This post is sponsored by Good Technology
Courtesy of Education News
If mobile seers a decade ago (2004) predicted that CIO’s in 2014 would spend $1.5 billion on BYOD Enterprise Mobility, they would have quickly contributed to Wikipedia articles and retired.
BYOD Enterprise Mobility Background
Well, no one did, until 2005, when “BYOD” (bring your own device) appeared briefly in print. In 2009, Intel noticed employees were connecting their devices to its corporate network. Then in 2011 Unisys, VMware and Citrix Systems began discussing BYOD more formally. Wikipedia offers an interesting history of MDM called “Enterprise Mobility Management” that summarizes the business reasons behind the growing changes to come.
In 2013, Gartner released the latest mobile vendor assessment model called the “magic quadrant.” This simplistic four box tool shows Gartner’s vendor ratings in the MDM market broken down as “niche players,” “visionaries,” “challengers” and “leaders.”
After release of the document, Gartner received criticism from Novell and other would-be vendors who were left out of Gartner’s review. CIO magazine, however, believes the Magic Quadrant is useful for identifying the roles of key BYOD enterprise mobility industry players.
Enterprise Data Value is a Key Asset
MDM Growth and Acquisitions Coming
2014 will be a year of massive acquisition and growth. Gartner forecasts the mobility software market will jump from $784 to $1.6 billion year-over-year. Air-Watch, recently purchased by VMware for $1.6 billion, is only the first of many to come.
72% of IT managers plan to spend 20% of their budgets on mobility. Good Technology, a major provider of mobility solutions, along with others, is a key player.
But that’s required in the world of BYOD Enterprise Mobility. Mobile workers want their choice of smartphones, tablets and other wireless devices for business and personal use. Meantime, IT managers must set protocols to control worker handset access of corporate data. Ken Khouri of IBM Global Security commented on this critical issue during his MobileBeyond podcast.
CYOD May Temper BYOD Revolution
The “bring your own device” to work has grown exponentially since smartphones became as necessary as desktop and laptop computers. However, a compromise between IT and workers may be CYOD (choose your own device). CYOD allows workers to select a compatible mobile device provisioned for corporate servers.
During a ZDNET Asia-Pacific Roundtable this year, IT managers discussed how CYOD could satisfy the personal and business needs of enterprise mobility workers. This seems like a fair trade-off especially if the business is funding the cost of hardware and software.
Recently, the Pope proclaimed that the “Internet is a gift from God.” Of course, he meant the God of the New Testament, full of hope and good tidings to come. When the Pope learns about mobile security challenges, he’ll probably quote from the God of the Old Testament, then madly scream as he runs down the halls of the Vatican.