Our organization relies on Android devices for critical business operations within the retail sector. These devices are used for managing stocks, handling barcode operations, and likely supporting various retail applications. Here, SOTI MobiControl helps us manage and provide security patch updates and maintenance support for devices.
Consultant at HEMA
Scalable product with valuable features for device management controllers
Pros and Cons
- "It helps in enrolling, managing, and relocating the devices quickly."
- "There could be a feature for user ID management."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The product has valuable features for device management controllers and geofencing. It helps in enrolling, managing, and relocating the devices quickly. It enables the functionality to stop once it goes out of the box beyond limit boundaries. It is a very useful feature from a security perspective.
What needs improvement?
We found some issues when we switched on the product's kiosk mode. We were not able to access a few URLs. Whenever we try to access the application, it redirects to Microsoft's login page. The URL is blocked due to some restriction policies. They assured us that they would fix the bugs in the upcoming version.
There could be a feature for user ID management. It would help multiple users to log in to the same device using their unique credentials. They could allow users to log in with AD accounts.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using SOTI MobiControl for more than six years.
Buyer's Guide
SOTI MobiControl
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about SOTI MobiControl. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The platform is stable enough. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the platform's scalability a ten out of ten. We plan to increase the usage in the future.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support services are good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In parallel, we use Microsoft Tune to manage enterprise devices. However, it supports limited devices compared to SOTI MobiControl.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. I rate the process a ten out of ten. The deployment and application upgrade takes one or two hours to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is reasonably priced at the moment.
What other advice do I have?
I have bought licenses from SOTI MobiControl to manage more than 5000 devices. I have been working as an administrator for a long time and know every product feature. I recommend it to others and rate it a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Account Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Effective mobile device management and high visibility using the main dashboard
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "Companies like SOTI and Mobile Iron are working with Google to help them manage these devices and eliminate the use of bar code scanner sales and mobile device sales. That's kind of crazy."
What is our primary use case?
SOTI is mainly used for managing mobile devices, like laptops, mobile barcode scanners, and mobile printers. It's used for security, OS updates, and monitoring.
What is most valuable?
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. So at the beginning of a shift, a client can look at all the places that just logged on and see how many of them have bad batteries. For example, if you see batteries that just came off a charger but they are under 80% charge when they should be fully recharged. They've also got a couple of new products. They have a software development app called SOTI Snap that lets users create Android applications
SOTI has a ticketing solution as well for help desk requests from different departments. They can track, take photos and generate new requests, then follow up on old requests. They can obviously close requests that have been fully managed and taken care of.
What needs improvement?
Companies like SOTI and Mobile Iron are working with Google to help them manage these devices and eliminate the use of bar code scanner sales and mobile device sales. That's kind of crazy. The majority of the devices that we sell use Android OS. With the latest versions of Android that are coming out, like 10 and 11, you have to have MDM software to register devices with Google. You can't get them online without going through an MDM, it's kind of this funny new aspect of Android, and it's all designed so they can control all their Android devices in the future. With the way things are licensed and the direction that Android and Google are going, they're trying to eliminate old legacy devices.
There's no way to stop that unless you control the licensing. So if a company buys a hundred new devices, they have to register with Google. Once they're registered, if a new company tries to sell those hundred devices five years later and another company tries to register the devices, Google can shut them down and say that they're not authorized to relicense this product
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using SOTI for about 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
SOTI seems to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I believe SOTI is scalable. There are big corporations out there — companies with upwards of 4,000 cell phones that they need to manage — using it. From what I understand, SOTI handles that volume very well.
How are customer service and technical support?
SOTI tech support is solid.
How was the initial setup?
Setup is easy for the on-prem. For transitions to the cloud, it can take two days to get everything converted up and uploaded into the cloud. We just did one recently and there weren't any problems. It switched over from on-prem to cloud pretty seamlessly.
What was our ROI?
Customers can achieve some cost savings using SOTI. For example, SOTI can keep track of things like data consumption and roaming. Say there's a truck driver out on the road playing Pandora over his phone and it's adding up all these roaming charges to the company, they can get the data on stuff like that, then configure the devices to not allow roaming.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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. There is also is a maintenance cost to it. It's like seven bucks for tech support. So it's right around 30 dollars on average per seat.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Out of all the alternatives, SOTI is definitely the mobile device management software that we recommend. There is a handful of them out there — Mobile Iron, Avanti, and AirWatch— and it seems like the majority of people are using SOTI over the other ones. A lot of people use the other ones as well, but it does seem like SOTI is the leader in that field.
