Use this comprehensive checklist to compare 10 of the leading mobile device management suites Mobile device management tools are transforming into enterprise mobility management (EMM), which includes app and data security, among many other things. And while all the major offerings in this arena cover the basics when it comes to hardware management, there are differences when it comes to some of the extended features you may require. Further reading: Mobile device management continues to broaden. This checklist is a good first step for assessing which products you might want to focus in on. But experts caution that there can be big differences in how features are deployed and work in the real world, so be sure to do extensive testing prior to deployment. Editor’s note: This chart was originally posted in May 2013 and was most recently updated on March 11, 2015. Since we posted the first version, Boxtone has been acquired by Good, and Fiberlink is now part of IBM. We chose the vendors and products included here based on conversations with independent analysts about which have significant market share or are important to include for other reasons including features and functions. You can drag the chart below in order to see the hidden columns on the right side, or click the link at the bottom to show the hidden rows. MDM features and functions AirWatch/VMware Blackberry Citrix Good Technology IBM Microsoft MobileIron SAP Soti Symantec Deployment options Product Name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Secure, SAP Mobile Device Management, SAP Mobile Documents, SAP Mobile Place, SAP Mobile App Protection by Mocana MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite On premises Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, integrated solution: Microsoft Intune and System Center Configuration Manager Yes Yes Yes Yes Cloud/SaaS Yes Planned for 2015 Yes Yes Yes & hybrid Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Mobile platforms supported Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Secure, SAP Mobile Device Management, SAP Mobile Documents, SAP Mobile Place, SAP Mobile App Protection by Mocana MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite iOS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Android Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Extended Android APIs Yes (Samsung KNOX and SAFE; LG Gate; Motorola; MotoMX; Kindle Fire; Nook HD HTC; Dell; Lenovo; Huawei; Panasonic) Motorola, Samsung KNOX Yes Yes (KNOX) Yes Samsung KNOX Yes Yes (KNOX SAFE, LG) Yes Yes: KNOX BlackBerry Yes Yes Yes Yes (MSM) Yes No Yes (via ActiveSync) No No Windows Mobile Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Windows Phone 7 Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Windows Phone 8 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Other (name) Mac OS X 10.7 and higher; Windows 32, 8, 8.1, RT and RT 8.1; Symbian S60 and ^3; QNX Not answered Samsung SAFE, Samsung KNOX, HTC Windows 8 Pro Kindle Fire, Apple TV, Mac OS, Windows XP, Vista, 7 Yes; no further info provided Not answered Not answered Not answered None Mobile device management Product Name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Device Management MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite Password protection Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Password reset Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Remote device wipe Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Selective wipe Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Remote lock Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Set VPN, Wi-Fi, APN, proxy/gateway settings Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Disable Wi-Fi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Disable carrier data connection Yes (for Samsung SAFE, LG, Kindle); restricts data when roaming for iOS Yes No Yes Yes Yes (Roaming) No Yes Yes, on supported OEM/model Yes Configuration monitoring/auditing Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Automated provisioning/enrollment Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Disable camera Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Disable Bluetooth Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes; for Android 5.0 Manage mobile-attached devices (e.g printers, scanners) Yes No Yes Yes Yes No, but can block removable storage No Yes Yes Yes Support multiple users per device (auto-configure device settings based on the currently logged in user) Yes No Yes No (Planned) Yes Yes Yes No No No Application management Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Place, SAP Mobile App Protection by Mocana MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite User self-service app delivery Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Full-featured enterprise app store Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Containerization/sandboxing Yes (via AirWatch Container; Samsung KNOX; Android Secure Launcher) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes App containerization using developer SDK/toolkit Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No App containerization using app wrapping Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Block copy/paste between apps Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes on supported OEM/model Yes Block copy/paste from email Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, with SAP Mobile App Protection wrapped email clients Yes, on supported platform Yes Restrict which apps can open a given file Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, with iOS managed open-in features Yes on supported OEM/platform Yes App inventory tracking Yes Yes Yes Yes Not answered Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes App usage monitoring Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Apple volume purchase program integration (decrements volume purchase agreement quantity available as users download apps from store) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No (in development) Yes Yes Yes Yes Remote desktop access (access to apps and data on desktop from smartphone or tablet) Yes (support for various virtualization technologies, including VMware vSphere 4.1 and VMware Workspace) No Yes Yes (via Splashtop) Yes Yes with Azure RemoteApp and Microsoft Remote Desktop App Yes (via AppConnect partners) No Roadmap Yes, through partners Security Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Secure, SAP Mobile App Protection by Mocana MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite