Cisco Meraki MX Firewalls is a combined UTM and Software-Defined WAN solution. Meraki is managed via the cloud, and provides core firewall services, including site-to-site VPN, plus network monitoring.
$595
per appliance
IBM MaaS360
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
IBM MaaS360 is a mobile security offering developed by Fiberlink, acquired and owned by IBM since early 2014.
IBM MaaS360 is simpler to use overall. The only 2 things that Meraki clearly does better than IBM MaaS360 is the "tagging" functionality for devices which is very convenient for pushing an app or policy to a subset of devices quickly. The other thing is certificate …
The Meraki MX lineup is well suited for organizations that need centralized management of multiple locations, as it allows for both quick deployment and simple/easy remote administration all from a single pane of glass. It also works very well for providing VPN access for remote workers and helps monitor end-device uptime. It does, however, fall a bit short in its firewall's customization, compared to traditional appliances (like our WatchGuard Firebox), so perhaps less suited for organizations that need more customization, as the Meraki MX lineup is primarily designed for simplicity and straightforward cloud-based management.
Enrolling bulk devices through the Device Enrollment Program (DEP) is simple, straightforward, and quick. Multiple methods for device enrollment are available, including barcode scanning, email, and manual entry via the platform. App synchronization between Apple Business Manager (ABM) and the MaaS360 platform occurs swiftly. Additionally, app distribution and removal are efficiently managed on the platform.
The Cisco Meraki MX series is phenomenal at allowing us to remotely manage networks. So the devices usually act as the brain behind our client's networks, which makes it really, really easy for our team to take a look at what's going on in those client network environments, resolve any issues, and make sure that our client's networks are staying secure.
Layer seven firewall rules. Just making them more granular. We've been in meetings with Cisco SES where I've said feature requests many times and that's one of the big ones where it's just a little cumbersome to implement layer seven rules right now.
Just making them more granular. We've been in meetings with Cisco SES where I've said feature requests many times and that's one of the big ones where it's just a little cumbersome to implement layer seven rules right now.
MaaS360 with Watson has a lot of features and capabilities, which can sometimes make it difficult for us to navigate. Improving the user interface and making it friendly could help make the platform easier to use.
Expanding integrations with other systems to provide better support for a wider range of systems and platforms.
The simplicity and ease of use for the Meraki Dashboard make it an easy choice for our organization to renew our Meraki Enterprise Agreement. We will likely continue using the Meraki MC67-C, MX450, and other MX models in their catalog until we shift away from Meraki completely
I'll gave it a 10, because we have not come across any negative point with MaaS360. In a real comparison with other UEMs / MDMs you will find out that other providers that claim to be "free" or "included" don't have the capeabilities that MaaS360 has. Some features are just not available and others would require you to pay for them. In that case the product would not be "free" anymore.
Some features simply aren't there, but the ones that are there are pretty easy to use. Sometimes it is easy to get lost when trying to find the specific device you want to work on, but that's mostly due to how rarely we have to go into the interface.
Having years of experience with MDM and experiencing the evolution of the granularity of the functionality MDM's have had to evolve, no MDM is ever "easy" to use. MaaS360 rises to the top however, because zero day changes are always ahead of the competition. A huge benefit with MaaS360 and IBM's approach to supporting these changes is that they seldom change configuration work flows. Competing Vendors always arbitrarily change workflows which requires a significnat ongoing learning curve in order to maintain technical competence
Meraki MX devices support high availability (HA) configurations, which ensures minimal downtime if one device goes offline. This feature has helped us maintain a stable and reliable network, even in cases of hardware failures. ince Meraki is cloud-managed, we've noticed that the cloud infrastructure is generally highly reliable, with minimal service interruptions or downtime. This makes it easier to manage the network remotely without significant availability concerns. Meraki automatically pushes firmware updates and patches, which helps maintain system stability without requiring manual intervention. These updates are rolled out in a manner that ensures minimal disruption to service.
The interface is pretty responsive. The lower end devices are easy to overwhelm if you have a lot of throughput. Be sure the model you get is rated for the amount of traffic you will have. Overbuild if possible, otherwise you won't be fully leveraging the connection from your ISP.
I haven't ever had a bad experience with Meraki support. On the few occasions where I wasn't understanding the UI or needed some clarification about what a setting actually would do, I contacted them and they were very quickly able to provide help. Returns are simple and fast, too. We had to return a defective device one time and they shipped the replacement before we had even un-racked the one that was faulty. Unlike many other vendors, they didn't ask use to a do long list of scripted diagnostics, they just took my word for it that the device was broken and sent out a replacement immediately
MaaS360's phone support has been decent the few times I have used it. In addition the person who on-boarded us has been available for additional questions after the process was over. However IBM could do a much better job in creating a user-friendly search engine and white-paper database to help people find topics. Right now finding info is more based on searching through white papers themselves.
great when they offered it, really tested your knowledge with hands on and see what your peers from other orgs know. glad to see that we were ahead of the curve of what our peers knew
Implementing Meraki MX devices in phases—starting with a pilot group or select branch offices—was invaluable. This allowed us to identify potential configuration issues, troubleshoot problems, and refine our setup before rolling it out company-wide. It also helped to get feedback from early users and adjust the deployment strategy accordingly. The SD-WAN capabilities in Meraki MX were essential for optimizing our WAN traffic and ensuring better application performance across various locations.
To implement IBM Security MaaS360 with Watson, follow these steps: Set up the platform, enroll devices, configure policies and settings, monitor and manage devices. Implementing it can help organizations to securely manage and monitor the use of mobile devices and related resources in their networks, improving security and productivity for their users.
Cisco Meraki MX provides simplicity and scalability while cutting costs. With Meraki MX, you get a Security appliance, router, and Firewall in one appliance and managed with one GUI. These features enable the network engineers to maintain large-scale enterprises with a single dashboard from a remote site or anywhere with internet, all thanks to the Meraki cloud dashboard
Ease of use and management of mobile devices are easier and has protection against the Cyber threats. The security controls implementation on our devices are perfect and in one place. I love the responsiveness and prosctivenes of the support. Seamless integration with all security devices. The ability to wipe and control days remotely is perfect easy to control all our company information by locking down lost and stolen devices.
When I first started with my company we had various infrastructure and a mix of tech. Since going to Cisco Meraki MX we have noticed better network performance and our new sites are much easier to bring online. Users have noticed an improvement in VPN connection and getting into all our systems.
We worked with an IBM SE who was incredibly competent and extremely professional in handling our questions in addition to ensuring the Knowledge Transfer was completed properly
From a positive impact? Basically it allows us to set up shop very quickly. It allowed us to add sites to our network very quickly. From a negative perspective, I think the only thing is that I can see from a negative perspective is I have a preference to working with ACLI in terms of how I engage with the youth tool At the moment, the only way to actually engage with a tool is on a gui and sometimes what I'd actually like is more detailed information in terms of actual configuration that you'll actually get out of ACLI.
