VMware jumped into the Mobile Device Management (MDM) space in a big way today with the acquisition of AirWatch for about $1.5 billion. This is a huge move into BlackBerry’s Enterprise Server territory which is now competing head to head. VMware does not really have much success in the mobile space so this acquisition might actually give BlackBerry an edge over AirWatch as they try to integrate with VMware. BlackBerry claims it has exponentially more users managed by BES than all its competitors combined but VMware has big pockets.
This is another big player entering the MDM space and it shows that they see value there. With BlackBerry focusing on that market even Wall Street is raising BlackBerry’s prospects on the deal.