The owners of this company are seasoned wireless guys that have been doing this for 20 years and SOTI is all we sell. When we come up against a customer that has AirWatch, we've sold them on the benefits of SOTI over the other types of software and transitioned them to using SOTI rather than the other competitors.
What other advice do I have?
I would give SOTI a solid eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
Buyer's Guide
SOTI MobiControl
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about SOTI MobiControl. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Project Coordinator at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
Allows me to remotely track, lock, unlock, and reset devices, while keeping better inventory
Pros and Cons
- "The feature I find most valuable within Soti is the ability to reset or unlock a device. A lot of the devices that we use are in the field. We have locations in Dallas, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona and there isn't always someone, within our company, who is managing these devices. Sometimes it's the doctors' offices that we partner with where they use these devices. Having the ability to remotely reset a device or unlock a device has been super-crucial for me."
- "Also, although they're Apple products, we don't use the Find My iPhone feature because that would require us to use so many fake numbers or come up with a list of numbers. SOTI has been super-helpful in helping us track where an iPad is and knowing that we can remote-access it."
- "One issue is that if someone is using an Apple device and they're on the SIM card for data, it does not push the SOTI management system through immediately. It only works when you have it on WiFi. That's something I've noticed as we're troubleshooting and deploying devices into the field."
- "Reporting could be better. When I try to run a report, it doesn't have a filter or even a feature where I can choose what I have in the report. That's been a struggle since the first time I used it so I just don't touch it anymore."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to track our iPads and for upgrading them with software upgrades.
How has it helped my organization?
For us, having a 40-person sales team, it's definitely helped improve efficiency. Using the serial number and all the different filters within SOTI, I have the ability to not only keep track of a device when a sales rep forgets to let me know which one it is, but definitely to do better inventory, too.
With SOTI allowing me to remote-access the devices to either unlock, lock, or change any settings, it has saved us the manpower of needing to hire someone to go to where that device is to fix it or do any troubleshooting. That's where SOTI has been very helpful, in terms of saving time and money.
What is most valuable?
The feature I find most valuable within SOTI is the ability to reset or unlock a device. A lot of the devices that we use are in the field. We have locations in Dallas, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona and there isn't always someone, within our company, who is managing these devices. Sometimes it's the doctors' offices that we partner with where they use these devices. Having the ability to remotely reset a device or unlock a device has been super-crucial for me.
Also, although they're Apple products, we don't use the Find My iPhone feature because that would require us to use so many fake numbers or come up with a list of numbers. SOTI has been super-helpful in helping us track where an iPad is and in knowing that we can remote-access it.
What needs improvement?
If SOTI had an in-your-account chat feature, that would be super-helpful. I've been having some trouble with getting ahold of someone to help me when I have an issue within SOTI or with a device or with my account. And with staff members of SOTI being in Canada, the time difference doesn't tend to help. They have fewer people in the office at times that I'm in the office.
So if SOTI is able to build in a chat feature where it allows a user to chat with someone while they're in their account and trying to figure out a problem, that would be super-helpful for me and my company. That is one of the biggest things we have struggled with, with SOTI: finding what's wrong with our account at, say, 2:00 pm, when no one at SOTI is available to help; or when our account managers have stepped away from their office or email and they can't get to us, but we need the device working.
Also, one thing I asked our account manager and one of the tech support agents about, previously, was: There is a feature within SOTI that I've seen where I can right-click my device and it would allow me to locate my device. However, the thing we've struggled with is that SOTI requires me to have the Find My iPhone feature turned on. What I want to know is, can SOTI, within their mobile device management system, as we're downloading that into the device, have something that reads the location without the Find My iPhone - or Find My Device on the Apple iPad - turned on? With the privacy setting on the 300 iPads that we use, we allow the location to be found, but we don't have the Find My iPhone feature turned on. So if SOTI can somehow build it so that I can locate my device without needing Find My iPhone turned on, that would be another super-helpful thing that would benefit our company.
