With the growth in BYOD, large corporate tablet deployments have been limited outside the education sector, but American Airlines represents one of the larger corporate deployments with an installed base of 33,000 units. Recently the airline snubbed Apple (after initially taking 10,000 iPads), by opting to order 17,000 Galaxy Tabs in addition a large order (also 17,000) Galaxy Note "phablet" devices as highlighted here: http://www.businessinsider.com/american-airlines-picks-samsung-not-apple-2013-3

The key reasons for opting for the Samsung devices were cited as usability and Samsung's SAFE security features that more easily enabled the devices to be made compliant with AA's infrastructure (we suspect cost per unit and volume discount was also a factor, although that obviously wasn't cited!)

So how secure is Android becoming and is it viable for corporate deployments yet? In our blog entry back in 2010, it was a resounding "no", but since then OEMs and third party MDM vendors from Airwatch and Good to Mobile Iron have made securing Android a priority for their MDM offerings. Moreover, the NSA has developed a version of Android called SE Android (Security Enhanced) that has resolved a number of the issues around the on-device OS itself and has been adopted by Samsung for Knox.

Samsung has done an admirable job on security with the addition of Knox to its SAFE program which adds:

1. A Fully Secure Boot Chain and platform security through the use of SE Android (Security Enhanced Linux for Android.
2.  A Container Solution that allows for delineation and management of personal and business profiles and is similar to those offered by Good for Enterprise and other third party vendors.

 Samsung has done a good job of opening the relevant APIs to third party MDM providers (now over 700 APIs available and over 353 IT policies) to enable management and control of various elements that are at risk. The introduction of Knox makes the Operating System much more secure and builds on the incremental improvements to Android security over the recent versions of the platform.

With Samsung seemingly leading the way among OEMs on Android security (Google has seemingly disbanded the 3LM group at Motorola Mobility), questions over standardisation and fragmentation among different versions of Android and different OEMs are inevitably raised. Who is driving security standards for Android? With open source platforms, these challenges will remain. Nevertheless, with the high security standards that have been set in place with SAFE and now Knox mean that Samsung will increasingly be more credible through the corporate direct channel as well as in the hands of the users via BYOD.

A detailed analysis of SAFE and Knox is available in this Strategy Analytics Mobile Workforce Strategies (MWS) report: Is Samsung making Android SAFE for Enterprises with Knox? A detailed mobile platform analysis and assessment of end-to-end architecture and the importance of a layered security approach is available in this Strategy Analytics Mobile Workforce Strategies (MWS) report: TCO & Security of Enterprise Grade Mobility.

Clouds can be found floating all over Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona. From Ford Motor Corp Executive Chairman W.C. Ford’s keynote describing how we need to rethink cars as being, like smartphones, pieces of larger networks to vendor announcements and demonstrations of mobile device management (MDM) solutions, clouds offer scalable, flexible, usage-priced network services that make information and communications technology (ICT) solutions easier and faster to try and buy for customers and faster and easer to update and support for providers. Many clouds have a server lining that extends to the customer data center in a hybrid cloud model that connects the past to the future by combining cost-effective cloud architectures with customizable corporate servers deployed on the customer premises.

One such example is the MobileIron Connected Cloud / Virtual Smartphone Platform (VSP) from AT&T  announced by AT&T  on day 1 of MWC 2012.  This new service represents a partnership between secure MDM vendor MobileIron and mobile communications service provider AT&T featuring secure device and telecom expense management for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows, and Symbian smartphones.  Included is an enterprise application storefront for distribution of applications developed internally or by third parties.  Although a multi-tenant MobileIron Connected Cloud service has been available directly from MobileIron since August 2011, the new hybrid cloud offering available through AT&T is important for greater MDM adoption.  Historically, the first network-based service has been the hardest and longest for organizations to embrace.  This partnership with AT&T provides MobileIron with a way to make it easier for organizations to adopt its secure MDM solution.  MobileIron’s VSP server, deployed on customer premises, will be fully managed by AT&T, a trusted service provider already providing businesses of all sizes with telecom hardware, software and services.  Having the server deployed on the customer site facilitates real-time tracking of voice and data activity and service quality for corporate and personal mobile devices (AT&T also announced enhancements to its existing AT&T Mobile Security service including protection against viruses, malware and malicious applications).

Public clouds will work fine for business applications like CRM and communications that involve processing, accessing, uploading and sharing corporate data.  However, many organizations will prefer hybrid clouds for applications like MDM that involve sensitive data, custom corporate policies and private worker data.

