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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

"Compared to other databases, it is easier to manage and administer."
"Unlike specialized tools, MDS is adaptable for various industries, making it a versatile choice for master data management."
"Technical support is very good."
"More generic related things can be included in the services."
"It's very easy to use."
"The ease of use is valuable."
"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 admin part, where I'm adding users, is not too bad. It's easy enough to use."
"The other one would be just how easy it is to deploy applications."
"I recommend SOTI MobiControl for its ease of deploying new components and software remotely without onsite personnel."
"It helps in enrolling, managing, and relocating the devices quickly."
"One of the most valuable features is the ease of moving items from one configuration to another; it's a Windows-like setup. Also, the admin console is very easy to manage and to move through."
"The most valuable features are remote control and geo-fencing."
"It is a scalable solution."
"SOTI's most valuable feature has to be mobile device management and visibility through the main console. There's a central dashboard that you can use to monitor the devices and keep track of usage, battery consumption, and battery life."
 

Cons

"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."
"It would be a better option to have an on-cloud version."
"Microsoft MDS' language should be simple so everyone can use it easily."
"Microsoft MDS isn't getting strong support because Microsoft is focusing more on cloud solutions."
"The stability could be improved."
"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."
"If Microsoft MDS were part of Azure, it would be significantly more helpful."
"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 area that could be improved is the reporting services or application usage. They need to integrate more with local resellers so they can fetch information from ISP providers and allow for a more detailed overview of device usage, such as internet packages."
"Maybe if there were tiers, it would be better as then companies could lower the pricing by going to the lower deployment model."
"Where they need improvement is not as much on the technical side but, rather, on their communication. In general, that has been poor. Account management and communication could be greatly improved..."
"The documentation could be improved in SOTI MobiControl."
"The remote screen of the solution gets stuck at times. So, that needs to be improved."
"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."
"They have legacy design architecture, and sometimes the support isn't helpful."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft MDS is an expensive solution."
"MDS is a part of the SQL Server enterprise license. I am not aware of any additional costs."
"SAP is more expensive than Microsoft."
"Product licensing is very complicated. It would be helpful to have an online calculator to estimate the cost of a license."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"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."
"The pricing of this solution is good."
"Its pricing policy is not stable. The licensing is on a one-yearly, two-yearly, or three-yearly basis. There is no monthly fee."
"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 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."
"Pricing is okay, but when you buy your renewal of licenses - at the end of the period or the year - if you have a lot of devices, obviously, it's going to increase. In the end, it's kind of expensive."
"They've been pretty flexible with us, because we've changed the way we do our licensing a few times. We did a yearly, and then we went back and we did a quarterly, and I think we're back to yearly right now. We've been able to work stuff out and pricing has gone down since the onset. We've got a better rate per device and it's reasonable. The licensing cost from SOTI usually doesn't scare anybody, away once it's explained."
"It makes sense to have scanners on SOTI MobiControl, but it makes less sense to have printers because there are fewer features for them, while the price is the same for both."
"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."
"The price is average. SOTI manages the price according to the type of client they have. I would rate the cost as five out of ten."
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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 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?
The area that could be improved is the reporting services or application usage. They need to integrate more with local resellers so they can fetch information from ISP providers and allow for a mor...
 

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.
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