Another issue is that if someone is using an Apple device and they're on the SIM card for data, it does not push the SOTI management system through immediately. It only works when you have it on WiFi. That's something I've noticed as we're troubleshooting and deploying devices into the field. Some of our sales managers have had an issue with this, waiting for SOTI, plus our company's app, to go through to their iPads. It does not work on a SIM card only, it only works through WiFi.
Additionally, reporting could be better. When I try to run a report, it doesn't have a filter or even a feature where I can choose what I have in the report. That's been a struggle since the first time I used it so I just don't touch it anymore.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SOTI has the ability to help us scale, no matter what market we're in.
One thing that would be helpful is, when we purchase licenses through SOTI for our devices, there isn't a reminder that lets us know when we're about to run out of licenses, and that has been a bump in the road for our company a few times. There are so many iPads or devices in the field, with so many different managers utilizing them to download the SOTI management system, that when we're running low on licenses I don't know about it. The day a manager needs to sync with SOTI on the device and it doesn't allow it, we go through so many different hypotheses on why it is not working. Is it the iPad? Is it this? Maybe, at the end of the day, I go into our SOTI account and see it's because we have no more licenses. And there is a 24- to 48-hour window that it takes for our license to go in, get approved, signed, etc. If SOTI is able to build that to help us scale, that would be very crucial.
They let me know when my device is about to expire but shouldn't they let me know when my licenses are running out? If we have ten left, we might easily purchase another fifty from SOTI. That way, they would help us scale and they would have more business.
How is customer service and technical support?
If the chat feature is able to be built, that would be the only thing I have a comment on when it comes to tech support. Overall, technical support has been sufficient.
How was the initial setup?
I wasn't here when our account was set up with SOTI, but what I can speak about is setting up SOTI within the device, when we have to deploy a new one.
The process, at least for me, having been trained by our engineer, has been super-straightforward. Knowing how I can troubleshoot it myself, knowing what needs to happen in terms of right-clicking it so it pings to the device, all of that has been very straightforward. I'm not sure if I would describe myself as a super-tech-savvy person, but the technical understanding is straightforward: You have a device that's paired with SOTI, now you have to turn on the iPad to make sure it works. That has been very straightforward for me. SOTI has been super-easy on that side.
When we're pairing a device to SOTI, it takes no more than five minutes, as long as it is on WiFi. As soon as it's on WiFi, it takes no time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We were trying to negotiate with our account manager previously, in terms of pricing, and he was able to lower it by $500 if we were to renew our license for another year, but he wasn't able to give any bigger discount than that, even with us using it so frequently. My suggestion would be, if it's a customer who's worked with SOTI and wants to continue to work with SOTI, and they have so many licenses already - we have at least 350 licenses already - I would hope that they could do more deals. What our account manager told us was, unless you purchase another 200, we can't give any bigger discount. And I was thinking, "Well, I have no need to just buy 200 licenses." Every time we purchase a license it's a lot for our small start-up already.
That's one of the reasons, right now, that we're on the fence if we want to continue our partnership with SOTI: because the price couldn't be lowered. If they're able to provide packages for, say, 50 licenses, to give a slighter discount, that would better, because the 200 is just not ideal for a company that's a start-up. If they're working with Google, sure, give them 2000 licenses. But for smaller companies, I hope SOTI has something that they can provide.
What other advice do I have?
I would say go for it, if you need to manage and track devices, it's the way to go.
In our company, I and two engineers utilize SOTI. I am our project coordinator and there is our lead software engineer. The two of us handle maintenance and deployment. The third user is our VP of engineering. I use it on a daily basis.
We bought it directly from SOTI.
If I were to rate the solution from one to ten, I would give it a nine. It's not a ten because of the things that I mentioned above. But SOTI has been efficient and responsive enough to allow me to do my day-to-day functions without needing much assistance. The ten would be if they added the chat feature, if they had the SIM card and the cellular working together. Then I would definitely give SOTI a ten.
