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IBM MaaS360 vs Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks comparison

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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 Intune
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
263
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
IBM MaaS360
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (9th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (6th)
Prisma Access by Palo Alto ...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (3rd), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (1st), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (5th), ZTNA as a Service (2nd), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Bijay Kumar Swain - PeerSpot reviewer
Ability to segregate data, well-suited for medium enterprises and installation is quick
We have some challenges. If we look at the challenges we face in the market, there are a few products like Sophos, where there are features of MaaS360, and the IBM EDR product, ReaQta. So, there are features from both ReaQta and MaaS360 available in Sophos, as well as a few other products, which we have challenges in replacing. MaaS360 definitely caters to a few of the requirements, but when someone is going for a solution, all the features are not available in MaaS360. It is like a combo, MaaS360, and IBM ReaQta, that is, EDR, ReaQta. Both of them, together as a combo plan, actually offer a very good proposition in terms of market competitors. There are a few products like Sophos and another product which have features from both endpoint detection and response and mobile device management. Because we have two different products with those features, we face challenges in proposing a particular product for the client. It is like a marketing challenge. The way other competitor products are available in the market. So it is better to have a different positive team, but, again, to remain in competition and have better scalability. So, IBM needs to integrate a few features that the competitors have in their products. No doubt, this is a different product, MaaS360. We call it MDM. We call it endpoint mobile device management. Then we call it different names that MaaS360 falls into. But when we are talking about competitor products, to remain in the competition, you need to have features that others provide. IBM surely has those features in other products, but not in MaaS360. The only challenge was replacing already existing competitor products with MaaS360. So, that’s the only area where we struggle because they always come with those requirements that they are already getting in the competitor’s product, which is not available in IBM’s MaaS360. So this product lacks some features, like Unified Endpoint Management.
Partha Dash - PeerSpot reviewer
Makes us part of a bigger security ecosystem with updates taken care of for us, but pricing and support need work
There are definitely a number of things that could be improved. One of them is geographic coverage. China is still an issue because the solution does not operate there properly due to government regulations. I believe Palo Alto is trying pretty hard to get into partnerships with Alibaba and other cloud providers, but they do not have the same compelling offering in China that they have in the rest of the world. Businesses that are operating within China have to be very sure to evaluate the solution before making a buying decision. It is not an issue with Palo Alto, rather it is predominantly the result of government rules, but it's something that Palo Alto needs to work on. There is also room for improvement when it comes to latency in a couple of regions, including India and South America. They might have to increase their presence in those locations and come up with more modern cloud architectures. The third area is that, while Palo Alto has understood the essence of building capabilities around cloud technology and have come up with a CASB offering, that is a very new product. There are other companies that have better offerings for understanding cloud applications and have more graceful controls. That's something that Palo Alto needs to work on.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to send configurations to our systems is valuable, particularly as we don't have a regular Windows AD server. Our current environment doesn't have a Windows AD, which limits our ability to push GPOs. However, this is where the solution can step in and help us push policies."
"It's very informative when there is an error. It allows us to backtrace where the error is and resolve that ourselves. It's a bit of a Swiss Army penknife. We find that it fixes most issues."
"Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management."
"Intune is flexible. If you want to move a device that was previously on-prem, we can bring it to the cloud and apply all the policies. This is helpful for even those organizations that were on-prem and not on the cloud. They can also come and use these features, which are pretty cool and would be handy to protect the data and manage the devices as well."
"The security-related tools are excellent; these features allow us to secure devices, lock them down, and ensure compliance."
"The technical support of Microsoft Intune is good."
"Intune has automated the deployment of patches and applications, which is more efficient and easier. It allows us to deploy applications, packages, Windows updates, and security updates like BitLocker encryption more efficiently and easily."
"Overall, my user experience with Microsoft Intune has been great."
"We introduced the product as part of the SOC-2 requirement. The tool's most valuable features include keeping the operating system updated, tracking software inventory, controlling computer administrators, and the ability to wipe a computer in case of a security threat. It helps us to be compliant, and it is one of the reasons we implemented it."
