IBM MaaS360 vs Xamarin Platform comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM MaaS360 and Xamarin Platform based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, JAMF, VMware and others in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM).
To learn more, read our detailed Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"One of the standout features of Intune is its seamless accessibility to work data, eliminating the need to be tied to an office or a desktop.""Its protection policies are most valuable. It protects mobile devices as well as individual apps. It is pretty scalable, and its documentation is also pretty good. It is also pretty straightforward to deploy.""Intune can wipe devices. For example, if a disgruntled employee wants to leak the data on their company phone, Intune can terminate their access and wipe the entire device with a click.""It works pretty well for us.""We have a BYOD policy, and this solution helps us manage our devices.""Technical support, in general, has been quite helpful.""It provides control over all mobile devices that are being connected to the corporate network.""It has a useful device management feature."

More Microsoft Intune Pros →

"The implementation phase of IBM MaaS360 was pretty easy.""The most valuable feature is that it's comprehensive - it covers mobile devices and laptops in one package.""Asset management is the most valuable feature and integral for device inventory.""It helped us reduce the number of support incidents by limiting users' access to device configurations.""It is a stable solution.""My customers value the ability to control all their devices from a central point in IBM MaaS360.""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.""It can change policies based on geolocation or schedules."

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"It is a true native solution, and we can use the cross-platform framework.""The ability to share a platform-agnostic common core, or business logic, enables a mobile developer to write code for all targeted mobile platforms, independent of the individual developer's specialization in iOS, Android, or Windows. This helps not only during development but also enables easier maintenance of deployed apps, since bug fixes or feature additions can be often made in the platform-agnostic layer.""Test Cloud, Calabash, SpecFlow, and Xamarin.UITest are the features which can’t be ignored because just writing code doesn’t mean your app will run flawlessly. You need to test your app on each possible device and configuration, which you can do easily.""The solution is easy to understand and has banking integrated. The shorter development time, the bugging and as well as availability of a lot of documentation on the web. Also the native integration is easy.""We very much like the XAML design techniques, multiple layout and pages, MVVMCross support, and portability across different platforms.""A single line of code works with android and iOS.""The Xamarin platform can reduce overhead significantly through code-share and reuse. The typical team size for a Xamarin project is significantly reduced compared to purely native projects.""The most valuable features are: One language for all platforms: C#; XAML for UI in Xamarin.Forms; provides 100 percent coverage of APIs on each platform."

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Cons
"Microsoft Intune needs to improve the initial login process.""When somebody has a customized application or their own company's application, we cannot deploy that application.""I have a lot of Apple products in my environment. It would be nice to have an improved integration of Apple products with Microsoft Intune without Jam.""Microsoft Intune could improve by being more user-friendly and having it geared toward device management. The graphic interface is not very good.""Once it's configured it is unobtrusive, but it does take some hands-on to configure and deploy it properly.""Reporting in Microsoft solutions is pathetic. With Intune, I'm getting a free inventory tool, but I don't get a reporting tool. When I go to Intune, I can see one machine's entire data in terms of the hardware and the software running on it, but I cannot generate a report for all the machines in the organization. The reporting is the only feature holding back the functionality that is already there.""I would like to see micro VPN. I like the way that some of the other providers have done something similar where, as you open that app on an end-point device, it creates a micro VPN straight into your device, which is quite a nice little feature. Also, Microsoft Intune relies heavily on its fellow products in the suite. It would be nice if Microsoft Intune could stand on its own two feet.""The solution could be improved by the opportunity to connect third-party application databases, such as Chocolatey or another setup store, to Intune."

More Microsoft Intune Cons →

"The interface is clunky and the layout is a bit outdated. Also, I don't think MaaS360 has as many features as Intune. It doesn't integrate with Office as seamlessly as Intune does, which isn't surprising, given that Intune and Office are Microsoft products.""The UI has room for improvement.""It would be ideal to add support for the distribution of windows.exe applications.""User interface is basic and not very intuitive.""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.""It's difficult for someone like me to set up a phone that doesn't require a SIM card, like Apple's new phones.""IBM MaaS360 can improve the location reporter. There is a 15-minute delay and this does not allow for any usefulness.""They should allow for the building of custom reports with graphics."

