Google Positioning Android As Enterprise Platform
By Michael Marr
Expert Author
Article Date: 2010-11-10
Last week, I touched on how the pending invasion of tablets will affect the enterprise environment. I was focused more on a network bandwidth issue there, but did make mention of the enterprise security risks of the increased presence of mobile devices. In particular, I mentioned President Obama's Blackberry. RIM has managed to build and maintain a stranglehold on much of the enterprise mobile market because of their edge in security.
However, with the increasing availability of employee smartphones, it seems logical for companies to leverage these employee assets and keep them connected. Google has taken steps to make that easier with enterprise focused updates to Google Apps for Android.A recent article over at eweek.com highlights some of these new features for the Android. These updates include remote wiping and access revocation, allowing IT administrators to protect company information from lost or stolen phones and/or personal phones from employees no longer with the company. Idle phones can also be locked remotely, as well as implement passwords with strict rules. Microsoft Exchange is now also supported. These software updates were likely in anticipation of Motorola's newest Android creation: the Droid Pro. The Droid Pro boasts a touch screen and a QWERTY style keypad, putting it in an unique form factor class with the Blackberry Torch and HP Palm Pre 2. As ecommercetimes.com points out in their article, the QWERTY keyboard is a key selling point to enterprise users who seek to do a lot of texting and e-mailing from their mobile device. The device is slated to be available in early 2011. Android's overall market share has been on a steady climb since its launch, and now looks to take direct aim at RIM's Blackberry. If the Droid Pro has some initial success, look to see more QWERTY keypads on Droid phones in 2011.
About the Author:
Michael Marr is a IT staff Writer for WebProNews.
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