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F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Intune delivers significant ROI through cost savings, enhanced security, device management optimization, and process automation despite quantification challenges.
Sentiment score
8.4
Organizations report 100% return on F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager, noting its effectiveness in saving time, money, and generating benefits.
Sentiment score
6.5
Some users saw value in efficient remote work and image deployment, despite high costs and preference for other solutions.
Everything we've gained from it makes my job easier day after day, and I see value in it as an engineer.
Importantly, when someone leaves the company, it helps protect document access on their devices.
Applications are deployed through Intune, and we see fewer tickets for common issues because we can resolve them through the solution.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Intune's support varies, with responsive premium service, slow basic support, and reliance on community resources for assistance.
Sentiment score
7.3
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager receives mixed reviews for support, with timely solutions and communication being key concerns.
Sentiment score
6.0
Microsoft's customer service is generally good, with variability in response times and support quality depending on licensing and contracts.
When a support ticket is submitted, it directly reaches someone with Intune support expertise.
When I contacted Microsoft, they had the same expertise, if not more, which is phenomenal because I felt heard and my problem was solved.
Sometimes, the support provided is excellent, and the representative is knowledgeable, while other times, the service needs improvement.
Even if they respond, they don't update me with the process or what's going on.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Intune is highly scalable, effectively supporting diverse organizational sizes and managing thousands of devices and users seamlessly.
Sentiment score
8.0
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager offers scalable, adaptable access solutions for enterprises, supporting easy upgrades and minimal staff requirements.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is scalable for small to medium organizations, but large users note limitations and suggest improvements.
The scalability of Microsoft Intune is ten out of ten.
Ideally, we want to automatically segregate devices based on user properties like primary use, but currently, dynamic groups seem limited to device properties.
It supports organizations with 200 endpoints and those with more than 15,000 endpoints.
My impression is that most of the solutions, especially today, make sense for large corporations with 2000 seats or more.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Intune is reliable with occasional issues, praised for performance and improvements despite minor bugs and network inconsistencies.
Sentiment score
7.8
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager is praised for stability and reliability, though some users note issues with LTM-related failovers.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is stable and reliable, with minor issues mostly due to configuration or updates.
Microsoft Intune has been very stable.
A couple of years ago, the performance was not as good as it is now, but there are noticeable backend improvements.
We've encountered problems with other services like Exchange, Intune has remained unaffected.
Sometimes, the logs are not quite informational or easy to understand.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Intune requires improvements in reporting, security, compatibility, and integration, especially for non-Microsoft systems and complex application scenarios.
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager requires enhanced cloud integration, improved usability, better support, and advanced reporting and automation features.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services requires improvements in network stability, security, cross-platform support, integration options, and user experience.
Features like unlocking devices sometimes fail, and the support offered for other operating systems is insufficient.
There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now.
Many third-party companies offer single-pane-of-glass reporting that shows you what your update environment looks like, how your patch is doing, application status, etc., but Intune's reporting is not intuitive.
If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great.
It should be easier to create a template and duplicate users.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find Microsoft Intune cost-effective, especially when bundled, offering savings and favorable pricing compared to competitors.
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager is perceived as expensive, with simplified licensing but uncertain cloud pricing and extra fees.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services pricing is competitive, with variable costs and valued inclusion in broader Microsoft agreements.
Introductory professional services, like a fast-track service, were included with our E5 membership, and there have been no additional costs.
The Intune suite and add-ons, such as batch management and remote help, are costly.
We get Intune bundled with our Microsoft agreement.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration, security features, and ease of use for managing devices and applications across enterprises.
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager is valued for its robust security, scalability, customization, and user-friendly interface in infrastructure protection.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services provides reliable, secure, scalable remote access with centralized management, cost-effectiveness, and compatibility for diverse company needs.
Intune excels in configuration and compliance management for Windows 10, ensuring devices receive timely updates and adhere to organizational standards.
Dynamic groups allow us to set conditions for automatic membership, eliminating the need for user intervention or manual review and ensuring a seamless workflow.
Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management.
A lot of features are useful to me, including mostly the authentication, SAML, or SSO, with no sign-on.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
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Ranking in Remote Access
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
237
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...
Ranking in Remote Access
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (19th), Network Access Control (NAC) (8th), SSL VPN (5th), Access Management (10th)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.6%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 1.3%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 11.6%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access
 

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.
Ashish Kumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers remote access control, good GUI and easy to configure
I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM interface itself, they could add direct hyperlinks to relevant online documentation. This would provide easy access to admin guides and other resources when working within the GUI.
Terje Romen - PeerSpot reviewer
Accessing the same desktop experience from anywhere but user template creation needs improvement
Mostly we are quite happy with it. However, some of us want a more powerful desktop. When not present, we use a remote tool called Splashtop, which is a good solution for some users. We have about ten licenses for those who need a powerful workstation at the office. We have not used many different tools. We are never in contact with Microsoft. These are quite basic configurations, to be honest. It's not complicated. AI is coming to or is already in some applications we are using. Not system-wise, however, it might be good. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's quite good, yet certainly not perfect.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

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 do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options ...
What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?
Sometimes, if I erase or add a new agent in the policy, I can't go backwards, even if I haven't saved the access poli...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
We would like configuration to be automatic and the price to be close to zero, however, that's not realistic. Everyon...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
F5 Access Policy Manager
Remote Desktop Services, MS Remote Desktop Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
833,313 professionals have used our research since 2012.