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My Life Inside an AirWatch Deployment!
Updated February 29, 2016

My Life Inside an AirWatch Deployment!

Kelli Thompson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with AirWatch

We are currently using AirWatch as our BYOD MDM solution. It's been in production since the Fall of 2013. We are using the cloud solution which really cuts down on our administration and support of the product itself. The entire organization has their devices enrolled. I've found it's great for managing devices in bulk. We appreciate the functionality and reporting it affords us. It's far more flexible than Exchange native ActiveSync.
  • Reporting
  • Bulk management of devices
  • Lockdown device usage by Geofence and/or policy
  • They're a little slow on acquiring the necessary APIs from the different Android manufacturers. Because of this, some of the newer Androids require you to install the AirWatch Inbox or Touchdown to get mail. The native email when packaged into a policy will not work. It can be challenging for users who are accustomed to the native mail client.
  • Some of the initial configuration was a little challenging even though we are using the cloud version. We still had to install several connectors on a secure virtual machine that would talk to our active directory and Exchange.
  • This product is far more flexible than Exchange native ActiveSync.
At the time (2013), AirWatch supported more platforms than their competition. Not only could you enroll mobile devices and tablets, but you could also install an agent and manage both Windows and Mac desktops and laptops. They had a very nice collaborative sharing program called Secure Content Locker that you could utilize with Office365, SharePoint or a simple shared network drive.
It's great for one of our departments. The Ipads are taken to events to collect donations using a card reader. We wrote policies that lockdown the device so only certain programs can be run.

Using AirWatch

500 - Allows users to receive their email and connect to network files securely.
7 - Knowledge of the following:
- How to enroll the device using the agent.
- How to navigate remotely through different platforms (IOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Mac, etc.)
- Enable certain features on mobile devices (wireless network, passcodes, etc)
- Mail sync
- Good understanding of the console as most of the user support will be done there
  • User cannot sync email
  • User forgets their passcode and needs it reset
  • User fails to update the agent or mail client and functionality is affected.
  • User fails to update their O.S.
We've used it for 3 years and our contract is up later this year. We own the licenses, but we would have to either renew cloud services or bring the services in-house and install on servers here. We may want to see what's new in the marketplace that could be just as useful and cost effective.

Evaluating AirWatch and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
  • Analyst Reports
  • Third-party Reviews
The most important factor had to be the product features and the price.
Initially, I did a 30-day trial with 3 different vendors. Next time, I would add additional vendors to that list for a total of 5. As mobile management has really come along in the last few years, there are more vendors to choose from now that you could even roll MDM into another program like SCOM, Symantec or ManageEngine ServiceDesk.

AirWatch Implementation

Have your organizational structure and heirarchy outlined. This helps when you are ready to create OU's and subs in AirWatch.
  • Vendor implemented
  • Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal
  • Initially, they didn't have alot of support for the Windows mobile devices. It has since come a long way and they have an agent now.

AirWatch Support

They're usually very good. I've talked to any number of techs from level one to level 3. They all seem pretty knowledgeable about the product and how to support it.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Yes - A workaround was produced while they submitted a feature request to their development team.
Sure. When we first deployed the software. I needed help to setup the initial environment, create policiies and ensure connectivity was functional between us and the cloud server.

Using AirWatch

It works well for our environment and what we're using it for. It actually does more than we're currently utilizing, but I believe our needs will change in the near future and we could utilize more features.
ProsCons
Like to use
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
None
  • Device enrollment
  • Enterprise wipe
  • policy deployment
  • Some Policy creation