Macquarie Government vs Sophos
Macquarie Government is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Sophos is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Macquarie Government targets Enterprise organizations; Sophos serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Macquarie Government includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Network), compared to 5 for Sophos (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Buyer brief
Macquarie Government is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Sophos is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Macquarie Government targets Enterprise organizations; Sophos serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Macquarie Government includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Network), compared to 5 for Sophos (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Sophos is the choice if you want a single-vendor stack with deep integration. Macquarie Government is better if you have existing tools and want flexibility.
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Australian Commonwealth and state agencies that require sovereign onshore SOCaaS and MDR | Existing Sophos endpoint or firewall customers adding managed services on their existing platform |
| Price | Custom quote | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 3/6 actions · Configurable | 6/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Requires own platform |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Warranty | None listed | $1,000,000 |
- Best fit
- Australian Commonwealth and state agencies that require sovereign onshore SOCaaS and MDR
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 3/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Existing Sophos endpoint or firewall customers adding managed services on their existing platform
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Requires own platform
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- $1,000,000
Detailed comparison
| FIELD | Macquarie GovernmentTECH-AGNOSTIC | SophosPLATFORM |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | ||
| Target size | Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Very Positive |
| Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Requires their platform |
| EDR integrations | Customer endpoint security toolsWorkstation logs | Sophos EndpointCrowdStrikeMicrosoft DefenderSentinelOneCarbon Black |
| SIEM integrations | Macquarie Government SIEMaaSSplunk EnterpriseCustomer SIEM platforms | Sophos Central SIEM integration via API |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: LimitedNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Not covered | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Limited |
| Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | IsolateContainCustom playbooks | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | ✓ Included |
| Cost | ||
| Price range | Not published | Custom quote required. Tiered pricing bands based on organization size. Starting price not publicly disclosed. |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | $1,000,000 |
| More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | Yes |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Identity | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| SaaS apps | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | Not offered | ~ Limited |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | ≤1 hour |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom government subscription and procurement model. SOCaaS, SIEMaaS and SASE pricing is not published. | Per-user and per-server pricing. Two tiers: MDR Essentials (monitoring and basic response) and MDR Complete (full IR and breach warranty). |
| Hidden cost warnings | The service is explicitly built for Australian Commonwealth and state government agencies, so private-sector and non-Australian buyers may not be eligible or may not fit the operating model.. Public pages do not publish prices, minimum terms, MTTD/MTTR, service credits or formal MDR SLAs.. SOCaaS is closely tied to Macquarie Government SIEMaaS, Splunk, sovereign hosting, SASE and gateway services; model migration work if replacing the service later.. Buyers should document which automated response actions are allowed by default and which require agency approval.. Log retention, ingestion, secure cloud, SASE and CTI options can materially change the total contract scope. | MDR Essentials does NOT include full incident response or breach warranty, requires MDR Complete upgrade. Linux server protection requires separate Sophos Workload Protection subscription. Post-Secureworks acquisition (Feb 2025): unclear if Sophos MDR and Taegis MDR will merge or remain separate products. Breach warranty limited to ONE claim total across all subscriptions, not per-incident |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | SOCaaS subscription, SIEMaaS subscription, SASE for Government, Custom government procurement | Annual, Multi-year |
| Channels | PortalEmailPhone | EmailPortalPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | – | ✓ |
| SOC regions | APAC | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific |
| Onboarding | Not published. Macquarie Government describes customized playbooks aligned with agency security processes and integration with existing security systems. | Weeks, varies by environment size and integration scope |
| Industry focus | GovernmentDefensePublic SectorCritical Infrastructure | ManufacturingHealthcareFinancial ServicesRetailTechnology |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | Not published | Sophos reports a 38-minute average case closure time. The MDR service description defines a 60-minute response-time SLA for 90% of High Severity Cases, with eligibility timing and service-credit limits. |
| Community view | Macquarie Government has strong vendor-controlled evidence for Australian government sovereignty, 24x7 SOC operations, SIEMaaS, threat intelligence and SASE integration, but little independent MDR-specific buyer-review signal in public communities. Government buyers should use procurement references to validate analyst quality, response authority, onboarding effort and Splunk/log-volume cost exposure. | G2: #1 overall MDR for 14 consecutive report cycles, 1,543 reviews, 95% satisfaction. Gartner Peer Insights: 2026 Customers' Choice for Endpoint Protection (4.9/5). MITRE ATT&CK 2025: 100% detection coverage. Praised for integration breadth and MDR Complete's all-in pricing. Recurring complaints about technical support responsiveness and endpoint agent resource usage. |
| Compliance | Essential 8ISMIRAPASDACSCDISP | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001:2022ISO 27017:2015ISO 27018:2019PCI DSS v4.0GDPRHIPAAHITRUST CSF |
| Certifications | NV1-cleared specialistsIndustry Security Program memberAustralian Government Strategic certified data centresPROTECTED-level secure web gateway assessmentIRAP-aligned virtual services gateway language | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001:2022ISO 27017:2015ISO 27018:2019PCI DSS v4.0 |
| Founded | – | 1985 |
| Data retention | SIEMaaS pages describe sovereign local hosting and storage of up to seven years of security and event information. Public pages do not publish default retention for SOCaaS contracts or export terms. | 90 days standard, 1-year extended available as add-on |
| API available | – | ✓ |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
FAQ
What is the main difference between Macquarie Government and Sophos?
Macquarie Government is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Sophos is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). SLA commitments differ: Macquarie Government offers Not disclosed, Sophos offers ≤1 hour. Macquarie Government covers 3 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 5 for Sophos.
How do Macquarie Government and Sophos differ in response capabilities?
Macquarie Government supports 3 autonomous actions (custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, network containment) and approval is configurable. Sophos supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable. Incident response is not included with Macquarie Government and included with Sophos.
How does Macquarie Government pricing compare to Sophos?
Macquarie Government pricing: Not published. Sophos pricing: Custom quote required. Tiered pricing bands based on organization size. Starting price not publicly disclosed.. Watch for with Macquarie Government: The service is explicitly built for Australian Commonwealth and state government agencies, so private-sector and non-Australian buyers may not be eligible or may not fit the operating model.; Public pages do not publish prices, minimum terms, MTTD/MTTR, service credits or formal MDR SLAs.. Watch for with Sophos: MDR Essentials does NOT include full incident response or breach warranty, requires MDR Complete upgrade; Linux server protection requires separate Sophos Workload Protection subscription.
Should I choose Macquarie Government or Sophos?
Choose Macquarie Government if: australian Commonwealth and state agencies that require sovereign onshore SOCaaS and MDR. Choose Sophos if: existing Sophos endpoint or firewall customers adding managed services on their existing platform. Macquarie Government is not ideal for private-sector or non-Australian buyers that do not need a government-specific sovereign provider. Sophos is not ideal for organizations needing raw telemetry query access (Sophos Central provides dashboards only).
Daylight Security
AI-native MDR for buyers comparing active remediation across endpoint, cloud, identity, and SaaS. Daylight works with existing EDR/SIEM stacks and uses ChatOps-native collaboration, so it can be a useful third reference point in this comparison.