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Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM) vs IBM MaaS360 comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
247
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Remote Access (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Cisco Meraki Systems Manage...
Ranking in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Device Management (MDM) (3rd)
IBM MaaS360
Ranking in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 34.5%, down from 38.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM) is 2.2%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM MaaS360 is 4.1%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
GaneshKhutwad - PeerSpot reviewer
A central portal where you can add, stack, configure, and maintain your devices
Nearly 35,000 users are connected to Systems from America because their network is configured to cover worldwide areas. I have approximately 450 devices connected, which can scale based on requirements. For instance, if you have around five hundred to six hundred users in one office, the MR14 and MR24 series are suitable. For environments with a larger number of standard device users, the MR24 series is recommended. Cisco Meraki provides various series to meet your requirements, allowing you to manage your users efficiently. I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten.
Bijay Kumar Swain - PeerSpot reviewer
Ability to segregate data, well-suited for medium enterprises and installation is quick
We have some challenges. If we look at the challenges we face in the market, there are a few products like Sophos, where there are features of MaaS360, and the IBM EDR product, ReaQta. So, there are features from both ReaQta and MaaS360 available in Sophos, as well as a few other products, which we have challenges in replacing. MaaS360 definitely caters to a few of the requirements, but when someone is going for a solution, all the features are not available in MaaS360. It is like a combo, MaaS360, and IBM ReaQta, that is, EDR, ReaQta. Both of them, together as a combo plan, actually offer a very good proposition in terms of market competitors. There are a few products like Sophos and another product which have features from both endpoint detection and response and mobile device management. Because we have two different products with those features, we face challenges in proposing a particular product for the client. It is like a marketing challenge. The way other competitor products are available in the market. So it is better to have a different positive team, but, again, to remain in competition and have better scalability. So, IBM needs to integrate a few features that the competitors have in their products. No doubt, this is a different product, MaaS360. We call it MDM. We call it endpoint mobile device management. Then we call it different names that MaaS360 falls into. But when we are talking about competitor products, to remain in the competition, you need to have features that others provide. IBM surely has those features in other products, but not in MaaS360. The only challenge was replacing already existing competitor products with MaaS360. So, that’s the only area where we struggle because they always come with those requirements that they are already getting in the competitor’s product, which is not available in IBM’s MaaS360. So this product lacks some features, like Unified Endpoint Management.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Intune has significantly benefited our organization by providing comprehensive visibility into our device ecosystem."
"Autopilot is a great feature. Most users are looking for a zero-touch deployment."
"The best part of Intune is application deployment. We can deploy an application to several users with a single click. We can use conditional access, granting access to users based on certain conditions, such as location, platform, etc."
"It has a useful device management feature."
"There has been a noticeable increase in productivity for both my organization and clients."
"Autopilot is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature for us is the security, including risk analysis and patch management."
"At the moment, Autopilot is the most valuable feature."
"It's extremely competitive and very good for a product in this sphere."
"The central management console on the cloud is fast and is the solution's most valuable feature."
"The remote security feature, as well as the ability to control devices from anywhere, is one of the more beneficial features of Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM)."
"The proprietary standards and modules are the most valuable features."
"The solution is easy to use. However, AirWatch or Workspace might be more powerful because we've encountered issues, such as manually managing Windows updates."
"The UI is easy to learn."
"We experience no downtime, no breakdowns, all the user readings are exact, and it gives us quick analysis so we can apply security measures."
"It has facilitated zero-touch authorization events for our employees and their devices. Furthermore, Meraki Systems Manager plays a vital role in securing our notebooks."
"The tool's most valuable features are application, distribution, and security. It helps to block user access."
"All features that we have deployed are useful. We do access office emails on our smartphones, and we have complete sync with Active Directory. Our calendar also gets synced in the MaaS360 application. We also ensure that the data from these official applications is not being misused by any of the employees. We have disabled cut, copy, paste, and all such features. It ensures that all the official data that our employees have on their smartphones is secure. Security is the paramount feature that we value in this product."
"One valuable feature is the ability to provide a secure environment. Another is the kiosk mode where MaaS360 can be used over a tablet or mobile device to ensure that a single application is used."
"MaaS can force people to lock their phones. Not everyone likes having a PIN and other security features on their phones, but this sets a requirement that you can't get your emails unless you have a PIN on your phone. That was a good feature, and we were able to easily increase the PIN from four digits to six digits. Overall, it was pretty user-friendly."
"We've found the scalability to be very good."
"It allows us to have an updated inventory of all the devices in real-time with the ability to add personalized information."
"Using this solution has made things more convenient. Earlier, we had to depend a lot more on IT to find and resolve our issues."
"The product’s most valuable feature is email, browser, and application security."
 

Cons

"I expect Microsoft Intune to have more features in the cloud because there are two major functionalities that we need to be added. This is software metering and license management. These functionalities, for now, must be on-premise. For this purpose, we have set up a SQL Server and I hope that in near future this option will be in the cloud in Microsoft Intune."
