Spend more than a few minutes on any blog that talks about enterprise mobility, and you’ll likely see a flurry of terms: MDM. EMM. MAM. UEM. Those of us in the industry (ourselves included!) throw these terms around and often just assume that everyone knows what we’re talking about.
Or course, that’s not always the case. It’s tough to keep track of all the industry terms and slang, and even if you technically know what, say, MDM means (mobile device management), it’s possible you don’t really know what mobile device management actually means.
So: if you struggle to keep up with what all these terms mean, don’t worry. You aren’t alone!
Earlier this year, TechTarget executive editor Jack Madden tackled just this problem with a great article about the differences between the most popular terms and phrases in the enterprise mobility space. While of course we recommended giving the full article a read for an in-depth look at the difference between MDM, EMM, and more, it’s worth looking at the gist of his article when trying to make left from right.
Here’s a quick overview:
- MDM: MDM, or mobile device management, unsurprisingly secures the entire device, often allowing administrators to change app and data permissions, remotely wipe devices, set passcode, and more. This is certainly a secure solution, but is harder to implement in work environments where devices are not all corporate-owned.
- MAM: MAM stands for mobile app management and, as its name implies, applies its controls at the app level rather than the device level. In today’s BYOD world, this can be useful, as users are often hesitant to hand over full control of their personal devices to the company. MAM allows specific controls within apps, often on smartphones not owned by the company.
- EMM: EMM–which stands for enterprise mobility management–seeks “to cater to all enterprise mobility needs,” from security to identity management to onboarding. In a real setting, this really means a mix of MDM and MAM (depending on the need within the specific business unit). People often use EMM as a blanket term to describe any mobility goings-on within an enterprise.
- UEM: UEM, or unified endpoint management, is the newest and most cutting-edge of all the approaches described here. (We actually wrote about it on our blog earlier this year.) UEM is similar to EMM, with the key difference being that UEM vendors support desktops and laptops in addition to mobile devices. This is a ‘single pane of glass’ solution that attempts to bridge all device management into one place.
As you work towards designing and implementing an enterprise mobility strategy in your workplace, it’s absolutely essential to know what’s what. Having a clear understanding of all the options will help ensure that you’re doing what’s best for your business, even if you’re only taking it one step at a time.
Want an even deeper dive into the various ways to approach enterprise mobility these days? Head on over to BrianMadden.com to view Madden’s original article. And if you’d like to learn more about how App47 can help you apply the various approaches described above, contact us today. We’d love to hear from you!
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Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
