UEM Update Shows Evolution to Advanced Analytics and “Zero Trust” Along with New Distribution Strategies

K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

• GlobalData’s latest analysis of the unified endpoint management (UEM) market shows how the evolution from MDM to EMM to UEM has changed the market, although the same vendors remain on top.

• Each of the upper-tier vendors, including VMware, BlackBerry, and MobileIron, is responding to the market’s fluid dynamics in unique ways, to differentiate themselves and serve the needs of more sophisticated users.

Top vendors in the UEM market have expanded their core mobile device, application, and content management features to encompass endpoint configuration management, client-server application enablement, secure collaboration, mobility analytics, and IoT device and data management and security. This transition is primarily driven by the convergence of traditional and mobile endpoints. As enterprise endpoints are increasingly mobile, management and security paradigms must adjust to manage data and applications from diverse devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops, and IoT devices) that can be active anywhere at any time. The need to conduct business on an ever-increasing variety of devices has also made enablement and innovation via mobility a business differentiator. And the massive wave of IoT devices still expected to flood enterprises in the coming years exacerbates the need to discover and manage an ever-broadening array of endpoints. Eventually, however, enterprise network vendors may take some share from UEM providers, by accomplishing the same level of mobile management and security through their equipment and services. In the meantime, UEM remains an important capability.

After retiring its AirWatch SKUs in 2018, VMware combined its Workspace ONE UEM product with its Horizon virtual desktop infrastructure offering and other secure e-mail, collaboration, and identity management features into a combined offering called Workspace ONE. MobileIron has supplemented its core EMM capabilities with an inline gateway and application control server that also offers optional cloud application security, Windows 10 device and legacy Windows application management, with support for EMM-managed IoT devices such as kiosks and digital signage. After acquiring leading EMM vendor Good Technology, BlackBerry acquired Cylance in 2018 to strengthen its plays in secure collaboration, best-in-class security for data in motion, and compelling IoT offerings for connected automobiles and mobile inventory tracking.

The market has also evolved in other ways. In 2019, vendors began to talk about “zero trust” solutions that offer less risk from security breaches across devices and networks. MobileIron touts its ability to make the mobile device the user’s ID for secure access, thus reducing risk, and allowing a smoother flow for securing business data as it flows across devices, apps, networks, and cloud services. VMware focuses on the zero trust architecture’s five pillars: device trust, user trust, transport/session trust, application trust, and data trust. By establishing trust across the five pillars, customers gain visibility and can gather analytics across the board.AI-powered advanced analytics are also touted by vendors, to intelligently manage applications.

Specific vendor announcements that are indicative of the UEM market evolution in 2019 include:

• BlackBerry announced the availability of Secure UEM & Productivity Suites in three tiers that help enterprises manage fast-changing security needs and IoT environments.

• BlackBerry appointed SYNNEX Corporation as its distributor in USA to promote Blackberry Enterprise Mobility Suite/UEM in commercial and enterprise markets.

• VMware and Appdome announced a partnership to provide Appdome, the mobile industry’s first no-code mobile solutions platform, for VMware Workspace ONE.

• VMware announced VMware Workspace ONE for Microsoft Endpoint Manager to manage Windows 10 devices.

• VMware added innovations to the Workspace ONE platform that allow IT teams to leverage AI-powered automation to intelligently manage and secure access to any applications on any cloud.

• MobileIron introduced its marketplace premier program, opening its global sales channel to premier partners to expand availability of more security solutions for MobileIron customers.

• MobileIron extended ties with Microsoft to support Microsoft Intune Device Compliance and Active Directory Conditional Access.

While all three vendors added to their solutions in 2019, GlobalData still ranks VMware as the leader, with BlackBerry and MobileIron as strong competitors. Other providers such as IBM MaaS, Soti, and Citrix ZenMobile also have loyal customers, but have lower market share among large enterprise customers.

 

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