Android has the largest market share for smartphone operating systems among consumers, but enterprise adoption has lagged because the fragmentation of devices and operating system versions has created too much complexity for IT. As a result, while most global companies have piloted Android, they have not fully embraced it.
However, in the last six months, two major events have established the urgency of Android support:
•BlackBerry decline: As a result of September 2013 recommendations from a leading analyst firm, many Global 2000 companies are now considering a rapid and complete migration off BlackBerry.
•Employee demand: According to IDC analysis, Android passed 75% market share of smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2013, making it the dominant smartphone operating system globally and the preferred choice of many employees in BYOD programs.
Enterprises cannot leave BlackBerry for Android without a complete and consistent approach to security. Last year, MobileIron introduced AppConnect, which containerized business apps across Android devices and operating system versions to address fragmentation. The Q4 2013 release of MobileIron for Android completes the solution by delivering the productivity apps employees need and the final elements of data protection IT requires. The result is that Android is now an acceptable solution for enterprises that have traditionally used BlackBerry.
“More than half of our top customers are using Android in production environments and they want to grow those deployments substantially,” said Ojas Rege, VP Strategy, MobileIron. “Android has moved from being a feature on a checklist for the future to being a core requirement for today. With this release of MobileIron for Android, IT teams can finally make Android a full citizen in the enterprise.”