In our company, we have a net promoter score, with the promoters, the detractors, and the passives. I definitely am a promoter for SOTI. I would not be a passive. But if SOTI is able to fix some of those features that would be fantastic.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
System Administration Unit Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Though it has good and responsive support, its scalability needs to improve
Pros and Cons
- "I have experience with technical support. They are quite good. Also, they very quickly understand the issues and what are the requirements from my side. Response time is also good."
- "The remote screen of the solution gets stuck at times. So, that needs to be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We are using SOTI MobiControl to control our corporate devices, which we have issued to our field staff to do some application performance.
What is most valuable?
It is a mobile device management tool that we can control through the mobile device. So, it's the corporate device to control. So every user needs to use only the app, only the application since there's a way that we have set things. Hence, they cannot do anything besides that.
What needs improvement?
SOTI MobiControl needs to improve its geographic interface. The remote screen of the solution gets stuck at times. So, that needs to be improved.
For future releases, my suggestion for improvement is that somewhere in the setting and policy profile, where it's a little bit complicated. So if something can improve on that to make it user-friendly and easy to understand, then it would be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SOTI MobiControl for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight and a half out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of the solution is a bit complex. I found something that is a little bit complicated, but I can say that the solution is overall good. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Approximately we have over 2,000 users in our company using the tool.
How are customer service and support?
I have experience with technical support. They are quite good. Also, they very quickly understand the issues and what are the requirements from my side. Response time is also good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is neither easy nor too complicated. The solution is deployed on the cloud.
Actually, we have a team for maintenance, and we also help each other. So around 10-15 people are required for maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation within our organization.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I used to see the demonstration from another vendor, and I can say that it was quite similar to SOTI MobiControl. So each product has its own pros and cons. So, I don't want to give any opinion on that.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Site Lead - Lancaster Facility at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Allows us to easily move items from one configuration to another
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for tracking RF units. Across the whole network, we have about 1,000 devices.
How has it helped my organization?
The way SOTI has improved our organization is that we were trying to get off of the legacy MSP configuration. The improvement for us is having an OS and an interface for which we can get active support, if we need it, for configuring a unit.
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
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.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been very stable, so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalabililty is very good. We've not seen any issues. We have five sites, so far, that are using it.
How are customer service and technical support?
So far, tech support has been very good. They're responsive and they've been able to provide solutions to the issues that we've brought up.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used MSP previously. We switched to SOTI because MSP was out-of-support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was pretty straightforward. We had to work with our server team so that it was set up the way QC likes to have things set up. To set up the server, it took about a week or two, and that was more just a matter of coordinating. It was very reasonable. It took longer, on our side, to do the legal part.
Our strategy has been to use SOTI to move away from MSP and to get legacy equipment operational, before trying to get anything new going.
In terms of deployment, we've mostly had one person from each of our sites focused on this particular implementation. At some sites, the configuration changes more rapidly than at others.
What about the implementation team?
We worked with SOTI on the set up.
What was our ROI?
We really haven't had that much time with it yet. It's working well. We have more flexibility with the solution, but there isn't really a fixed number that I can give for ROI at this point.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
SOTI's pricing seems to be competitive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
AirWatch was the other one we looked at.
What other advice do I have?
Make sure you can gather your equipment and thoroughly test the configuration before you start rolling out.
We use the remote control technology and screen sharing features for both Android and IOS. At my location, we are using it more for Windows, while some of the other sites are using it for Android. There have not been any complaints or any concerns, they've been working well. I don't know that it's reduced device downtime, as of yet. We're relatively new using it.
We also lock down units and that has also been working fine. We do not have the location services on at this point in time, with our configuration.
We will be increasing usage of SOTI when we bring on the new DC site that we're planning to put up in the middle of next year. I can't say it's been a cost-savings. It's been more of an update solution, for us.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
IT Engineer at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Enables us to remotely diagnose issues when users are unable to connect to SAP
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the remote support because there are plants here where IT staff is not present. We can use it to provide support remotely."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
I'm using it with the handheld pocket devices from Motorola and Internic to provide remote support and employee packages. I also use it for tracking the devices.
How has it helped my organization?
When we use SOTI for SAP, if there is an issue where the user cannot connect, we can work on it by remoting to the device, getting some logs and finding if the problem is with the software, SAP, with the network, or maybe the end-user is doing something wrong with his scanner. It helps us to identify the issues the user is having. That means we don't need our expert IT guys to be in that place. If there is one setting that needs adjusting we don't need IT guys to be there, we can do it from here, remotely.
