Need to monitor Microsoft 365 without buying a full SIEM?
If the job is to draw your engineers’ attention to account and mailbox activity, start there. Vigil Alerts offers focused Microsoft 365 monitoring from £49/month self-hosted or £149/month dedicated hosted, excluding VAT.
The findings your team needs to review
A new inbox rule on a director’s account. Forwarding to an outside address. A rarely used account signing in from an unfamiliar connection. These are specific investigation questions. A larger security platform may answer them, but its additional scope may or may not be part of your requirement.
Vigil monitors supported sign-in and mailbox activity and alerts your team. It does not automatically disable accounts, enforce security baselines or supply a 24/7 analyst service. Read the St Johnstone FC and Binn Group examples to see what that engineer-led workflow looked like in practice.
When focused monitoring is a reasonable shortlist
- You mainly need Microsoft 365 account and mailbox events reviewed by existing engineers.
- Your team already owns the response process.
- You want to self-host or specify a dedicated hosted installation.
- You can demonstrate the required events in the product before buying.
When the wider solution earns its price
If you need investigation across endpoints, firewalls and other applications, budget for a broader SIEM. If you need analysts to review incidents at night, budget for that service. A smaller monitoring bill does not supply either function.
Compare the relevant alternatives
Microsoft Sentinel vs Vigil Alerts
Broad SIEM coverage versus focused Microsoft 365 monitoring.Read the Microsoft Sentinel comparisonSaaS Alerts vs Vigil Alerts
Multi-application security and response versus a focused deployment.Read the SaaS Alerts comparisonHuntress Managed ITDR vs Vigil Alerts
Managed analysts and response versus software for your own engineers.Read the Huntress Managed ITDR comparisonOctiga vs Vigil Alerts
Security baseline enforcement versus engineer-led account monitoring.Read the Octiga comparisonCould Vigil Alerts save money?
Potentially, if you would otherwise pay for wider functionality or an additional service you do not need. Confirm the scope first, then compare your current quote with the appropriate Vigil plan. Include self-hosting costs and engineer time. There is no universal percentage saving.
For example, the £99/month self-hosted plan covers up to 1,000 monitored users. At the full allowance that is 9.9p per user per month in software fees; the bill is a flat £99, not per-user billing. Your server, maintenance and investigation work are additional. Dedicated hosting for the same allowance is £199/month.
Choose the deployment boundary
Self-hosting puts the application on infrastructure you control. Dedicated hosting supplies a separate virtual server and application instance for your purchasing organisation. An MSP may manage several customer tenants within its installation. Shared physical infrastructure or supporting services are not ruled out by the term dedicated virtual server.
Monitoring availability depends on Microsoft permissions, licensing and data sources. Review your requirements in a demonstration before replacing an existing control.