Cisco offers Meraki Systems Manager (SM), an enterprise mobility management platform supporting the monitoring, provisioning and securing of mobile devices across an enterprise network.
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ManageEngine Endpoint Central
Score 8.9 out of 10
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Desktop Central from ManageEngine is a client desktop management with patching, remote control, and configuration.
It is very helpful if you need to restrict the apps a student or employee can have on their device. I had teachers using Netflix on the iPads before I brought them under management. Restricting them will make you unpopular with some of your employees, however, I advise them the device is being provided for business use and, therefore we have the right and responsibility to manage it.
ManageEngine Endpoint Central is fantastic for a set and forget patching tool. This is great for the Windows clients that we have and provides good reporting and ensures machines are kept up to date and gives us good reporting on which machines are vulnerable in our organisation. Linux machines are not as well handled due to the multiple flavours of Linux that are out there. ManageEngine Endpoint Central only manages specific versions of Mac and Linux so it is best to check compatability ahead of time.
Limited ability for "command line" functions. For example, we had a laptop that was stolen and showed to be online, but we could not wipe it. We were able to access a command prompt, but it would not accept DISKPART or FORMAT commands to try and make the PC unusable.
The GPS location is not terribly accurate and frequently it "guesses" location based off of an IP address rather than actually activating the GPS on the device. This makes tracking lost/stolen devices very difficult.
Difficulty getting devices to correctly show their status in the dashboard. For example, I can have a PC that is online and connected to the Internet, but shows to be offline in the dashboard. Only after refreshing many times would it indicate that the PC was actually online, thus allowing me to administer it.
More granular access level controls for technicians (restrictions for juniors) on the Mobile Device Management add-on
Monitoring mobile data usage on mobile devices, this has been in the product pipeline for 5 years, but not yet implemented
Ability to remotely support company-owned mobile devices with no end-user permission. End-user needs to allow the remote session, when sometimes that's what we don't want since we're doing an investigation.
ManageEngine is considered an excellent product due to its comprehensive suite of solutions for IT management, with ManageEngine Endpoint Central specifically excelling in endpoint management. The platform stands out for its user-friendly interface, robust features, and versatility in addressing diverse IT needs. It offers organizations a centralized solution for endpoint security, patch management, software deployment, and asset management
It has is easy to use overall and is very powerful. The learning curve for the system is very small and I have found it easy to train members of our team to use it. It can fit any size organization and the support is excellent. The ROI is well worth it. If you have a multiplatform ecosystem, this tool is near perfect.
We have found that Cisco Meraki has always had very good customer support. In the rare case, when we have needed assistance they have always been quick to respond and solve the issue.
The local distributor of the product is always available, however most support is received within an hour from India. We've had complex requirements and the support team went so far as to customize their mobile application to suit our unique needs. We honestly can't complain about any support we've received and it's always been very quick.
The only product I have used that is similar is Apple Configurator. While a powerful solution, it requires physical access to the devices which is not always possible, especially on a large site. Meraki is able to achieve many of the same functions as the Apple configurator but without ever needing to physically access the device, other than initial setup and registration.
WSUS (provided by Microsoft) is a MUCH inferior product, no flexibility at all, updates when it wants and how it wants and was generally not suit for purpose. In addition, endpoint offers all the other functionality that WSUS doesn't (as said earlier in my review, remote control, endpoint security and much more).
It’s scalable up to a point and will scale well from small to a medium business, however, as a business grows and policies get more mature or detailed, you might have to later upgrade to a more appropriate enterprise solution such as MaaS360 or AirWatch. This solution however, will last quite a long tome for a growing business.
Our immediate take away has been a savings of thousands a year in MDM fees. We were paying around $3.00 a device with our previous MDM and our average with Meraki is about $1.88 per device. That while providing far more functionality than our previous provider.
With software metering, the real use of applications by users has been identified; in this case, when the license renewal date arrives, users who do not use this application have stopped renewing it. This has achieved savings for the business.
The deployment of images has made the onboarding of collaborators faster, this means less downtime and more productivity for the company.
By having the laptops patched and without vulnerabilities, there is greater productivity, because the equipment is no longer out of service due to an attack or vulnerability.
