Secure Your Business Communications with Mimecast Solutions
Mimecast is a global cybersecurity leader providing cloud-native email, data, and web protection for organizations seeking to mitigate risk and ensure resilience.
Overview
Mimecast is a leading global cybersecurity provider specializing in email security, data resilience, and information protection. Founded in 2003, the company has evolved from a pioneer in cloud-based email archiving into a comprehensive cyber resilience platform. Mimecast serves over 40,000 customers worldwide, ranging from small-to-medium businesses to large global enterprises across highly regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government.
The company’s core mission is to protect "Work Protected" environments by securing the primary vector of modern cyberattacks: email. Their comprehensive suite of services includes:
- Email Security with Targeted Threat Protection (TTP)
- Email Continuity and Cloud Archiving
- Security Awareness Training
- Web Security and DMARC Management
- Brand Protection and Threat Intelligence
Mimecast operates a global proprietary cloud infrastructure, allowing them to inspect massive amounts of traffic and apply real-time intelligence to block emerging threats. Throughout its history, Mimecast has maintained a strong market presence by consistently innovating in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning to combat increasingly sophisticated social engineering and ransomware attacks. Their business focus remains centered on reducing the complexity of security management while providing robust defense-in-depth for the modern, distributed workforce.
Positioning
Mimecast positions itself as a premium "Cyber Resilience" partner rather than a point-solution security vendor. Their strategic messaging centers on the idea that security is not just about prevention, but about the ability of an organization to remain operational during and after an attack. This "Resilience" framework differentiates them from traditional Secure Email Gateway (SEG) providers who focus narrowly on blocking spam and malware.
In the market, Mimecast targets organizations that view email as a mission-critical application and require more than the "good enough" security provided by native productivity suites like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. They position their solutions as an essential security layer that augments and strengthens these platforms. Their brand positioning is built on three pillars:
- Protection: Shielding the organization from sophisticated inbound and outbound threats.
- Response: Providing the tools to remediate attacks and educate users quickly.
- Continuity: Ensuring that even if a primary email system goes down, the business can continue to communicate and access historical data.
By positioning themselves at the intersection of security, archiving, and continuity, Mimecast appeals to CISOs and IT Directors who are looking to consolidate their vendor stack without sacrificing deep, specialized protection.
Differentiation
Mimecast’s product suite is distinguished by its integrated, cloud-native architecture that combines email security, awareness training, and data retention into a single pane of glass. A key technical advantage is their "X1" platform, which processes massive volumes of data to provide rapid detection and response capabilities.
Key product differentiators include:
- Integrated Security Awareness Training: Unlike standalone modules, Mimecast embeds training directly into the security workflow, using real-world phishing attempts seen in the customer's own environment to educate users.
- Advanced Threat Protection: Utilizing multi-layered detection engines that combine signature-based, heuristic, and AI-driven analysis to stop sophisticated spear-phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks.
- CyberGraph: A unique AI capability that maps social graphs to detect anomalies in communication patterns, identifying subtle impersonation attempts that traditional filters miss.
- Enterprise-Grade Archiving: Mimecast provides a high-performance, immutable archive that ensures data integrity and simplifies e-discovery, distinguishing them from competitors who focus solely on perimeter defense.
- Extensible Ecosystem: With an "API-first" mentality, Mimecast offers over 100 pre-built integrations with SIEM, SOAR, and endpoint security vendors, allowing email intelligence to trigger automated responses across the entire security stack.
Ideal Customer Profile
Mimecast is best suited for organizations that view email as a mission-critical application and a primary risk vector.
- Company Size: Mid-market to large enterprises (500 to 50,000+ employees). While they serve smaller firms, the platform's depth is most valued by teams with dedicated IT or security staff.
- Industries: Finance, Healthcare, Legal, Manufacturing, and Government—any sector where data privacy, regulatory compliance, and "always-on" availability are non-negotiable.
- Technical Maturity: Organizations moving away from basic "set-and-forget" spam filters toward a proactive, integrated security posture.
- Primary Platform: Users of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace who want to "wrap" their cloud mailboxes in an additional layer of specialized protection.
- Budget: Organizations that prioritize "best-of-breed" security and total cost of ownership (TCO) over the lowest sticker price.
Best Fit
Mimecast is the premier choice in the following scenarios:
- Microsoft 365/Google Workspace Hardening: Organizations that recognize the inherent limitations of native "E3/E5" security and require a dedicated secondary layer to stop sophisticated phishing and business email compromise (BEC).
- Complex Compliance Environments: Businesses in regulated industries (Finance, Healthcare, Legal) that need a single, unified platform for immutable email archiving, eDiscovery, and long-term data retention.
- Business Continuity Needs: Organizations where email downtime is not an option. Mimecast’s ability to allow users to continue sending/receiving email during a primary mail server outage is a market leader.
