XDR vs. SIEM vs. SOAR: Which Does Your Business Need?
 
 

Today’s businesses face more email and collaboration security threats than ever before, and increasingly they must confront these threats with short-staffed cybersecurity teams.

In this environment, companies benefit from having the right security tools at their disposal. When it comes to identifying security threats, responding to them, and taking proactive steps to avoid them in the future, companies have many choices.

Security vendors typically describe products that analyze and respond to a security incident in one of three ways:

• Extended Detection and Response (XDR).
• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM).
• Security Orchestration and Response (SOAR).

Each type of product offers its own benefits. XDR is critical for securing email, which remains the top delivery vector for today’s cyberattacks, while SIEM offers valuable data retention and compliance features, and SOAR’s orchestration capabilities help with resource management. Mimecast’s connected human risk management platform integrates with tools like these to deliver more effective detection while reducing manual effort.

An Introduction to XDR, SIEM, and SOAR

Let’s take a closer look at XDR, SIEM, and SOAR tools, to understand how they differ and see how they can complement each other.

What is XDR? 

Think of XDR as the evolution of endpoint detection and response (EDR). Where EDR focuses entirely on endpoints such as laptops, smartphones, and other devices, XDR goes a step further and pulls data from a range of traditionally siloed monitoring systems, such as email security, network visibility, cloud workload protection, and identity and access management. 

Security teams can detect more cyber threats and respond more effectively while seeing fewer false positives since they have a more complete picture of what’s happening across the entirety of their company’s IT infrastructure. XDR tools can be native (limited to a single vendor’s offering) or hybrid (open to integration with other best-of-breed vendors).

What is SIEM? 

Combining security information management and security event management functionality, SIEM logs data from systems such as antivirus software and intrusion detection. Native analytics capabilities are limited, though plug-ins powered by machine learning make it possible to do things like model typical user and device behavior to better detect suspicious activity. In addition, companies may need multiple SIEM tools to gain full visibility into the threat landscape that they face.

What is SOAR? 

As the name implies, Security Orchestration and Response focuses on automating remediation and response efforts, and triaging more complex cyber threats. The primary goal is to minimize the need for human intervention and streamline a company’s overall approach to security. Since SOAR tools are set up to ingest data, they can serve as standalone products or as an add-on to a SIEM tool. Many companies opt for the latter, since SOAR tends not to emphasize event logs or analysis.

XDR vs. SIEM vs. SOAR: Key Differences

Basically, XDR, SIEM, and SOAR all aim to do security event analysis and response. The difference is in how each toolset approaches the problem. The easiest way to understand these differences is to compare each type of tool side by side.

SOAR vs. SIEM

In several respects, SOAR and SIEM are meant to complement each other. A SIEM tool serves as a log of security events and provides alerts and analysis to security teams; SOAR tools take in data from many sources, including but not limited to SIEM tools, and enable automated threat responses. Essentially, SOAR takes action on the information that SIEM provides.

The combination of logging and analysis from SIEM and automated response from SOAR can be powerful: It makes it possible for a security team to focus their efforts on high-priority tasks that require more problem solving and critical thinking than incident response. On the other hand, the tools are only truly effective if they are fully integrated. Even then, they may not provide visibility into the full spectrum of point solutions across IT and security infrastructure and applications.

Unfortunately, integrating a SIEM and SOAR solution can prove to be complex and costly. In addition, the limitations posed by the types of data sources that SIEM tools can process makes them susceptible to false positives. If SOAR systems are set up to take action on the information they get from SIEM systems, this may result in a lot of automated incident responses that require a manual override.

SIEM vs. XDR

XDR is designed to provide that full spectrum of visibility. This closes a critical gap that’s present with both SIEM and SOAR, which tend to pull data from security monitoring tools as opposed to endpoints themselves.

In addition, XDR brings threat detection, investigation, and response into a single, centralized solution. This goes a step further than SIEM, which primarily logs and analyzes incidents and can only act upon them if a plug-in or add-on has been enabled. Finally, XDR’s next-generation analytics capabilities can uncover “low-and-slow” cyberattacks that are meant to go undetected for months and manifest over time, something that legacy SIEM tools may not be able to do.

That said, today’s most sophisticated SIEM tools can do things that XDR cannot. XDR focuses largely on threat detection and response. SIEM offers capabilities such as log management, data retention, and regulatory and standards compliance, all of which are outside the purview of what XDR can do.

SOAR vs. XDR

The XDR emphasis on detection, investigation, and response likewise gives XDR a leg up on SOAR, which is designed primarily to focus on response. XDR also extends automation beyond threat response to automate root-cause analysis and workflow creation. Workflow automation scripts help security teams set up custom alerts and response processes, where a SOAR tool typically requires more manual development and deployment of response playbooks.