It?s been a tough year for BlackBerry maker Research-In-Motion. Despite still being the leading smartphone maker in a number of countries, the vendor has suffered from extremely poor PlayBook sales and dire press following its lengthy service outage in October 2011. Add to this the rampant growth in IT consumerization that has seen Apple iOS and Android devices surge into organisations, as documented in the Mobile Workforce Report released quarterly by iPass, and it appears that RIM has its work cut out in 2012.

BlackBerry sales have undoubtedly been impacted by the exponential growth in non-BlackBerry devices entering companies and this presents a major challenge for RIM; not only because around 80% of revenue is dependent on device sales, but also because IT departments have been boxed into a corner where they have actively had to seek additional or alternative means of securing and managing non-BlackBerry devices on their networks, either due to seniority of requests or as well increasingly be the case, volume of requests.

In theory the announcement of Mobile Fusion, created through the acquisition of Ubitexx (and discussed in this Strategy Analytics report) is RIM doing what it does best: Highly secure mobile administration, and comprehensive mobile device management through extensive IT policy support, with additional support for managing iOS and Android devices.

Figure 1: Which mobile IT policies do you require on individually liable devices?

However, the question that emerges is whether the announcement, welcome though it is, is twelve months too late, or whether it is timely and helping to solve a real problem faced by many IT departments.

According to our report 2011 Enterprise Mobility Mid-Year Recap and Outlook (see figure above), personal liable devices still lag corporate liable devices significantly in terms of IT policy compliance.

Clearly Mobile Fusion helps to address these issues, but the situation is not clear-cut:

There are some positive aspects to the launch of Mobile Fusion:

1. The first positive aspect to the announcement is that it will give dedicated RIM shops the tools they need to cope with additional devices infiltrating their organisations without the need to invest in third party MDM management software/MDM servers.
2. The other positive aspect is that it is relatively early in this market and a limited number of companies have deployed comprehensive device management solutions as yet.
3. It combines BlackBerry Balance capabilities to manage personal and professional  profiles on BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBooks.
4. Other MDM vendors cannot support BlackBerry devices to anywhere near the level that is natively supported by BES (and in future Mobile Fusion).
5. There are fewer network components required to deploy BES or Mobile Fusion than a typical non-BES setup.
6. RIM has a dedicated installed base of customers who will welcome (and more importantly pay for) added support for non-company issued devices.

The challenge, however, is several fold:

1. Many IT departments have already had to work in third party MDM software into their network architectures (along with other components) as a result of pressure from senior management to support devices like the iPad or iPhone. By offering Mobile Fusion, RIM is potentially offering a solution to a problem that most IT departments have already had to address.
2. BlackBerry balance does not extend to iOS and Android devices due to limited control that RIM has over access to relevant layers and APIs of those Operating Systems, although it is now at the same benchmark with other MDM vendors.
3. RIM is completely dependent on the carrier channel in most markets, and all larger carriers have or are developing their own efforts to monetize the MDM opportunity through their own hosted or premises managed service offerings. These may, but will not exclusively include, Mobile Fusion.
4. The MDM market is very crowded, especially for iOS and Android. The reaction from the channel may be luke-warm at best (12 months ago it would have been ecstatic!)

Overall it?s encouraging that RIM has accepted the massive impact that personal liable devices are having on their core business. It?s too early to say how successful Mobile Fusion will be, but I suspect the response will be mixed for the reasons above. Core BlackBerry customers will embrace Mobile Fusion as part of a BES upgrade cycle, whereas others will simply be indifferent. Either way RIM is headed for a challenging 12 months, where the path to BBX promises to be exciting, but far from smooth.

The smartphone market just took another surprising turn in a year where the battleground around mobile operating systems has become more intense than it has ever been, as HP acquired Palm for $1.2 Billion.

It has been well documented that Palm’s innovative WebOS has struggled to gain a sufficient foothold in the market, and sell-through has lagged because carrier promotion has been limited. Recently Palm has essentially been shipping a 6 month old device  with limited differentiation along with suffering from mounting channel inventory issues at key carriers such as Verizon and Sprint. Outside North America, sales have also been significantly lower than expected.

While both companies had a proud history in the PDA market (including the iconic Palm V and iPaq), both companies have struggled to gain a serious foothold in the smartphone market.

Whilst $1.2B seems a high price on the face of it, there is clearly and  it makes sense as there are clear synergies, and almost as importantly, a cultural fit, with various ex-Palm employees such as Todd Bradley and Satjiv Chahil present in HP’s PSG team.

