MDM vs MAM: What's the Difference for UK Businesses?

The two are not rivals. Most UK businesses end up running both: full device management on corporate phones, app-only management on the personal devices staff use to reach email and Teams. Below is exactly how they differ, when each fits, and why a single Intune-based setup beats bolting two tools together.

What is the difference between MDM and MAM?

MDM manages the entire device — enrolment, encryption, OS patch level, app deployment, and full remote wipe. MAM manages only specific apps, applying work policies to Outlook, Teams and SharePoint without touching personal apps or data. MDM controls the phone; MAM controls the corporate data inside it.

That distinction decides everything else: who owns the device, how much privacy staff keep, and what happens when someone leaves. MDM gives IT total control, which is appropriate when the business owns the hardware. MAM gives IT control of the data only, which is the right answer when the employee owns the hardware and reasonably expects their photos, messages and personal apps to stay private. For a fuller breakdown of device-level control, see our guide to mobile device management.

How do MDM and MAM compare feature by feature?

At a control level MDM is a superset of MAM: anything MAM does to an app, MDM can also do, plus everything at the device layer. The trade-off is privacy and friction — MDM enrolment is intrusive, MAM is near-invisible to the user. This table maps the practical differences.

The single most important row is the last two: MDM belongs on hardware you own, MAM belongs on hardware your staff own. Force MDM onto a personal phone and you take on the legal and practical liability of being able to wipe an employee's photos and messages — a fight you do not want.

When should you choose MDM?

Choose MDM when the business owns the device and needs control of the whole thing — encryption, patch level, restricted features, and the ability to wipe it entirely if it is lost or stolen. It is the right model for company phones, shared frontline devices, and any handset holding sensitive data on the device itself.

Pick MDM when:

• You own the hardware. Company-purchased phones and tablets should be fully managed — there is no privacy trade-off because the device is a business asset.
• You need device-level compliance. Enforcing encryption, minimum OS version and screen-lock policy across the fleet requires device control, not just app control.
• Loss or theft is a real risk. Frontline, field and logistics staff lose devices. Full remote wipe protects everything on the handset, not just the work apps.
• You issue kiosk or single-purpose devices. Locking a device to one app or a fixed configuration is an MDM-only capability.

The NCSC's mobile device guidance sets out why corporate devices should enforce encryption and patching at the device level — exactly what MDM provides.

When should you choose MAM?

Choose MAM when staff use their own phones for work. App management protects company data inside Outlook, Teams and SharePoint — enforcing a PIN, blocking copy-paste into personal apps, and allowing a selective wipe of work data — without enrolling or controlling the device. Staff keep their personal apps, photos and data fully private.

MAM is the right model when:

• Staff use personal devices (BYOD). You protect the data without claiming the device, which keeps both your security team and your employees comfortable.
• You cannot mandate enrolment. Contractors, seasonal staff and short-term hires will not hand over their personal phone to full management — MAM still secures the data.
• Privacy is a sticking point. App-only control removes the objection that IT can see or wipe someone's personal life.

This BYOD reality is widespread: as of 2025, 53% of UK homecare staff use personal devices (BYOD) for work, and 80% of companies say mobile devices are critical to operations. For the policy side of getting this right, see our BYOD security policy guidance.

Why does the choice matter for security?

It matters because unmanaged mobiles are now a primary attack surface. Mobile threats are dominated by phishing and scams rather than classic malware, and an unprotected personal phone reaching your Microsoft 365 tenant is an open door. The right management model closes it without alienating staff.

The threat data backs this up: in 2025, 90% of mobile threats stemmed from scams and phishing, and 18.1% of enterprise devices had mobile malware (Zimperium 2025). A phone with no PIN policy, no copy-paste controls and no way to revoke access is the weakest link in an otherwise hardened estate. MAM closes that gap on BYOD; MDM closes it on corporate devices. Either way, the control has to exist before an incident, not after — which is why we fold mobile management into our broader managed Microsoft 365 service.

Do you need separate tools for MDM and MAM?

No. Microsoft Intune delivers both MDM and MAM from a single console and is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium. You apply full MDM to corporate devices and MAM-only policies to BYOD handsets within the same platform — no second product, no separate licence, no integration overhead.

This is the decisive advantage for any business already on Microsoft 365. Running one platform for both models means one set of policies, one place to manage exits, and tight integration with Entra ID conditional access. Microsoft 365 Business Premium lists at £16.90 per user/month (ex VAT, annual) and bundles Intune in full — see the Microsoft 365 plan comparison. For the deployment detail, our Microsoft Intune for mobile page walks through the setup, and Intune's official documentation covers the underlying capabilities.

What does AMVIA recommend?

Use MDM for company-owned devices and MAM for BYOD. Microsoft Intune supports both models within a single platform — included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium. AMVIA recommends a hybrid approach: full MDM on all corporate assets, with MAM-only policies applied to personal devices accessing company email and SharePoint. This is the standard we deploy for all managed clients.

The hybrid model gives you full control where you own the hardware and data-only control where you do not — without forcing staff to surrender their personal phones. When someone leaves, disabling their Microsoft 365 account cuts app access, and a selective remote wipe pulls company data off their personal device while leaving everything personal untouched. One provider, security-first, Microsoft-certified engineers — set up once, managed continuously.