It saves time in supporting end-users.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the remote support because there are plants here where IT staff is not present. We can use it to provide support remotely.
What needs improvement?
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 say, "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.
The interface works really well with Internet Explorer but when I use the router and I try to get a huge number of devices the max goes from 25 to 50 to 100 or 200 or 250. I don't know why I cannot go forward with the 250 on Internet Explorer. On the screen, when collections are in transfer, I cannot move or see the whole collection.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's pretty stable. We haven't experienced any issues. Twice in these last two years I had to restart the server but that was related to hardware and not the application.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. As we grow, the solution can grow with us.
How is customer service and technical support?
Technical support is pretty good. The response time is good and the results were that the cases I had were solved. There could be some improvement in the response time.
How was the initial setup?
The setup of the solution was straightforward. Everything was okay with no problems related to the application. For the initial deployment, it took us about a week to enroll the devices.
Before MobiControl we had another solution from Zebra. We used that application to deploy the environment to all the devices that we had on that system. That was how we enrolled all our devices to the new solution.
What about the implementation team?
We did it on our own, myself and another IT guy here.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I believe we evaluated VMware AirWatch. That was the only other solution we looked at.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend SOTI for the features that it has and the uses that we have. It supports many platforms. We are working right now with Windows and we are synching with Android and Macs.
In terms of users of the solution, there are 15 IT guys from the Service Desk who use it and about 30 users, who are still IT Operations guys at the facilities. We have several offices here in America, so IT guys use the platform to support end-users in those offices. We have three administrators for the application. The three administrators were involved in the deployment at the start of the project.
I rate it at nine out of ten. To be a ten they would need to improve the pricing.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Information Technology Manager at a engineering company with 10,001+ employees
We have a return on investment from the solution because we have secure devices and discipline at work
Pros and Cons
- "It is a scalable solution."
- "They should improve the lockdown feature."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for its lockdown feature for our devices. So, when we give mobiles to our on-field technicians, we want only our corporate application to work on it. We don't want them to install any unauthorized software on it so as to ensure the security of the device and the data. We allow only authorized applications to run on their devices with the solution's help.
What needs improvement?
They should improve the lockdown feature. Presently, it gets revoked sometimes, and the user can do some unintended activity. Sometimes, the mobiles get stuck as well. They should work on these kinds of operational issues.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for five to seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution. We have some issues, such as one of the devices might face problems once in a while. Otherwise, it is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. We have scaled up several devices and applications to it. We have 800 hundred solution users in the region under my administration. Currently, we are using the solution specifically for field devices. But, we plan to connect office devices to solutions. So, the number of devices may increase in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
It takes 25% of a person's time to deploy and maintain the solution.
What was our ROI?
There is a return on investment in the solution because we have our devices secured. Also, we have discipline in working. In addition, they address security patching as well.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We purchase the solution's yearly license. There are additional costs if you want to use extra features. For example, I have a printing license on the Microsoft platform. If I had to use printing in SOTI, it would have charged me extra cost.
What other advice do I have?
Besides the price, it is a good solution. I recommend it to others and rate it as an eight.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Lockdown enables us to prevent users from downloading prohibited apps, but the system is not built for redundancy
Pros and Cons
- "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 Lockdown Kiosk Mode is very useful... When you have 9,000 people remotely using your applications, you want to make sure that they don't play with Facebook while they're supposed to be working... It also prevents installation of software that could be harmful or compromise the security of the phone."
- "Because we have a custom, business-to-business applications, the solution's deployment features give us the ability to control the deployment of new versions. We can granularly decide which people or which phone receive updates. It's kind of like having your own "app store" and being able to control what you deploy on the phones... You can see how the deployment is happening; if it's going well or not."
- "You need to get used to the admin console. I think it could be improved. It's not the best I've seen. Certainly, the software has a lot of features so you necessarily have some complexity in the interface, but I've seen better. They could make it easier in certain aspects."
- "The scalability is horizontal, not vertical. One machine has to have all the accounts. That's one of the issues that we have found with scalability: You always have to keep the same machine. If you want to add a second machine, you need to split the account and that removes flexibility of management."
