Unified Endpoint Management

KuppingerCole’s Buyer’s Compass for Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) is positioned as a structured starting point for vendor selection, helping organizations align products and services to prioritized use cases rather than evaluating features in isolation. It guides readers to identify primary use cases, weight functional and non-functional criteria accordingly, request and score vendor information, ask targeted questions, and then narrow to a shortlist for deeper RFIs and proofs of concept—while ensuring technical and organizational prerequisites are met.

The document frames endpoint management as a converging market: classic Windows-centric client management and mobile device management (formerly EMM) are increasingly unified, with leading providers aiming to manage desktops (Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS) alongside mobile (Android, iOS) and expanding endpoint categories. UEM scope now commonly includes configured work environments, OS and application management, inventory, content management, security controls, and separation of personal versus business data. Patch management, once often standalone, is typically embedded in UEM, and endpoint security capabilities may overlap with EDR products, making existing security investments relevant to feature weighting.

Four primary use cases anchor evaluation: PC management, mobile device management, unmanaged/BYOD scenarios requiring containment and policy boundaries, and nontraditional devices (printers, IoT, wearables, VR/AR headsets). Fifteen functional criteria (from device management and containment to automation, intelligence, compliance, and integrations) are mapped in a weighting matrix across these use cases. Ten non-functional criteria emphasize deployment models (on-prem, SaaS, hybrid, containers), time-to-value, vendor viability, support, roadmap, and pricing. Finally, prerequisites highlight architectural fit (microservices/Kubernetes vs monolith vs SaaS), cloud/on-prem interoperability, skills, governance, SLAs, data policies, and training—underscoring that organizational maturity can be as decisive as technology.

• Unified Endpoint Management includes desktops/laptops, smartphones, tablets, printers, wearables, IoT devices, and VR headsets.
• Traditional client/service management capabilities include OS deployment, software distribution, patch management, monitoring, and remote control.
• Separation between classic Windows client management and mobile device management is now the exception rather than the rule.
• UEM functionality commonly includes configured work environments, inventory, OS/application management, security management, and content management.
• Most UEM products today provide patch management to the extent typically required.
• Public cloud UEM offerings are generally multi-tenant, while some cloud services are single-tenant.
• A structured vendor selection process is recommended before making a product decision.
• The functional evaluation set is defined as 15 criteria, and the non-functional set is defined as 10 criteria.
• Four top UEM use cases are defined: PC management, mobile device management, unmanaged devices/BYOD, and nontraditional devices.
• Organizational prerequisites include defined SLAs that cover availability, reliability, performance, and responsibilities for safeguarding customer data.

• “This document is not a complete guideline for selecting vendors but should provide an excellent starting point to streamline the decision-making process.”
• “The separation between classic client management, which is usually based on Windows, and the management of mobile devices (EMM, Enterprise Mobility Management) is now the exception rather than the rule.”
• “Ultimately, the selection of any UEM solution on the market will depend on the organization’s particular requirements…”
• “In all cases, it is recommended that a structured selection process should be carried out before the product decision is made.”
• “Not every aspect is of the same importance for every use case.”
• “Deployment of UEM solutions in the cloud can be the easiest and most cost-effective option, but its feasibility and compliance with security policies and regulations must be carefully evaluated.”
• “A successful Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) vendor selection depends on more than the technology itself, and organizational factors should not be neglected.”
• “Cloud services are outside the direct control of the customer organization… the overall responsibility for security is shared between the customer and the CSP.”
• “There is a clear shift from traditional architectures towards a more modern software architecture… such as using microservices, container-based deployments, and APIs…”
• “Some organizations struggle with these topics, not because of technical weaknesses and wrong products, but because of a lack of organizational maturity.”