---
title: "Only 4 of 12 MDMs host data in India; 7 manage iPhone, Windows and Android"
summary: "What the 12 MDM and UEM products in TechBag's guide cover, what they cost and where they keep data, counted from records verified in August 2026."
url: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/tour-through-mdm-mobile-device-management
format: Note
desk: "Endpoints & devices"
published: 2024-10-31
facts_checked: 2026-09-30
author: TechBag (The TechBag Journal)
tags: ["MDM","UEM","Microsoft Intune","Scalefusion","42Gears","ManageEngine","Hexnode","Jamf","BYOD","data residency","DPDP","CERT-In"]
cover: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/covers/tour-through-mdm-mobile-device-management.png
---

# Only 4 of 12 MDMs host data in India; 7 manage iPhone, Windows and Android

*What the 12 MDM and UEM products in TechBag's guide cover, what they cost and where they keep data, counted from records verified in August 2026.*

Note · Endpoints & devices · By TechBag · Published 2024-10-31 · Facts checked 2026-09-30 · Canonical: https://www.thetechbag.com/blog/tour-through-mdm-mobile-device-management

Of the 12 mobile device management products TechBag tracks, all 12 manage Apple devices, 7 also manage Windows and Android, and only 4 hold device data in an Indian region, as of September 2026.[1] The 2021 version of this piece walked through what an MDM does. That part has not changed. What has changed is that every serious product now does it, so the decision an Indian IT team faces is narrower and more useful: which operating systems, which ownership model, and which country.

## The lifecycle is common; the coverage is not

Every product on the list runs the same five-step loop the original described. A device is enrolled, by QR code, link or, for company-bought hardware, zero-touch through Apple, Google or Microsoft. It is configured with Wi-Fi, VPN, email and the approved apps. Its inventory is collected. A security policy is enforced: passcode, encryption, restrictions, and remote lock or wipe when it is lost. And it is serviced, with updates pushed and problems fixed remotely. Where products part company is the operating systems they handle well and the device modes they support.

**Figure: Every MDM manages Apple; fewer than two in three manage Windows too, and only 4 of 12 keep the data in India**

*Number of the 12 MDM and UEM products in TechBag's guide with each capability, verified August 2026*

Manage iPhone, iPad or Mac

12 products of 12

BYOD work profile or user enrolment

11 products of 12

Android Enterprise

9 products of 12

Kiosk or dedicated-device mode

9 products of 12

Windows via Autopilot or Entra

7 products of 12

Apple, Windows and Android together

7 products of 12

Documented Apple declarative management

5 products of 12

A free tier

3 products of 12

An Indian data region

4 products of 12

|  | Value (products of 12) |
| --- | --- |
| Manage iPhone, iPad or Mac | 12 |
| BYOD work profile or user enrolment | 11 |
| Android Enterprise | 9 |
| Kiosk or dedicated-device mode | 9 |
| Windows via Autopilot or Entra | 7 |
| Apple, Windows and Android together | 7 |
| Documented Apple declarative management | 5 |
| A free tier | 3 |
| An Indian data region | 4 |

Source: TechBag UEM & MDM decision guide, product records · as of September 2026 · TechBag count; a capability counts only where the vendor's documentation confirms it

TechBag countHow TechBag counted

Each of the 12 product records in the guide carries capability tags verified against vendor or platform documentation on 20 August 2026; this chart counts the tags. Three of the 12 are Apple-only, all from Jamf (Jamf Pro, Jamf Now and Jamf School). The four with an Indian region are Scalefusion, 42Gears SureMDM, ManageEngine Endpoint Central and Seqrite mSuite; miniOrange is Indian-headquartered but its residency is unconfirmed, so it is not counted.[1]

