Enterprises are working hard to streamline how employees leverage mobility to access critical business information within & outside workplace in effective & secure manner. There are a multiple challenges & multiple technology solutions/tools available. The important aspects in enterprise mobility are Mobile Application Management (MAM), Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Enterprise App Store. All these have overlapping areas but different use cases and concepts. I will cover these three aspects in series of three blogs.
Mobile application management (MAM)
First & important aspect, Mobile application management (MAM) is an exciting and burgeoning space. MAM describes software and services that accelerate and simplify the creation of internally developed or “in-house” enterprise mobile applications. It also describes the deployment and management of in-house and commercially available mobile apps used in business settings on both company-provided and “bring your own” smartphones and tablet computers.
Mobile application management has also been defined as “the strategy and process around developing/procuring, securing, deploying, accessing, configuring, updating and removing (business) applications from mobile devices used by the employees.
In detail, Mobile Application Management (MAM) is all about
- Strategically deploying mobile apps across your organization through rule-based policies.
- Providing a set of technologies tuned more towards managing the security of the applications and is often less about managing the physical device and changing device settings.
- Providing authentication layers for applications, as well as other services for application developers, typically at the app level of interaction and integration.
- Mobile users & apps tied directly into your Active Directory/LDAP infrastructure.
- Removing/changing mobile apps access should the employee/user leave the company or change roles within the organization.MAM services provide tools and technologies at the application level. A MAM solution does not wipe the device but instead can wipe or lock down individual applications that are managed.
- Pushing out updates in a seamless fashion.
- Ensuring that the applications are secure (separate but inextricably linked to mobile application development).
- Measuring and monitoring those applications and making sure that the custom enterprise mobile apps that your organization is developing or procuring are actually being used and creating value for your employees. i.e. Business Intelligence for your mobile applications.
Key players in Mobile application management (MAM) space are:
- Apperian: http://www.apperian.com/
- Nukona: https://www.nukona.com/
- Appblade: https://appblade.com/
- Airwatch : http://www.air-watch.com/
References:
- http://theemf.org/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_application_management