With Samsung and Google more closely aligning their enterprise security and management platforms, we sat down with Ram Motipally, senior director of B2B mobile software at Samsung Electronics America, at CES 2018 to hear how this is set to make life easier for IT admins and EMM partners.
Two Solutions, One Problem
Over the past five years, Samsung has invested significant resources in its Samsung Knox platform, building a hardware-level security foundation for its Android tablets and smartphones. It’s also developed a number of additional licensed services, like Knox Workspace, to allow IT admins to separate and secure enterprise data. In parallel to this, Google and Android released Android for Work (AFW) which has evolved into today’s Android enterprise solutions, including Work Profile.
Mobile Security Is Crucial
Find out why Samsung devices are some of the most secure available in this white paper. Download Now
According to Motipally, these frameworks created two sets of complementary — but fundamentally different — offerings: one from Samsung and another from Android. Customers had to choose, and a recurring complaint was: “Why can’t I use both?”
“Going forward, we’re going to find a way to fix it,” Motipally said.
Coming Together
The ongoing rollout of Android Oreo to Galaxy mobile devices will coincide with the update to Knox 3.0. This migration will harmonize the enterprise mobility framework on Samsung devices by creating one set of APIs and data separation tools. Now, businesses will be able to leverage technology from Google and Samsung, as one solution, on their favorite EMM.
For EMM partners, this helps cut down resources and build for one platform instead of having separate teams for Knox and Android Work Profiles. For enterprises IT admins, it removes the frustration of choosing between two systems — thereby improving user experience and operational efficiency.
Watch the video to learn more about the realignment of Samsung Knox and Android and how it will advance EMM.