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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 (2nd)
SOTI MobiControl
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (5th)
 

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 12.3%, down 13.9% compared to last year.
SOTI MobiControl, on the other hand, focuses on Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), holds 6.9% mindshare, up 6.2% since last year.
Master Data Management (MDM) Software
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

Featured Reviews

Pierre Godard - PeerSpot reviewer
Adaptable for various industries and cost-effective
Microsoft MDS isn't getting strong support because Microsoft is focusing more on cloud solutions. Profisee initially made MDS, which Microsoft bought. Profisee now handles the cloud version. There are changes because MDS is the source for master data, and other tools like Dynamics 365 could replace it but aren't promoted for that purpose. I don't have any specific feature requests for MDS when it comes to the next release because Microsoft isn't actively supporting it. Any improvements would probably come from Profisee, the company that acquired MDS. Microsoft still owns MDS but isn't adding new features. Master data management is moving to the cloud or handled on-premises by Profisee MDS.
Sahi Ibrahim SOUMAHORO - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides enterprise mobility and remote control mobile device management
I would like to see some SMS integration so people can send data directly from a mobile phone through SMS when there's no internet. This feature would be good because there are some places in Africa where the internet stability isn't that good. During the voting process, they send the result through SMS. If SOTI can add the functionality where some of the clients can send information offline, via SMS, then that would be a good improvement for some places where there isn't a lot of internet stability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ease of use is valuable."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its compatibility with ETL tools like SSIS, which simplifies operations for end-users."
"One of the main features I have found useful is the integration with Azure active directory."
"It's very easy to use."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"Unlike specialized tools, MDS is adaptable for various industries, making it a versatile choice for master data management."
"The tool is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft MDS is its management."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The licensing is simple."
"The most valuable features of SOTI MobiControl include location tracking, geofencing, remote device control, and SOTI self-service mobile browsers."
"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."
"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."
"We use SOTI MobiControl for managing Android device management."
"The installation is very straightforward."
"The company's support is the best. That'd be the number one thing."
 

Cons

"The Microsoft license cost could be lower."
"The solution could be better integrated into Microsoft's other products."
"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."
"The only drawback is that it does not have the matching, merging, and all true MDM components. For these, you have to use another competent called Data Quality Services (DQS). You need to plug it in and use it along with MDS for true MDM. Both of these are integrated together, but you have to do them separately, whereas, in Profisee, there are a couple of screens where you can configure the matching process, create matching rules, and other things, and everything is in one product, which is not the case with MDS. In order to implement a true MDM, you need MDS, DQS, and SSIS. You have to use MDS to store your golden records, DQS to configure and standardize all your rules and matching percentages, and SSIS to load the data to DQS and MDS. At the same time, you also need Melissa Data to clean up your addresses to validate and standardize the addresses. That's the main component of true MDM. It would be good if they can create a true matching component inside MDS and merge MDS and DQS."
"The program's navigation tools could be improved."
"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."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"SOTI MobiControl could improve by being more user-friendly."
"The previous version, for example, had the networking signal and that feature was great. When we were troubleshooting, we could find the level of the network I/O. If the worker was working in a corner of the warehouse where the signal was not as strong as in another part of the warehouse, we could tell, "Just move a little and you will have coverage for your device." That was great. I don't know why they removed it from the newer version."
"Customer service is good, but sometimes it is challenging to reach them promptly during urgent situations."
"The product’s features for managing Windows devices need improvement."
"The documentation could be improved in SOTI MobiControl."
"For the most part, the application deployment works well. Occasionally, when moving a gun, we'll see that we have to manually intervene, when working with the setup."
"We're deploying an application upgrade. We can't do more than three or four devices at once, and we don't know if the device actually received the upgrade. There's no indicator saying it's 100 percent complete until everything is done. Let's say I work East to West. I work on the East Coast and I want to confirm it was done with the upgrades in that region. I wouldn't know until I actually went into it. There's no indicator telling me that it's complete."
"I would like to see some SMS integration so people can send data directly from a mobile phone through SMS when there's no internet."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution does require a license and we have enterprise licenses."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"With Microsoft, we buy everything though an agreement, so we purchase volume licensing every year."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"I thought pricing was kind of high, but I believe that Soti is probably the best out there for this type of software, so there's not much I can do about that. The licensing is annual, per device."
"The product is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"We have annual licenses to use this solution."
"Its pricing policy is not stable. The licensing is on a one-yearly, two-yearly, or three-yearly basis. There is no monthly fee."
"There are additional costs if you want to use extra features."
"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."
"The solution that we were using costs less, but it didn't offer as much as Soti. It's comparable if you look at it over the five-year term."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Retailer
9%
Financial Services Firm
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 needs improvement with SOTI MobiControl?
SOTI MobiControl currently lacks some DLP features. It would be good if SOTI MobiControl could offer a few functionalities associated with DLP features in the future.
 

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, Microsoft, TIBCO and others in Master Data Management (MDM) Software. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.