Re:VMware Buys AirWatch for $1.54 Billion
by hangonhn on Wednesday January 22, 2014 @01:06PM
(#7104275)
If I was an investor, these types of answers are the real gems that I would look for before making any acquisition.
"That all being said, I have about 1200 devices in AirWatch. More or less I am the only person for the deployment and maintenance of these devices. I have very little complaints about the use of AirWatch, my job would be a lot more difficult without it."
That is value right there.
Re:VMware Buys AirWatch for $1.54 Billion
by mattzito on Wednesday January 22, 2014 @02:12PM
(#7104671)
And in fact, these are the sorts of things that M&A departments at large companies look for - companies with good market share, a product that drives value, but perhaps are not perfect on execution (sales, support, implementation), because that's where the acquirer can add incremental value.
I really dislike the blackbox aspect of AirWatch itself. You prep the servers, but they perform the install and the updates. You have to pay for updates out of a bank of paid hours. For example, you want to go from 5.5 to 5.6. If it takes an hour and a half, it is taken out of your bank. You also pay for every device you have checked into AirWatch. It just reeks of double-charging. You don't get charged if you have a problem stemming from a bug.
I install and maintain much more complicated software. I'd really rather they give me the update and if it goes awry then I'd call support. It runs on Windows server, it isn't rocket science.
The initial install support and training was sub-par, too. The same engineer that performs the install also gives you a basic rundown on the console. Very quick, and sometimes the best technical people shouldn't also train people on its usage.
That all being said, I have about 1200 devices in AirWatch. More or less I am the only person for the deployment and maintenance of these devices. I have very little complaints about the use of AirWatch, my job would be a lot more difficult without it.