Our impressions on FileWave: Sureley it is all about technology. But we are only a small team of 5 admins for all our apple clients. So we need a strong partner with an outstanding support. 
This includes various in-house and almost worldwide (even if only sporadically) departments with several demands on software, settings and needs. Before the decision to FileWave, various adjustments were only possible to a limited extent and with considerable effort. It already started with an elaborate process to create, test, re-adapt, and distribute packages to the right places. Without a meaningful booster process in a DMZ this was hardly possible. We can now finally rethink - filesets replace the time-consuming use of packages in almost allplaces. And this in a mostly simple but always complex way to expand. Includes all software, preferences, setting, access permissions and pre-post-whatever scripts. Thus complex installations can be summarized wonderful simply and still be arranged in individually. 
This was one of the outstanding features of Filewave, as it saves us a lot of time and takes our thinking about the distribution of needs of all kinds to a new level. Second: With the booster technology, we now have access to all our employees, no matter where, at what time or in what network. The Internet is all it takes for our IT to act. For changes and updates of security settings and innovations of our production software, this procedure is unremitting and gives us an time advance


Self-service and kiosk - in the future we will increasingly focus on supporting the end users in their independence. With a well-structured self-service and an IT-supported kiosk, end users should have more control. 
 DEP - the integrated DEP Manager will support us in the introduction of DEP with new and"old" devices and will facilitate the initial inclusion of new hardware in our client management. 
FileVault Key Management - We are already using Institutional Recovery Keys, but want touse the personal key solution in FileWave in the future. 
 License Management - For administrative overviews of compliance reports, we will useFileWave in the future. This gives our administrators a quick overview of the licenserequirements. 
with our external procurement solution including various release processes, license softwareshould be automatically made available to authorized persons in addition to the previousmostly free software. 
 MDM - In addition to the daily challenge of smaller requirements, we will continue to expandthe DEP integration with FileWave and guarantee a smooth integration of the iOS devices. 
 Network - Exchange with other IT colleagues from other companies to get to know manyother possibilities. In many cases the problems are comparable, the solution does not always have to be reinvented.

I am just worried about the fact, that it took us such a long time for choosing this product.

Overall the experience with FileWave and their staff have been a good experience. Their solutions engineers and professional services team have went above and beyond to help us get to where we need to be for device management.

Being able to manage Windows, macOS, and iOS devices with one tool was a must. Being able to enroll machines with Apple's DEP into FileWave and enroll Windows machines with Group Policy made it a very easy deployment. It was instrumental in helping us achieve a fully remote-work environment to be able to deploy software, and gather device information from their Custom Field features.

Having a cloud based administrative portal would be a huge plus. There is some scripting knowledge that is needed in order to accomplish the things you want to do with Windows machines, as there is no native "profile manager" or GPO-like menu like for macOS.

We purchased FileWave because we needed a cross-platform endpoint management solution for our environment, and it was less expensive than other options at the time. Plus, we were forced to look for a new solution after our former one, "Absolute Manage" was discontinued, and several engineers for that product reportedly ended up working with FileWave. After basic deployment was finished and we began shutting down our Absolute Manage services, the issues started adding up. Basic client information missing, inability to customize display, issues with duplicated clients, issues with MDM enrollment &/or profile installation for new devices...the list of issues over the years is longer than I can even summon in my head. We've begrudgingly been able to customize the product over the years to do the basic things you might want from an endpoint management software, but the number of outstanding issues is still significant. Support sessions frequently involve rescheduling at the last minute or joining a session only to sit for 10-15 minutes with nothing happening, or watching a support technician flounder around in the CLI, checking in with their team to figure out how to run commands... Basic things will occasionally break or get replaced with options purchased from other vendors (such as the remote session 'Observe' function being replaced with TeamViewer, which requires more money if you want to license more than the 2 users granted to each FileWave deployment).

Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, iOS, tvOS)

BUGS, ENDLESS BUGS, with no 'Known issues' documents published Very little is ready "out of the box" - prepare to build all automation/commonly-used information items yourself Support is SLOW and lackluster at best Product development is slow and generally problematic with each release

We have had a great experience, I would definitely recommend

there's not some overly built GUI with flashy colors, but i've found nost anything I want to do MDM wise, you can make it happen, and usually there are several ways you can make it happen depending on what you need. I love the customization. I built my device hierarchy from nothing and have been able to confugre how I want to see things, add custom fields, multiple locations, etc etc.