"MaaS can force people to lock their phones. Not everyone likes having a PIN and other security features on their phones, but this sets a requirement that you can't get your emails unless you have a PIN on your phone. That was a good feature, and we were able to easily increase the PIN from four digits to six digits. Overall, it was pretty user-friendly."
"It is a stable solution that functions twenty-four hours and seven days a week."
"It is a stable solution."
"It helped us reduce the number of support incidents by limiting users' access to device configurations."
"The tool's most valuable features are application, distribution, and security. It helps to block user access."
"​The graphic, friendly interface allowed us to start without almost any ​support from the manufacturer.​​​"
"It allows us to have an updated inventory of all the devices in real-time with the ability to add personalized information."
"You have the ability to create your own expressions for your data. Palo Alto understands that DLP is not the same for all consumers. You might have a particular need to fulfill, and they give you the opportunity to create a custom expression to match the specific format that you have. For a confidential file property that you have in your files, you can add a metadata field. It gives you that opportunity to create that."
"The solution is not very complex and is easy to manage for people who may or may not have knowledge about Palo Alto Networks."
"Overall, the cost savings, ease of deployment, and better VPN user experience and performance are valuable."
"It is easy to use, easy to integrate, and is stable. It's scalable as well."
"Its frontend is user-friendly. It is easy to use for us."
"The most valuable features of the solution are in the areas of the secure remote access it provides while also being user-friendly."
"The most valuable features are ZTNA 2.0, CASB, Threat Prevention, and Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADAM)."
"It's very stable. Sometimes after installing the boxes, we leave them for one or two years. We would just touch the box in the case of the customer needing new requirements or changes to the setup."
 

Cons

"Intune should improve the management of non-Microsoft devices. It would be better to manage Mac, Android, and other non-Microsoft operating system devices within the same Intune interface."
"There can be some added features, such as an improved dashboard. Any new feature that could be a benefit to our customers would be good."
"Reporting needs to be better. Sometimes, it is way too slow, and it is not even accurate."
"I would like to see Intune improve its handling of hybrid domain joins."
"When we implemented Intune, it would have been helpful if Microsoft had provided some videos or data about Intune."
"There is room for improvement in server patch management and allowing direct uploads of EXE applications instead of needing to convert them to Intune format, which would save time."
"There can be more logs. I do not have any other requirements."
"While Intune works perfectly well, the only potential downside is that the deployment could be a bit complex for some users."
"They should allow for the building of custom reports with graphics."
"The look needs to be updated and it could be simpler to use."
"The product needs to improve tech support."
"User interface is basic and not very intuitive."
"The price could be lower."
"The reporting and alerting could be improved."
"Zero day support is something they can work on. They can make it a little bit more user-friendly."
"When we have MaaS360 installed on smartphones, it consumes the battery of the device at a much faster pace. This is one of the areas of improvement that I would like to highlight. We have also observed that in the contact list, a lot of duplication is happening. A single contact is duplicated three or four times, which also consumes more memory resources. If they can work on improving it for these aspects, it will have a more positive impact not only on the way the application is being consumed by the user but also on user satisfaction. A lot of new features are being deployed or rolled out by companies that are competitors of IBM MaaS360. IBM will have to ensure that all those features are on board so that we have a complete suite of features in the platform, rather than deploying multiple diverse solutions to cater to the requirements of our customers."
"Prisma would be a stronger solution if it could aggregate resources by project or by application. So say we have an application we've developed in AWS and five applications we've developed in Azure. The platform will group it according to those applications, but it's based on the tags we use in Azure, which means I have to rely on development teams to tag resources properly."
"The solution’s stability could be improved."
"The documentation is generally good, but they could provide a more detailed description of all the configuration steps. I have to search for information or call support. Palo Alto could add more knowledge base articles about configuration with screenshots and walkthroughs. That would be helpful. When configuring a product, you want to see examples of how it is done."
"We've run into some challenges, having hit a lot of bugs over the past year in the deployment of GlobalProtect. We've had our fair share of issues that I haven't been happy with. We're working with the support organization to remediate them and waiting for updated releases. The response on getting the bugs fixed has not been what I would consider adequate for a product like this."
"There is some particular traffic that the security team wants to filter out and apply their own policies and they cannot."
