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Posts Tagged ‘Palm’

Enterprises Want Broad Functionality for Mobile Device Security

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Now that we all have an assortment of iPhones, Droids, tablet devices, and Windows devices, lots of industry folks believe that mobile security is the next hot market.  There are a number of players already in this market from pure plays like Good Security and Mobile Active Defense.  Traditional endpoint security vendors like McAfee see this as an extension of its antivirus business.  Symantec is in the same boat with antivirus as well as encryption software from PGP.  Networking vendors also see up-side in the mobile device security market.  Cisco has AnyConnect and ScanSafe while Juniper Networks wants to combine its Pulse client with its recent acquisition of SMobile.

These vendors come at mobile security from many different angles with different security functionality in different places–some on the device and some on the network.  Will this confuse the market?  No.  Enterprises are actually looking for a wide range of mobile device security functionality.  According to an ESG Research survey of 174 security professionals working at enterprise (i.e., more than 1,000 employees) organizations, the top three most important mobile device features are 1) device encryption, 2) device firewall, and 3) strong authentication.  They also want things like DLP, VPN, and device locking.

Beyond security functionality, most enterprises also want an integrated platform for mobile device security and management.  In other words, they want a single software package for device provisioning, configuration, reporting, etc.  They also want a common set of features for all mobile devices rather than a potpourri of different features for iPhone, Windows 7, Droid, Palm, etc.

It appears then that the mobile device security market will include networking, security, and management vendors along with device manufacturers and carriers as well.  Personally, I think mobile device security will have a network architecture look to it, with technology safeguards built into devices, the enterprise, and the cloud.  If this happens, integration will be critical for all leading products.

Blackberry, Windows still own the enterprise but . . .

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Consumer buzz tends to center on two mobile phones: Apple iPhone and Android. As far as the enterprise is concerned however, these two phones remain down the list.

ESG Research conducted a survey of 174 IT professionals from enterprise organizations (i.e., greater than 1,000 employees) and asked them which mobile device platforms their organizations support. Here is what they said:

Phone:                     Support today:                     Will support in the future:

Blackberry                     74%                                             11%
Windows Mobile              62%                                              9%
iPhone                          43%                                             18%
Palm WebOS                  24%                                             17%
Google Android                 8%                                             16%
Symbian                          7%                                             14%

A few facts about the survey. First, it was conducted at the very end of 2009 so it doesn’t capture recent momentum or the impact of new products like iPad and iPhone 4. Additionally, this data comes from IT professionals in North America only.

My read of this data is as follows:

  1. Blackberry retains a strong position. Yes, other data indicates a migration trend away from Blackberry and phone swaps are much more common than corporate PC to Mac swap outs. Nevertheless, Blackberry infrastructure is embedded in the enterprise so new “cool” products could become the corporate choice.
  2. Microsoft is teetering. Windows Mobile has a big installed base but most enterprises are looking closely at other phones. Microsoft has tried to link Windows Mobile to Office, Outlook, and Exchange but users want the pizazz of iPhones, Palms, and Androids. Can Microsoft catch up or will it produce the mobile device equivalent of Zune when the market wants iPods?
  3. Don’t count out HP. Palm was on a downward spiral with consumers but it seems to be holding its own in the enterprise. Now that it is owned by enterprise-savvy HP, it could really impact this space.
  4. Google remains in the distance. Google support is thin but many organizations will include Android support in the future. Nevertheless, it has a lot of work to do if it is going to push others aside and gain share in the enterprise market.

Unlike consumers, enterprises want more than just cool devices — application development, device management, security, and integration into the existing infrastructure are all important considerations. Vendors need to find the right combination of consumer cool and corporate requirements support if they want to defend their position or gain share in the enterprise.

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