Editor's Corner  IBM's announcement Wednesday that it agreed to acquire mobile device management (MDM) firm Fiberlink for an undisclosed consideration is the latest in a series of recent mergers and acquisitions in the mobility space.
Fiberlink has more than 20 years' experience providing MDM products, well before the current BYOD trend took hold. Its main platform is MaaS360, which offers enterprises cloud-based management of mobile devices, applications, content and expenses, as well as secure email and browser. "To protect and enhance the complete mobile experience, it's crucial to secure the app, user, content, data and the transaction. The acquisition of Fiberlink will enable us to offer these expanded capabilities to our clients, making it simple and quick to unlock the full potential of mobility," says Robert LeBlanc, IBM senior vice president for middleware software. The Fiberlink buy is the latest of recent IBM acquisitions in the mobility space, deals that include Trusteer, Xtify and The Now Factory. IBM is not alone in acquiring mobility firms. According to the latest figures from Ernst & Young, mobility is driving "deals targeting strategic growth through mobile technology, as well as deals targeting established companies weakened by rapid smart mobile adoption." Ernst & Young estimates that mobility accounted for $13.8 billion in announced megadeals in the third quarter--although Fairfax Financial Holding's $4.7 billion deal to buy BlackBerry fell through. Nokia was involved in two of the biggest mobility deals: the sale of its mobile device business to Microsoft for $5 billion (not including the $2 billion patent licensing deal) and its $2.2 billion buyout of partner Siemens in their wireless equipment joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks. In addition, Chinese Internet search provider Baidu agreed to buy 91 Wireless Websoft for $1.9 billion. Two other mega-deals in the quarter that had mobility components were Koch Industries offer to buy Molex, a maker of smartphone and tablet components, for $7.2 billion and Rockwell Collins' $1.4 billion deal for ARINC, which makes wireless broadband equipment for aircraft. For the third quarter, Ernest & Young found that the overall disclosed high-tech deal value of $71.2 billion represented an increase of 152 percent year-over-year and 113 percent sequentially. High-tech deal volume was 704 deals, up 12 percent sequentially but down 6 percent year-over-year. Things are heating up in the high-tech M&A market, driven by the move to mobility by enterprises and consumers. Expect more mobility mega-deals in the near future. BlackBerry is still waiting for an offer it can't refuse. - Fred Read more about: IBM | | | | This week's sponsor is Moovweb. |  | Whitepaper: Creating the Right Mobile Strategy
Creating compelling mobile experience is no longer an option; your customers, business partners and employees are demanding it. But what is the right strategy? Should you be investing in custom APIs? What is the right way to think about mobile apps versus mobile sites? Get Answers Today! | | Today's Top Stories A full 95 percent of IT pros are concerned about the security of corporate apps accessed through mobile devices, according to a survey by Lawless Research on behalf of cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) vendor Symplified. Around 42 percent of respondents said that they are "very/extremely" concerned about corporate mobile app security, while 36 percent are moderately concerned and 17 percent are "slightly" concerned. Three-quarters of 63 IT pros surveyed said that they manage mobile employees. "Mobile identity is the next hurdle for enterprises as they tackle BYOD. BYOD is continuing to be a challenge for enterprises. What we are seeing is that there is a convergence around you as a user in the enterprise and your identity with your mobile device," Brian Czarny, vice president of product management at Symplified, tells FierceMobileIT. The top five corporate apps accessed through mobile devices are Microsoft Office and Sharepoint, Oracle, Salesforce and SAP, according to the survey. At the same time, enterprises are increasingly deploying custom-built corporate mobile apps. "You are seeing enterprises bring on mobile development team to build out custom native mobile applications to extend capabilities out to their employees, partners and customers. One of the big challenges that they have, in building those applications themselves or through contractors, is how do they incorporate a means of authenticating, authorizing and controlling access for those users and tying that back into their existing identity systems," explains Czarny. This is pushing enterprises to look for IAM products that can handle mobile user access. Around 64 percent of respondents said they are moving ahead with an IAM solution. "Decision makers in the enterprise have started to realize the need for IAM. We hear from our customers that this is an area they are looking to tackle very quickly," Czarny notes. Related Articles:
Mobile workers bypass IT on file sharing
Attackers circumvent security through app store, hardware Read more about: BYOD
back to top
| This week's sponsor is Kony. | 
| Webinar: CIO/CMO Extreme Collaboration: Mobile App Edition
Thursday, November 21st, 2pm ET / 11am PT | New Speaker Added!
