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Mobile Application Management To Supplant Mobile Device Management

As BYOD continues to gain traction, enterprise mobile device management is being pushed aside in favor of more user-centric mobile application management (MAM). According to a new report from market research firm ABI Research, MAM — which itself comes in a variety of forms —  will overtake MDM as the dominant mobile management mode within the next five years.

"MAM has evolved from a[n] MDM side-kick role to a more important, central role for enterprise mobility," said Jason McNicol, senior analyst for ABI, in a prepared ststement. "Impacting this shift is the growing integration of security in MAM solutions. Initially MAM was more focused on app development and deployment tools with limited attention to security. Now, app security is just as important as usability and scalability. These advances in security have really aided the MAM evolution and growing market acceptance."

Accordingt to ABI, MDM currently makes up 60 percent of "enterprise mobility management solution users" in enterprises across sectors. But by 2019, that will drop to 30 percent, with MAM accounting for more than 60 percent.

"MDM is a tool being reserved more for corporate-liable devices, while MAM is a mobility solution for the masses, or employee-owned devices associated with BYOD," according to McNicol. "For employees to embrace enterprise mobility initiatives and more importantly policies, more flexible yet secure solutions are mandatory. Hence the growing demand in MAM solutions."

ABI has developed a new taxonomy for MAM consisting of three major groups: "MAM 1.0 consists of enterprises like App47 and Apperian focusing on app stores and app development platforms; MAM 2.0 [comprises] vendors like Mocana, IBM-Fiberlink and VMware-AirWatch that provide more wholistic app solutions and mobility services; and the newest group, MAM 3.0, is a workspace management solution, like AT&T Toggle or Citrix."

Additional details can be found in ABI's Enterprise Mobility Applications, Services, and Devices Market Research.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


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