BYO iPhone? App Wrapping Isolates Corporate Data
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3HIYclLT4I&w=560&h=315] Given that Apple won’t let anyone stick a virtual environment on its iOS, a half dozen companies have introduced a workaround known as app wrapping. This creates a virtual protected “sandbox” environment somewhat akin to virtualization. Instead of being a truly virtualized environment, users launch an app that allows them to launch a series of apps within that app. We interviewed Jack Madden, Editor of ConsumerizeIT.com at VMworld 2012 in San Francisco about VMware’s introduction into app wrapping. Even though a half a dozen companies offered app wrapping solutions before VMware, Madden doesn’t think they've missed out on any customers because the solutions are so new. With no mobile virtualization solution available for iOS, app wrapping creates a corporate-friendly alternative. It facilitates bring your own device (BYOD) deployment by keeping corporate applications more insulated from what users are doing on their devices. All the work data stays within the sandboxed environment. Administrators don’t have to worry about personal applications on the device, said Madden. There’s no need to enforce a mobile data management (MDM) or administrator application on the device. With app mapping, you can still control the corporate data on the device. For example, if you let an employee go, app wrapping still lets you remotely wipe the corporate data from the phone, said Madden.
