[Community tips] What to consider when choosing an enterprise mobility management solution?

1. First of all note down a (long) list what you expect the EMM should do/cover
2. Look around which MDM's are available and request from some chosen ones to the developers a comparing list, to see which expectations could be met.
3. Consider if an EMM is already available to you (Intune for exampe if you are a Microsoft house depending on the licensing etc.) but keep in mind to compare it's functionality as well with the competitors.
4. Also consider if additional sotware/licenses are needed (to ensure for example a remote control possibility).
5. Compare pricing and arrange some Demo-Tests.
6. Have a final decision because of the findings and pricing.

Some points to take into concideration:

• availability of Cloud service or on-prem (depending of what you prefer)
• how fast do changes take place on the devices if you do them in the EMM
• remote control availability
• user friendly UI
• user management (EntraID integration?)
• pricing of course (normally cost/device lowers with enhancing amount of devices)
• product support (and maybe additional costs here for extended support)
• does it cover all OS you need to maintain (maybe Apple, MAC, MS, Linux or others)
• additional licenses needed for servers or software (which could also generate more costs)
• ...

For the Fully Managed use case, which is exclusively what I deal with, I look for the following capabilities beyond the lowest common denominator Android Enterprise functions:

- Direct APK installation, not requiring installation through Managed Google Play. This is core because the version control and installation scheduling offered by Managed Play is not sufficient for line-of-business / mission critical device operations. Version control offered with direct APK installation is still superior to Managed Play and I won't be using Managed Play for mission critical business apps until that is addressed. 

- Direct file distribution. This is critical for distribution of configuration files which many mission critical business apps still require. Managed Configurations are "neat" but without better version control of the app installation process its effectively a no go.

- "Offline" Managed Config support. The ability for the EMM to read the app config schema and provide configurations of the mobile app without having to go through Managed Play.

- Native Remote Control. Absolutely critical in supporting line-of-business device environments. Remote Control is leveraged not only for remotely observing issues on devices but also for making manual configuration changes in test scenarios, extracting configuration files for inspection or mass deployment, remotely enabling logging on devices, and remotely retrieving logs.
- Advanced Scripting. Sending isolated actions to individual devices is  paramount in troubleshooting scenarios. Also being able to combine scripting actions with payload delivery like apps and files. 
- Inheritance centric device folder structure / grouping. I do not like EMMs that are user group centric as my use case is shared fleets of devices that don't logically associate to a user group. Physical location and configuration need centricity applied via an inheritance driven folder structure is preferred. 
- Support for Zebra MX. And I'm not talking about OEMConfig...

- Custom DPC. You basically can't do any of the above without one. 

- Advanced lockdown mode customization and configurability

So effectively any AMAPI aligned Android Enterprise only EMMs without a custom DPC are off the table for me. And yes I understand I am swimming against the current but the Fully Managed use case has otherwise been ignored by Android Enterprise given that it is the most niche of all of the other management use cases. I may sound contrarian in my stance but it is a nightmare trying to optimally manage mission critical devices in an AMAPI aligned EMM that doesn't leverage a Custom DPC or otherwise extend the management capabilities beyond the bare minimum published requirements of Android Enterprise.

In general, an EMM/UEM solution should meet the necessary requirements and offer good value for money. 

If you think about the requirements, these points may help:

• Have a plan of what your architecture around device management should look like.
• Look at the market leaders' solutions and determine your requirements.
• Which operating systems do you want to manage? (e.g. Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Is a solution with a pure AMAPI solution currently an option, or are current requirements still based on a CustomDPC?
• How flexible are the solutions for the tenant and role concept? What is your requirement here?
• Which management features are important to you? (e.g. dynamic groups for assignments, manual app installation of on-demand apps via EMM/UEM via Admin Console, etc.)
• Should the platform be used on-premise, SaaS(dedicated) or SaaS(shared)? (If SaaS: Is the performance of the system good?)
• Does the EMM/UEM solution have a remote assistance tool for all plattforms?
• Can required systems be docked to the EMM/UEM? (LDAP, ActiveDirectory, EntraID, PKIs, etc.)
• Do you need business apps in addition to pure device management? Are such apps included in the solution or would you have to buy them separately? (Mail app, app for file shares, VPN app incl. server, etc.)
• Which services do you want to provide on the devices? Are these services on-premise or in the cloud? How will the connection be implemented? (e.g. connect intranet via VPN, connect on-premise exchange via VPN or an email gateway, an app for cloud drives, etc.)
• Do you need other components in addition to the EMM/UEM for a holistic solution? (e.g. for MobileSSO, Mobile Threat Defense, etc.)
• Compare the price/value ratio of the manufacturers in your immediate selection. A basic license may be available from one provider, but it may be more expensive with the necessary add-ons than other solutions.
• Perform a PoC with the suppliers in the closer selection and identify potential problems.