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Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) is the software-based technology that enables the management of end-user computing and mobile devices from a single management interface.

Unified endpoint management typically relies on the mobile device management(MDM) application program interfaces (APIs) in desktop and mobile operating systems.

Microsoft's inclusion of MDM application program interfaces in Windows 10 made unified endpoint management a possibility on a large scale. Prior to the release of Windows 8.1, there was no way for MDM software to access, secure or control the operating system and its applications.

In Windows 10, the tasks IT can perform through MDM software include:


 * configuring devices' VPN, email and Wi-Fi settings;
 * enforcing passcode and access policies;
 * installing patches and updates;
 * blacklisting and whitelisting applications; and
 * installing and managing Universal Windows Platform (.appx) and Microsoft Installer (.msi)applications.

Mobile device management is significantly less robust than traditional Windows management tools, however. Examples of tasks information technology (IT) administrators can't perform through Windows 10 MDM APIs include:


 * deploying and managing legacy executable (.exe) applications;
 * enforcing encryption;
 * deploying Group Policy Objects; and
 * managing printers, file shares and other domain-based resources.

Many vendors market UEM as a feature of their broader enterprise mobility management(EMM) software suites and some EMM vendors have made strides to close the gap between MDM and traditional Windows management tools. For example, MobileIron Bridge allows IT administrators to use MDM to deploy scripts that modify the Windows 10 file system and registry and perform other advanced tasks, including deploying legacy.exe applications.

Other vendors that support UEM include VMware, Citrix, BlackBerry and Apple. Apple's Mac OS X operating system has included MDM APIs since at least 2012, when AirWatch and MobileIron announced support. Today, all of the major vendors that offer UEM also support OS X.

In addition to addressing security concerns, EMM software also helps employees be more productive, because IT departments can provide them with the applications and data they need to perform work-related tasks on mobile devices.

EMM grew out of mobile device management (MDM), which focused solely on device-level control and security. After Microsoft's 2015 release of Windows 10, most EMM software providers expanded into unified endpoint management (UEM), which allows IT to manage PCs and mobile devices through a single console.

How UEM has evolved
EMM typically involves some combination of MDM, mobile application management (MAM), mobile content management (MCM) and identity and access management. These four technologies started off as individual products, but they are increasingly available through larger EMM software suites.

MDM is the foundation of any enterprise mobility suite. It relies on the combination of an agent app, which is installed on an endpoint device, and server software running in the corporate data center or in the cloud. Administrators use the MDM server's management console to set policies and configure settings, and the agent enforces these policies and configures these settings by integrating with APIs built into mobile operating systems.

MAM provides more granular management and security. It allows admins to set policies for a specific app or subset of apps, rather than for the whole device. Some apps have specific MAM APIs built in, while others rely on the device-level MAM APIs in most major mobile operating systems.

With MCM, only approved applications may access or transmit corporate data. And identity and access management controls how, when and where workers may use corporate apps and data, while also offering some user-friendly features, such as single sign-on.

These technologies all address specific concerns, and the overlap between MDM, MAM and MCM is quite minimal. As more organizations embraced enterprise mobility, vendors started to productize EMM, usually by adding MAM or MCM features to their MDM products. An enterprise app store or other self-service portal for application delivery and deployment is also a common component of EMM software.

Microsoft built MDM APIs into Windows 10, which opened the door for EMM software to manage PCs in the same way it manages smartphones and tablets. Apple also allows its macOS desktops and laptops to be managed in this fashion. All major EMM vendors support this functionality, marking a market shift from EMM to UEM.

Top EMM software/providers
Industry analysts and research firms vary slightly in their rankings of the top EMM software providers.

In 2017, Gartner named four leaders -- VMware, MobileIron, IBM and BlackBerry -- in its Magic Quadrant, which ranks vendors according to their completeness of vision and ability to execute on that vision. IDC, which ranks vendors based on their capabilities and strategies, named VMware, MobileIron, BlackBerry, IBM and Citrix as leaders. And Strategy Analytics published these market-share figures:


 * VMware: 19%
 * BlackBerry: 18%
 * MobileIron: 10%
 * Citrix: 9%
 * Microsoft: 9%
 * others: 35%