While having that customization is great I do feel as though custom reports are not as readily available as i'm used to, I would like to be able to export device info on spreadsheets when needed and i've had trouble generating specific reports for certain rollouts when needed.

FileWave has saved so much time with distributing software, updates and managing our iPads.

The software is easy to use, it works quickly. Years ago we had to re-image computers to distribute updates. With FileWave, you just create the file set and update the model, off it goes to all of the client devices. It is a top quality MDM and makes managing iPads a breeze. Another nice feature is device location. Once enrolled a device sends a location. It makes locating lost devices easier.

Honestly, I can't think of anything at the moment. This product has made life so much easier in our department.

The software has been a real help in managing our iPads in one place without the need to touch devices. Long as a device has internet I can manage it from anywhere.

The ability to manage IOS updates and software in one place over the internet without the need to touch devices again after initial setup.

There is a setting that allows the name of the devices to be in the middle of the lock screen which is easier to read that isn't available with Filewave. Filewave does allow for the name at the bottom of the lock screen but it is smaller and harder to read. Not a deal breaker and users have adapted :)

Filewave Management has drastically cut down our time in all areas of system management. We can now be more productive and more engaged with our end users, & it enables us to be able to no longer dread putting some features into the hands of the users. We can now trust our users to do their updates, download their necessary software, and yet still have the granular control we need over our deployed technology. Overall, we are very happy with Filewave!!

The Filewave Management Tools make it easy to implement and update technology in our district with ease. The ability to set up filesets, schedule updates, and push out features to users who need it is a blessing, and cuts down on the amount of run around we normally use to do, having to touch each device, some times two or three times. With Filewave and ASM, we have gotten our Mac and iPad fleet down to zero touch management, and can deploy and re-deploy machines as needed in less than 4 hours, most times at about 2 hours easily. And we can also support our users at home, by supplying updates via the App Portal for them to Self-Service update their machines.

There are aspects that could be approved, which I see some of which Filewave is actively working on. But the four BIGGEST things I personally would like to see are: (1) the ability to color code filesets, so that our junior admins can know at a glance which items are CRITICAL and which are MEDIUM and LOW Priority items; (2) the ability to Duplicate Filesets within the Filesets window, (3) the ability to manage or remove duplicates without the need for scripting and (4) the ability to lock users into updating their machines, as we still have a few stubborn users who keep using the 2 hour delay button repeatedly. IT would be nice to just give users ONE CHANCE at the two hour delay, and then after they use that one time, be locked into having to do their update.

FileWave is the all in one Swiss army knife of device management tools. We chose this product because of its ability to help us with managing our iPads, MacBooks and Windows PC's. The support and leadership are also the reason our company chose FileWave. They really listen to the customer and want to make the experience a positive one. They believe the product is the what makes "IT the Easy Button". In many ways FileWave has done that for us. I am not sure how we could manage over one thousand devices on a daily basis with out it!

The fact that we can manage all devices from a single pane of glass is the key. Working with PC's, Macs, iOS, Android, Chrome devices makes this product above any other. I can manage devices, distribute packages and patches, I can remote into a device and run queries on device performance. What more do you need!

I have not had any issues that would warrant a negative response. The support team is great and would take care of any concerns.

Overall a mixed bag of useful and painful. Could have used better advice for setup such as what hardware/server OS to use. Apple is to blame for a lot of any issues we've had, Filewave stays up to date and has the best support I've ever dealt with.

I like the versatility of Mac or PC management. I like remotely pushing out software, to whichever computers I want...makes managing over 10k computers a LOT easier.

Sometimes slow, sometimes installs software without any reason visible (hard to see what is going to be installed on certain clients because of hierarchies of folders). Should have an easier way to create software packages to push out (like Ninite).

3-year FW user with experience using the platform to manage a complex environment across 6 campuses.

Filewave allows the LCSS technology department to respond in real time to the various challenges we face. From creating new filesets to deploy necessary programs to modifying user settings, Filewave truly does it all. I've found the platform to be user-friendly and the Filewave support team to be knowledgable, patient, and thorough.

Continued buildout of the knowledge base and documentation of best practices for administration would be appreciated.

