Five Enterprise Mobile Upgrades We Were Thankful For in 2015

With Thanksgiving just a few short days away, we’re all thinking about the delicious food and getting a few extra days off to really enjoy some football. But most importantly this is the season where we reflect back on the year and thing about all the things that we are thankful for; from friends and family to good fortune. Here at Solutions Review we are thankful for all the latest technology innovations in enterprise mobility that we were able to share with you this year. There were so many upgrades this season that is was difficult to pick just one. So as we look to the future of MDM and EMM, here are our top five enterprise mobile upgrades for 2015:

Windows 10

We can’t mention technology in 2015 without talking about Windows 10. What made Windows 10 so special this year in mobility is it’s grand departure from the old Windows Phone. Microsoft managed to create a much better UI (RIP awful tiles) that still has the spirit of what they were trying to do the first time around, but with the refined edge people were really looking for. It’s much different from iOS and Android interfaces, but that’s okay. Microsoft is looking at the big picture here and we hope in 2016 we will be able to streamline everything Windows, using the same virtual desktop. Windows 10 mobile may take a bit to catch on for personal use, but the way they are building it and planning for the future, we can expect to see it do great things for the enterprise in the near future.

iOS 9

Apple really paid attention to Enterprise Mobility this year with iOS 9. They brought their A-game with this update from the Volume Purchase Program (VPP) for applications to Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (DEP), things became much more manageable and took the already top enterprise mobile OS to the next level. There is no need to touch the device at all in order to set it up for use within the enterprise ultimately streamlining the process for both IT and the end user. Taking responsibility away from the end-user is huge in terms of security and time.

Android Marshmallow

Keeping with the OS upgrade theme, Android Marshmallow gave us the management capabilities we were missing, making Android a contender for that top enterprise mobile spot. The new Work Status UI makes it clear whether the app is personal or corporate making it easier for users to switch back and forth. it included new runtime permissions that includes location and VPN apps are now visible in settings and notifications. It now specifies whether the VPN is for personal,corporate or both. Android has struggled with its place in enterprise mobile due to the fact that it’s open sourced code leaves more room for hackers to place bad apps int he app store. Android has taken steps to remove that stigma and will continue to do so through 2016 with more emphasis on containerization and separating corporate space from personal space.

Samsung Knox 2.4

Samsung KNOX 2.4 took huge steps toward BYOD security with their update this year. What puts KNOX on this list over any other enterprise mobile security solutions is it’s containers. Although they aren’t the only vendor with containers, they have made it a standard for their security and functionality. Although it is available for both iOS and Android, it particularly work well with Android because of the containers. Like I mentioned above with Android Marshmallow, these containers are what is going to make these solutions and others more effective in the future.

App Configuration for Enterprise (ACE)

This year, 21 major enterprise app development companies joined ACE in order to support the configuration and security of enterprise mobile apps through native OS functionality by driving native application standards in the industry. For any enterprise looking to develop and maintain and enterprise mobile app (and this should be everyone) these standards will make enterprise app development, launch and implementation and easy and uniform process no matter what EMM or MDM solutions you are currently using at the time of deployment. Not only will your app work no matter what, but if you change MDM/EMM vendors, there won’t have to be any major adjustments to your app.

Looking back on an exciting year for enterprise mobility, these top five things were true standouts for us and our readers this year. While some of them are still new, we will be keeping our eyes out for how these updates continue to evolve over 2016 and our prediction for less endpoint security and more containers and virtual desktops.

Make your own prediction for the new year by comparing the top EMM solutions via Gartner’s latest comparison study, Critical Capabilities for High-Security Mobile Management, and check out our own Solutions Review Enterprise Mobility Buyer’s Guide for more analysis on the best MDM and EMM solutions.