As MDM Gains Ground, Security Remains Paramount
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Number of Mobile Apps Being Managed
End users often have access to more apps on their mobile devices than on their desktops; 65% of the users have more than 25 mobile apps being managed on their devices. -
Source of Mobile Apps
Public (commercially available and open source) apps make up 62% of the portfolio, compared with 38% for custom apps. -
Mobile Deployment Platforms
Inside the enterprise, Apple is still the mobile king. Apple iOS dominates, with 77% of the applications, followed by Google Android, with 22%, and Windows, with 1%. -
Custom App Deployment
Apple also rules when it comes to custom app development. Of the custom apps being deployed, 69% wound up on Apple iOS devices. -
Most Popular Public Apps Distributed to Employees
The presence of Cisco AnyConnect suggests a lot of reliance on traditional VPNs. Other popular public apps include Adobe Reader, Google Maps, iBooks and Dropbox. -
Most Popular Browser
Google Chrome rises to the mobile challenge. Despite Apple dominance, the most widely used browser on mobile devices is Google Chrome. -
Security for Public Apps
Some work still needs to be done here. "Organizations have been traditionally limited in their ability to place advanced security policies around publicly available apps. … Most of the options … are about removing the apps pushed to the device if and when the device is lost, stolen or the employee leaves the company." Only 41% of apps are automatically removed if IT wipes the device. -
Custom App Security
Options for providing custom application security include forcing the user to authenticate before granting access to the app, blocking the use of an app when the device is found to be out of compliance, enabling an in-app VPN, enforcing file protection and ensuring all files created by the app are encrypted.
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Defining MSPs' Goals, Challenges and Tools 
Why Metrics Matter to the Channel As business use of smartphones and tablets escalates, demand for mobile-device management (MDM) continues to gain momentum. Internal IT organizations are increasingly gaining control over their mobile computing environments, according to data collected from 15,000 mobile applications tracked by the Fiberlink unit of IBM over 14 months. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the organizations studied have 25 or more mobile applications under management; they consist of a healthy mix of publicly available and custom apps. As a result, the next big mobile opportunity for the channel could be in the realm of security for solution providers. Security concerns include challenges with remote removal of apps when a device is misplaced, stolen or an employee leaves, and organizations' dependence on legacy approaches to VPNs. Perhaps, most surprising of all, is the fact that Apple clearly dominates when it comes to platforms, but the most popular browser on mobile computing devices is Google Chrome. Channel Insider looks at the study findings.