This report is an update of our Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Leadership Compass published in December 2024. If you would like to review this Leadership Compass, please click here to read.
Vendors included in this Leadership Compass must provide managed or co-managed detection and response services that meet the following conditions:
- 24/7 monitoring, detection, and incident response delivered by human experts
- Active threat hunting and contextual investigation capabilities
- Integration with customer environments across endpoint, network, cloud, and identity telemetry
- Demonstrable response actions (containment, isolation, remediation) either automated or manual
- Support for threat intelligence, behavioral analytics, and automation
- Evidence of measurable outcomes such as detection speed or response efficiency
- Support for multiple deployment models (cloud, on-premises, or hybrid)
- Ability to interoperate with third-party security products via open APIs
MDR solutions may be delivered as cloud-native, on-premises, or hybrid offerings. Vendors providing flexible deployment models and broad coverage across IT, cloud, OT, and IoT environments will score more highly. Integration and interoperability are increasingly critical. MDR providers are expected to support API-first architectures, standard data formats, and seamless integration with existing SIEM, SOAR, EPDR, and IAM tools. Solutions should demonstrate effective automation and orchestration, enabling customers to retain visibility and control over actions taken in their environments.