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"For those who use only XAML to design the UI, it would be better if there was a better XAML previewer or designer.""The architecture in the Xamarin Platform has to improve, there are some features missing.""The problem that I faced was that the communication, the roles, and the responsibilities, weren't defined between Microsoft and Xamarin.""There is limited support for UX widgets.""It is common to find a problem that you would need to develop from the start since there are no third-party components to reuse.""The monitoring of the remote devices is not good as it should be extended along. It would be useful if the log is more integrated with the central console. I am not sure it can be accessed but it would be better.""The worst build issue concerns are the caching process MSBuild uses to reduce the build time.""The application platform could be improved."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Consider the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite rather than choosing specific sub-components, e.g. only Microsoft Intune."
  • "There is a cost benefit of using Microsoft Intune because of the packaging with other Microsoft products."
  • "Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
  • "The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."
  • "I have no comment on pricing of the solution."
  • "The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
  • "For Microsoft 365 E5 clients, cost is not an issue as this product is one of the benefits."
  • "The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."
  • More Microsoft Intune Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "​It requires zero investment in infrastructure since it is 100% cloud.​"
  • "Fees are monthly and it's approximately $8 per user."
  • "Price is something for which we are always under pressure. If we have to look at the MaaS deployment, the price definitely has to come down. This is clearly one of the areas that we will have to work on, not only as a provider to our customers but also as a consumer of this service."
  • "I feel the pricing to be very high."
  • "MaaS360 is priced at a balance. It is not as expensive as AirWatch or Jamf and is not a cheap solution like a few of the local products."
  • "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."
  • "The solution is expensive."
  • More IBM MaaS360 Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "In most cases, it is sufficient to have free/community license. But if you plan to seriously develop production-level, highly polished apps, you need to use Xamarin.Profiler and the professional or enterprise license."
  • "For personal use, the Community Edition is free."
  • "This is a free product, so there is zero investment on licenses and IDE."
  • "Xamarin is available under several licensing arrangements. Each developer needs one license at least. All features, especially the Profiler, unlock only with the highest tier."
  • "It saved a lot of time and resources needed to develop a cross platform mobile app."
  • "Xamarin is free, or comes with Visual Studio. Therefore, it is very profitable."
  • "The price of the Xamarin Platform is not expensive. However, the price of the solution depends on the application that is made. For example, if you have small applications, it's different from large or enterprise applications."
  • "There's no licensing cost for Xamarin."
  • More Xamarin Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes it… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of… more »
    Top Answer: Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also… more »
    Top Answer:Our organization researched both Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360 when considering the type of endpoint security tool… more »
    Top Answer:We introduced the product as part of the SOC-2 requirement. The tool's most valuable features include keeping the… more »
    Top Answer:IBM MaaS360 is cheaper compared to other alternatives. Others are at least three to six times costlier.
    Top Answer:Xamarin.Forms reduced the effort and time to build and market our solution, market our features, and get our solution… more »
    Top Answer:You can build in Xamarin without paying any money. What costs money is the IDE, Visual Studio, Professional, or… more »
    Top Answer:There are issues with Xamarin, such as when you run into errors doing something called linking. When you build your… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
    Fiberlink MaaS360, MaaS360
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Intune is a comprehensive cloud-based service that allows you to remotely manage mobile devices and mobile applications without worrying about the security of your organization’s data. Device and app management can be used on company-owned devices as well as personal devices.

    In an increasingly mobile workforce, Microsoft Intune keeps your sensitive data safe while on the move. Microsoft Intune makes it possible for your team members to work anywhere using their mobile devices. Microsoft Intune provides both the flexibility and the control needed for securing all your data on the cloud, no matter where the device with the data is located.

    Microsoft Intune Device Management Key Features

    With Microsoft Intune Device Management you can:

    • Ensure devices and apps are compliant with your security requirements.
    • Rapidly deploy and authenticate apps on all company devices.
    • Remotely access devices to troubleshoot issues or to remove data from them.
    • Generate reports for all devices in the system.
    • Monitor the way users access and share information to protect company information.
    • Set rules and configure settings on personal and organization-owned devices to access data and networks.
    • Create user groups and device groups, allowing you to rapidly access many users and devices simultaneously.

    Mobile Application Management

    Mobile application management in Intune is designed to protect your organization’s data at the application level.

    With Microsoft Intune Application Management you can:

    • Configure apps to run with specific settings enabled.
    • Update existing apps that are already on the device.
    • See reports on which apps are used and monitor their usage.
    • Selectively wipe organization data from apps.
    • Add mobile apps to user groups and devices.

    As part of Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite, Intune integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for access control and with Azure Information Protection for data protection. It also integrates with Microsoft 365 Applications.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Microsoft Intune stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to secure all devices under its management and the flexibility that the solution offers its users.

    A computing services manager notes, "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."

    The head of IT engineering at a financial services company writes, "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 details 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."

    IBM MaaS360 is an EMM solution that allows you to configure devices for enterprise access and protect corporate data on smartphones and tablets – all from a single screen. As a robust integrated cloud platform, MaaS360 simplifies mobile device management (MDM) with visibility, rapid deployment, and control that spans across apps, mobile devices, and data. It also secures apps, laptops, smartphones, tablets, wearables, desktops, the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and data so you can rapidly scale your remote workforce and bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives.

    IBM MaaS360 can help you build a zero-trust strategy with modern device management. Deployment is so fast that in just a few clicks, IT admins can start enrolling devices and quickly manage the entire mobile device lifecycle. They can do everything from enrollment to enterprise integration, support, configuration and management, monitoring and security, analytics, and reporting.

    IBM MaaS360 Features

    IBM MaaS360 has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Workforce management: Manage and secure any remote workforce in minutes with rapid deployment.
    • Information security: Support a safer way to access, create, sync, and edit all business documents on mobile devices.
    • Manage security risks: Provide users with seamless data access while remotely managing threats.
    • Secure access: Grant secure access to company resources from any mobile device, without a VPN.
    • Identity management and security: Integrate seamless identity and access management with United Endpoint Management.

