When it comes to employing mobile device management (MDM), many organizations are faced with solution silos. For example, a company might have a pre-existing MDM solution that was deployed at the start of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) adoption. It may also be using device-specific tools to manage purpose-built or ruggedized mobile devices, separate from user smartphones. A more recent MDM solution might be deployed to cover new devices and users.
Such a scenario is why increasing numbers of companies are turning to all-inclusive mobile management services (MMS) providers. In many ways, mobile accessible, enterprise-grade applications and tools are still an evolving trend — they haven’t been a corporate mainstay for that long. The agility, flexibility and scalability that these tools offer at the enterprise level are incrementally gaining wider acceptance.
The Future of MMS and Mobile Application Management
Mobile application management (MAM), i.e., provisioning enterprise applications onto a mobile device, is following a similar path. While enterprises have generally accepted the BYOD trend, indiscriminate mobile application use represents one area where organizations want to place limits. In today’s business environments, there’s just too much at stake. With corporate data increasingly at risk, organizations are looking to IT to regain control of apps, secure corporate data and manage end user work environments.
That’s where MMS could offer advantages. Combining MAM with other verticals via MMS represents an ideal approach for providing broad capabilities at relatively low cost. On the other hand, the app management arena is diverse and includes large and small vendors constantly being acquired by major companies. The gamble is that current MMS investment with a relatively small company risks future obsolescence. That’s not an outcome any business leader would be comfortable with and one consideration to keep in mind.
However, as organizations search for the perfect MMS and application management tool, they’ll find that many providers offer similar feature sets. What might finally tip the balance toward one vendor over another may depend on the quality of support and finding a provider offering direct help and accessibility.
The Future of MMS and Mobile Security Management Market
The mobile security management (MSM) market is emerging as an important subset of the overall MMS market. Currently, mobility management vendors consist of a broad spectrum of vendor types. These include original equipment manufacturers, technology companies, mobile network operators and Internet security software developers. According to a recent report from ABI Research, the current global MSM market totaled $560 million by the end of 2013.
Within this security arena, MMS providers are striving to take a distinctive approach by offering unmatched capabilities. That’s because it’s no longer a question of being able to provide simple remote lock and remote wipe. A key approach that many MMS providers embrace may be defined by the term “holistic.” In 2014 and beyond, the concept will continue to evolve. Currently, it means comprehensive lifecycle management — from device procurement through all stages of device use.
Of course, security extends not only to the device itself, but to all mobile content relevant to a device, both in transit via network protocols and wireless channels and at rest. Research from the Aberdeen Group estimated that a single security lapse resulting in data loss can cost an enterprise anywhere from $10K to $400K. In addition, MSM based on a cloud services delivery model is projected to overtake on-premise solutions in a relatively short period. This delivery service trend, which includes self-managed deployment models, indicates that the market will stay in flux for the foreseeable future.
The MSM sector is further complicated by the amount of consolidation taking place. Attracted by an increased demand for MSM, a growing number of technology companies are buying their way into the market through acquisitions. Further complexity to the security challenge is demonstrated by the convergence of mobility, cloud services and social media ? used together as business tools in corporate environments. To effectively meet that challenge, the belief is that IT must treat mobility, cloud and SM not as separate challenges but as one IT construct.
This is an excerpt from the Global Knowledge white paper, How Mobile Management Services Fill a Critical Security Need.