We use Matrix42 to separate personal and corporate profiles. There are many other features, like data leaks, security access, and wiping out data. Some necessary features include their ability to support Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows. Most importantly, however, emails must be tracked and restricted if you use a mobile BYOD device, such as a tablet, or a PC, so that we can control email access. Users should not access Outlook from their personal profile, and that's one restriction we are looking at. Some users work from home or in a hybrid environment, or BYOD, which is now commonplace. You then need a lot of control and restrictions on devices because you are working with data belonging to organizations and applications critical to business and operations. You need to know which device you are using and where you are accessing information.
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Matrix42 Enterprise Mobility Management offers on-premises deployment, whereas other solutions, such as Intune are only available on the cloud. Banks and some institutions prefer hosting their systems on-premises.
What needs improvement?
Matrix42 is a complete solution in terms of functionality. Still, you need to understand whether it's also capable of managing Kubernetes containers to that extent, and this is not very clear in the product fact sheet. It’s possible with Ivanti MobileIron, though, and Matrix42 seems to be one step behind in this aspect.
Likewise, in terms of integration, there is still room for improvement in Matrix42 to integrate with more third-party tools compared to Ivanti, which has a larger number of integrations due to its size. MobileIron is an older product that has evolved over time, offering advantages in terms of readily available third-party APIs and integrations.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the Matrix42 portfolio of products for almost two years. Matrix42 has a product called Silverback, now called MDM, and it is part of the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Matrix42 is very stable, whether it's on the cloud or on-prem.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Matrix42 Enterprise Mobility Management is scalable on the cloud and on-prem. You can scale the solution, be it 5,000 devices or 50,000 devices. Scaling is not complex. The cloud gives us more options and flexibility because most features are upgraded in the cloud. If it is on-premises, there might be some latency because you have to download a hard fix and execute it to make it up to date.
We have deployed Matrix42 applications and products for 25,000 and 30,000 users in various organizations. User count is not a concern or limitation because we can have 100 or even 100,000 users. The product is scalable and can be rolled out to many organizations, whether small or large, across multiple locations. If you're on the cloud, you don't need to worry because it supports all time zones across the globe, and the support is very good.
How are customer service and support?
The support and response by the OEM are fantastic.
How was the initial setup?
Matrix42 is easy to set up. Some people say the UI is not as easy as Ivanti. We have already implemented other solutions from Matrix42 in India, and we get excellent support right from presales down to complex implementations.
However, you need expertise with the product. It is hard to deploy the solution in-house. We have people certified in Ivanti and Matrix42 for the modules we require or focus on, mainly the UEM patch, ITSM, and MDM. A lot of training material and content is available from the OEM, making it easy for a certified resource to follow those steps and roll out the application in good time.
The time taken to deploy depends on the number of endpoints you need, whether you need 10,000, 20,000, or just 5,000 endpoints. The time taken to deploy is not a big challenge. Deployment time is predictable in terms of the timelines that we predict that we can complete projects.
You need at least one expert with an L2 or L3 certification per module. For instance, in MDM, you require at least one expert to handle the rollout. The more you have, the better because if you have multiple customers coming, you will then have time for multiple simultaneous projects. You will need to invest in people to add more certified skills. You could also cross-sell within your product spectrum. For instance, if someone is an expert in the UEM patch, it makes perfect sense to assign them to MDM, given that they fall under the same domain.
What was our ROI?
We see an ROI within 12 to 18 months for Matrix42 unless it's a huge project that costs half a million to one million dollars. However, the timeline is longer for projects with many licenses due to the investment required, and the rollout will take some time to take effect across IT and the larger environment. When dealing with a complex and organized environment, the turnaround time for ROI is a little longer.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have compared three products: Matrix42 MDM, Ivanti Neurons for MDM, and Microsoft Intune. Intune is not at par with these two products and is available only on the cloud and not on-premises. We need to get our solution on-premises in banking and financial services because you can’t host it in a cloud outside the country. If a tool is offered solely on the cloud, there is a possibility of losing control over the data as Microsoft hosts the cloud. We won’t be able to control the cloud.
What other advice do I have?
You should evaluate both Ivanti and Matrix42 since they are comparable solutions. Note that Matrix42 is more affordable than Ivanti, and Ivanti’s support is not as good due to the low availability of resources. Choose your solution because it aligns perfectly with the features required for large organizations, especially those operating in complex environments while giving the flexibility to work from anywhere in a hybrid environment to prevail in the longer term. You need such solutions to keep work going. Both Ivanti and Matrix42 include features and support for inventory and managed products. Understanding each product's capabilities and features will help make a well-informed decision.
Additionally, Matrix42 has a security tool, which is required sometimes, but there's a lot of competition around security tools. Neither Ivanti nor Matrix42 comes close to other independent tools used purely for security purposes.
For complex organizations with a substantial workforce, like one with twenty thousand employees spread across multiple locations, the availability of integrations with the OEM tool becomes crucial. More integrations spread across various APIs enhances the convenience of integrating with core applications, which these organizations would typically require. Consequently, this may increase the demand for the product compared to others. These days, API integrations are not a major challenge since you can build them.
I rate the solution an eight or ten out of ten.