- "They don't have systems that are built for redundancy. You have one database that manages everything and, if that database crashes, you have a problem."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use is providing support to remote employees on mobile phones. We also use it to deploy software and updates to the phones.
How has it helped my organization?
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 could debug, we can help, we can reboot the phone. We have many options to help the remote user who is struggling with an application or with the phone. Before, they had to bring the phone to the office or to their manager so that we can debug it. Now it can be done remotely, most of the time, if the phone is not broken. These are very important features that we like. That's why we use SOTI.
The Lockdown Kiosk Mode is very useful. After the remote control, it's one of the main reasons we use the solution. When you have 9,000 people remotely using your applications, you want to make sure that they don't play with Facebook while they're supposed to be working. It's a very important feature to prevent installation of applications we don't want and to provide a uniform device interface for everybody, no matter what the phone brand. The uniform interface makes training easier. It also prevents installation of software that could be harmful or compromise the security of the phone. It's a very important feature.
Because we have a custom, business-to-business application, the solution's deployment features give us the ability to control the deployment of new versions. We can granularly decide which people or which phone receive updates. It's kind of like having your own "app store" and being able to control what you deploy on the phones, how you want to deploy it and when you want to deploy it. You can see how the deployment is happening; if it's going well or not. It's a convenience feature that provides us with great flexibility in the deployment of our software to our users.
By enabling a faster response time to support users who are having difficulties on their device, it helps us with downtime or with a device that was blocked or malfunctioned. The support team is able to respond faster to problems, providing a faster resolution time so that the end user is back working with the device.
It has improved the security of the phone, through lockdown. If the phone is lost we can remotely wipe it. It reinforces the overall security of the device.
There are many aspects in which we've improved the efficiency of our operation.
What is most valuable?
There are many features that we use.
- The main one is providing support through remote control of the phone.
- Another feature we use provides a lockdown screen, which prevents remote users from starting or installing applications that are not officially supported by the company.
- We also use it to deploy updates of our software remotely.
- There are some additional features, like antivirus, that are part of the solution and are nice to have.
In a nutshell, those are the four main features that we use. The software has many more options which we don't use that often.
What needs improvement?
You need to get used to the admin console. I think it could be improved. It's not the best I've seen. Certainly, the software has a lot of features so you necessarily have some complexity in the interface, but I've seen better. They could make it easier in certain aspects.
Once you know it and how to navigate through it, it's good. When you're not trained on it, that could lead to some difficult situations where you say, "Where is what I need? What do I do?" If you don't know how to navigate through it, you could get lost. It's a complex interface in that regard. You need to be trained.
Development of lockdown screens, and certain aspects of the application, are still cumbersome and difficult to work. A certain subset of the features of the application are sometimes difficult to work with due to the complexity or maturity of certain modules.
One of the main pain points I have had with Soti is support for the latest device. That could cause a problem. Let's say Samsung comes out with its latest device and Sprint and Verizon start to sell that device, and we have a few of those devices to support. Sometimes you need to have an agent on the device and there are times when the agent is not fully compatible with the new device. That can cause problems. Certain stuff crashes. They need to catch up with the latest devices. Generally, when we have difficulties, it's because the phone is brand new and SOTI doesn't have a connector or agent that is fully compatible with the device. Any MDM always has to make sure that its agents support the latest phones that come out. Sometimes it's difficult.
They have to really work on making sure they lock down a strong relationship with the device manufacturers so that they can work in advance on their agents before the phone is released to the wider market.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. In the four years we've been using it, there have been very few issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As I mentioned, we have nearly 9,000 users on one machine. Over the four years, we have had to upgrade the type of machine we're running it on. It scales but the problem is that you need to upgrade the server on which you run. You need to add more CPU or more disk space to support the scalability.
The scalability is horizontal, not vertical. One machine has to have all the accounts. That's one of the issues that we have found with scalability: You always have to keep the same machine. If you want to add a second machine, you need to split the account and that removes flexibility of management.
The other weakness that they have currently is that they don't have systems that are built for redundancy. You have one database that manages everything and, if that database crashes, you have a problem. They could have done a better job with redundancy, and on scalability there is some weakness. It scales but you need to add more horsepower every time.
