Normally, when you buy a book, there's a short summary on the back which you read first. Same for essays and articles, conclusions come at the end. In this blog series, I will defend/promote Android for enterprises, but since it will span multiple blog episodes, I feel kinda forced to give the summary already ahead. In my subsequent episodes, I will zoom in on specific subjects around Android/Google.
Let's start with a bold statement: 
Android may be the single biggest opportunity in enterprise mobility!
There, I said it.
Does this mean that all those managers and directors have to throw out their iPads and iPhones?
Yes
I mean: No!
Truth is, I'd love to see them throw everything out of the window (that would be a laugh), but let's not drive them insane (Yet). Other platforms can be supported by IT too, there's no problem in having multiple devices/platforms. None the less, Android holds much more potential than any other platform currently out there. Beware that maybe, in a couple of weeks, I could be making the same statement on Windows Phone. Not likely, but possible. The mobile market is afterall changing very fast.
Why dare I make this statement? What are my reasons?
#1 Android has a market share of 52% in Q3 2011. [source: Gartner] [Updated]
What Gartner does not mention, is that Android apps also run in virtual machines for Blackberry, Windows, Symbian and iOS.
#2 There's potentially a lot more Android developers than iOS developers.
Android is Java based, which is a widely known programming language with a low treshold. Atop, the development environment is free and available for all mainstream desktop OS'. (Windows, Mac OS, Linux)
#3 Android is open and thus appears on much more than just smartphones.
It's already available on tablets, netbooks, rugged devices, on-board car computers, home appliances,...
Can you imagine your car being able to read your next meeting and program your navigation system to bring you there? Fleet managers can locate cars, check fuel consumption or receive alerts when a car is involved in an accident.
#4 Integration with Google.
Google offers much more than just the Android platform. Enterprises can purchase a subscription to Google Apps for only 40€ / user per year. This includes mailaccounts customized to your domain, company pages, document autoring and storage, mobile device management, calendar, collaboration platform and much much more. You'll enjoy the advantages of Cloud technology off the shelf.
#5 Sybase and SAP still do not support native Android development, although they do promise to have it soon. (and have been promising so since 12 months...) Once the support arrives, there's nothing stopping the penetration of Android into the enterprises. Apart from maybe the Android development myths. A popular one is: "There's so many different screen sizes, we'll need an optimized version of our program for each form factor!!"
I will explain each of these points more in detail in following blog episodes:
(Disclaimer, I made this list up front, but it may change as I'm writing. Episodes may be merged, new episodes may be added)
#AndroidForEnterprise 2: Market
#AndroidForEnterprise 3: Mobility
#AndroidForEnterprise 4: Embedded
#AndroidForEnterprise 5: Integrate Google
#AndroidForEnterprise 6: SAP support for Android
#7 Development myths
Enjoy the read!
Crosspost from: my blog
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