Customers and employees alike are more mobile than ever, which means CIOs and CMOs have to partner more effectively than ever to deliver the goods. Join us as we discuss making mobile apps a critical point of teamwork between IT and marketing.
Register Today! |
Apple's smartphone OS market share declined again in the third quarter, while Android and Windows Phone grabbed more market share, according to the latest stats from IDC. Apple saw its smartphone market share drop from 14.4 percent in the 2012 third quarter to 12.9 percent in the most recent quarter. At the same time, Android jumped from a 74.9 percent market share in the year ago quarter to 81 percent this quarter, passing the 80 percent market share mark for the first time. Microsoft's Windows Phone increased from a 2.0 percent market share in the year ago quarter to 3.6 percent market share this quarter, posting a 156 percent jump in shipment volumes to boot. Nokia was the primary driver of that growth, making up 93.2 percent of all Window Phones shipped in the quarter. "Android and Windows Phone continued to make significant strides in the third quarter. Despite their differences in market share, they both have one important factor behind their success: price. Both platforms have a selection of devices available at prices low enough to be affordable to the mass market, and it is the mass market that is driving the entire market forward," observes Ramon Llamas, research Manager with IDC's mobile phone team. IDC does believe that the launch of iOS 7 smartphones in September should help Apple regain some lost market share in the fourth quarter. BlackBerry continued its steady decline, dropping from a 4.1 percent market share in the year ago quarter to 1.7 percent in this quarter. Shipment volumes declined 41.6 percent, as the launch of the BB10 smartphones this year failed to stem BlackBerry's decline. The future of BlackBerry remains in the air, as the offer by Fairfax Financial Holdings to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion fell through. For more:
- see IDC's release Related Articles:
Release of iOS 7 sucked up almost 20 percent of an ISP's traffic
BlackBerry: CIOs looking elsewhere Read more about: Android, Apple
back to top
Although enterprises utilize a variety of security techniques, such as compartmentalizing trusted apps and containerizing sensitive data to create sterile enterprise mobile environments, attackers are finding success infiltrating the most mundane mobile activities. Apps that appear safe and trusted can, in fact, be dangerous, according to Georgia Tech's 2014 Emerging Cyber Threats Report (.pdf). "We have shown that the regular app store review process is not able to prevent the introduction of a malicious app," says Tielei Wang, a Georgia Tech research scientist, in the report. Report authors say several measures could improve app store security, such as a more fine-grained permission system, control-flow integrity checking or requiring developers to use a type-safe programming language. Malicious actors can also can also breach enterprise mobile ecosystems through hardware, notes the report. In July 2013, Georgia Tech researchers demonstrated at the Black Hat Security Briefings how a hardware device that looks like a USB charger could compromise a connected iPhone. Georgia Tech researchers say that securing devices across the enterprise is no longer practical or desirable, and more companies have turned their focus to controlling data. While this approach has not reached maturity, some companies are creating data-classification policies and researchers are investigating ways to make data classification and tagging easier. For more:
- download the report (.pdf) Related Articles:
Overconfidence could doom SMBs when it comes to mobile security
ViaSat, Green Hills Software team on 'military-grade' security for Android
Samsung unveils Knox SDK to boost enterprise mobile security efforts Read more about: App Store
back to top
| Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Intel and Atos. |  | Webinar: Next Generation Data Center - Innovation, Transformation, and Management
Thursday, November 14th, 12pm ET /9am PT Engage directly with Atos and Intel team members and see a live demonstration in unique approaches to innovation and transformation within the Data Center. Register Today! |
>> China's Keen Team breaches iPhone through Safari holes China's Keen Team was able to successfully breach an iPhone 5 using vulnerabilities in Apple's Safari mobile browser at HP Zero Day Initiative's Mobile Pwn2Own competition being held in conjunction with the PacSec security conference in Tokyo this week. For their efforts, Keen won $27,500 in prize money out of a pot of $300,000 being offered by HP, Google and BlackBerry. The team demonstrated two exploits against Safari on an iPhone 5 with the following results: captured Facebook credentials on iOS version 7.0.3 and stole a photo on iOS version 6.1.4. Read more on the Mobile Pwn2Own competition. [More on iOS security: Apple patches more iOS 7 holes | Georgia Tech researchers warn of iOS 'ramblin' wrecks'] >> Smartphones will become smarter than users, says Gartner "Open the pod bay doors, HAL"…"Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that." Like the computer HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, smartphones will be able to outthink