Over the next 12 months, the Internet of Things (IoT) will become a key component and differentiator in the offerings of enterprise mobility management (EMM) providers – but there are still plenty of hurdles to clear before then.
That’s the view of Nick McQuire, enterprise mobility analyst at CCS Insight. In a 2015 predictions roundup, McQuire noted how IoT and EMM will ‘converge’ in 2015, noting: “Leading suppliers set themselves apart from rivals thanks to their ability to offer management solutions across devices and sensor technology.”
What does this mean in practical terms though? For enterprise mobility providers, it will mean a bit of naval gazing and figuring out how IoT fits their solutions best. Yet some vendors, such as AirWatch, when VMware announced a partnership with Jasper in October, are one step ahead.
“I think we’ll start to see some directional differences between the EMM vendors that are out there next year,” McQuire says. “The one direction we will see differences is on IoT support, and IoT investment.”
The CCS Insight analyst notes BlackBerry – fresh from rumours about a buy-out by Samsung – as in the mix for this roadmap. The Canadian firm notes IoT in its portfolio, through providing scalable architecture. “They’ve launched their IoT platform, and they also see the direction that BES is going to go,” McQuire explains.
He adds: “Part of that prediction is these moves that EMM are having, that I think will start to bring that convergence into play from the supply side.”
With the proliferation of devices, and connections, in the enterprise, it’s obvious to link the rise of wearable technology into IoT. Adam Sivell, writing in April, urged to not forget wearables, but added the “jury is still out on their uptake.” BlackBerry notes this, saying: “Given the expected surge of wearables and Internet of Things-enabled devices into the enterprise, scalability is a core requirement of a future-focused EMM solution.”
McQuire argues wearable management – perhaps sensor management and iBeacon management – as well as embedded systems will start to filter into EMM. Yet that’s not the only challenge afoot. For a start, there’s the issue of standardisation – and as you’d expect, it will still take a while before that’s fully resolved.
As a result, expect this trend to flower in late 2015, maybe even into 2016. As McQuire explains: “There’s still some time to go before the customers say ‘look, we need this from you, Mr. EMM vendor, today.”
But how is each EMM vendor going to play their hand? Christy Wyatt, CEO of Good Technology, noted the importance of IoT when she spoke to this publication last week – but as an enabler for more sophisticated mobile security attacks. McQuire sees this as Good going “back to their roots.” “You sense a lot of the Good executives start to force this cyber security thing quite hard,” he adds.
AirWatch, looking at its partnership with Jasper, is already on that path – and the company’s move towards laptop management is also important. MobileIron could move more into the application side.
The landscape will continue to consolidate, and the vendors will diversify. As McQuire points out: “These guys can’t be everything. They can’t provide this gateway solution to be backend integration in the middleware environment for applications, and yet be on every single endpoint that’s merging as IoT starts to factor in as well.
“That’s why I think you’ll start to see more focus around the core areas that differentiate them.”
Do you agree with this analysis?