EDR vs. SIEM: How they differ and why you need both

EDR and SIEM are two effective solutions managed service providers (MSPs) wield in protecting their clients against cyber threats—but what’s the difference between the two, and why do you need both?  

Endpoint detection and response tools (EDR) focus on endpoint protection and threat detection, while security information and event management (SIEM) provide a broader view of network security through log management and event correlation.  

Combining SIEM and EDR results in a comprehensive, layered approach to your security. Think of your data center like the king or queen inside a castle—you want to protect them at all costs. In this situation, your first line of defense is an outer wall to keep enemies at bay. This is your firewall and antivirus.  

But what happens if bad guys get over the wall? Thankfully, you have multiple layers of protection: a moat, a drawbridge, and knights.  

An effective cybersecurity strategy requires a layered approach that does more than keep the enemies at bay. SIEM and EDR tools work together to provide broad visibility and targeted threat response. 

When layering your cybersecurity strategy, there’s no such thing as SIEM vs. EDR. It’s SIEM and EDR. Let’s review why a cohesive security tech stack works better with EDR and SIEM implemented together. 

Key takeaways

• EDR focuses on endpoint detection and threat detection at the device level. EDR tools gather and analyze threat-related information from computer workstations or other endpoints to identify security breaches in real time.  

• Common use cases for EDR software include protecting clients from ransomware, malware, and supply chain attacks, and adhering to industry compliance standards that reduce overall business risk.   

• SIEM detects, identifies, and helps prevent cyberattacks while simultaneously centralizing and correlating security and event data from across the company’s entire infrastructure, providing security teams with comprehensive visibility into all elements of an IT ecosystem.    

• Common use cases for SIEM software include shielding your clients from insider threats, monitoring for data exfiltration, and identifying brute force and PowerShell attacks.   

• SIEM vs. EDR are not mutually exclusive solutions—they are complementary tactics. A multi-layered security approach that combines SIEM and EDR is often the best approach for safeguarding clients. 

What EDR software is, and why it is important 

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools gather and analyze security threat-related information from  endpoints to find security breaches as they happen. Working proactively, EDR facilitates faster responses to identified or potential threats.  

Endpoints serve as gateways to a network. Think underground tunnels into the castle or the keys to a backdoor. These are your hardware devices, such as laptops, desktops, smartphones, and servers, all of which are prone to vulnerabilities that malicious actors target relentlessly in hopes of infiltrating the endpoint, giving access to the network.  

EDR tools can provide MSPs with the following benefits: 

• Improved compliance – Laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impose stringent compliance standards on various industries. EDR helps you stay ahead of data security and remediate potential threats. You’ll also be able to quickly spot known and unknown endpoint attacks for your clients and provide them with in-depth reports to show compliance auditors.  

• Improved network visibility – EDR tools continuously monitor system endpoints. You can identify and act on threats in real time, quickly identify ransomware and malware attacks, and determine their source while protecting the business. Your clients will also gain a new level of visibility into user activity and applications running on endpoint machines.  

• Less risk – The continuous monitoring and in-depth reporting EDR provides puts your clients at less cybersecurity risk. In addition, EDR threat hunting can identify vulnerabilities and fix them before hackers can take advantage. New insight into user behavior will also enable your clients to prevent a potential insider attack. You can also leverage EDR reporting to assess your clients’ current cybersecurity positioning and take steps to improve their protection.  

• Lower costs –  EDR will help you quickly define and remediate threats, lowering downtime costs and the risk of ransom or extortion fees from bad actors.  This enables you to proactively deal with threats before they happen, thanks to the detailed information and reporting these tools provide.  

• Stronger cybersecurity positioning – EDR helps reduce false positives and identifies real threats quickly and easily. You’ll be able to prioritize incoming threats accordingly and rapidly respond to the most mission-critical threats. EDR reporting will also give you the insights necessary to continually improve your client’s cybersecurity positioning, strengthening your reputation while reducing your client’s risk and improving their cybersecurity posture.  

