With the recent release of the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Network Detection and Response (NDR), I’m thrilled to see Vectra AI named a Leader, placed highest on Ability to Execute and furthest in Completeness of Vision. But more than accolades, this recognition shines a spotlight on how criticalNDR has become in protecting modern networks against modern attacks. Choosing the right NDR is a strategic decision that impacts an organization’s ability to detect, investigate, and respond to cyber attacks that span complex hybrid environments.

One of the pillars of our culture at Vectra AI is to be customer first - helping organizations navigate a complex attack landscape. At the recent Gartner Security and Risk Conference in Washington D.C., Gartner advised security leaders to ask 5 questions when evaluating an NDR solution and here’s how Vectra AI answers them:

1. What deployment models does your NDR platform support?

Vectra AI delivers flexibility without compromise. The Vectra AI Platform supports a variety of deployment models to meet your specific infrastructure and security needs:

• Cloud-native: Agentless, fully managed, scalable NDR without the hardware overhead.
• On-premises: This deployment model is largely used for organizations with stringent data sovereignty or air-gapped requirements.
• Hybrid Deployment Options: Vectra AI can operate with a zero-network footprint with deployment entirely in the cloud and/or on-premises as well as in air-gapped environments.

No matter where your data and users live – Vectra AI has you covered to scale with your organization.

2. How does your NDR platform integrate with data/identity platforms?

The Vectra AI platform includes Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) providing clear signal for both network and cloud identity coverage spanning Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft 365, AWS, and Azure. Our AI detections span all stages of the attack to monitor the abuse of human and machine identities in real-time.

Additionally, fitting into the larger security stack is critical for threat correlation and accelerating response. Vectra AI seamlessly integrates with the leading:

• SIEM and SOAR: Vectra AI data enriches Splunk, IBM QRadar, Microsoft Sentinel, and others with high-fidelity detections.
• EDR solutions: Integrates with CrowdStrike and Microsoft Defender amongst others to coordinate detect and response workflows.
• Data lakes and security data platforms: Vectra AI metadata can be exported into Snowflake, SE, and other analytics stacks via open API’s for further analysis.

In Total, the Vectra AI Platform Vectra has over 100 integrations outside of detection and response, spanning EDR, XDR, SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, CMDB as well as custom integrations for MSSP workflows.

3. Does your NDR platform support visibility across OT and cloud networks?

The Vectra AI Platform is built for the modern hybrid network including:

• Cloud-native environments: Vectra AI delivers deep visibility and detection in AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud that monitors cloud control plane abuse, VPC traffic, and IAM misuse.
• Operational Technology (OT): Vectra AI provides deep packet inspection that recognizes ICS/SCADA protocols and behaviors, allowing early detection of lateral movement and ransomware in OT and IoT environments.
• Campus and Data Center: Vectra AI covers traditional east-west traffic that decodes all behavior within the network, not just signatures.
• Remote Work: Not only does Vectra provide visibility for east-west traffic, but also north-south traffic with our groundbreaking integration with Zscaler and others to monitor all traffic beyond the network edge and support a Zero Trust architecture.

Vectra Attack Signal Intelligence provides the AI-driven signal that is consistent and unified across all network domains.

4. What support do you offer in the implementation and tuning of your NDR platform?

With Vectra AI, your SOC team is never alone. Our services include:

• Professional Services: Vectra AI Professional Services help SOC teams implement and integrate the Vectra AI Platform seamlessly into your broader security stack fast to get up and running quickly.
• Education and Training: From in-product tips to full-scale SOC analyst training, we ensure your team is enabled, not burdened.
• Technical Support: Vectra AI Technical Support provides instant and effective technical support form industry experts and Vectra specialists to guarantee ease in implementation and deployment and unlock roadblocks in your security workflows within minutes.
• Managed Services (MDR): Supplement your SOC team by leveraging the Vectra AI MDR team to assist with 24/7 monitoring or to supplement your threat hunting, detection, investigation, and response program.

5. How is AI used to minimize false positives and increase near real-time detection?

This is where Vectra AI shines.

Our AI is not just marketing jargon – it’s a purpose-built set of machine learning models trained on over a decade of attack telemetry. We focus on:

• AI Detections: Vectra AI uncovers even the most advanced attacker techniques including C2, lateral movement, and data exfiltration without relying on signatures.
• AI Triage: Vectra AI automatically determines relevance connecting the dots between AI Detections and entity importance to reduce manual workload.
• AI Stitching: Vectra AI automatically correlates AI detections across the entire modern network including network, identity, and cloud to create an attack profile fast.
• AI Prioritization: Vectra AI delivers entity-centric urgency ratings based on attack profile, velocity, and attacker techniques to hone in on the most critical and urgent threats.

The result? Signal clarity, not alert overload.

Final Thoughts: A Strategic Investment

NDR is no longer optional; it’s essential. As attackers shift to stealthy, post-breach tactics, NDR becomes a critical detection capability that must cover the entire modern network attack surface, and the right vendor can make all the difference. Whether you're a large enterprise SOC or a small team that wears a lot of hats, ask the right questions. Demand clarity, flexibility, and AI-driven precision.

And if you're exploring NDR, see why Gartner placed Vectra AI in the upper-right corner of the leader quadrant.

Check out the full Gartner NDR report here.