I was at an internal regional technical exchange event recently, and one of the speakers mentioned how pervasive and commonplace acronyms are for IBM employees. Acronyms are part and parcel of an IBMer’s daily routine. As an IBMer I’m bombarded daily with acronyms, whether they stand for the various divisions within IBM such as SWG, STG, GTS, GBS and so forth; or for product names such as IEM, ILMT and TADDM;  or for software brands such as C&SI, AIM, BA and so on. I guess the heavy use of acronyms is to be expected from a company that is commonly known by its acronym! Multiple websites are devoted to deciphering these acronyms and jargon. Often an acronym has several definitions, so you have to be careful that you’re using the correct meaning. There is even a bot in our internal chat system that we can ask for the definitions of a particular acronym.

It is no different in the mobility space, where acronyms such as MDM, MAM and EMM are commonly used. But what do they stand for?

MDM

MDM stands for mobile device management and consists of configuration and policy management tools that are implemented using application programming interfaces (APIs) released by mobile operating system providers such as Apple, Google and Microsoft to control and manage mobile devices. The typical functionality of an MDM software includes:

• Hardware and application inventory
• Configuration of security policies such as password policy, device encryption, WiFi settings, detection of jailbroken devices and so forth
• Execution of actions such as partial or remote wipe, remote lock, device location mapping and passcode clearing
• Access to self-service portals to enable users to protect personal and enterprise data

There are dozens of MDM vendors competing in this space, and IBM has two offerings here: IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices and the MDM module of MaaS360 by Fiberlink.

MAM

MAM stands for mobile application management software, which can apply policy controls to and provision mobile applications, both internally developed apps and apps that are commercially available in stores such as the Apple App Store and Google Play. MAM solutions usually have an enterprise app store that enables application control and delivery to mobile devices. MAM solutions provide control over mobile applications either through app wrapping or the use of a software development kit (SDK).

The SDK allows developers to integrate features such as security and configuration capabilities into the application. Having these capabilities allows developers to concentrate on the business logic of the application. App wrapping provides an extra layer of security and configuration capabilities without requiring further code changes in the mobile application. Both approaches are easily implemented on internally developed apps; however, for commercially available applications, developers need access to the application’s binaries to implement these additional management features.

MaaS360 includes a mobile application management module that provides these functionalities.

EMM

EMM stands for enterprise mobile management and typically consists of the following capabilities:

• Mobile device management
• Mobile application management
• Mobile content management

Mobile content management products provide a secure container that enables enterprise data to be secured while preserving the mobile experience on the mobile device, whether it’s corporate supplied or employee owned. Users can access their email, contacts, calendars, apps, documents and web browsing from within the secure container installed on their mobile device.

Most, if not all, of the lead MDM vendors have evolved and expanded their offerings and are now in the EMM space. The MaaS360 EMM platform from IBM includes the following:

• Comprehensive mobile management to manage devices, applications and expenses
• A secure mobile container to access applications, the web and corporate intranet, emails, contacts and calendars
• Secure content collaboration to enable viewing, editing and syncing of content in a secure environment
• Seamless enterprise access that can integrate with existing enterprise systems and mobilize applications or content on the corporate network

The MaaS360 platform is one of the most comprehensive enterprise mobility management suites in the market and is in the leaders’ quadrant of the 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant for enterprise mobility management suites.

Hopefully a few of the many acronyms will make a bit more sense to you now. Are you exploring the enterprise mobility management offerings available in the market today? If you want to know more about IBM’s EMM offerings, connect with me on Twitter @mvsantana94.

Technorati Tags: EMM, Enterprise Mobile Management, Gartner, IBM Endpoint Manager, MaaS360, MAM, MDM, Mobile application management, Mobile device management

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