Secure Web browser Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Application blacklisting/whitelisting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Data loss prevention (DLP) Yes (via advanced device security features and AirWatch Content Locker) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Email attachment data loss prevention Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Device compromise detection (jailbreak/rooting) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Device-level encryption Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Encrypted folder Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (OneDrive for business capability) Yes No Yes Yes Encrypted email attachments Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes (Azure RMS capability) Yes Yes, iOS data protection with a device PIN/passcode Yes Yes Encrypted email message body Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (Azure RMS capability) Yes Yes, iOS data protection with a device PIN/passcode Yes Yes Geofencing Yes Yes (via partner solutions) Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Time fencing Yes No No No Yes No Yes Yes No No Mobile VPN Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes App-level micro VPN Yes Yes (app level of iOS) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Multifactor device/app authentication (token-based, facial recognition, client access card support, etc.) Yes Yes Yes Not needed; uses dedicated NOC-based connection and requires no open inbound ports Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, on supported OEM/model Yes Malware detection Yes (integration with F-Secure and others) No No No Yes & Remediation Yes Yes Yes, through jailbreak/root detection Yes Yes Includes firewall Yes (virtual firewall using managed profiles; Samsung KNOX) No Yes (with NetScaler Web Application Firewall) Uses dedicated NOC-based connection; requires no open inbound ports Yes for PCs Yes Yes Yes Yes No Single sign-on support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, on supported OEM/model Yes Document/content management Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune and OneDrive For Business MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Documents MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite Encrypted document container Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Secure email Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, through SAP Mobile App Protection wrapped email client and/or Symantec Touchdown integration Yes Yes File server access Yes Yes (BlackBerry) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, using Work File Advanced Secure SharePoint access Yes Yes (BlackBerry), others via partners Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, using Work File Advanced Integrates with enterprise document management software Yes (over 35 supported content respositories) No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, with any content management interoperability services-compliant system Yes Yes; using Work File Advanced, and through partners (KiteWorks, Polaris, WatchDox, and others) Network management Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Secure, SAP Mobile Devlce Management MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite Data usage management (restrict where, when and whether downloads occur over Wi-Fi or celluluar) Yes Yes (BlackBerry) Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Roaming cost control (such as auto disablement of data when roaming) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (we can disable roaming) Yes Yes No Device diagnostics Yes Yes (BlackBerry) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Usage monitoring Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Block device from accessing email if policies violated Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Service management Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Secure MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite Help desk support management Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No; available as part of Symantec Support Desk Service monitoring Yes Yes (via partner solutions) With integration with third-party tools Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Remote control of device Yes (Windows Mobile and Samsung SAFE devices) No Yes (Samsung APIs allow this today) No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No User self-service portal Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Integration with PC management tools Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Secure, SAP Mobile Devlce Management MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite Offers a separate or integrated PC management tool Yes (manage all devices from a unified console) No Yes Yes (Windows 8 Pro-only) Yes Yes, seamless integration with System Center Configuration Manager No Yes Yes Yes; Symantec IT Management Suite Integrates with a third-party tool (name) Yes (Microsoft SCCM, SCOM and Windows Event Viewer) No No Microsoft SCCM (MSM-only) Yes No Yes (SCCM) No Yes No Offers integrated management console for PC and mobile management Yes (manage all devices from a unified console) No Yes (applicable for Win 8.1 Pro and potentially some Android devices; rest are all dedicated mobile platforms) Yes (Windows 8 Pro only) Yes Yes, seamless integration with System Center Configuration Manager Yes Yes Yes No Offers integrated app store for both desktop and mobile app deployment Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Reporting Product name(s) AirWatch Enterprise Mobility Management BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 Citrix XenMobile Good EMM Suites IBM MobileFirst Protect Microsoft Intune MobileIron Platinum Bundle SAP Mobile Secure, SAP Mobile Device Management, SAP Mobile Place, SAP Mobile App Protection by Mocana, SAP Mobile Documents MobiControl Symantec Mobility: Suite Alerts Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Automated responses to alerts Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Automated, scheduled report delivery Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Real-time dashboards Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Device-level analytics Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes App-level analytics Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Sources: MDM vendors Next: Mobile device management continues to broaden. 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