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IBM MaaS360 vs IBM MobileFirst comparison

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Executive Summary

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
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
252
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
IBM MaaS360
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (9th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (6th)
IBM MobileFirst
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Mobile App Platforms (8th), Mobile Development Platforms (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
Mobile App Platforms
 

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.
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.
MT
Streamlines development of hybrid applications, and has ability to integrate device-native code
It was a cakewalk for us to develop mobile apps for three different platforms using IBM MobileFirst. Since it was a consumer application built for large-scale events, it was very crucial for us to manage application compatibility with all sort of devices. With MobielFirst, we could actually achieve this with very little trouble. With help of this product, we have been able to develop mobile applications without having complete knowledge of each mobile OS's native programming. App development, delivery, and code management have been very efficient using this product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There are so many features, but Windows Autopilot is one of the features that are very valuable for most customers."
"I find Microsoft Intune valuable primarily for its Windows management capabilities, along with its Android Enterprise and Apple device management for mobile devices."
"The overall user experience is quite nice. I have no complaints from end users regarding their devices enrolled in Intune."
"Configuration profiles, remediation, scripts, and auto-pilot features are very good."
"The initial setup is not overly complex or difficult."
"Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management."
"Autopilot is a great feature. Most users are looking for a zero-touch deployment."
"Previously, we used on-prem SCCM to deploy applications we built manually. After migrating to Intune, we automated and streamlined the process of deploying applications with autopilot. I can do more with my day. I can manage more applications and ensure that they're updated without monitoring and manually starting that process all over again."
"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."
"It is a stable solution."
"The solution is easy to implement."
"We introduced the product as part of the SOC-2 requirement. The tool's most valuable features include keeping the operating system updated, tracking software inventory, controlling computer administrators, and the ability to wipe a computer in case of a security threat. It helps us to be compliant, and it is one of the reasons we implemented it."
"It helped us reduce the number of support incidents by limiting users' access to device configurations."
"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 most valuable features are mobile device management and security (which allows you to quarantine infected devices)."
"Remote enablement feature and access to internal resources on the VPN."
"I like Its capability for developing hybrid applications, with an ability to integrate device-native code as well"
"With help of this product, we have been able to develop mobile applications without having complete knowledge of each mobile OS's native programming technology. App development, delivery, and code management have been very efficient using this product."
"IBM MobileFirst has one of the most feature-rich admin panels."
 

Cons

"Could benefit from user having more control over devices."
"The scalability could be improved, and like most other MDM products, Intune is good but not 100% there yet."
"They could also make it easier to use because there are some other products that may be easier to use in terms of the look and feel of the dashboard."
"Setting up Intune Autopilot can be a little complicated."
"We only have major classifications for iOS and Android, but there are different brands that have different cycles of updates. If they can fine-tune it to make it more brand-specific, that would be even better."
"I'm still playing around with it and haven't had any issues with the product yet, but support can definitely be improved."
"Onboarding of endpoint devices is not straightforward. The onboarding process was a little heavier than I thought it would be. That's the key improvement area. Obviously, the more control you have over the devices, the better it is."
"They should make it easier to order it, however, that's generally true for everything from Microsoft."
"The solution needs to offer live technical support. Right now, it's just a chat window and it's rather unhelpful."
"The reporting and alerting could be improved."
"Zero day support is something they can work on. They can make it a little bit more user-friendly."
"An area for improvement would be handshaking with Microsoft in terms of trying to get a DLP on Microsoft OS."
"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."
"The price could be lower."
"It would be ideal to add support for the distribution of windows.exe applications."
"Configuring policies is difficult in IBM MaaS360. It also needs to improve usability."
"There are issues with push notifications, especially for Windows mobile apps. JSONStore also crashes abruptly at times."
"I would like to see improved support for native device functions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is cheaper than our company's other MDM tools."
"Microsoft offers some licensing where it's included at no extra cost when customers are already using the licenses. In such a case, it's a really good value. If you have to buy the licensing for it, it's probably on par with other solutions. It isn't substantially more or less expensive. The great thing is that it is included in some of Microsoft's licensed packages. So, some customers don't have to spend additional money for it. Typically, most providers that support Intune do charge a management fee of some sort or some fee. Certainly, we're no exception."
"Microsoft Intune has a user-based subscription model. You can go for a monthly or a yearly payment."
"Intune's pricing is reasonable considering its benefits and the high costs it helps avoid."
"The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
"There is a license needed for this solution and it is either included in one of the enterprise license agreements. Microsoft licensing is a mathematical institute, it could be quite complex. We tend to ask specialized organizations to research what the most profitable way it would be for us to use licenses in the organizations."
"With our standard E5 agreement with Microsoft, there have been no pricing concerns. Introductory professional services, like a fast-track service, were included with our E5 membership, and there have been no additional costs."
"We use Defender ATP and E5 licenses."
"I rate IBM MaaS360's pricing a six out of ten."
"The licensing structure is broken down into levels, each with different functionalities available. Depending on your license, there may be additional fees for extra features."
"The solution is expensive."
"MaaS360 is priced at a balance. It is not as expensive as AirWatch or Jamf and is not a cheap solution like a few of the local products."
"Price is something for which we are always under pressure. If we have to look at the MaaS deployment, the price definitely has to come down. This is clearly one of the areas that we will have to work on, not only as a provider to our customers but also as a consumer of this service."
"IBM products are a little pricey."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"I feel the pricing to be very high."
"Cost depends upon various factors. Size of the overall application and product usage matter a lot. For an enterprise-grade application, this certainly comes out as an economical solution. However, for small-scale applications, it can turn out to be on the higher side."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Fiberlink MaaS360, MaaS360
MobileFirst, Worklight
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Bancroft, Garuda Indonesia
UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions, Gruppo Unipol, Raymond James Financial, Toshiba GCS, CST, ABK-Systeme GmbH, BNP Paribas
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, JAMF, Omnissa and others in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). Updated: March 2025.
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