Mobile Device Management: Evaluating Solutions & Vendors

By Kaleigh Alessandro | Thursday, November 29th, 2012

Editor's Note: This article was updated in November 2015.

With the BYOD trend invading financial services firms (and companies of all kinds), the need for mobile device management solutions is at an all-time high. While hedge funds once seemed like a BlackBerry-only industry, the emergence of high-powered smartphones has prompted a shift in corporate communications. But security remains a top concern for all funds.

There are a number of mobile device management solutions in the marketplace. Let’s take a closer look at four such solutions we’re seeing used: XenMobile by Citrix, AirWatch, Good Technology, MobileIron and BlackBerry BES12. Note, the first four listed were ranked in the Leaders category of the June 2015 Gartner's 2015 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites.

XenMobile by Citrix

Introduced in 2013 by Citrix, XenMobile delivers mobile device management (MDM), mobile application management (MAM) and enterprise-grade productivity apps in one comprehensive solution. XenMobile aims enhances the user experience on BYO or corporate devices without compromising security.

According to the company, XenMobile provides mobile users with a full suite of business-grade productivity apps including email, file sync and share, document editing, browser, note-taking, personal information management (PIM) and remote desktop access.

AirWatch

Purchased by VMware in January 2014, AirWatch is widely regarded as one of the most reputable and effective MDM solutions in the marketplace. AirWatch's comprehensive solution enables enterprises to enroll devices quickly, configure and update settings over-the-air, and secure mobile devices. With real-time dashboards and advanced logging and reporting tools, AirWatch gives enterprise firms secure control over employees' devices and empowers collaboration and efficiency across businesses. Key features include:

Support of Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry, Mac OS, Symbian, and Windows devices
AirWatch Hub, a customizable portal for fast access to the information your firm deems critical
A single console for management of a diverse fleet of devices
Continuous monitoring for unauthorized users, compromised devices and other risks

Good Technology

Good Technology, acquired by BlackBerry in November 2015, is used by more than 6,200 organizations in 189 countries.With a simple, web-based application for a firm's IT team to manage, monitor and control devices, and easy set-up and deployment, Good makes it easy for firms to support BYOD practices and protect corporate data and infrastructure at the same time. Key features include:

Support of iOS (iPhone & iPad), Android and Windows phones
Secure, FIPS-certified AES encryption for data both at rest and in transit
Remote wipe or lock capabilities
Application-level protection to prevent users from leaking company information

MobileIron

MobileIron, which became a publicly traded company in June 2014, claims it was “the pioneer of iOS in the enterprise, delivering the platform’s first private app storefront, BYOD privacy controls and certificate-based identity management.” While it doesn’t support quite the percentage of users that Good does, it still offers a reliable solution. Key features include:

Available as a cloud service or an on-premise solution
Broad platform support (iOS, BlackBerry, Android and Windows devices)
Robust security controls including remote device lock and wipe, encryption, lockdown capabilities and mandated use of data protection

BlackBerry BES12

In November 2014, BlackBerry introduced BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 (BES12) as a solution to meet the MDM needs of all types of mobile devices, not just BlackBerry devices. According to BlackBerry, BES12 is a complete, highly secure enterprise mobility management solution that protects business data and can increase the productivity of employees by fully enabling their mobility.

BES12 allows users to securely manage mobile devices and other endpoints across different operating systems (iOS, Android – including Android for Work and Samsung KNOX – Windows and BlackBerry) and ownership models (personally owned or corporate liable devices).

Read on about Mobile Device Management and BYOD:

Eze Castle Integration works regularly with our clients to identify and implement mobile device management solutions to meet your firm’s unique needs. Contact us to learn more.