You may have noticed that almost all of our Android-related blogs for the last year-and-a-half have been focused on Android enterprise (formerly Android for Work). There’s a good reason for that.
We’ve worked closely with Google since 2014 on implementing Android enterprise. In the last 18 months, we’ve shifted a majority of our VMware Workspace ONE, powered by VMware AirWatch unified endpoint management technology, Android R&D investments towards maturing our support of Android enterprise and making it a beautiful experience for administrators and end users alike.
So, with our next major release of AirWatch technology, you’re going to notice a significant change: Android enterprise is going to become the default deployment model for Android devices, and the legacy Android management model (also known as device administrator) will be accessible by exception.
Why Are We Shifting to Android Enterprise?
Why? Because we unequivocally believe that Android enterprise is the best possible solution for Android devices in the workplace today and because Google’s strategy is 100% grounded in Android enterprise.
Google has done a fantastic job of reducing fragmentation by providing a strong set of management capabilities across all Android devices. Further, Android enterprise was specifically designed with enterprise use cases in mind. Android enterprise is custom-tailored for bring-your-own-device (BYOD), corporate-owned and dedicated device modes, each with unique management controls and user experiences.
Android enterprise is the best possible solution for Android devices in the workplace.
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If you’ve been paying attention, you noticed that we’ve been diligently building the best Android enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution in the market. I encourage you to check out our listing in Google’s Android EMM solutions directory where you’ll find our comprehensive support for BYOD, corporate-owned and dedicated deployment models.
How Will This Change Affect You?
If you’ve already deployed with legacy Android management, we aren’t going to disrupt your existing deployment. Your devices won’t be impacted, and your day-to-day administrative experience won’t be all that different.
We want to make it easier to enable and deploy Android enterprise, but if you’re not ready to completely migrate yet, that’s OK. Let there be no mistake, though; the platform will encourage you to start using Android enterprise.
From this point forward, when we say “Android,” we mean Android enterprise.
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For those of you who will embark on your first Android deployment (or your first Workspace ONE deployment altogether) in the next major console release, AirWatch technology will take you down the Android enterprise path, unless you make a conscious decision to deviate. (And if you do, we want to know why!) The setup is simple, and we’re working across the console to make it easier to configure policies, apps and content for your Android enterprise devices.
Finally, for those of you already deployed with Android enterprise, you’ll feel right at home and will notice that the administrative experience will be more intuitive.
Android enterprise will be front and center. In fact, from this point forward, when we say “Android,” we mean Android enterprise.
Keep checking back! We’ll provide more details as we get closer to the next major console release. In the meantime, we couldn’t be more excited to help you reimagine how your business gets work done on Android.
