What EDR does
Endpoint detection and response records behaviour on laptops and servers, identifies suspicious patterns and supports investigation and containment. It is more capable than traditional signature-based antivirus.
What MDR adds
Managed detection and response adds a team that monitors alerts, investigates context and takes or coordinates action. The service can cover out-of-hours periods when the internal IT team is not available.
Decision factors
Consider operating hours, internal security skills, response expectations, cyber insurance conditions, customer contracts and the cost of waiting until the next working day. A business with strong internal capability may manage EDR itself. A small business with no security operations function will often gain more value from MDR.
Check the service boundary
Ask who can isolate a device, how quickly alerts are triaged, what happens when the provider cannot reach you, which devices are excluded and how incidents are handed into recovery and communications.