Updated: Mar 23
Our Shootout Series takes one important MDM feature and tests it in our lab.
What is it?
Location services is an MDM feature that tracks the whereabouts of mobile devices through satellite signals, cell towers, hotspots, and WiFi networks. Organizations often leverage their MDM’s location services features to boost security and productivity.
The problem
Each MDM vendor provides different location services features from the next. Here at LINQ, it is our job to analyze these features in order to ease the process of determining which MDM meets your company needs.
Below you will find our highlight reel followed by a detailed matrix comparing the location services features of Cisco Meraki, IBM MaaS360, Microsoft Intune, MobileIron, and VMware Workspace ONE. Each of these MDM vendors have been tested and analyzed by the LINQ Tech Team.
These five vendors are the ones that we most often receive inquiries about. As the market changes, we will continue to update our findings and the vendors that we evaluate. Let us know if there’s a vendor that you would like us to evaluate.
Best overall:
Cisco Meraki
Although Cisco Meraki and IBM MaaS360 appear to be neck-and-neck on paper, Meraki’s exceptional compliance and admin options truly set this vendor apart from MaaS360 and its other competitors.
Best feature:
VMware Workspace ONE’s location history capabilities
Most disappointing feature:
Microsoft Intune’s inability to locate a device unless it is supervised and in lost mode.
Best for non-active, WiFi-only devices:
IBM MaaS360
Location services will always be somewhat inaccurate over WiFi. However, from experience we have found that MaaS360 is generally more accurate over WiFi than its competitors.
Most accurate:
IBM MaaS360: Exact coordinates are given.
From experience we have found that, in general, MDM location services are not always the most accurate. However, this feature surely sets MaaS360 apart from its competitors.
Comparison Matrix
Did we get it right? Let us know what you think as well as which MDMs we should review next at [email protected].