F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs Parallels Access comparison

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Parallels Access

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.7%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 1.3%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Access is 2.1%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Remote Access

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi

Collaborations engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

Read full review

Ashish Kumar Rai

Associate Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Offers remote access control, good GUI and easy to configure

I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM interface itself, they could add direct hyperlinks to relevant online documentation. This would provide easy access to admin guides and other resources when working within the GUI.

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Binish Parikh

Vice President at ARK Infosolutions Pvt Ltd

Easy-to-deploy and good for small as well as large setups

There is room for improvement in the pricing policy. The price point is pretty aggressive. Since it is not very resource hungry, it doesn't require dedicated servers like high-end solutions do, so it's easier for customers to integrate it into their own solutions. In future releases, maybe more support for Macs and Unix so that customers with setups on those platforms can also benefit from the solutions.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A valuable feature is user enrollment, where users can enroll their devices in their organizations themselves."

"The one feature we find most useful is the Mobile Application Manager. There are two types, we have the complete MDM and the Mobile Application Manager(MAM). We don't give our users phones, it is their own personal phone, and we need to allow them to have access to the company detail on their phone. We need to create a balance between their own personal data and the company data. We deploy the Mobile Application Manager for them so that we won't be able to interfere with their own personal data."

"The solution’s most valuable feature is its ease of use."

"I particularly appreciate the administration and security features, which can be deployed easily."

"Agile and easy to deploy MDM solution that covers the maximum number of policies. Stable, scalable, and with knowledgeable technical support."

"The automatic patching is the most valuable feature of Intune."

"Its security is most valuable. It gives us a way to secure devices, not only those that are steady. We do have a few tablets and other devices, and it is a way for us to secure these devices and manage them. We know they're out there and what's their status. We can manage their life cycle and verify that they're updated properly."

"Technical support, in general, has been quite helpful."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"The load balancing features are valuable."

"In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work."

"Our customers have never complained about the stability"

"The tool is reliable and easy to configure."

"The performance of the solution is valuable."

"The product allows us to create customized portals for your users."

"A lot of features are useful to me, including mostly the authentication, SAML, or SSO, with no sign-on."

"F5 BIG-IP APM is relatively easy to use."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) pros

"We don't have problems with stability. Everything is good."

"Parallels Access gives me full access and control of the computer, and I can do anything I want remotely."

"Parallels Access has flexible licensing policies, which is beneficial for customers who have intermittent usage or users who are on and off the system."

"It's great that the total deployment can happen completely remotely."

"It's got a very easy-to-use interface."

Cons

"I think there should be a better tracking of the cell phones used on the Intune."

"I'd suggest adding more features for macOS in Intune. There should be more functionality for managing macOS. There should be a better capability for pushing things down on macOS. Currently, Intune is not capable of managing macOS at the same level as Windows."

"I am not involved in the day-to-day with Intune, but we have gone with a different product for updating mobile device software. We do not integrate many of our mobile devices that are not Microsoft-based devices, such as Dell laptops, with Intune."

"The most significant challenge is reporting and monitoring. The reporting accuracy for deploying applications and all aspects of Intune needs to be improved."

"Due to the abundance of features, there's a lot to organize, which makes managing and setting up the solution challenging. The setup is immense, and it would be good to see improvement in this area."

"A more incisive reporting tool with automated progress updates and graphical representation would be beneficial, as the current manual method lacks efficiency and visual clarity."

"We face multiple scenarios where IT decision-makers request specific policy implementations, however, due to product limitations, we cannot fulfill these requests."

"We are facing issues with Apple products. With macOS and iOS, there are some difficulties with the updates because we cannot get full control of Apple products. In the case of Windows, it is fine, but in the case of Apple, we have some difficulties. We cannot control everything through Intune."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"Regarding price, I'm not directly involved in purchasing, but our CIO thinks the product is very expensive. He's considering moving from the tool to Citrix NetScaler WAF because it's cheaper, and we already have Citrix for VDI. We got NetScaler almost free as part of our VDI deal. Three years ago, I convinced him to use the solution because it's better, but now, with budget constraints, he may want to switch."

"The operational deployment is not great."

"Cloud services are something that F5 Access Policy Manager could do better"

"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) does not have a direction for SaaS."

"The solution’s GUI looks very old."

"The solution is quite costly."

"Integrating identity providers and single sign-on solutions can simplify user authentication and access control."

"F5 BIG-IP APM disconnects when you leave it for long enough, but that is natural for IT solutions to do. That's a little bit frustrating."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) cons

"There is room for improvement in the pricing policy. The price point is pretty aggressive."

"When you want to transfer a file from your iPad or remote device to the computer, the copy-and-paste feature doesn't always work."

"They could improve the reporting."

"One challenge we do notice is that the application is limited to Windows servers only. If a customer has a Linux server, things get complicated. They should open it up a bit to be more compatible with different types of servers."