An EDR system can vary greatly depending on the vendor and implementation but can benefit from vendor-driven analysis. Other key advantages include using rollback capabilities, the ability to query endpoint data quickly, and containing threats at the endpoint.  

Use cases for EDR software

We’ve covered the concept of EDR and its role as a frontline tool for detecting, investigating, and stopping attacks before they spread. Now, here’s how organizations put it to work in real-world scenarios.  

Adherence to industry compliance

In certain industries, violation of compliance standards can be incredibly costly. Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance and certain financial legislation require strict data and system management, and the penalties for violating these standards can be costly. 

Now, none of these regulatory bodies mandate the use of EDR. However, implementing EDR in your client’s system can help prevent compliance incidents via continuous endpoint and user behavior monitoring.  

Often, when a compliance incident does occur, insufficient details and reporting are submitted to the regulatory auditors. EDR would also help provide an informative, insightful report in the event of a compliance issue. 

Cyber insurance

Cyber insurance provides businesses with financial benefits in the event of a cybersecurity attack. Part of your role is helping your clients navigate obtaining a cyber insurance policy. The organizations providing this insurance look kindly upon businesses with EDR protocols in place. EDR helps reduce a business’s risk, making these companies much more attractive to potential insurers. 

With the annual cost of global cybercrime projected to reach $13.82 trillion by 2028, the stakes have never been higher. Our 2025 MSP Threat Report breaks down the biggest threats MSPs face and how to stay ahead.    

What is SIEM, and why is it important?

Beyond initial threat detection, SIEM centralizes and correlates security event logs across an organization’s infrastructure. By pulling log and event data from network devices, systems, applications, and cloud services, SIEM brings all the information into one platform. This “single pane of glass” gives security teams a broad view of what’s happening at all levels of an IT infrastructure. 

With this information easily accessible, your team gets a boost in the battle against cybercrime. Armed with the right data, you can conduct strategic detection, analyze event data, enrich logs, meet compliance requirements, and accept data from many sources in the network. To put it simply, these are your eyes and ears to proactively protect the fortress.  

Key benefits of SIEM solutions for MSPs are: 

• Automatic threat detection – Modern SIEM platforms leverage AI to identify known and unknown cyber threats. Identifying these threats is typically a manual process, so SIEM exponentially increases your cybersecurity effectiveness and frees your team to focus on higher-priority tasks with this technology.  

• Real-time monitoring – SIEM allows MSPs to track their clients’ networks and user activity in real time, allowing them to be proactive and get ahead of cybersecurity threats.  

• Forensic reporting – SIEM offers a searchable record that enables investigators to reconstruct security incidents and determine root causes. 

• Optimized management – Unified dashboards allow MSPs to monitor multiple networks or IT environments from one place, streamlining your internal operations and supporting scalability. 

• Scalable security– SIEM applications increase your cybersecurity efficiency by reducing noise and accelerating threat responses. When you start using SIEM, the number of false positives in your clients’ systems will start to decrease. SIEM will also boost the speed of your disaster detection and recovery by aiding in proactive identification. 

Use cases for SIEM software

SIEM does more than detect outside threats—it helps MSPs safeguard client systems from both internal risks and external attacks. SIEM enables proactive defense across multiple threat vectors by analyzing security events in real time. Here are some common use cases for SIEM. 

Detecting insider threats

SIEM can be a powerful tool in shielding your clients from a breach or insider threat. The platform’s features enable MSPs to monitor network activity. You can track when user permissions are escalated for critical data or when an individual or automated application  moves laterally within the company system (a popular method of perpetrating insider threats).  

Identifying brute force attacks and PowerShell-based threats 

MSPs can also protect their clients’ data through SIEM’s ability to detect many cyberattacks. SIEM platforms can identify brute force attacks and PowerShell attacks, enabling MSPs to provide a robust, layered approach to their clients’ cybersecurity.   