At the same time, the “O” in SOAR stands for orchestration. Like XDR, SOAR provides visibility into security threat data coming from multiple sources. Orchestration takes this a step further to help companies simplify security operations by setting priorities and allocating resources where they best fit. This isn’t always the case with XDR tools.

XDR and Other Security Technologies

Many businesses evaluating an XDR platform are also weighing managed services, outsourced monitoring, or older point solutions. The right fit depends on how much visibility, automation, and in-house security capacity an organization already has.

MDR vs XDR

MDR and XDR address different needs. XDR is a security tool that brings together signals from email, endpoint security, identity, and other controls to help internal teams detect and investigate threats more efficiently. MDR is a managed service that provides outside experts to monitor and respond on your behalf.

In short, XDR gives you the platform, while MDR gives you the operational support. The right choice depends on whether your team needs more technology, more hands-on coverage, or both.

XDR vs MXDR

MXDR builds on XDR by adding a managed service layer. It combines the broader visibility of XDR with expert-led monitoring, triage, and response support.

That makes MXDR a strong fit for organizations that want XDR capabilities but do not have the internal resources to manage them fully. XDR, by contrast, is often better suited to teams that want direct control over detection and response workflows.

XDR vs Traditional Security Solutions

Traditional tools often focus on one area at a time, such as endpoint security, email protection, or network monitoring. They can still be effective, but they may leave gaps when threats move across multiple systems.

XDR helps close that gap by connecting data from multiple security layers and providing broader context around a potential threat. Rather than replacing every existing control, it works best as a way to make your broader security stack more coordinated and effective.

Finding the Best Fit for Your Business

While SIEM use cases emphasize detection and SOAR use cases focus on response, XDR aims to do both.

However, as is often the case with threat detection and response, an integrated whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is especially the case here because XDR is unlikely to replace either SIEM or SOAR within the next few years. In other words, XDR works well on its own but is more powerful when combined in a best-of-breed integration with SIEM and SOAR tools.

This is the philosophy behind the Mimecast-Netskope-Rapid7 Triple Play . The Triple Play offering brings together point monitoring solutions such as Mimecast's Secure Email Gateway and Netskope Intelligent Security Service Edge and integrates them with industry-leading XDR, SIEM, and SOAR tools from Rapid7. Through their integration, the vendors’ systems share information in near real time. This reduces human intervention and custom-built data integration tools, which have made working with SIEM and SOAR a challenge in the past.

The Bottom Line

The differences between today’s XDR, SIEM, and SOAR tools show that a company’s best option for cybersecurity threat detection, analysis, and response is to make the most of all three. As companies explore their options, it’s important to consider tools developed with an open architecture model, such as a hybrid XDR solution. 

Since open architecture doesn’t rely solely on proprietary technology, companies can integrate best-of-breed tools such as Mimecast’s products and threat intelligence on email, the source of 90% of today’s cyberattacks. This ensures that the integrated suite of XDR, SIEM, and SOAR tools can leverage the data they need to offer the best protection against today’s cybersecurity challenges. Learn more about Mimecast’s integration strategy.

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SIEM vs SOAR vs XDR vs EDR FAQs

Does my organization need SOAR, SIEM, and XDR?

Not every organization needs all three tools right away, but many businesses benefit from using them together. SIEM helps centralize and retain security event data, SOAR helps automate response actions, and XDR improves detection and investigation across multiple environments. The right mix depends on your team’s size, security maturity, compliance needs, and how much visibility and automation you already have.

What is the difference between running XDR and SIEM and SOAR?

XDR combines threat detection, investigation, and some response capabilities in a more unified workflow. Running SIEM and SOAR together usually means using one tool for logging, analysis, and compliance visibility, then another for orchestration and automated response. XDR can simplify operations, while SIEM and SOAR can provide deeper specialization, especially for organizations with more complex security requirements.

Does XDR replace SIEM and SOAR?

XDR can reduce the need for separate tools in some environments, but it does not fully replace SIEM and SOAR in every case. SIEM still offers strong log management, retention, and compliance support, while SOAR remains valuable for advanced orchestration and playbook-driven response. For many organizations, XDR works best as part of a broader security strategy rather than as a full replacement.

How do you determine if SOAR, SIEM, or XDR is the right fit?

The best fit depends on what your business needs most. If you need centralized logging, audit support, and broad event visibility, a SIEM solution may be the better starting point. If your priority is automating repetitive response tasks, a SOAR platform may add more value. If you want a more unified security tool for cross-environment detection and response, XDR may be the strongest fit, especially for teams trying to reduce complexity.

**This blog was originally published on September 15, 2022.