"The solution may not scale well for enterprises."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"All security solutions worldwide are expensive. Microsoft has allowed a small scale of features within Microsoft Intune for cost-efficient solutions. If you want the full suite, you need to invest more to gain better security features."

"Its price is fair. It's a normal price. It isn't too expensive or too cheap."

"Microsoft Intune's pricing is reasonable."

"Its pricing seems reasonable."

"The pricing is good because customers are not complaining about it."

"The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."

"The product is relatively pricey, but considering its benefits, I'd say it's fair. The benefits outweigh the expensive licensing fees, especially for large organizations, but medium-sized and smaller businesses may be unable to afford it."

"We don't pay for Intune because it is bundled with the premium subscription to Office 365. It includes Intune and Defender. I don't have to buy two extra products to manage my enterprise."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"

"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The tool is a little bit expensive."

"The product is very expensive."

"The licensing costs are about $100 per user."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Educational Organization

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

10%

University

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?

Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...

What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...

How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability, akin to purchas...

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM ( /categories/application-performance-monitoring-apm-and-observability )) does n...

What do you like most about Parallels Access?

Parallels Access gives me full access and control of the computer, and I can do anything I want remotely.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Parallels Access?

It's around $125 per user per year. It is a one-time charge for installation and implementation, which is a small cos...

What needs improvement with Parallels Access?

When you want to transfer a file from your iPad or remote device to the computer, the copy-and-paste feature doesn't ...

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Product Reports

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Microsoft Intune

May 2025

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Download F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) product report

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Remote Access

Download Parallels Access product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

F5 Access Policy Manager

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Intune provides centralized management of mobile devices and applications, ensuring security, compliance, and productivity through integration with Microsoft services like Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory.

Organizations use Intune for managing mobile devices and applications, enhancing security and compliance across platforms. With features like single sign-on, conditional access, and zero-touch deployment via Autopilot, it facilitates efficient operations. Intune's scalability, easy enrollment, and capabilities such as remote wipe support diverse device management, offering robust data protection and efficient operation. Despite its features, improvement areas include reporting, compatibility with non-Microsoft devices, and better support for macOS and Linux devices.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Seamless Integration: Works with Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory, and System Center for streamlined management.
Conditional Access: Enhances security with policies that restrict access based on conditions.
Autopilot: Provides zero-touch deployment for setting up new devices efficiently.
Mobile Device Management: Enables control over both personal and corporate devices.
Application Deployment: Facilitates app delivery across a range of devices.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Centralized Management: Reduces complexity by managing devices and applications in one place.
Security Enhancement: Protects data with features like remote wipe and compliance monitoring.
Improved Productivity: Enhances efficiency with seamless integration and automation features.
Device Scalability: Supports diverse device management for growing business needs.

In industries such as finance, healthcare, and education, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure secure and compliant device management. Companies leverage its capabilities to deploy security policies and manage both corporate-owned and BYOD environments, facilitating a unified approach to data protection and compliance.

Microsoft

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access.

BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

BIG-IP APM Benefits:

Ease of use
Flexibility
Ability to integrate with other systems
Security features
Granular access control
Responsive and helpful support team

BIG-IP APM Features:

Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
Integration with third-party MFA solutions
DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
SAML 2.0 identity federation support
Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
AAA server authentication and high-availability
Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

Clyde Livingston, Senior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

Chris Lam, Senior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

Parallels Access provides an efficient solution for remote computer access, catering to organizations seeking hardware resource conservation and centralized management. Enhanced productivity is achieved through seamless connectivity, particularly beneficial for CAD and ERP application remote access.

Utilized by businesses and academic institutions, Parallels Access offers robust remote access capabilities. The platform's publishing features enable application use without VPN, delivering high stability and usability for desktop mobile publishing. It supports Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, making it valuable for those needing remote control of computers via devices such as iPads and enhancing productivity for those unable to access their devices directly. System integrators and channel partners align with companies to provide comprehensive technical support for users requiring remote connectivity.

What are Parallels Access's features?

Ease of Use: Simplifies remote deployment and access.
Publishing Features: Access applications without needing a VPN.
Scalability: Start with 15 users and grow as needed.
Remote Control: Offers full computer access for users with physical limitations.

What benefits does Parallels Access offer?

Enhanced Productivity: Increased access for productive use away from physical device locations.
Resource Management: Optimal utilization of hardware resources.
Convenient Access: Stable and reliable functionality for direct application use.
Improved Collaboration: Technical support partnerships ensure smooth operations.

Parallels Access is implemented across industries like automotive and education, emphasizing remote access to specialized applications such as CAD. Due to its ease of use, it supports centralized management for businesses working with ERP systems. Challenges include improving compatibility with Linux, Macs, and Unix servers, tackling aggressive pricing, addressing scaling issues, and enhancing reporting for user satisfaction.

Parallels

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office

Gilt Groupe K.K.

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) vs. Parallels Access