After announcing their intent to bring Android more into the corporate and enterprise arena with Android Work at Google I/O, Google has today announced that ‘Android is ready for work’, with a slight name change to ‘Android for Work’.
The announcement is aimed at workplaces who have embraced Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), offering many people the chance to discard the idea of carrying a business, as well as a personal mobile phone, and combine it all into one device. Android For Work is based on Samsung’s KNOX technology and will be partnering with a number of other names in the Android space:
The features of Android for Work are many, but are all based on giving IT administrators a secure platform which they can have more control of, while allowing users to retain their personal data stores. Android for Work is based on four technology key points :
- Work profiles – We’ve built on the default encryption, enhanced SELinux security enforcement and multi-user support in Android 5.0, Lollipop to create a dedicated work profile that isolates and protects work data. IT can deploy approved work apps right alongside their users personal apps knowing their sensitive data remains secured. People can use their personal apps knowing their employer only manages work data and won’t erase or view their personal content.
- Android for Work app – For devices running Ice Cream Sandwich through Kitkat, or that don’t run work profiles natively, we’ve created the Android for Work app. The app, which delivers secure mail, calendar, contacts, documents, browsing and access to approved work apps, can be completely managed by IT.
- Google Play for Work – It allows businesses to securely deploy and manage apps across all users running Android for Work, simplifying the process of distributing apps to employees and ensures that IT approves every deployed app.
- Built-in productivity tools – For everyday business tasks, we’ve created a suite of business apps for email, contacts and calendar, which supports both Exchange and Notes and provides document editing capabilities for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
There’s a lot that’s going for this program, with corporate and enterprise IT environments ripe for the picking with the slow demise of Blackberry in this area. If you’re interested to learn more, Google has a lot more information on Android for Work over on their google.com/work/android/ website.
