This month, Microsoft has been recognized by Gartner® as a Leader in the 2022 Magic Quadrant™ for Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Tools. This blog post outlines the “so what” for IT leaders, and why we believe this Gartner analysis deserves your focus right now.
As you see in the Magic Quadrant™ in Figure 1, Microsoft is positioned as a Leader in the 2022 Magic Quadrant™ for Unified Endpoint Management Tools. You will also see that Microsoft is highest on the “Ability to Execute” axis. Microsoft was also recognized as a Leader in the 2021 Magic Quadrant™ for Unified Endpoint Management Tools.
Figure 1. Magic Quadrant™ for Unified Endpoint Management Tools.
Why customers choose Microsoft for UEM
Let me summarize three reasons we hear from customers as to why they see Microsoft as a dependable and cost-effective solution for UEM.
- Microsoft Endpoint Manager is the native Microsoft solution, providing deep integration with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure to improve employee security and the IT administrator experience. Seamlessly integrating management, identity, and security with your employees’ digital experience has two advantages. It improves employee satisfaction as their workplace tools don’t need them to juggle multiple security add-ons. Further, it reduces the amount of platform integration your IT team needs to do, allowing IT to focus on higher-order priorities and save money. Microsoft 365 integration is an ongoing project for us: our advanced endpoint management strategy means we are bringing more solutions into the Microsoft 365 platform, driving down the number of add-ons you need to integrate.
- Customers like being in control of when they migrate to the cloud. The improvements we have made in tenant attach and hybrid Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) mean that customers can have many choices in how to co-manage their devices. This puts the customer firmly in control. The accelerated shift to hybrid work in the past two years has taught us that there is no “one size fits all” for digital transformation. Some organizations are now fully remote and in the cloud; others have leaders that are very keen on a full return to the office. Many are in between. Microsoft Endpoint Manager capabilities accommodate all scenarios, leaving customers in control.
- Customers are reassured by Microsoft’s ongoing investments in Endpoint Manager. We continue to improve the IT administrator experience and the experience for frontline workers, as well as integrate with Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Other recent innovations include new support for managing Linux desktops (currently in preview), macOS enhancements such as support for DMG and other apps, remote help, and Endpoint analytics such as work-from-home readiness and other reports to power a hybrid workforce. We look forward to sharing further advances soon.
Continued momentum for Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Strong rationale from analysts and customers is backed up by metrics. As our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella revealed on our Q3 2022 earnings call, “the number of Windows, Android, and iOS devices protected by [Microsoft] Intune grew over 60 percent year over year.” More broadly, “the number of customers who trust our security solutions grew nearly 50 percent year over year to 785,000.” We work with our industry-leading more than 15,000 partners to analyze 24 trillion threat signals a day to keep customers like Domino’s Pizza, Fujitsu, Heineken, and Petronas safe.
So, I would encourage you to read the Gartner® report and explore what actions you should take. Specifically, customers looking for a dependable, cost-effective solution in three specific situations may find it particularly relevant:
- If you are spending too much time managing third-party security plug-ins. Simplifying your endpoint management vendors could free up your time for other priorities.
- If your security, identity, or management software vendors are influencing the timing of your migration to the cloud. The ability to migrate at your own pace remains critical.
- If you selected your UEM vendor prior to the shift to hybrid work. The pandemic changed requirements for many customers and initiated deep investments to meet those new needs.
Learn more
You are invited to read the full 2022 Magic Quadrant™ for Unified Endpoint Management Tools report.
We believe any recognition from independent external analysts is an important milestone in building the best product we can; we thank our customers and partners for being on this journey with us.
To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management Tools, Tom Cipolla, Dan Wilson, Chris Silva, Craig Fisler. August 1, 2022.
Gartner and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks and service marks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