"It wasn't so satisfying to work with it. There is room for improvement in the policy management. It is difficult to cover the entire scenery through Palo Alto products."
"Palo Alto Prisma 10 came out over a year ago. Palo Alto added this identity management feature. The legacy way Palo Alto selected which user is sitting on an IP address it passes through has been clunky."
"They could add more flexibility and improve product performance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Any bundle package, such as Security E3, covers multiple things, such as AAP, BitLocker, etc. If you go for them individually, they would be more expensive. Bundling makes the price more attractive and competitive."
"Intune's pricing is reasonable considering its benefits and the high costs it helps avoid."
"The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
"The cost is somewhat on the higher side, particularly when considering certain price points, especially in markets like India."
"It is reasonable. When you have Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license, it is already licensed in that license. So, you could say it is free."
"Microsoft Intune has been incorporated into our Microsoft E5 licenses."
"It is average. Some of the costs are quite high depending on what the customer currently uses, but overall, it is not bad. I would not say that I would not recommend Intune based on the cost. I definitely would, but they can definitely improve on the cost. So overall, its cost is not bad."
"I liked the tool's pricing until P2 came into effect. I am unsure about the current value versus the cost of the new licensing model."
"IBM products are expensive compared to the tools offered by its competitors. IBM MaaS360 is an expensive tool."
"I feel the pricing to be very high."
"The licensing structure is broken down into levels, each with different functionalities available. Depending on your license, there may be additional fees for extra features."
"There are other solutions cheaper than IBM MaaS360, such as Microsoft Intune."
"IBM products are a little pricey."
"​It requires zero investment in infrastructure since it is 100% cloud.​"
"Fees are monthly and it's approximately $8 per user."
"I rate IBM MaaS360's pricing a six out of ten."
"Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks has flexible licensing models with different categories. It comes with different features which can be removed if not needed. However, its pricing is high."
"It is not cheap. It is expensive. The good thing is that you are able to pay for what you need, but overall, it is not cheap. The pricing is not based on packages. You pay based on the features. If you want DLP, you only pay for DLP. They are very flexible. It is not cheap, but the licensing is flexible. There are no additional costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"This is not an expensive product and everything is included with one license."
"The pricing can be difficult because it came to us with another agreement, but it can be negotiated. I highly recommend people to compare this product's performance and pricing against BetterCloud, because I feel BetterCloud is better than Prisma SaaS if they're starting from scratch."
"As compared to other solutions, Prisma Access is much cheaper. It is probably 30% to 40% cheaper than other solutions, but I do not know the exact cost."
"I'm still comparing, but the solution is quite expensive."
"It's pricey, it's not cheap. But you get what you pay for."
"The licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis and for what we get, the price is good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 ...
Microsoft Intune vs IBM MaaS360 - which to choose?
Our organization researched both Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360 when considering the type of endpoint security tool...
What do you like most about IBM MaaS360?
We introduced the product as part of the SOC-2 requirement. The tool's most valuable features include keeping the ope...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM MaaS360?
IBM products are a little pricey, so it’s expensive. I would rate the pricing and licensing model a seven out of ten,...
What is the better solution - Prisma Access or Zscaler Private Access?
We looked into Prisma Access before choosing Zscaler Private Access (ZPA). Palo Alto’s Prisma Access is a secure ac...
What do you like most about Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
The most valuable features of the solution are in the areas of the secure remote access it provides while also being ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks?
From my experience, Palo Alto is more expensive compared to solutions like Netskope and Triscale.
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Fiberlink MaaS360, MaaS360
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access, Prisma Access, GlobalProtect, Palo Alto GlobalProtect Mobile Security Manager, Prisma SaaS by Palo Alto Networks, Prisma Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Bancroft, Garuda Indonesia
Concord Hospital, State of Colorado, Essilor International, RheinLand Versicherungsgruppe, University of Westminster, Universidade Nove de Julho, SPAR Austria, CAME Group, ZipRealty, Greenhill & Co., IKT Agder, Aviva Stadium, Animal Logic, Management & Training Corporation, Brigham Young University Hawaii, School District of Chilliwack
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, JAMF, Omnissa and others in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). Updated: May 2025.
850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.