There are 2 of us in charge of administering FileWave at our company. One guy is over the Apple side of things and I take care of the Microsoft side of things. Both of us like Filewave though we both are learning new things everyday. The pricing of the program was the last consideration we looked at, but I must say that it was what swayed us to go with Filewave. There are other MDMs out there that are better and more intuitive, but they are all triple the cost. For the price, you can't go wrong with Filewave.

The WYSYWIG GUI is easy to navigate and gives you the ability to create custom folder groupings for organizing your devices. The fact that we can manage PCs, Macs, and iOS devices from one tool gives a price advantage of not having to buy and maintain multiple managements programs. The "Observe Client" feature is super handy to remote into and control Macs and PCs. One super feature is the "Magic Fileset" feature that allows you to create filesets using only the changes a program or file makes in a device when installed or transferred. I'm not a great scripter, so this feature helps a lot. Now, you are able to include scripts that can be activated pre, during, and post flight of a fileset. The imaging works fairly smoothly if you can figure out what all you can get away with in Windows 10 that won't prevent sys-prepping. The ability to have boosters to aid the main Filewave server allows you to maintain relatively large architectures. Their support team is prompt and will go step-by-step with you to resolve issues. I like how you can set up multiple users and give specific levels of permission to each user.

It seems a little prejudiced on the side of favoring Apple over Microsoft. I am told this will be changing with the transfer to the new CEO. There is a whole lot of documentation, but the online versions are not very user friendly. Again...documentation is light on the Windows side and tends to not be properly and thoroughly updated to the current operating systems. For instance, when I look up how to do a certain item on Windows 10, it will show how to to do it on Windows 7 but say that the same process can be done on Windows 8.1 and 10. Well...maybe it can, but you really need to know Windows in order to make the adjustments since they aren't exactly the same in their processes.

I find Filewave to be a compelling solution for cross-platform client management. It's reliable at getting software installed and does a good job reporting back client information. I simply wish QA could be improved.

Filewave does a very good job consolidating all the platforms of devices - iOS, Windows, Chromebooks, macOS. Filewave's foundation is built with a strong Apple focus but has definitely been working over the years to build it's Windows and Chromebook feature set. Also compared to many competitors, I find it to be the most reliable in terms of successfully pushing software to machines.

QA issues have plagued this software for many years. I've yet to do an upgrade and not have some major functionality break. We try postponing upgrades until the .1 or .2 patch releases typically but often we have no choice in order to get support for latest versions of iOS/macOS.

It's about time to search for a different product.

As another reviewer wrote, "when it works, it's great".

There are several feature requests I've made that just seem too obvious to not already be in place. Reports on fileset status are poor meaning we have very little idea who has gotten the fileset. Vague "Handled by MDM" with no documentation online to understand it. Filesets that cannot be removed from devices--"Upgrade Server" or "Apple's fault". Unable to connect remotely to multiple devices daily. This is one of the most needed features and right now I'd estimate 80% of our remote sessions do not connect.

The big issue I was facing was being able to manage all the IT assets as well as being able to setup new machines in a timely manner. Before when I would have to setup a new machine or setup an existing machine, it would take almost 6 man hours because i had to do all the settings manually. Now, All I need to do is take it out of the box, add it to FileWave, designate the machine to a specific group and then FileWave does the rest. It installs all the specific apps and configurations I want. Each machine doesn't have admin access so it's very important that the machines are configured with a standard build across the board. Because of FileWave, I know what each machine has installed on it both hardware and software with a quick glance.

It's super easy to use. Software updates and patching is now a breeze compared to before. I use to go to each machine manually and spend easily 2 nights just patching. Now I can do it in one night in less than 5 mins. Having the ability to deploy a patch or software update, set a timer on when to deploy and then get a report after it finished... makes life so much easier when it comes to managing IT assets.

The tracking features could be a bit better.

It functions very well for both iOS and Windows. Plenty of tools and deployment options for both. The remote viewing tool is always incredibly useful, particularly with much of the remote support we're doing in today's environment. The support staff for this product is top notch. The folks I'm paired up with definitely know what they're doing and thankfully I'm not just shuttled off to some third-rate call center who simply read a script and know very little about the product they're working with.

1) Reliability of service can be an issue. There are always a handful of our Windows machines that stop checking in after a while and it's always when I need to be able to remote connect haha! It's a fairly common occurrence, but I'd wager the total number of PCs it happens to is roughly 3-5%. 2) The constant requirement of updating our Admin server/clients. I just wish the entire update process was so much more seamless. Every. Single. Update. Is. A. Big. Howdayado. I wish I could just press a button (or automatically) and it just does its thing. Like ChromeOS or MalwareBytes Endpoint Protection. 3)

When it works, this saves so much time. But when it does not want to install updates properly, then it can be pretty frustrating.