- Consolidation of Security Tiers: Companies looking to replace multiple point solutions (Secure Email Gateway, Security Awareness Training, and DMARC management) with a single, integrated "CyberGraph" ecosystem.
Offerings
Mimecast packages its services into functional "Work Protected" bundles, though specific naming may vary by region:
- Email Security (CI/Core): The foundational gateway protection including anti-spam, anti-virus, URL protection, and attachment sandboxing.
- Email Security + Awareness (Express): Adds the Security Awareness Training module to the core gateway features to address human-centric risk.
- Email Security + Archiving (Pro): Combines advanced threat protection with the Cloud Archive for long-term retention and eDiscovery.
- The Full Suite (Elite): Includes everything: Advanced Security, Archiving, Continuity, Awareness Training, and DMARC Analyzer.
- Mimecast for Microsoft 365: Specialized configurations designed to specifically augment the security gaps in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
- Standalone Modules: Many features like Web Security, DMARC Analyzer, and Brand Exploit Protect can be purchased as standalone additions to an existing security stack.塑造.
Get our evaluation of Mimecast
Our advisory team has deep experience with Mimecast. We'll give you an honest, independent assessment — including how they compare to alternatives and what to watch out for.
Request EvaluationBuying Guide: Mimecast
Everything you need to evaluate Mimecast — from features and pricing to implementation and security.
Introduction
Evaluating an enterprise email security solution requires looking beyond simple spam filtering. Mimecast has evolved into a comprehensive "Work Protected" platform that addresses the three primary vectors of modern risk: the email gateway, the human element, and the broader cloud ecosystem. This guide provides a detailed breakdown of Mimecast’s capabilities, ranging from its AI-powered threat protection to its immutable cloud archiving.
As organizations face an escalation in Business Email Compromise (BEC) and sophisticated supply chain attacks, Mimecast offers a layered defense strategy. This document is designed for IT directors, CISOs, and security architects to understand Mimecast’s technical requirements, integration potential, and the specific business scenarios where it outperforms native cloud mail security. By the end of this guide, you will have the necessary criteria to determine if Mimecast is the right fit for your organization’s risk profile and operational needs.
Key Features
Mimecast’s platform is built around four core pillars of functionality:
- Advanced Threat Protection: Utilizing "CyberGraph" AI to detect anomalies in communication patterns, blocking zero-day phishing, and providing "Targeted Threat Protection" which includes real-time URL re-writing and attachment sandboxing.
- Email Continuity: Keeps employees productive during Microsoft 365 or on-premises Exchange outages by providing a secondary pathway for email through the Mimecast web portal, mobile app, or Outlook plugin.
- Cloud Archiving: An immutable, encrypted, and bottomless cloud archive that provides lightning-fast search for end-users and comprehensive eDiscovery/litigation hold capabilities for legal teams.
- Security Awareness Training (AT): Integrated video-based training that uses humor and short modules to engage employees, coupled with phishing simulations that use real-world de-weaponized attacks.
- DMARC Analyzer: Simplifies the complex process of managing DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records to protect brand reputation and prevent domain spoofing.
- Internal Email Protect: Scans internal-to-internal traffic to prevent the lateral movement of threats from compromised internal accounts.
Use Cases
Mimecast is utilized across diverse industries to solve specific security gaps:
- Financial Services (Compliance & eDiscovery): A global bank uses Mimecast to maintain a 7-year immutable archive of all communications, allowing their legal team to perform complex eDiscovery searches in seconds rather than days during regulatory audits.
- Healthcare (Ransomware Prevention): A hospital network utilizes Mimecast’s "Attachment Protection" to sandbox all incoming resumes and medical records, successfully neutralizing several Emotet variants before they could reach the endpoint.
- Manufacturing (Supply Chain Protection): A manufacturer uses "CyberGraph" to detect "look-alike" domains from fake suppliers, preventing fraudulent wire transfer requests that native filters missed.
- Legal (Large File Send): A law firm replaces insecure consumer-grade file sharing with Mimecast’s "Large File Send," allowing attorneys to securely send encrypted 2GB+ files directly from Outlook.
- Public Sector (Continuity): A city government ensures that emergency services can still communicate via email during a planned Microsoft 365 maintenance window or unplanned outage. drug.
Pricing Models
Mimecast typically utilizes a per-user, per-month subscription model. Pricing is tiered based on the "Bundle" selected:
- The Core Drivers: The number of mailboxes (seats) is the primary driver. Note that Mimecast usually requires licensing for all active users in the directory, not just a subset.
- Bundle Tiers: Packages range from "Core" (Basic security) to "Hero" or "Mega" bundles (including Archiving, Continuity, and Awareness Training).
- Add-on Costs: Specific features like Large File Send, DMARC Analyzer, or historical data ingestion (Legacy Archive Migration) often incur additional one-time or recurring fees.
- Data Volume: While archiving is "bottomless" for most tiers, there may be specific limits or surcharges for extremely high-volume historical data migrations.
