MDM comparison: VMware AirWatch vs. IBM Maas360

The mobile device management (MDM) market is crowded, giving companies numerous options for locking down both devices and data. But picking out the best solution isn't always an obvious choice.

Given the variety of MDM solutions available to enterprise companies, how do VMware AirWatch and IBM MaaS360 compare? What insights can real users share about their MDM experiences? Which features really matter, and how can companies evaluate which tool is best suited to meet their enterprise mobility needs?

IT Central Station has answers. IT Central Station is a community of enterprise tech pros that contribute and share crowd-sourced expert reviews, rankings and feedback on the technologies they use. The community reaches more than 22 million tech buyers who offer unbiased product information, tapping into the experiences and input of other real users to make the best buying decision.

VMware AirWatch: What Real Users Say  

A Systems Engineer at a tech services company describes numerous areas that VMware AirWatch has helped improve in his organization:

Apps Deployment

“We find this solution allows us to deploy apps more efficiently. We have a vendor that developed an app for their software for use in our company. We were able to deploy this custom built app easily.”

Secure Email Gateway

“We also find the Secure Email Gateway very useful. Active-Sync email routes through that server to the exchange server. With this configuration, we were able to lock down Exchange to only allow active-sync email from this server.

We were able to configure the email settings within AirWatch to choose which extensions can be allowed on the email on the mobile device, as well as what app can be used to view attachments.”

A Solutions Architect at a communications service provider points out the need to improve AirWatch’s developer community:

Developer Community

“There is a lack of a real developer community. AirWatch doesn't seem to empower IT admins to try new things or get creative with implementations. They are more happy to sell you one of their support subscriptions.”

You can read more VMware AirWatch reviews by IT Central Station users.

IBM Maas360: What Real Users Say

Alexandr L., emphasizes the value in IBM MaaS360’s mobile device configuration capabilities:

Mobile Device Configuration

“Mobile Device Configuration with policy applying; this significantly reduces time of device configuration. (Previously), every new device was configured manually, it required about 20 minutes of engineer attention, now it's about 3 minutes.

Mike B., IT Specialist at a communications service provider, describes how IBM MaaS360 contributes to his employees’ satisfaction and productivity:

Corporate Data Management

“The ability to selectively wipe corporate data from employee mobile BYOD, with no impact to their personal data. Being able to manage the corporate data in a secure application container with the Secure Email product...Allowed our organization to securely implement BYOD, increasing the employee satisfaction and productivity.”

Subscription Renewals

Mike B. also suggests improving IBM MaaS360’s subscription renewals process:

“I would like advanced notifications of subscription renewals. Subscriptions automatically renew, and if you've downsized your user base, and you've overlooked the subscription, then you have to go through the exhaustive task of adjusting the contract.”

User-Based Licensing

Another area of improvement that Mike B. discusses is the user-based licensing feature:

“Improve user based licensing, so a customer can purchase named licenses for multiple devices. They do have the option, but I think it's 2.5 x the price of a device license, and users are limited to 3 devices.”

You can read more IBM MaaS360 reviews by IT Central Station users.