Mobile Security: Four Key Opportunities for the Channel - End-to-End Device Security
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One of the biggest problems enterprises and SMBs face from the mobile
revolution is the complexity it brings to bear for both IT operations and IT
security. Not too long ago, businesses could simply require their users
to only use one or two approved and company-owned devices (usually a BlackBerry)
and develop a sound security strategy based on that simple deployment scenario.
But culture and economic factors have come to bear, bursting the bubble of
many an in-house IT guru. Whether they like it or not, enterprises must cater
to dozens of devices on numerous platforms, many of them owned by the employee.
According to Forrester Research, the number of smartphone devices within the enterprise
is expected to triple.
With diminished resources and often few mobile experts within their ranks,
IT departments crave a solution provider that can swoop in and deal with the mobile-device
dilemma with a one-stop-shopping service and product. Partners that can meet
that need stand to do very well.
"There's no single vendor offering a complete solution that encompasses
all of the different endpoints that exist today in an enterprise, from servers
to PCs to laptops to cell phones," says Ran Ish-Shalom, vice president of
business development for Onset Technology, a mobile communications security
vendor. "VARs [can] act as integrators to make sure that solutions from
various vendors can actually work together and provide a unified approach for the
different endpoints."