    IBM MaaS360 Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing IBM MaaS360. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Provision, manage, and protect your devices from a single console.
    • Configure email, contacts, calendar, Wi-Fi, and VPN profiles over-the-air to quickly onboard users.
    • Experience launch day support for the latest mobile operating system releases for iOS, Android, and Windows.
    • Set and enforce security policies with automated compliance actions like requiring a device passcode and blocking a compromised device.
    • Use robust dashboards and reporting to manage both personal and corporate devices.
    • Increases security and compliance enforcement.
    • Easily integrates with your existing infrastructure.
    • Reduces cost of supporting mobile assets.
    • Enhances application and performance management.
    • Contains powerful management and security to address the entire mobility lifecycle.
    • Helps ensure better business continuity.
    • Increases productivity and employee satisfaction.
    • Simple and fast, with an exceptional customer experience.

    Reviews from Real Users

    MaaS360 stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Some of these include its mobile device and laptop management, robust security, and complete sync with Active Directory. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

    Claudia G., a Cybersecurity Consultant at Telefónica, mentions, “My customers value the ability to control all their devices from a central point in IBM MaaS360. I rate IBM MaaS360 a nine out of ten.”

    Okoro A.., a CEO at a ITANDT Solutions Limited notes, “The most valuable features are mobile device management and security (which allows you to quarantine infected devices).”

    Xamarin is an open-source platform for developing modern and performant applications for iOS, Android, and Windows using.NET. Xamarin is an abstraction layer that manages how shared code is communicated to the platform's underlying code. Xamarin is for developers with the two following goals:

    • Cross-platform sharing of code, tests, and business logic.

    • Writing cross-platform apps in C# with Visual Studio.

    Xamarin allows developers to share an average of 90% of their program across platforms. This enables programmers to achieve native performance, look, and feel on each platform while writing all of their business logic in a single language (or reusing existing application code).

    Xamarin applications can be created on a PC or a Mac and compiled into native application packages, such as an .apk file for Android or an .ipa file for iOS.

    Xamarin Platform Features

    Xamarin Platform has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Complete binding for the supporting SDKs: Xamarin includes bindings for almost all of the underlying platform SDKs in iOS and Android.
    • Java, C, Objective-C, C, C++ Interop: Xamarin gives you the ability to use a variety of third-party code by providing tools for directly invoking Objective-C, Java, C, and C++ libraries.
    • Modern language constructs: Xamarin applications are written in C#, a modern language with many capabilities that Objective-C and Java do not have, like lambdas, LINQ, parallel programming, generics, and more.
    • Strong base class library (BCL): Xamarin apps use the .NET BCL, a large collection of classes with streamlined features, like powerful XML, database, serialization, IO, string, and networking support, among others.

    Xamarin Platform Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing the Xamarin Platform. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Native UIs and APIs: Xamarin delivers comprehensive access to each platform's native SDK and UI controls, projecting the entire native API of each device into C#. Therefore, the apps you develop are native instead of write-once/run-anywhere programs that look alien on every platform. Xamarin provides you access to all of the capabilities that distinguish each platform.
    • Share code between platforms: With Xamarin, you can share all code across platforms while providing a native user interface tailored to each individual device. With Xamarin, you can execute the same C# code on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. With Xamarin, your software is compiled to a native binary rather than being interpreted, in contrast to other cross-platform frameworks. Even in the most demanding situations, native compilation provides users with excellent app performance. Xamarin provides responsive, multi-user input and feedback, fluid scrolling, sophisticated graphics and animations, complicated data visualization, and realistic high frame rates for games.
    • Code with C#: Write shorter, more concise, and more maintainable code by leveraging advanced language features, such as Language Integrated Query (LINQ), delegates, lambdas, events, garbage collection, and many other features. With Xamarin's fully extensible platform, you can include libraries written in C, Objective-C, C++, or Java. In C#, you have access to the entire native ecosystem of components and libraries.

    Sample Customers
    Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
    Bancroft, Garuda Indonesia
    Cinemark, MixRadio, Sqor Sports, Storyo, JetBlue, The World Bank, Cr_dito Agrcola, Applied Research Associates
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider33%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Healthcare Company10%
    Energy/Utilities Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Government12%
    Construction Company7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm25%
    Music Company13%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Computer Software Company13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Educational Organization8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise49%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise47%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business49%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise32%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise50%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business47%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise60%
    Buyer's Guide
    Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, JAMF, VMware and others in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM MaaS360 is ranked 8th in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) with 34 reviews while Xamarin Platform is ranked 5th in Mobile Development Platforms with 37 reviews. IBM MaaS360 is rated 7.8, while Xamarin Platform is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of IBM MaaS360 writes "It lets you separate work and personal data on mobile phones, but the interface is outdated and clunky". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Xamarin Platform writes "It's about to be retired and replaced with an inferior product, but offers excellent cross-platform development capabilities". IBM MaaS360 is most compared with VMware Workspace ONE, Jamf Pro, SOTI MobiControl, IBM MobileFirst and Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM), whereas Xamarin Platform is most compared with Appium, Ionic, OutSystems, Apple Xcode and Mendix.

    We monitor all Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.