There's a shift in priorities underway among many IT managers responsible for communications and collaboration. Sure IPT, UC and video are still consuming planning and deployment cycles, but increasingly the IT leaders we talk with are telling us that their most pressing priority is dealing with the chorus of users and executives demanding corporate support for iPhone, iPad, and even Android-based devices. The "consumerization of IT" effect is in full swing. Those buying iPhones, iPads and Android devices for personal use want to either use them for work, or they want their companies to issue them instead of the more common BlackBerry. Almost half of companies now support iPhone, while an additional 30% of firms plan to add iPhone support by 2012.
Meanwhile, the iPad has created both user demands for access to corporate applications, as well line-of-business demands to leverage tablets to improve various business processes. For example, several research participants tell us of interest in using tablets within manufacturing, plants and warehouse facilities so that managers can easily access reports in real time as they roam large facilities. Field workers look to leverage tablets for fill-out forms or potentially take on-the-spot video of trouble spots, claims, or assessments.
Broadening beyond the BlackBerry creates a significant challenge--how to support the things that BlackBerry Enterprise Server does today: enabling IT to remotely configure, apply policy, and wipe lost devices, to "any" mobile device; smartphone or tablet. More than one IT leader told us they were horrified to learn that after they had simply turned on e-mail/contact/calendar access to Exchange via ActiveSync for iPhone users, they discovered users synchronizing their phones to their personal PCs were copying mail/contact information as well; meaning potentially sensitive corporate information now resides on a user’s personal computer, out of the control of corporate IT.
This is where a mobile device management platform comes into play. Companies such as Good Technology, HP, Juniper Networks, MobileIron, Motorola, Sybase, and VMware offer dedicated MDM platforms that enable IT to either take ownership of the entire device, or create sandboxes on the mobile device that isolate corporate applications and data from other applications and the user’s personal data. For those considering introducing support for devices other than BlackBerry, a MDM can extend BES-like controls out to any device.
Significant differences among vendor platforms exist, largely in breadth of platform support (e.g Android, iOS, RIM, and/or Windows) and in approaches for isolating corporate and personal data on the mobile device. Most MDMs provide options for either whole device control (e.g., IT locks down the entire device) or creation of an isolated sandbox to separate corporate apps into their own encrypted space on the device. Other differentiators include the ability to create an enterprise application store, and to control downloading and application access by type of device or role.
For example, MobileIron's system can allow administrators to define a device for a specific role, so those trying to access corporate apps via an iPad would require specific access for that app, from that device, for their particular role. A user trying to run SAP on an iPad with version 4.2 of Apple iOS couldn’t do so unless specifically authorized.
We see procurement of an enterprise MDM as a critical factor for success, and as a requirement to implement support for multiple mobile device platforms. I also expect to see significant change in the MDM space over the next 12 months. Already we've seen new entrants such as VMWare, along with rapid growth of smaller privately held firms. I expect to see rapid acquisition, along with delivery of MDM as a hosted service by mobile service providers such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless. IT managers should carefully evaluate MDM platforms as a critical component of their mobility strategy. Start with an RFI, or if you are ready to buy, issue an RFP that accurately captures your requirements for security, control, application support, and anticipated current and future device platforms.