their owners pretty soon, predicts Gartner. The research firm says that by 2017, smartphones will be able to predict a user's next move based on what it knows about past behavior, a process known as cognizant computing. "Smartphones are becoming smarter, and will be smarter than you by 2017," says Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. "The smartphone will gather contextual information from its calendar, its sensors, the user's location and personal data," she adds. Hopefully, the result will be better than with HAL. Read more on Gartner's prediction. [More on smartphone tech: IHS: Touch-screen display coating market to see major shift in technology | Smartphones put on girth] >> Mobile device usage drives deep packet inspection investment As mobile device usage explodes, mobile operators are investing more in deep packet inspection (DPI) to manage bandwidth use and to offer bundled services, according to Infonetics Research. Mobility will be the driving force behind a 30 percent year-over-year growth rate this year in standalone DPI solutions, the research firm notes. Bandwidth-intensive mobile services are "driving investment in DPI, often in conjunction with adjacent functionality such as policy, analytics, and real-time charging, to better monetize that usage and create more compelling offerings for the customer," says notes Shira Levine, directing analyst for service enablement and subscriber intelligence at Infonetics. Read more on Infonetics' stats. [More on DPI: BitTorrent Sync offers peer-to-peer synchronization | Mobile operators fuel DPI market growth, says Infonetics] >> China's telematics market puts pedal to the metal China's in-vehicle telematics and infotainment market is forecast by ABI Research to take off in the next few years, with almost one in two cars sold in the country having OEM telematics and infotainment systems by 2018. Penetration rate of telematics and infotainment systems and services is low in China currently. "China is a unique, complex, and highly regulated market and strong partnerships are required with leading Chinese players who can provide access to the host of obligatory licenses required to operate in China," comments ABI principal analyst Gareth Owen. Read more on ABI's view of China's telematics market. [More on telematics: Apple's iOS in the Car, MirrorLink to dominate in-vehicle smartphone technologies | Roadnet launches MobileCast fleet tracking app for iOS] >> Enterprise use of smartglasses expected to rise over next few years Despite privacy and safety concerns around smartglasses, Juniper Research predicts that enterprise use of smartglasses will increase significantly over the next few years. Smartglasses can be used for a range of enterprise applications, including engineering and logistics, and app developers are currently working on custom pps for the enterprise. In healthcare, smartglasses will be increasingly used for video documentation, communication, diagnostic reference, surgical assistance and patient monitoring, says Juniper. Read more on Juniper's smartglasses views. [More on smartglasses: Smartglasses could save firms billions | US adults divided on wearable tech] Ladies and gentlemen, start your mobile engines:
>> In data-speed race, who is the fastest in LTE? (AllThingsD) AT&T says, bring it on:
>> AT&T's De la Vega: "No matter who attacks us, we're in a good position" (Wireless Week) Me gusta feature phones ads:
>> Feature phone ads hold strong in Latin America (eMarketer) Apple rules:
>> Apple still ruling business (Mobile Enterprise) I can get you into a size 9 BYOD strategy:
>> BYOD strategies not one size fits all, say mobility management experts (IT Pro Portal) Social Scan: 
Moto G comes to U.S. in January starting at $179 unlocked. No LTE, but it has HSPA+, up to 21 Mbps speeds. @jckgld "BYOD and democratization of IT requires new view on mobile." I sure hope your firm isn't the last holdout :) #tabletbiz And Finally… That's a nice set of digits you have there (Wired) | Webinars > Next Generation Data Center - Innovation, Transformation, and Management - November 14, 12pm ET/ 9am PT Engage directly with Atos and Intel team members and see a live demonstration in unique approaches to innovation and transformation within the Data Center. Register Today! > 8 Ways to Unify Your Web, Mobile & Apps Strategy- November 20, 2013, 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT Companies can now unify their web, mobile and apps strategy with a single platform approach, saving time and money, and freeing up resources to focus on delivering incremental business value. Tune in to this webinar to see real life examples by Moovweb. Register here today. > CIO/CMO Extreme Collaboration: Mobile App Edition - Thursday, November 21, 2pm ET / 11am PT Customers and employees alike are more mobile than ever, which means CIOs and CMOs have to partner more effectively than ever to deliver the goods. Join us as we discuss making mobile apps a critical point of teamwork between IT and marketing. Register Today! > Building a Strategic Road Map for Enterprise Mobility - December 11, 2pm ET / 11am PT This FierceMobileIT webinar will explore how to use external subject matter experts to build a customized mobility strategy based on business priorities; simplify complexity and gain control through cross-platform solutions that align with existing