- Commitment: Standard contracts are 1-3 years, with significant discounts available for multi-year commitments.
Technical Requirements
Mimecast is a cloud-native platform, but it requires specific environmental configurations:
- Mail Environment: Compatible with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and on-premises Exchange (2013, 2016, 2019) or hybrid setups.
- Network: Outbound connectivity on Port 25 (SMTP) and Port 443 (HTTPS) to Mimecast data centers.
- Endpoints: For the Mimecast Outlook Add-in, Windows 10/11 and supported versions of Microsoft Office are required. Mac users utilize the Mimecast for Mac app.
- Browsers: Support for the latest versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari for the Administration Console and Personal Portal.
- Authentication: Requires a method for directory sync (LDAP, LDAPS, or Azure AD Sync) and ideally a SAML-based IdP for SSO.
Business Requirements
To successfully deploy Mimecast, organizations should meet the following business prerequisites:
- DNS Control: Access to and authority over the organization’s DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM) is mandatory for routing traffic through the Mimecast gateway.
- Stakeholder Alignment: Buy-in from IT Operations (for mail flow), Security (for policy definition), and Legal/Compliance (for archiving and eDiscovery requirements).
- Change Management: A plan for communicating with end-users regarding new quarantine digests, the Mimecast Outlook plugin, and potential changes in how external emails are flagged.
- Security Training Readiness: If opting for the Awareness Training module, a designated program manager is needed to oversee campaign cadences and remedial training paths.
- Policy Review: An existing understanding of internal data handling policies to properly configure Data Loss Prevention (DLP) triggers.
Implementation Timeline
A typical Mimecast implementation follows a 4-to-12 week trajectory depending on complexity:
- Phase 1: Discovery & Planning (Weeks 1-2): Identifying mail flow, defining firewall rules, and auditing existing blacklists/whitelists.
- Phase 2: Core Setup (Weeks 2-3): Configuring the Mimecast Administration Console, setting up directory synchronization (AD/Azure AD), and configuring outbound/inbound connectors.
- Phase 3: Policy Configuration (Weeks 3-5): Setting up URL protection, attachment sandboxing, and DLP policies. This often involves a "monitoring mode" to ensure no false positives.
- Phase 4: Migration & Archiving (Weeks 4-10): If applicable, legacy data ingestion into the Mimecast Cloud Archive. This timeframe varies wildly based on data volume.
- Phase 5: Go-Live & Training (Weeks 6-12): Switching MX records, deploying end-user apps/plugins, and conducting admin training.
Support Options
Mimecast offers a tiered support structure to meet different organizational needs:
- Standard Support: Included with all subscriptions, providing 24/5 web and phone support for technical issues and access to the "Mimecaster Central" community and knowledge base.
- Priority Support: Offers 24/7/365 access to senior support engineers with faster guaranteed response times and proactive system monitoring.
- Professional Services: Available for complex migrations, initial architectural design, and custom API development.
- Customer Success Managers (CSM): Assigned to enterprise accounts to ensure platform health, conduct business reviews, and assist with feature adoption.
- Managed Services: Mimecast also partners with a vast network of MSPs who can provide fully managed email security operations for smaller IT teams.
Integration Requirements
Mimecast is designed to sit at the center of a security ecosystem with the following integration capabilities:
- Directory Services: Seamless integration with Active Directory, Azure AD (Entra ID), and Google Directory for automated user provisioning.
- SIEM/SOAR Integration: Pre-built connectors for Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar, and Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR to feed email threat intelligence into broader security operations.
- API Access: A robust REST API (MimeOS) allows for custom integrations, automated threat hunting, and programmatic policy updates.
- Identity Providers: Support for SAML 2.0 (Okta, Ping, Azure AD) for Single Sign-On (SSO) into the Mimecast administration console and end-user applications.
- Endpoint Security: Bi-directional intelligence sharing with vendors like CrowdStrike and SentinelOne to correlate email threats with endpoint activity.
Security & Compliance
Mimecast maintains a "Security First" posture with extensive certifications:
- Certifications: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27018, ISO 22301, and HIPAA compliance readiness.
- Public Sector: Mimecast is FedRAMP Authorized (Moderate), making it suitable for US government agencies and contractors.
- Data Residency: Multiple global data centers allow customers to select specific regions (US, UK, EU, AU, CA, etc.) to meet strict data sovereignty requirements.
- Encryption: All data is encrypted at rest and in transit using AES-256 and TLS 1.2+.
- Privacy Controls: Robust role-based access control (RBAC) and audit logging ensure that administrators only see the data they are authorized to view.
More AI Platform & Governance Vendors
View all
Considering Mimecast?
Independent. Vendor-funded. Expert-backed.
We'll help you evaluate Mimecast against alternatives, negotiate better terms, and ensure a successful implementation. Our advisory services are funded through the vendor ecosystem — at no cost to you.