Because machines are very powerful, it's not so much of an issue. Now we're on the cloud. You can scale servers very easily. But I would like, eventually, for there to be better redundancy in the system for failovers. Failovers are a weakness of the solution. If my server goes down then my solution goes down. They don't have a failover strategy for their solution. That's a weakness in the scalability.
How is customer service and technical support?
We have Enterprise Support. We have additional support because we are one of their large customers. We have access to some of the senior developers. Generally, we have a direct line. If there is any glitch or any step that we don't understand or we need help, we have fairly quick access to support from SOTI.
Support is very good. They are very knowledgeable, very good at helping, at doing everything to help when we have issues. They follow through. If they don't have a solution, they bounce it to the dev. Generally, I have always been pleased by their response time, by the quality of the response, and by the knowledge of the people in support. I am very pleased with support.
How was the initial setup?
Generally, you have to install from the app store or they have an OEM website where you can download the agent. Once you know the process, it's fairly straightforward. We've done so many that we're used to it.
It's not complex. It's not simple. It's in between. You have to have a license key and a few other elements on hand. Then you install the agent on the phone, you register it and it appears on the interface. Any MDM will be like that. Deploying a device takes a few minutes, assuming you have everything already set up on your server.
In terms of our deployment strategy, first, we set up our own servers. We have remote users in both Canada and the US. We break it down by countries first. Then we have a breakdown by type of device: tablets or phones. In our implementation, we then segment the phones by provider: Verizon, AT&T, etc. Within those categories, we break it down by type of lockdown screen because we have different types of lockdown screens for a manager and for a regular employee. Based on their roles, they have more or fewer applications available.
What about the implementation team?
We did it internally. We have some people helping on the lockdown screen. For the rest, we manage the software ourselves. But because we are a large SOTI customer, we have Level 3 support. When we have issues or problems or questions, we have access to the top SOTI engineers.
What was our ROI?
For us, the solution is part of the overall business cost. It's required. It's not about saving money. It's about supporting the users' security.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There are solutions that can be more aggressively priced, but they may not provide all that SOTI does. It's a matrix regarding what feature you use. You need to compare the features you use and what you are willing to pay for them. You may have MDMs that have half of what SOTI provides. They are cheaper but you have less.
SOTI's pricing is okay. It's in the middle. But pricing is a subtle issue. They can provide more aggressive pricing once you start to have a lot of licenses. They have volume discounts and can be very competitive.
What other advice do I have?
You can have the solution in-house or you can have the solution on the cloud, managed by SOTI. Evaluate your needs. There are advantages to having SOTI managing it for you. That's something to look at.
You definitely require some training and understanding of the management platform. That's part of the deployment, especially if you use certain features, like lockdown screens which require some configuration and setup. SOTI can provide support to evaluate this. They help you with certain deployment aspects and training on the solution.
We may look at the real-time location services from time to time, but part of our own software on the cellphone gives us tracking through GPS. So this feature from Soti is not something that is necessary. It's not critical to our use case of SOTI.
Another thing that is important is knowing very well the types of devices that you have and making sure that they are supported by SOTI. If you use older devices or devices that have been on the market a while, that should be okay. If you're planning to have a lot of new devices, and if you're changing devices very frequently, make sure they're supported by SOTI.
Also, if you use an unknown device brand, that could be problematic. We are in the security industry. While you probably you use an iPhone or a Samsung or some well-known brand, in certain industries, like ours, there are specialized phones. You may have phones that are made especially waterproof or that you can drop. They've been "ruggedized," made to work in difficult environments. Those phones may be from brands you've never heard of. If all your phones are from unknown brands, you have to make sure they are supported by SOTI. Generally they are, but you have to do your due diligence between your inventory and what SOTI supports.
For administration of the solution, we have a small team of five people. Because we are hosting the solution ourselves - we have and manage the servers - it's our responsibility. We have two sys admins who maintain and administer the solution.
We are growing every month. We are adding hundreds of licenses every month.
I would rate SOTI at seven out of ten. It's a good product, very stable. There's some stuff that they could improve and I think they are improving it.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Updated: December 2024
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