Google Makes Push for Android Smartphones in the Workplace

Since last summer, Google has been improving the technology behind Android for Work, an initiative to push the company’s mobile operating system in the workplace. Google wants to encourage employees to use their Android phones as both personal and work devices. To do so, Google built Android for Work to support personal and work profiles autonomously on a single device. The company also launched Google Play for Work, which lets companies manage their very own app stores.

“The general idea behind Android for Work is to allow employees to use both their personal apps and business apps on the same device while keeping both the business data secure and their personal data outside of the hands of their employees,” TechCrunch reports.

Android_for_Work

Google wants companies to feel secure and in control of the data being processed by employees using Android smartphones. Android for Work will be compatible with Android’s four most recent versions, including Ice Cream Sandwich, which dates back to 2011.

Because Google does not manufacturer all of the Android devices on the market, the company’s ability to manage and control these devices is limited. “Historically, there also have been fewer controls over apps in the Android Play Store, compared with Apple’s App Store, making it easier [for] apps to infect users’ phones with malware,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Android smartphones are the most commonly owned personal smartphones today. “[More] companies let workers use their personal smartphones for work, and more of those personal devices are Android phones,” shares Forrester Research analyst J.P. Gownder. Companies also seem to favor Android devices because they are affordable and inexpensive to replace if damaged.

Gownder also commented that Google, Samsung and independent sellers of mobile-device security software are collectively working on ways to improve security for Android devices.

No Comments Yet

You can be the first to comment!

Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.