Enterprise Mobility Summit 2013: MDM and MAM need to converge, says AirWatch

Director of innovation says neither is sufficient on its own in most cases, but united they can be a real enabler

Monitoring, securing and controlling mobile devices is one of the most pressing issues facing IT departments who are introducing BYOD. But it is not really the device that is the important factor here, rather the applications and data that sit on them.

David Renwick, director of innovation EMEA at AirWatch, began his talk at the Computing Enterprise Mobility Summit with a statistic that 53 per cent of organisations are planning to invest in mobile device management (MDM) software this year as they roll out BYOD programmes.

"MDM solutions manage the device and the operating system. They allow you to configure the device, track where it is and wipe it remotely," he said, before going on to explain the difference between MDM software and MAM - mobile application management.

"MAM is more granular. It goes beyond device, allowing you to contol individual applications and the data associated with them. Security on a per app basis," he said.

Enterprises are moving away from monolithic applications with a lot of functionality, Renwick said, towards small nimble apps that users employ on a "jump in and out" basis, checking sales information quickly on the road, for example. For these apps it is important that the data associated with them is always right up to date at all times.

Renwick argued that this trend makes MAM more and more important, allowing control on an app-by-app basis. It allows administrators to see who is doing what and for how long, and to delete or block dangerous applications before they can do damage. It also lets the users know that they are being monitored, he said, which should lead to better behaviour regarding the device, and closer compliance with the terms of use they signed up to.

However, he said that both MDM and MAM were important to any BYOD strategy and should really be seen as part of an integrated whole, along with managed services to authenticate apps and data, and user portals to allow a degree of self service.

Security, MDM, email, applications management, content management all need to be converged, he said, neatly encapsulating one of the core themes of the day.