VMware announced Wednesday the availability of its Horizon Mobile product for certain Android-based Verizon smartphones. The technology establishes a second instance of Google’s mobile OS on a compatible device, allowing employees to keep their personal content separate from an IT-controlled workspace.
Such partitions have been considered an ideal ever since workers began bringing their own smartphones into the office, but with many vendors already touting similar technologies of their own, it’s not certain that VMware will gain traction in the crowded mobile enterprise management market.
VMware Horizon Mobile is available immediately for the LG Intuition and the Motorola RAZR M. New units will come ready to deploy the Android guest OS, but users who have previously purchased either phone can gain access as well. VMware plans to add support for additional models throughout the year.
IT managers once enjoyed uniform device deployments in which all employees were issued a pre-approved, easily managed device, such as a BlackBerry smartphone. As the bring-your-own device (BYOD) movement flooded the workplace with user-owned iPhones and Android models, however, IT staffers have been challenged to keep the devices secure while also respecting privacy concerns. Due to this tension, analysts have characterized the ability to isolate business data from personal data as the “holy grail” of mobile endpoint management.