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Microsoft MDS vs SOTI MobiControl comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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 MDS
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Master Data Management (MDM) Software (3rd)
SOTI MobiControl
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Microsoft MDS and SOTI MobiControl aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Microsoft MDS is designed for Master Data Management (MDM) Software and holds a mindshare of 13.3%, up 13.0% compared to last year.
SOTI MobiControl, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), holds 6.3% mindshare, down 7.0% since last year.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

Featured Reviews

Satyam Saxena - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced data management and cost effective with flexible integration capabilities
If Microsoft MDS were part of Azure, it would be significantly more helpful. Additionally, integrating fuzzy duplication within MDS itself, rather than relying on SSIS, would streamline operations. The current requirement to store data in Azure tables after processing it in MDS, due to its lack of direct Azure integration, is a drawback.
Mohamad Charara - PeerSpot reviewer
An MDM solution for device management and application control on devices
SOTI MobiControl is nice and powerful but has some complications. The interface is not easy. In IT, if you manage multiple platforms and systems, it becomes tedious and hard. Also, there are issues with phones supported by SOTI. SOTI MobiControl's support should be extended to a broader range of phones, especially in Africa, where many people do not have access to high-end devices. Investing in expensive devices that could be lost or stolen overnight is not logical. In addition to expanding device compatibility, we would also like to see the platform made easier to use and more control over settings.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The backup and restore functionality are the solution's most valuable aspects."
"Enables non-technical people to directly interact with the BI system."
"The solution is easy to install."
"It has been a long-standing tool in our organization since it was free."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"It has a very good feature called Excel plug-in. You just have to install the plug-in, and then it directly connects to the MDS instance where you can maintain and manage your data and publish it right through Excel. You don't need to go to the front end to make any changes. It has easy integration with SQL Server, and you can use SSIS to do the ETLs. It is a part of the Microsoft stack. It works with most of the Microsoft stuff."
"The most valuable feature is the administration console."
"One of the main features I have found useful is the integration with Azure active directory."
"The SOTI MobiControl Assist tool is very good for remote controlling devices for troubleshooting. SOTI MobiControl is very helpful."
"The other feature, that I have got to say is just leaps and bounds ahead of SOTI's competition, is the remote control feature. It's a true admin remote-control, so we don't have to have somebody on the other side of the device allowing us access to the device... We're able to pull up a tablet or phone and take pictures of it and we can actually videotape what's going on, on the device itself, and that's been huge."
"The most valuable features are remote control, remote monitoring of the mobile phone data, GPS localization, automobile network management, identity management, speaker logging, and remote management of mobile content."
"The most valuable features are visibility and remote access."
"We can do auto patch updates using SOTI. SOTI has been well placed in terms of the number of endpoints it can handle."
"I recommend SOTI MobiControl for its ease of deploying new components and software remotely without onsite personnel."
"The best feature is its compatibility with various device versions, such as Windows, making it work seamlessly."
"The remote control technology and screen-sharing absolutely help us resolve issues faster. If there is a remote user who has difficulties or does not understand an error or a problem or a crash, the support team can remote control the phone and see right away what is on the screen and act on the problem. We can debug, we can help, we can reboot the phone."
 

Cons

"Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily."
"Microsoft MDS is outdated and lacks modern capabilities."
"If Microsoft MDS were part of Azure, it would be significantly more helpful."
"The stability could be improved."
"Most of the Microsoft partners, especially digitally, are separate. Personnel are business people, and they do not have technical expertise, so you end up as a company spending a lot of money training your staff and your engineers."
"From my understanding, MS, as of 2021, will not maintain the product going forward."
"I do not like using Silverlight and Internet Explorer. The new 2019 version gets rid of that, which is one of the reasons why we are looking to switch."
"There are occasions when the solution maintains SD and we get duplications of MDS."
"I wish I had the ability to select an app singly and install or refresh it, instead of having to go into the application controls and assign it to a group. I wish there was a spot that listed all my applications. I could go into a single one and refresh or update. It's not very easily accessible, per application."
"SOTI MobiControl is very good for Android and Windows, but it should add a little bit on the Apple side because it doesn't have much control on the Apple side."
"I wish that I had some more tutorials and educational resources on how to use the product."
"Maybe if there were tiers, it would be better as then companies could lower the pricing by going to the lower deployment model."
"The management console could be improved to be a little bit more user-friendly. Some of the stuff is a little bit cumbersome, some of it feels like an engineering solution, but otherwise it's pretty good."
"There are some limitations with the remote control feature, and the interface occasionally experiences issues."
"They could organize the software a little bit better, where you access things on the console. It seems like I have to click in three different places in order to get it to go to one area. I should be able to access pretty much any point of the server, whatever I need to touch, from a panel, without having to go click on a menu, then click on the profiles, then click over on Server and go back up to the top and click on the type of device that I have, just to get my applications to show."
"There is room for improvement in the support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"The product is reasonably priced at the moment."
"There are additional costs if you want to use extra features."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing a five."
"The price of this solution is high when you compare it with Microsoft Intune. This is mainly because Microsoft Intune is included with some packages, such as Microsoft Office 365. It makes it difficult to sell SOTI MobiControl because of the pricing against Microsoft Intune."
"The pricing is reasonable and the licensing model is very reasonable when compared to some of the competitors in the market. I can speak directly regarding Intune, which is very expensive compared to SOTI."
"SOTI is fairly priced. It's not super expensive. If you have a thousand devices that are licensed, it's going to start climbing up in price. Typically, it's like 25 bucks a seat for a year."
"It is an expensive product."
"It's a little bit expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Retailer
9%
Comms Service Provider
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft MDS?
More generic related things can be included in the services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft MDS?
Microsoft MDS is free. Currently, there is no pricing concern with the tool.
What needs improvement with Microsoft MDS?
Microsoft MDS is outdated and lacks modern capabilities. It is too slow and does not support automated mapping or AI-based functionalities. Although I created Python scripts for some machine learni...
What do you like most about SOTI MobiControl?
The most valuable features of the solution are containerization and app control.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SOTI MobiControl?
I rate the pricing as an eight, which indicates it is on the more expensive side. However, I am not responsible for billing, that is handled by the finance team. I believe the price could be lower,...
What needs improvement with SOTI MobiControl?
SOTI MobiControl is quite advanced already, and there is nothing that needs improvement. The solution is currently the most advanced EMM in the market and sits in the highest tier because other com...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Master Data Services, Microsoft MDM, Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services, MS MDS
MobiControl
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ETA a.s., Apeejay Surrendra Group, Blue Star Infotech, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation, The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, New Belgium Brewing
Citizen Mexico, Sanctuary Housing, PENINSULA HOTELS, East Orange High School, Andrews Distributing, Amey Plc, American Airlines
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, TIBCO, Microsoft and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.