[MDM] Profile Manager vs Cloud Solution

[SovietRussia]

Please can someone give me the pro's and cons of each!

[Sean-OC04]

Profile Manager

Pro's...... Cheap and runs on nearly any Mac

Cons......Requires lots of ports open and despite what people will tell you on here does not integrate Apple Volume Purchase Program, you will need a signed cert from a CA to use ML Server properly. Lastly ML Server has major limits on the number of devices it can support go beyond 200 devices and it starts to suffer.

MDM Cloud Solution (Lightspeed)

Pros...Web based so you can manage them from anywhere with internet access, far more scalable, easy to administer and depending on the vendor you go with allows you to easily create class groups of iPads with default sets of apps.

Cons....Uses subscription based software model so you have to you renew them

[SovietRussia]

Profile Manager

Pro's...... Cheap and runs on nearly any Mac

Cons......Requires lots of ports open and despite what people will tell you on here does not integrate Apple Volume Purchase Program, you will need a signed cert from a CA to use ML Server properly. Lastly ML Server has major limits on the number of devices it can support go beyond 200 devices and it starts to suffer.

MDM Cloud Solution (Lightspeed)

Pros...Web based so you can manage them from anywhere with internet access, far more scalable, easy to administer and depending on the vendor you go with allows you to easily create class groups of iPads with default sets of apps.

Cons....Uses subscription based software model so you have to you renew them

Cheers! Very informative! Were trying out Profile Manager at the moment, and its pants. It wont send the payloads to the devices, even after opening ports. Its a bit of a nightmare!

[glennda]

Cheers! Very informative! Were trying out Profile Manager at the moment, and its pants. It wont send the payloads to the devices, even after opening ports. Its a bit of a nightmare!

Look at the Meraki MDM its pretty good and free

[SovietRussia]

Look at the Meraki MDM its pretty good and free

Already have done, i've been to a few webinars and such about SM and iOS Deployment. But were looking for a on-premises solution.

[glennda]

Already have done, i've been to a few webinars and such about SM and iOS Deployment. But were looking for a on-premises solution.

Any particular reason? You still have to download the apps from the internet...

One of my clients has just purchased this - http://www.absolute.com/en/products/absolute-manage

Although at the cost of a lot I believe.

[SovietRussia]

Any particular reason? You still have to download the apps from the internet...

One of my clients has just purchased this - Absolute Manage | Absolute Software

Although at the cost of a lot I believe.

Not really sure of the reason, it goes above me. :P Meraki is a serious piece of kit though, I love its ease of use and ability to VPP, If Profile Manager does not wake up and start to do what I want it to do (Actually working might be good), then Meraki is the way we will most likely be going.

[glennda]

Not really sure of the reason, it goes above me. :P Meraki is a serious piece of kit though, I love its ease of use and ability to VPP, If Profile Manager does not wake up and start to do what I want it to do (Actually work might be good), then Meraki is the way we will most likely be going.

If its a security concern you can tie down the access to the Meraki dashboard in a variety of ways - via IP or setup Google Authenticator which is free and can essentially do the equivilent of RSA keys.

[glennda]

This resource might be useful in looking for on premise MDM solutions. Its a free MDM guide that outlines 24 of the top MDM solutions providers. It provider summaries of features and capabilities for each provider from a very neutral approach. How it helps and best of luck.

Get a Free 2012 Buyers Guide for Mobile Device Management (MDM)

As you keep posting this would you send me a copy so I don't have to sign up?