Craig MacAlpine is CEO and Founder of Expert Insights. Before founding Expert Insights in August 2018, Craig spent 10 years as CEO of EPA Cloud, an email security provider that rebranded as VIPRE Email Security following its acquisition by Ziff Davis, formerly J2Global (NASDAQ: ZD) in 2013.
Craig is a passionate security innovator with over 20 years of experience helping organizations to stay secure with cutting-edge information security and cybersecurity solutions.
Using his extensive experience in the email security industry, he founded Expert Insights with the singular goal of helping IT professionals and CISOs to cut through the noise and find the right cybersecurity solutions they need to protect their organizations.
Articles By: Craig MacAlpine
144 results
Best Web Application Firewalls
We reviewed the leading WAF solutions on detection accuracy, the ease of custom rule creation, and how well each handles the balance between blocking real attacks and avoiding legitimate traffic disruption.
by Caitlin Harris
Best Threat Detection and Response Solutions
We reviewed the leading threat detection and response platforms on detection logic depth, automated response capabilities, and how well each supports analyst-led investigation when automated response is not appropriate.
by Craig MacAlpine
Best Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Solutions
We reviewed 9 UEM platforms on the range of device types and operating systems they manage consistently, the depth of application lifecycle controls, and the policy enforcement that applies uniformly across corporate and personally-owned devices.
by Caitlin Harris
Best Observability Tools
We reviewed 10 observability platforms on data ingestion depth, correlation capabilities, and the quality of the insights they surface. The best ones reduce mean time to resolution significantly.
by Craig MacAlpine
Best Patch Management
We reviewed 10 patch management platforms on scanning accuracy, deployment automation, and how well each helps teams prioritize the patches that reduce the most risk. Automation depth varied significantly.
by Caitlin Harris
Best Cloud Orchestration Solutions
We reviewed 11 cloud orchestration platforms on workflow flexibility, integration breadth, and how much manual effort they actually eliminate. The gap between the most and least capable was significant.
by Alex Zawalnyski
Best Remote Desktop Software
We reviewed 11 remote desktop platforms on connection performance, session recording, and the collaboration features that make remote support faster. Reliability under real-world network conditions separated the field.
by Caitlin Harris
Best RMM Solutions For MSPs
We reviewed 8 RMM platforms on automation depth, multi-client management, and the monitoring quality that tells you about problems before your clients do. Pricing structure matters as much as features at scale.
by Caitlin Harris
Best Passwordless Authentication Solutions
We reviewed 11 passwordless authentication platforms on the methods they support, SSO compatibility, and how well they handle legacy environments that were not built with passwordless in mind.
by Joel Witts
Best Customer Identity And Access Management Solutions
We reviewed 10 CIAM platforms on authentication option depth, how well each handles consent management at scale, and the developer experience that determines how quickly customer identity can be integrated into your applications.
by Mirren McDade
Best Alternatives To CyberArk PAM
We reviewed the leading CyberArk alternatives on privileged access controls, session monitoring depth, and implementation overhead. Some are simpler; some are comparably capable at lower cost.
by Caitlin Harris
Best User Authentication Solutions
We reviewed the leading user authentication and access management platforms on policy control depth, the range of authentication options, and how well each handles risk-based access decisions in real time.
by Joel Witts
Best SSO Solutions
We reviewed the leading SSO platforms on the number and quality of application integrations, MFA enforcement options, and how well they handle hybrid environments with on-premises and cloud applications.
by Joel Witts
Best DNS Web Filtering Platforms For Business
We reviewed the leading DNS web filtering platforms on the accuracy of threat category classification, policy control granularity, and how well each handles enforcement across remote and off-network devices.
by Joel Witts
Best MFA Solutions
We reviewed the leading MFA platforms on the authentication methods they support, application coverage breadth, and how well they handle step-up authentication for high-risk access scenarios.
by Joel Witts
Best Identity Governance And Administration Solutions
We reviewed the leading IGA platforms on access certification workflow accuracy, the depth of lifecycle management automation, and how well each enforces least privilege across the identity environment.
by Mirren McDade
Best Alternatives to KnowBe4 SAT
We reviewed the leading KnowBe4 alternatives on training content freshness, the sophistication of phishing simulation templates, and the behavioral reporting that shows whether training is translating into lower click rates.
by Mirren McDade
Best Azure Active Directory Alternatives
We reviewed the leading Azure Active Directory alternatives on directory service depth, federation support, and how well each handles the hybrid environments where on-premises and cloud identity management must coexist.
by Mirren McDade
Best Phishing Awareness Solutions
We reviewed 10 phishing awareness training platforms on simulation quality, content engagement, and the reporting that tells you which employees remain your highest risk. Click rates alone are not enough.
by Caitlin Harris
Best Phishing Simulation And Testing Solutions
We reviewed 11 phishing simulation platforms on template realism, campaign customization, and the reporting that distinguishes which teams are improving and which remain at risk.
by Alex Zawalnyski
Best Security Awareness Training Solutions
We reviewed 11 security awareness training platforms on content engagement, simulation realism, and behavioral change metrics. The best ones show measurable risk reduction; the weakest ones show completion rates.
by Joel Witts
Best Compliance Management Solutions
We reviewed 11 compliance management platforms on framework breadth, audit workflow quality, and how well each handles vendor risk alongside internal controls. The range of capability was wide.
by Craig MacAlpine
Best Policy Management Software
We reviewed the leading policy management platforms on the ease of policy creation and distribution, automated review scheduling, and how well each tracks employee acknowledgment in a format that satisfies auditors.
by Craig MacAlpine
Best Browser Isolation Solutions For Business
We reviewed the leading browser isolation platforms on the fidelity of the isolation environment, how well DLP policies hold up for downloads and uploads, and the performance trade-offs that determine whether employees will actually use the solution.
by Caitlin Harris
Best Audit Management Solutions
We reviewed the leading audit management solutions on the automation of evidence collection, audit scheduling and task tracking quality, and how well each generates reports that satisfy auditors without requiring extensive manual formatting.
by Craig MacAlpine
Best Email Security Solutions For MSPs
We reviewed email security platforms built for MSP environments on tenant isolation, white-label options, and the automation that matters most when you are managing security at scale.
by Joel Witts
Best Content Management Systems (CMS)
We reviewed 9 CMS platforms on editing experience, content modeling flexibility, and how well each handles the publishing workflows of organizations managing content across multiple channels and audience segments.
by Joel Witts
Best MDR Solutions
We reviewed 10 MDR providers on SLA commitments, analyst response quality, and what their platforms do versus what their teams do. The split matters more than vendors admit.
by Joel Witts
Best On-Premises Endpoint Security Solutions
We reviewed on-premises endpoint security platforms on detection accuracy, management console depth, and how they perform without cloud connectivity. Here's what we found for organizations that need full local control.
by Mirren McDade
Best Alternatives To Kaspersky
We compared the leading Kaspersky alternatives on protection depth, management console quality, and the migration support that determines how disruptive the transition will be. Here’s what we found.
by Joel Witts
Best Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
We reviewed the leading XDR platforms on the breadth of data sources they ingest, the quality of cross-layer correlation, and how well automated response handles threats that span endpoint, identity, and network.
by Alex Zawalnyski
Best Endpoint Security Solutions For Business
We reviewed the leading endpoint security platforms on the breadth of threat detection, how well each handles the range of device types in modern enterprise environments, and the management overhead that security teams face at scale.
by Joel Witts