SIEM vs. EDR: what sets them apart

Both EDR and SIEM are necessary to deliver the layered cybersecurity protection that today’s evolving threat landscape requires. While they have different purposes, they work together to improve your clients’ security posture.  

Key similarities between EDR and SIEM

• Visibility into security events – Both SIEM and EDR enhance security visibility by monitoring and analyzing activities within their respective scopes: endpoints for EDR and broader networks for SIEM.  

• Threat detection – Each solution detects threats in real time, leveraging advanced analytics like machine learning to identify anomalies and potential breaches.  

• Incident response – Both provide capabilities to investigate incidents and support responses to mitigate security threats. While EDR excels in automated responses, SIEM aids in correlating events for a broader context.  

• Compliance support – Each improves compliance by offering real-time monitoring, alerting, and forensic capabilities that align with regulatory standards.  

Key differences between EDR and SIEM

• Data management – EDR tools collect data directly from the source since they continuously monitor applications and user behavior at system endpoints. SIEM, on the other hand, receives alert and event information from hardware, software, and tools like EDR, to gather and synthesize data into cybersecurity intel and potential responses. 

• Focus area – SIEM tools focus on protecting and providing visibility for an organization’s entire network, while EDR tools focus on system endpoints (user terminals). 

• Threat response capabilities – EDR tools can support incident response, launching automatic incident response based on protocols you can predefine within the platform. SIEM platforms work best for incident identification but typically don’t have direct response capability. 

Why EDR and SIEM work better together

The layered approach works best when it comes to evaluating SIEM and EDR. EDR excels at detecting, blocking, containing, and remediating threats targeting your clients’ endpoints faster. It also analyzes and investigates these threats and rolls back to “safe” versions if needed.  

In tandem, SIEM technology helps protect your clients more effectively by providing complete visibility into an organization’s IT infrastructure and collecting data from multiple sources for analysis. This approach enables security teams to catch events, even when prevention measures fail.   

Here’s why the combination of SIEM and EDR is so powerful:  

• Comprehensive visibility – SIEM provides a holistic view of the network, while EDR delivers granular endpoint-level detail.  

• Enhanced threat detection – SIEM can correlate events from multiple sources, including EDR, to identify sophisticated attacks.  

• Faster incident response – EDR enables rapid containment and remediation of endpoint threats, while SIEM provides a greater context for broader incident response efforts.  

When implemented in tandem, EDR and SIEM help MSPs achieve:  

• A complete picture of threats targeting your clients in real time  

• Minimized blind spots, as each tool covers areas where the other may fall short  

• Proactive threat detection and response becomes more efficient, reducing the likelihood of breaches or significant damage  

As an example, EDR solutions are often limited in their ability to detect and deflect highly sophisticated file-less malware. This malware is dangerous, as it exploits vulnerabilities that can give attackers administrative control and the ability to gather data to use in future attacks—like a highly targeted phishing attack.  

This type of malware doesn’t require any files to be downloaded onto your machine. It uses software apps you use every day to directly infect the memory of your computer, not just the hard drive. 

Adding these layers of advanced defenses to their security technology stack can help MSPs develop a complete picture of the threats targeting their clients in real time and catch advanced threats that may have otherwise gone undetected. 

Download our eBook on SIEM vs. EDR to learn more about how these security solutions complement each other.  

Choosing the right EDR and SIEM solutions

The right mix of EDR and SIEM solutions gives MSPs real-time threat detection, deep visibility, and automated security response. Look for solutions that offer seamless integration, automated threat detection, and comprehensive reporting capabilities.  

Ready to take your cybersecurity efforts to the next level? ConnectWise delivers a unified approach, integrating across client environments while simplifying management. Explore our suite of cybersecurity software demos and trials, including advanced EDR with a fully staffed security operations center (SOC) and co-managed SIEM for comprehensive threat visibility.