information systems; develop standards-based mobile applications and processes that ensure seamless mobile transition and growth. Register Today! Marketplace > Whitepaper: Enterprise Job Scheduling: 12 Things You Should Know > IT Made Easy with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is an ITIL-Ready Help Desk Software with integrated asset and project management. True to our tagline, "IT Made Easy", ServiceDesk Plus wins hands down when it comes to ease of use, out of the box settings and integration. Visit http://www.servicedeskplus.com/ to check out the list of features that come at just $995 and to download a 30-Day Free Trial! > Whitepaper: DIY SharePoint - 6 Reasons to Enable Self-Service SharePoint Customization More companies find that "citizen developers" – end users, not IT developers - are creating business applications. In this white paper, discover six ways to embrace citizen development in a way that minimizes risk and maximizes SharePoint. Learn More > Whitepaper: Avoiding the top three challenges of custom-coded SharePoint applications In this white paper, learn about the challenges of custom coded SharePoint applications. Then, see how you can overcome them to create the SharePoint sites you want. Download Today! > Whitepaper: OTA Updating Simplified - Using SaaS to Update Android Devices As Android becomes more and more popular and the preferred OS choice for many other non-mobile devices, like smart watches, ruggedized devices, cameras, TVs and others, having an over-the-air (OTA) update capability has become essential to every new Android manufacturer. Download this white paper today to learn more. > Whitepaper: Beyond Web Analytics Download Beyond Web Analytics: Understanding the why behind the what of online customer behavior and see how we can help your better understand your customers' online behavior. > Whitepaper: When did our API become so important? > Whitepaper: Your Guide to iOS 7 he new version of iOS marks a notable improvement over the last in terms of aesthetics and features, and this guide should get you up to speed with the changes and additions to what Apple calls the world’s most powerful mobile OS. Download today! > Whitepaper: Next-generation Network Security Learn how Intel and McAfee are helping enterprises counter security threats. Download Now! > Whitepaper: Customer Experience for Service This Executive Brief explores the role of service and support in creating great customer experiences, the service goals market leaders use related to customer experience and the Oracle approach for empowering new service experiences. Download today! > Whitepaper: Know What Customers Want Before They Do Today's consumers only want interactions that are relevant, personalized, and based on a customer’s situation and preferences. Discover the framework for creating effective NBOs for B2C and B2B companies. Download today. > Whitepaper: The Future of Sales Performance Management Download this document to learn new technologies and tools that are improving sales managers' ability to measure and enhance the performance of their sales teams. Download today. > eBook: Making BYOD Work Chief information officers and enterprise IT departments face a myriad of challenges when allowing employees to bring their own mobile devices into the work environment. FierceMobileIT explores how BYOD can work best for your enterprise to solve these problems. Download for free today. > Whitepaper: Best Practices for Migrating to SharePoint 2013 SharePoint 2013 has the industry buzzing. It’s powerful and a vast improvement over previous versions. In this white paper, get best practice to ensure your migration to SharePoint 2013 is quick, easy and cost effective. Download Today! > Whitepaper: How to Transform Your Mobile Customer Care Strategy It's all about the SCI: the smart, connected interaction. It's not easy - mobility increases the number of variables going into each interaction, requires the preservation of context across channels, but it allows each interaction to naturally evolve. Read this document to learn how to go SCI and naturally connect with your customers. > eBook: eBook | Content for the Mobile and Social Workforce The smartphone and the cloud and the ability to share changed the whole notion of content management. In this eBook, FierceContentManagement looks at these shifts and make sense of them in the broader IT context as well as their influence on content management. Download for free today. > eBook: Convergence of Mobility and the Cloud As BYOD and cloud computing gain traction in the enterprise, CIOs need to understand how the two relate and how they can be leveraged to improve enterprise services while maintaining security. This eBook discusses the challenges CIOs and IT managers face in the application of cloud synchronization, and what to keep in mind while keeping up with the trend of applying cloud-based storage in companies' day-to-day work. Download it today. > Whitepaper: Encryption of Cloud Data Online data security is a complex, rapidly evolving landscape, requiring layered protections. Encryption is one tool in a comprehensive defense-in-depth strategy to mitigate the risk of accidental and intentional data breaches.
Download today to learn how to protect your data. | | |
|
Follow @fiercemobileit on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.