AirWatch Named Leader in 2014 Magic Quadrant

AirWatch by VMware (VMW) was recently named as a Leader in the 2014 Magic Quadrant for enterprise mobility management (EMM) by industry analyst Gartner. This year’s appointment as a leader in enterprise mobility marks the fourth consecutive year AirWatch has been named to the prestigious list.

Among the 14 vendors including in this year’s Magic Quadrant report, AirWatch received the highest position for its ability to execute, according to a blog post from VMware.

“The Gartner report is a fantastic tool for the IT executives but also for the vendors themselves,” said John Marshall, AirWatch by VMware senior vice president and general manager, in a video statement. “We really take to heart the feedback that we’re given. And since the very first report, every year that helped to set the tone for some of our investments and the activities that we look to improve over the coming year.”

Marshall said previous Magic Quadrant reports have helped AirWatch evaluate and expand its leadership team, improve the company’s global presence and expand its operating system management.

With this year’s report moving its focus from mobile device management (MDM) to EMM, Marshall said AirWatch’s development over the past few years aligns perfectly with Gartner’s predictions about the future of the industry, especially when it comes to designing its own EMM platform. According to Marshall, AirWatch’s platform differs from similar EMM offerings in that the company designed the entire system organically, giving customers a more personalized solution for their mobile management needs.

“AirWatch has taken a ground-up approach — we’ve integrated all of those [competitor platforms] with our own development organization organically, and we’ve built a full-featured platform,” said Marshall. “Sometimes that takes a little more time, but it’s the right solution in the long term, and it provides the best user experience and the best overall security.”

VMware finalized its acquisition of AirWatch at the beginning of the year, paying a reported $1.181 billion in cash and an additional $364 million in installed payments for assumed unvested equity. So far in 2014, VMware has made a push to establish itself as a competitor in the MDM market, competing with the likes of Citrix (CTXS), Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (APPL). 

“We take to heart the feedback,” said Marshall. “We congratulate Gartner for a great analysis and we’re honored and excited to be a part of this process for four years straight now. We look forward to another year of great innovation with our customers.”