Recently, some big-name device OEMs like Samsung and BlackBerry have been touting new or updated solutions to keep “work and play” information separate. BlackBerry’s Z10 and Q10 devices build on the company’s “BlackBerry Balance” solution that has been around for a few years now and helps companies keep apps and information for work and play separate.  At Mobile World Congress a couple months ago, Samsung introduced their KNOX solution, which aims to do something similar – create separate spaces within the devices they manufacturer to provide companies some built-in mobile device management capabilities.

However, it’s not just the device companies that are talking about containers.  There’s a list as long as your arm of software companies that are pitching their wares to cordon-off sensitive work activities from the tweets, downloads, posts, and Angry Birds that workers like to do both on- and off-the-clock.  Products like Good Dynamics, Citrix MDX, Apperian’s EASE, and Divide from Enterproid are just a few of the myriad solutions available on the market today. They may not actually call it a “container,” but instead use terms like shells, hubs, sandboxes, and personas.  But don’t be fooled – they are all essentially trying to accomplish the same thing.  It’s about the data.  It’s about protecting sensitive work information and securing it from the other potentially hazardous activities folks could be doing on their mobile devices, which by the way are increasingly being supplied by the employees themselves.  In fact, a recent report from Gartner states that by 2017 half of all employers will require workers to supply their own devices for work purposes (commonly referred to as BYOD, or bring your own device).

 While BYOD was originally thought to be a boon for businesses looking to shed device costs, there has been some recent backlash among enterprises that have lived with it for a while.  I was recently speaking with a CIO at one of our largest and most tenured customers who told me he is reevaluating his entire BYOD strategy.  For him and many others like him, the original attraction to Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions was the ability to allow employees to bring their preferred device into the workplace as long as they downloaded a piece of client software that gave IT a level of control and management over the computing tool.  The value proposition was dirt simple and was to a certain degree pushing on an open door, which is why MDM solutions have become so pervasive throughout enterprises in recent years.  As the old adage goes: “if you can’t beat them, join them.”  In other words, if folks want to use their own devices, many IT executives are saying, “I might as well let them because (a) I don’t have to supply and pay for corporate devices, and (b) it will help drive greater end-user satisfaction and productivity.” (Because the last thing any CIO wants is to be known as someone getting in the way of productivity).  But as was the case with our customer, he told me he was moving away from BYOD because the time and cost to support the devices had far eclipsed the advantages.  And the security risks were also too great in a business that has a high turnover rate.