Apple yesterday launched a well-expected and executed new OS and device. The vertical integration of iOS 6 and the new lighter and larger iPhone 5 along with several new mobile security enhancements continues to attract business customers. My colleague Eric Lai points out iOS 6 and iPhone 5 capabilities here including 200-plus new features in iOS 6. For key Mobile Application and Mobile Device Management (MAM/MDM) features around security and app management, Apple added two major components:
- New “Authorized Mode” lets Enterprises use the Apple configurator utility to pre-load Apps via MDM payload. Once loaded on the iOS device, Enterprise IT staff can remotely instruct the device to enable/disable a particular app based upon user policy compliance or permissions.
- Similarly, “Guided Access” via Authorized Mode helps retail, field service and education users lock and load an iOS app by triple clicking the Apple home button. Once Guided Access is enabled the device runs only the current application and is passcode protected from other functions essentially becoming a kiosk. Guided Access can also restrict touch input on certain areas of the screen.
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Apps continue to drive the mobility market confirmed by Gartner yesterday releasing app download stats noting more than 300,000 apps per year are likely to be downloaded primarily from Google’s Play market and iOS by 2015. SAP partner Amazon Web Services is also noted by Gartner to be a significant player in the app marketspace – Amazon powers the SAP Afaria SaaS offering. Gartner will also focus on the growing importance of mobile apps at this year’s IT Expo Symposium – SAP is attending and demonstrating MDM, MAM and Apps here too btw.
