Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) includes a set of people, processes, and technology focused on managing mobile devices, mobile computing services, and wireless network. Enterprise mobility has become a significant part of tech organizations as more employees are adopting smartphone, tablet, and laptops for enterprise related activities.  EMM is a framework to determine if and how mobile device management should be integrated with work process and objective. The 2012 study had shown that two-thirds of the smartphone users have used their personal devices for enterprise activities. If a wide variety of devices are added to the enterprise network it can indirectly introduce a security risk for the business.

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) has laid the foundation of “Bring your own Device” (BYOD) policy. It’s used to manage both devices personally, and professional, connected to the network. BYOD policies have created many risks for the corporate data as the IT has less control over the management.

Why Enterprise Mobility Is A Solution For You?

Enterprise Mobility is important for organizations today because it gives the employees the flexibility of choice. Such environments help in job satisfaction and an increase in productivity. Mobility in an organization is already being implemented currently it’s just that it’s not being recorded as a device connected to the network that can have potential risks.

An early example of enterprise mobile devices before smartphones are typical Palm Pilot personal digital assistant and blackberry smartphone provided by employers. The devices were focused on providing a secured network for the employee into the organizational network, but the functionality of the device was limited. The devices could typically access emails, calendars, and contacts.

The first iPhone was released by Apple in 2007 and Google soon followed the suit by providing a mobile operating system, Android. App stores were born that typically gave consumers the flexibility of different applications that can be integrated with organizations network or app. The integration is usually done without the knowledge of the IT department. Typically this also created a race between developers to create an enterprise application.

The apps were effective in exploiting the unsecured enterprise network and developing a better UI. The devices created a flexibility for the employees to manage their tasks from anywhere around the world. By 2017, at least 43 percent of the workers worked remotely on a part-time basis.

In response to the increasing use of personal devices on the enterprise network, organizations had to adopt BYOD policies. Inculcating the enterprise mobility and flexible work style laid the foundation for Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM).

In 2016, a survey was conducted by research firm Clutch; IT professional’s listed improved productivity as one of the top benefits of embracing enterprise mobility. Gallup a research firm in 2017 concluded that the ability to work remotely and having a flexible schedule is one major factor that employees look while choosing a job.

BYOD policies not only support the devices brought by employees but also devices that are given by the organizations. Highly regulated organizations such as government, finance, and many more tend to provide devices but lock them down for the corporate user. This is also one of the strategies used by organizations to attract more talent, corporate owned and personally-enabled (COPE). They cater to both task mobility and corporate activities.

The diversity in devices and operating system have an appeal for the consumers but security experts feel that it’s has created a source of insecurity among the organizations. A survey was conducted for more than 700,000 devices across the globe, it was concluded that there are 12,000 distinct devices using 8 different versions of Android. It creates a management chaos and security risk. To read more about enterprise mobility and its solution download our whitepaper.

Implementing Enterprise Mobility Security

The BOYD policy had created a source of mismanagement for the IT department. The employees were able to find their ways around the existing security frameworks and unmanaged devices had an access to corporate networks, applications, and data.

The first enterprise security software was Mobile Device Management (MDM) that was primarily a security measure. The technology enabled the IT department of each organization to manage, remote-wipe devices, password usage, blacklist and whitelist apps. Enforce the user to use a password and controlling the activities of the user.

The employees typically felt that the devices had been made to narrow focus only on business activities. The mobility was integrated at the cost of access. Organizations then turned towards more granular enterprise security measure for mobility. These included use of Mobile Application Management (MAM), and Identity & Access Management.

Mobile Application Management (MAM) enabled the IT to control only the specific part of the device or certain app. They had no control over the rest of the device functionality. MAM technology is based on the application wrapping that directly connects with application code to provide management capabilities.  A secured container can also be created for a group of apps that need to access the organization’s network so that their data isolated from the rest of the device. Currently, some direct mobile applications are also available that can be directly connected with Android and iOS devices.

Identity and Access management is a developed a version of MAM with multiple devices, and applications access. Including desktop, mobile and cloud apps can be used using the same credentials to access the enterprise network. The approach helps in simplifying the management of multiple accounts for a single employee.

Mobile Management Suites are a combination of MDM, MAM, and identity and access management.

Products and Application Development of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)

Mobile Application development is an important part of EMM. Organizations that have in-house resources to build apps can use Mobile Application Development Platforms (MADPs). MAPDs can help the developers to test, create, deploy and manage the lifecycle of enterprise mobile apps. Some of the prime vendors of MADP are typically IBM, SAP, Salesforce, Kony, and Microsoft. Rapid mobile application development (RMAD) tools provide simpler ways to build apps and mobilize the business processes.

The products of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) include VMware Airwatch, Mobile Iron Citrix, XenMobile, Blackberry, and IBM MaaS 360. For more information, you can download our whitepaper.