"One issue that Inutune can improve is password integration with the BitLocker key option. Another issue is assigning licenses. We can assign the licenses for some users on the BPM side, and our BPS users work on Outlook 365 but cannot access it there. A BPS person can go to the company portal and download Outlook 2016. They could improve the NDIS part to assign a license directly to the BPS person that allows them to install the Intune device manager directly on our system."
"Customer service is not really good. I would give it a six out of ten. The main issue is the time it takes to get someone involved who truly understands what the product does."
"Intune is not the most user-friendly mobile device management platform available."
"Microsoft Intune could enhance its patch management for various devices, ensuring regular updates and tracking of device privileges."
"Intune could be enhanced by automating application upgrades, similar to how it automates operating system upgrades."
"The main disadvantage seen today is regarding Linux clients. We have a lot of development resources that have Linux on their clients, and we can't manage them on the same platform, as we do with other clients such as macOS and Windows. So, it should have support for Linux clients. It should also have better support for macOS."
"There is improvement needed in integrating with the installed Office solutions versions, such as Office 2019. The Office 365 integrates without a problem."
"Because Cisco has improved a lot and is competing with other technologies that are innovative and brand new to the market, the only improvements they have to make are to keep up with the current competition and remain competitive with other solutions."
"It would be beneficial to have better integration with other OS."
"It doesn't seem to be able to establish some VPN tunnels with other devices in a particular way that such as an ASA can do for us."
"Linux compatibility needs improvement."
"The solution's integration with other products could be improved."
"The solution can be expensive."
"One area for improvement in Cisco Meraki Systems Manager is the ability for more advanced users to make detailed and non-standard changes."
"I would rate my experience with the initial setup a four out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy. It is more difficult."
"Local technical support would be helpful."
"It's difficult for someone like me to set up a phone that doesn't require a SIM card, like Apple's new phones."
"IBM MaaS360 needs to have stronger points when it comes to the area of BYOD."
"MaaS360 definitely caters to a few of the requirements, but when someone is going for a solution, all the features are not available in MaaS360."
"An area for improvement would be handshaking with Microsoft in terms of trying to get a DLP on Microsoft OS."
"They should allow for the building of custom reports with graphics."
"Sometimes IBM MaaS360 seems buggy...The solution's technical support team is sometimes slow to respond and not competent enough."
"User interface is basic and not very intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft's licensing is more flexible and adaptive than its competitors."
"Existing E5 license holders for M365, Intune, and Azure, receive a free license."
"It's affordable. It's cheaper if you have an Office 365, E5, or E3 subscription because everything is there."
"Microsoft Intune's costliness stems from licensing fees and the overhead associated with its management, user experience, and device remediation."
"We work with the subscription rather than a server license. I think it's economical this way because we don't have to have a server license for that, and I think that works in our favor."
"Intune's pricing is reasonable considering its benefits and the high costs it helps avoid."
"Intune is included in the Microsoft 365 licensing package that we have."
"Microsoft Intune is not cost-effective as a standalone product."
"My clients find it a bit expensive compared to other systems."
"The cost of installing this solution can be more expensive depending on who is doing the installation. Cisco is very expensive."
"It's extremely competitive and very good for a product in this sphere."
"Meraki MDM is the cheapest solution we have used."
"The storage is affordable and the system has some price-related issues. Therefore, keeping the price in mind, I would rate it seven out of ten."
"Cisco Meraki Systems Manager is an expensive solution."
"This product is reasonably priced."
"My customers at times have issues with the price of the solution. It is expensive, but overall it is worth it. The licensing model cost is based on how many devices you require."
"I feel the pricing to be very high."
"There are other solutions cheaper than IBM MaaS360, such as Microsoft Intune."
"Fees are monthly and it's approximately $8 per user."
"IBM products are expensive compared to the tools offered by its competitors. IBM MaaS360 is an expensive tool."
"I rate IBM MaaS360's pricing a six out of ten."
"​It requires zero investment in infrastructure since it is 100% cloud.​"
"I rate IBM MaaS360’s pricing a six out of ten."
"IBM MaaS360 is cheaper compared to other alternatives. Others are at least three to six times costlier."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
48%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Government
4%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM)?
The pricing sits at a mid-level range, around five or six. There are cheaper and more expensive tools available, but ...
What needs improvement with Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM)?
While the graphical user interface is user-friendly and easy to configure, I see room for improvement in integration ...
Microsoft Intune vs IBM MaaS360 - which to choose?
Our organization researched both Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360 when considering the type of endpoint security tool...
What do you like most about IBM MaaS360?
We introduced the product as part of the SOC-2 requirement. The tool's most valuable features include keeping the ope...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM MaaS360?
IBM products are a little pricey, so it’s expensive. I would rate the pricing and licensing model a seven out of ten,...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Meraki MDM
Fiberlink MaaS360, MaaS360
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Hafen Hamburg & Empire Riverside Hotel, Eastview Church, Tourism Holdings, Colegio Sagrada Familia Hijas de Jesús, Tommy Bahama's, Canadian School Mexico, Rosebank College
Bancroft, Garuda Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM) vs. IBM MaaS360 and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.