## What it costs, and whether you already own it

Seven of the 12 carry a published price in the guide; the other 5 are quote-only. At the low end, ManageEngine Endpoint Central Professional is US$795 a year per 50 endpoints on-premises, about US$1.33 a device a month, and free up to 25 computers and 25 mobile devices; Hexnode Pro is US$2.20 a device a month on annual billing; Scalefusion Essentials is about US$2. Apple-only depth is quoted: Jamf publishes no list price for Jamf Pro.[1] [2] Microsoft Intune Plan 1 lists at US$8 a user a month, but it is included in Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Premium and EMS.[3]

Our view

Our view: check the Microsoft licence before you buy anything. A company on Business Premium or E3 already owns Intune, and the case for a second MDM is a specific gap: deep Mac management, rugged Android in kiosk mode, or data that must stay in India. For a field fleet of Android handhelds that needs Indian residency, Scalefusion, 42Gears and ManageEngine are the three India-built products that meet it at a published price.

## If you are buying it in India

Most of these products list in US dollars, and TechBag quotes them in rupees with 18 per cent GST. An MDM inventory of employee-owned phones holds personal data, from location to installed apps, so the DPDP Rules, notified on 13 November 2025 with the safeguard and breach-intimation duties in force from 13 May 2027, apply to it; enrol personal phones with a work profile, which keeps the employer out of the personal side.[4] CERT-In’s Directions of 28 April 2022 require ICT logs to be kept for 180 days within Indian jurisdiction, which is where the 4 Indian-region products earn their place.[5]

How we did this

Figures as of September 2026

All counts come from the 12 product records in TechBag’s UEM & MDM decision guide, whose capability tags were verified against vendor and platform documentation on 20 August 2026 and whose prices were read from vendor pricing pages on 22 August 2026. A product counts for a capability only where the tag says it is documented; “partial” Apple declarative management (2 products) is excluded from that bar, and Microsoft Intune, whose record says it has no free tier, is not counted as having one. The 2021 smartphone-usage figures in an earlier version of this piece could not be traced to a MeitY publication and are dropped.

Spotted an error? Write to us; corrections are published at the foot of the piece.

Sources

1. [TechBag, UEM & MDM decision guide: 12 product records with OS, BYOD, kiosk, declarative-management, free-tier, India-region and price tags](https://www.thetechbag.com/browse/endpoint-management/uem-mdm) — verified 20 to 22 August 2026
2. [Hexnode, UEM pricing page: Pro US$2.20 a device a month](https://www.hexnode.com/mobile-device-management/pricing/) — undated page
3. [TechBag, Microsoft Intune intel page: included in Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Premium and EMS; Plan 1 from US$8 a user a month](https://www.thetechbag.com/microsoft/microsoft-intune) — undated page
4. [Legismith Partners, DPDP Rules 2025 commencement timeline](https://legismith.com/dpdp-rules-2025-timeline/) — Rules notified 13 November 2025
5. [CERT-In, Directions under section 70B(6) of the IT Act, 2000 (180-day logs within Indian jurisdiction; six-hour reporting)](https://www.cert-in.org.in/PDF/CERT-In_Directions_70B_28.04.2022.pdf) — 28 April 2022

Related on TechBag: the [UEM & MDM decision guide](https://www.thetechbag.com/browse/endpoint-management/uem-mdm) narrows the 12 products to a shortlist of three by operating system, ownership and residency.

**Disclosure.** TechBag is a software reseller: it earns a margin when a reader buys through it, including from vendors named here. The analysis is TechBag’s own; no vendor paid for or saw this piece before publication. Facts are labelled reported, TechBag count or our view.

Go deeper on TechBag

- [UEM & MDM decision guide](https://www.thetechbag.com/browse/endpoint-management/uem-mdm) — the 12 product records this note counts, narrowed by OS, ownership and residency
- [Microsoft Intune intel page](https://www.thetechbag.com/microsoft/microsoft-intune) — the MDM many Microsoft 365 customers already own
- [Scalefusion UEM intel page](https://www.thetechbag.com/scalefusion/scalefusion-uem) — India-built and India-hosted, for Android field fleets