• HP lacks presence and a clear direction in its smartphone business. The acquisition of Palm offers great mobile operating system IP as well as product development. It builds out the missing mobile part of the HP jigsaw.
• Palm lacks the channel distribution, efficient supply chain and reach. It lacked the funds to accelerate its product launches and refresh cycles. HP offers Palm the ability to resolve these issues and extend its reach in carrier channels, as well as opening up new channel opportunities.
• HP has spent years optimizing its supply chain capabilities, something that Palm has found a constant challenge.
• HP could potentially be acquiring Palm as a proactive move to prevent competitors getting hold of valuable IP in WebOS. It also warns competitors away from attacking Palm with patent infringements.
• The move would allow HP will offer the valuable WebOS to licensees, potentially creating a rival to Android? Palm’s perceived value is more closely linked to its software and platform development than specifically to its devices. Under one parent, platform fragmentation could be kept to a minimum. It is unclear if there is an intention to take this path at the moment.
• HP could potentially be acquiring Palm as a proactive move to prevent competitors getting hold of valuable IP in WebOS. It also warns competitors away from attacking Palm with patent infringements.
• The acquisition offers HP the ability to scale, WebOS for an emerging tablet and larger device business, where it is a leader and where Microsoft’s Windows Operating System is not the answer.
• The forthcoming Windows Phone 7 Series looks likely to offer little in the way of customisation for mobile operators. Clearly the acquisition of Palm allows HP to put something differentiated into the market.
• HP now has a mobile piece with which to integrate its enterprise software offerings and target the mobile worker, supported by its global services business.

More details of the deal will obviously emerge in the coming days, but what is certain is that HP will increase investment in WebOS, which it perceives to be the leading mobile platform which will offer a serious and credible mobile string to the bow of a formidable, global, tech giant. Interesting (and competitive) times for the mobile devices market indeed!

Andrew Brown

After much excitement and expectation, Microsoft finally unleashed its “Tron-like” Windows Phone 7 Series Operating System on the world at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (the term series apparently refers to the phones that will be announced throughout the year, not a variety of OS flavours as in the past).

What is immediately apparent is the look and feel. The main takeaway is that the phone is of secondary importance, with all the focus on the interface. The design and layout of 7 Series' UI (internally called Metro) is original, utilizing what lead project designer(Albert Shum, formerly of Nike) called an "authentically digital" and "chrome-less" experience. Microsoft has been praised for moving away from the stamping its PC legacy all over the OS as in the past, with only a single hardware button indicating it’s a Windows Phone at all.

First impressions are positive-the simplicity leaves the user feeling that the OS is fast and responsive, but there are nagging doubts surrounding what Microsoft has stripped out to make this OS snappy-and clearly the OS won’t be compatible with earlier phones given the high specs that Microsoft will demand of its OEM partners.

The new system, centres on "hubs" designed for specific tasks. For example, Windows Mobile 7 Series' People Hub aggregates social networking and email contacts, from Facebook, Windows Live, and webmail accounts among others, enabling the user to interact with their friends across multiple media through a single application."

Microsoft’s launch has been slick and polished-with the fickle majority now saying that the death of Microsoft’s mobile business has been greatly exaggerated.

Certainly the key features are all core consumer in nature: Zune integration and XBox Live integration as well as social networking integration for popular sites such as Facebook. Enterprise is still catered for, but less detail was forthcoming outside the “Office Hub”that was announced. It has been suggested that many non-business users that bought a Windows Mobile phone in the past had no idea who manufactured the phone. However, OEMs aligned with the WP7S launch may see their brand stand out more with an OS that is less obviously has “this is a Windows Phone” stamped all over the UI.

Nevertheless, questions remain:

• Lack of clarity on hardware OEM reference designs
• No surprises in OEM partner line-up (does this really mean a chance for Dell and HP to get into this market-I’m not sure)
• Lack of detail on .net CF framework (core for development and enterprise) and what functionality has been stripped out to sharpen OS responsiveness.
• Backwards compatibility and multitasking
• Business Integration with UC and the Cloud: Azure and OCS

What is clear is that a Microsoft mobile OS will finally sit in a (hopefully) compelling set of devices to go up against Android, Symbian and the new iPhone for the Q4 holiday season. For enterprises, if precious little plumbing has been stripped from the OS, then this could be a very interesting platform for business as well.

Andrew Brown