Use Android for Work? Okta Has You Covered

Today, there are more than 20,000 different types of Android devices in the wild! And because of the open nature of Android, these devices are far from uniform. In an effort to differentiate their devices, hardware manufacturers and carriers customize their Android devices with management APIs, security controls and custom email applications. This fragmentation has presented real challenges for enterprise IT teams looking to support Android as part of their mobile strategy.

In response to this fragmentation many Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) vendors have developed their own email clients and productivity apps, and deployed those apps into ‘containers’ on the device. Containerization is infamous for creating a brittle user experience, and breaking whenever apps or the operating system is updated.

Android for Work is Google’s solution to deliver a common set of native enterprise features to enable IT to deploy Android at scale. Okta Mobility Management (OMM) for Android for Work gives enterprise IT teams a unique set of functionality for expedited on-boarding of Android devices, seamless access to apps and data, and stronger security.

Okta’s unique functionality comes from its integrated identity and mobility management features. For example, Okta offers simplified enrollment through integration with Okta Provisioning. What does this mean? It means Okta customers are able to automatically provision Google accounts for users at enrollment. Users simply authenticate with their Okta credentials to enroll their device. With other EMMs, companies not already running Google Apps must either import users into Google periodically, stand up Google Active Directory Sync (GADS), or require users to manually set up a Google account when enrolling their device. And for Office 365 customers, Okta does this without having to push Active Directory credentials into Google.

Adding support for Android for Work extends Okta’s mobility management solution to more Android devices, including enforcing a passcode, configuring email and Wi-Fi, and selectively wiping enterprise data when an employee leaves the organization. Okta customers can enforce the separation of personal and enterprise data on the same device through Android for Work profiles. It’ll install separate, managed versions of enterprise mobile applications. Additionally, those same Android for Work profiles can be encrypted to protect sensitive enterprise data. Okta makes it easy for IT teams to support the growing number of Android BYOD devices without sacrificing security.

Okta Mobility Management for Android at Work is yet another example of Okta’s strong partnership with Google and commitment to customer success. If you’re interested in learning more or implementing Okta Mobility Management for Android for Work, check out the product page here.