in any format. IBM watsonx Code Assistant provides AI-powered playbook generation, code explanations and personalized recommendations for IT automation.[4]

IBM states that AI is increasing the speed and scale of vulnerability discovery across applications, dependencies and infrastructure. IBM states that vulnerability scoring systems like CVSS measure technical severity, not real-world exploitability, business context or operational impact. IBM Concert Protect applies AI-powered automation and contextual risk intelligence to application vulnerability management. Concert generates AI-powered insights including tailored remediation steps, attack vectors and guidance. Concert has a unified dashboard that shows vulnerabilities across applications, containers and infrastructure. Code-based auto-remediation enables fixes directly in code before production. Concert has built-in SCA capabilities that extend visibility into SBOMs, CI/CD pipelines and software packages, and scan open-source and third-party components for vulnerabilities, outdated libraries and license compliance issues.[3][5]

IBM Concert for Z is an AI-powered IT operations management hub for mainframe resilience. IBM Concert for Power automates the entire patch and update lifecycle. IBM Concert integrates with Instana to automate the collection of resilience data across Non-Functional Requirements. IBM introduces IBM Bob Premium Package for DevSecOps to bring security closer to where software is created and reviewed while keeping developers in control. IBM Bob stops risky packages as the agent writes, flags issues as developers save, runs deeper AI security scans on demand and keeps people in control throughout. IBM Bob premium packages extend Bob with capabilities tailored to specific development environments.[5][6]

IBM Cloudant supports flexible, schema-free JSON document storage and is built on CouchDB technology with compatible API and replication protocols. IBM Cloudant encrypts all data, with optional user-defined encryption key management through IBM Key Protect, and integrates with IBM Identity and Access Management. IBM Cloudant has layered additional open-source technologies for full text search and geospatial indexing capabilities. IBM Cloud includes a service that adds authentication to mobile and web apps and protects APIs and back ends running on IBM Cloud.[7][8]

IBM Maximo Application Suite is a unified asset and facilities management solution that brings maintenance, inspections and reliability together in one place for critical equipment and infrastructure. IBM builds the suite for operations, maintenance and facility teams. Maximo Application Suite comes in two packages: client managed software or software as a service. MAS is purchased through a credit-based system called AppPoints. IBM Maximo is used to digitize the entire data center asset lifecycle. IBM Maximo Renewables is for energy operators managing solar, wind and battery storage portfolios. KP Group is named as a customer that automates asset performance, reporting and compliance across 70+ sites with IBM Maximo Renewables. VPI is named as a customer that needed a consistent way to manage assets, maintenance, safety and compliance across four power plants.[9][10][11][12]

IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization Studio is now available as part of IBM Decision Intelligence Enterprise Edition, which brings together decision automation, optimization and intelligent decision management capabilities. CPLEX Optimizer and CP Optimizer solve mathematical programming, constraint programming and constraint-based scheduling problems. IBM supports developing optimization models for on-premises, cloud or hybrid environments. IBM SPSS Amos is structural equation modeling software that extends regression, factor and variance analysis. SPSS Amos is a standalone application available on Windows and is included in SPSS Statistics Premium.[1][3][4][6][10][13][14]

IBM on the record

Sources

IBM full record

  1. [1]SecurityIBM · ibm.com · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]AboutIBM · ibm.com · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]IBMIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]IBM watsonxIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Application Vulnerability Management - IBM ConcertIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI Coding Agent and Development Partner for Enterprise | IBMIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]IBM CloudantIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]IBM Cloud Free TierIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Maximo Application Suite | IBMIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Pricing Maximo Application Suite - IBM Maximo Application SuiteIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Data Center Asset Management | IBM Application SuiteIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Renewables Energy Asset Performance Management | IBM Application SuiteIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization StudioIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]IBM SPSS AmosIBM · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]IBM acquires Confluent to connect, process and govern real-time data for applications and AI agentsIBM · published March 17, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]IBM Acquires Logiq Consulting to Expand Secure Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity Capabilities in the UKIBM · published September 24, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]IBM expands AI security push as cyberattacks accelerate | IBMIBM Think · published May 21, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]IBM App Connect Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

Microsoft full record

  1. [1]Cloud Security Solutions | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]AboutMicrosoft · news.microsoft.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Msft 20240630Microsoft Corporation via SEC EDGAR · sec.gov · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]7c96b326 33bc 4b84 8abb 7afd7a517ea3Microsoft Corporation · microsoft.gcs-web.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]25053 best buy microsoft sentinelMicrosoft · microsoft.com · published August 25, 2025 · Tier A
  6. [6]22786 danfoss microsoft sentinelMicrosoft · microsoft.com · published March 7, 2025 · Tier A
  7. [7]1747330384796486050 oregon state university microsoft security copilot higher education en united statesMicrosoft · microsoft.com · published March 14, 2024 · Tier A
  8. [8]Microsoft cloud and ai strength fuels fourth quarter results 4Microsoft · news.microsoft.com · published July 29, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Microsoft cloud and ai strength fuels third quarter resultsMicrosoft · news.microsoft.com · published April 29, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Microsoft 365 Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
  11. [11]Microsoft Defender—Cybersecurity Solutions | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Microsoft Defender Suite | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Microsoft Purview Suite | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Microsoft Purview Pricing | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Microsoft Entra Pricing | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Microsoft Intune Pricing | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Cybersecurity for small and medium business | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Security Copilot agents in Microsoft 365 E5 | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Microsoft Defender Pricing | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]December 2025 announcements - Partner Center announcementsMicrosoft Learn · published December 22, 2025 · Tier A
  21. [21]Rethinking security for the age of AIThe Official Microsoft Blog · published July 27, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]Microsoft Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier C
  23. [23]Microsoft 365 Security Enterprise Plans| Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  24. [24]Microsoft Purview: Data Security and Governance | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  25. [25]CybersecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  26. [26]Microsoft Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  27. [27]Microsoft Mobile Phone Authenticator | Microsoft SecurityMicrosoft · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  28. [28]Leading Frontier Firm transformation with Microsoft 365 E7: The partner opportunityMicrosoft · published May 1, 2026 · Tier A

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