Making filesets is very easy. The process of making a fileset and deploying it to clients is very self-explanatory.

We have about 30% of clients that randomly stop checking into our FileWave server, and therefore do not get any updates that we push out. It can be frustrating tracking down ~150 devices every time I have an update to push out to make sure that it lands on their devices properly.

We use FileWave in a school setting. Previously we used separate management systems for iOS, MacOS, and Windows machines. FileWave is constantly usdating and improving their infrastructure, which has been great. They hold a yearly cilonferwnce that is very informative and let's us learn new skills in areas we choose. Their support is helpful, but getting in touch with them can be difficult. Their phone support has a max wait of 15 minutes, and then you get forwarded to voicemail. This happens almost every time I call. All in all, it works great, and we are happy with our switch to FileWave 2 years ago.

FileWave is a great management system that allows you to manage, observe, update, and push software to Mac, Android, iOS, and MacOS.

There isn't a quick and easy way to see status of filesets that have been pushed, such as a pie chart.

I have been using FileWave to manage our schools' computers for many years now and I don't know how I would do my job without. Everyday I get requests that a staff member needs a specific printer or an app/software and I can easily push them out with FileWave. This is the third year of also using FileWave to mange our iPads and this is working great to add the requested apps that come in regularly.

I like that when requests come in for a printer or software install, that I can open FileWave and send it out to my clients computers. No more running around!

The only con that I have is my own fault and that is keeping the filesets up to date.

The software is updated regularly and functions reliably. The platforms that can be managed are also a plus. Overall the software allows us to manage our computers and mobile devices without many issues.

There are certain problems that occur and it appears to be database or command related. When speaking with support the best advice is often to wipe the device. This would be my biggest concern with the company. User data is important and erasing. device should not be a normal solution.

FileWave is built for multi-platform support from the ground up. It's allowed us to centralize management of all devices in our school district, including integration with Apple DEP and VPP programs for even easier device enrollment and application distribution.

My only gripes tend to be with specific missing features that I happen to know are offered by competitor's products. That being said, FileWave has proven very open to feedback, and committed to adding the features that are most commonly requested by their clients.

Overall we have been super happy with Filewave. We tried out cheaper software that was promised to do more and we ended up leaving them in a few months, returning to Filewave.

User-ability is above amazing in this software. Anytime I issues did arise their customer service has always been friendly and quick!

It is a little high in cost. We use it mainly for our ipads though we have Chromebooks we could add to Filewave. Being a smaller school it just isn't cost effective to put every device through filewave.

Filewave makes it easy to manage our iPads. From the very beginning of the process, they have taken every necessary step to assist in using their product. I like the fact that I can run the software from either a MAC or a Windows machine. It is easy to use and I can make changes, additions, or deletions very quickly. Their customer and technical support is fantastic.

I can not think of any cons at this time.

Overall we have been very happy with Filewave, being a user for 5+ years I don't see us ever switching.

Deploying ipads is so simple and easy to manage them. We can push out ipad apps, track them down, and update them all wirelessly without much work. And customer service has always been great!

Honestly nothing. We switched to a competitor over one summer and switched back just a few months later. I cannot thing of one thing that Filewave does that I like the least.

Overall, we are very happy with FileWave. Very few problems occur, and when they do, they are never extreme problems. We’ve never had downtime or complete unusability as we have from our previous MDM.

The reliability is good. That was a major concern for us after our experiences with our last MDM provider. FileWave has been extremely reliable, and it always works well. The software functionality is stable; our old MDM would randomly take away features. So far, we’ve had very good luck with FW. Updates come often as well, which is always a plus.

We don’t like how long it sometimes takes to get things resolved. Granted, our prior MDM was way worse. The software has some specific bugs that have not yet been worked out; as an example, device naming doesn’t work well from the MDM.

Managing over 10,000 Apple computers and around 5,000 iPads with Filewave.

Ease of use. Filewave is easy and intuitive to use. Filewave also has Awesome support. They have not only assisted us with issues when found but have written us some custom packages.

There have been a few issues with the latest releases, however, Filewave is quick to publish an update that fixes the issues.