Google’s announcement of their new device management – Google Apps Control, is not an unexpected entry to the market. Why does Google’s entree into the mobile market make sense? Just as Apple early on dealt with security blockades in Enterprise adoption due to security concerns, Enterprises continue to voice concerns over Android security. So does Apps Control address the concern? While there are several solutions on the market that can manage Android devices today, Google’s solution includes the coupling with their own device Google Apps Policy application allowing for tighter policy management. While this does not extend to other device types, it does support management of iOS and Windows Phone though available policies vary based on device. In going through the enrollment there were a few surprises.
First, registration is at the domain level. The problem with this is that it creates a “first in” situation. If some department in a company registers for Apps Control they now own the account for the company. If another team, like IT, then goes to sign up, they are locked out. Obviously in a hosted solution this is something that does not work, which also shows somewhat of a blind spot to non-enterprise level adoption. Looking at the policies that Google has enabled, it’s really the basics – Enforce Password, Remote Wipe and Device Lock with the added management of Google’s app suite: Google Mail, Google Contacts, etc. Many large enterprises still have lots of BlackBerries which this solution does not cover. With the price point of $50 per device, per year, it’s not an inexpensive solution but it may provide a “good enough” level of management for some companies. Overall this seems like an attempt to get to market quickly and it will be interesting to see how Google evolves the feature set of Apps Control. While this starts addressing some of the security concerns around Android security, it does not go the distance.
Tags: Android, Google, mobile device management
