Samsung Teams With Good Technology For Enterprise Security

Samsung aims to boost its presence in the enterprise space by teaming with Good Technology on a new mobile platform called "Good for Samsung Knox" on Android devices.The partnership will bolster Samsung's Knox security platform with Good Technology's enterprise-targeted app ecosystem.

Solution providers such as David Felton, founder of Norwalk, Conn.-based Canaan Technology, cheered the move as a step forward for Samsung in attracting mobile enterprise clients.

[Related: 5 Problems That Are Crushing Samsung's Mobile Division]

"I don't see Samsung as a well-known enterprise hardware manufacturer yet," said Felton. "Samsung started out as a consumer device manufacturer, and they've lost a lot of market share. It seems they've shifted away from the consumer space that is becoming so dominated by Apple and going after the enterprise space. I think many hardware manufacturers, other than BlackBerry, have difficulty finding successful enterprise-focused security plays, while other software-based companies more easily attract the enterprise. So, it's an interesting move."

"Good for Samsung Knox" will promote a Good-secured app domain in Knox's Android operating system, and will allow Good Technology to provide support for Knox's mobile device management API set.

Samsung created the Samsung Enterprise Alliance Program in 2011 and began promoting its Knox mobile security technology in 2013 as a holistic enterprise platform. The company teamed with BlackBerry in November in a mobile-security technology sales partnership, another effort to win over enterprise customers.

But it has been difficult for the company to disentangle itself from its largely consumer-based clientele and promote enterprise-targeted measures through its Android operating system.

The "Good for Samsung Knox" platform is the first step of the partnership, which was unveiled at the 2014 Mobile World Congress.

"This announcement will benefit both parties," ssaid Good Technology Chief Mobility Officer Brian Reed. "Our ecosystem, integrated with Knox, means that Samsung will get instant secure access to our 1,500 apps."

In terms of the channel, Reed said the partnership is an "explosion of two technologies" that will enable solution providers to choose from a broader portfolio of products.

"It's one of those moves that's good for everybody," said Reed. "If you look at individual adoption curves, you'll find that a large part of the enterprise are on iOS, while the rest are on BlackBerry and Android. This will allow more resellers to bring Android into their platform for their enterprise-based mobile market, which will help balance out their business."

Also significant is the security aspect of the partnership, which is essential for organizations with highly confidential data, such as government- and financial-based companies, said Canaan Technology's Felton.

"My takeaway from all this is that there is finally a real interest emerging in enterprise mobile security, something that BlackBerry has been trying to promote for people for years," said Felton.

PUBLISHED FEB. 9, 2015