Google's Android 2.2 operating system is geared toward catching the eye of
more businesses. While it won't be confused with the lock-down cachet of Research
In Motion's BlackBerry platform, it does boast some solid enterprise
capabilities.
Unveiled
at Google I/O in May and released to open
source June 23, Android 2.2 offers policy management APIs to enable
developers to write applications that can enable remote wipe, lock-screen
timeout and other features for Microsoft Exchange on Android smartphones.
Specifically, there are numeric pin or alphanumeric password options to
unlock a device, and Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across
devices.
Exchange calendars are now supported in the Calendar application.
Auto-discovery lets users know only their username and password to set up and
sync an Exchange account.
Still, analysts differ on whether or not Android 2.2, or Froyo, is truly
enterprise-ready even as the version is set to roll out on such devices as the
Motorola Droid X, HTC Droid Incredible and HTC
Evo 4G this summer.
Michael
Gartenberg, partner at The Altimeter Group, said in a July 20 Computerworld
column that Froyo is now acceptable for some businesses to deploy, citing the
added support for Microsoft Exchange as an example.
Currently, users looking to sync Android devices to Exchange servers need to
use a phone with a custom version of Android such as HTC's
Sense UI or a third-party application. But Exchange mail, calendars and
contacts all sync in Froyo.
Moreover, Froyo also supports a full corporate directory with search.
"While it's not best of breed, it is acceptable for most business
use," Gartenberg said.
Gartenberg also believes security has taken a major leap forward in Android
2.2 with the ability for users to leverage full alphanumeric passwords and the
ability for IT departments to control passwords and wipe devices clean from
afar through an Exchange server.
However, he does acknowledge that Android 2.2 is still missing on-board
encryption for removable media cards, remote tracking and the ability to
remotely manage standard application load sets for mobile devices.
The lack of these features is exactly why Jack Gold, of J. Gold Associates,
isn't so sold on Android yet as an enterprise platform. In his June 15 research
note, Gold said:
"The biggest failure of Froyo is the lack of on-board data encryption
to secure device-resident data. They are finally adding device kill and
management with support of a few policies, but for any enterprises that have
Exchange policies being enforced, it's not enough."
While there are some third-party apps that "fake" the security
policies and allow Android to connect to Exchange, this is trickery and not
enhanced security, Gold added.
"The primary fault lies in the inability of Android to enforce key
corporate polices set within Exchange so companies can assure compliance before
allowing a device to connect. The upcoming version of Android (2.2) is better
but still suffers from a lack of real enterprise-class policy enforcement. We
therefore believe that Android poses a significantly greater risk to
enterprises than the other major mobile OSes."
The absence of strong policy enforcement and implementation with ActiveSync
on Android means Android will watch many large organizational deployments go to
RIM's BlackBerry or Apple's iPhone with third-party security extensions.
Of course, Android 2.2 is still not widely available on devices except for
Google's own Nexus One so until the OS build hits the devices it's supposed to
hit this summer, corporate Android appeal will be minimal at best.
"IT departments need to get the word out to users that their Android
devices won't be considered for enterprise support until they are upgraded to
2.2," Gartenberg said, adding that that won't happen until much later this
year.
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