1. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without Gartner's prior written permission. If you are authorized to access this publication, your use of it is subject to the Usage Guidelines for Gartner Services posted on gartner.com. The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information and shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in such information. This publication consists of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Although Gartner research may include a discussion of related legal issues, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner is a public company, and its shareholders may include firms and funds that have financial interests in entities covered in Gartner research. Gartner's Board of Directors may include senior managers of these firms or funds. Gartner research is produced independently by its research organization without input or influence from these firms, funds or their managers. For further information on the independence and integrity of Gartner research, see "Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity."Usage Guidelines for Gartner ServicesGuiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity Eric Maiwald Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Summary of Findings

2. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Bottom Line Container products have generally reached parity with base functionality on iOS and Android mobile devices, but which products will survive is unclear. Use cases determine if containers are an appropriate choice for an organization. Containers, in general, provide an appropriate level of control for low-risk and (perhaps) medium-risk information in mobile environments. Organizations should consider any choice of container products as tactical, short-term solutions. While containers provide security, they often do so at the cost of user experience and, therefore, are not appropriate for all users, use cases and devices. The market for containers continues to be in flux. 1

3. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Context Mobile devices (smartphones, tablets and so on) have become primary information consumption devices, and businesses have taken advantage of mobility to enhance productivity, reduce costs and gain new revenue opportunities. Effective enterprise mobility requires seamless access to information — from anywhere, at any time and from any device. Mobility can facilitate business continuity, improve collaboration, simplify teleworking and increase employee retention. Bring your own device (BYOD), while not part of every mobility strategy, is increasingly accepted in enterprises as consumerization firmly takes hold. Enterprises must incorporate security into their mobility strategies. 2

4. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Take-Aways Isolating business information and applications on a personal device offers a mechanism for the enterprise to protect business information and apply controls, while still allowing employees the freedom to choose how their devices are configured and used. Managed information container products can provide this separation. The container creates a workspace on the device that is defined and managed by the enterprise. The container products have reached parity in base functionality and usually include applications for email, calendar and contacts, as well as a secure browser and applications to view and manipulate data. 3

5. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Take-Aways Containers include controls for authentication, encryption, wipe, authorization, secure communication and content that are managed by the enterprise. Containers, when managed and configured properly, provide an appropriate level of control for enterprise information in mobile environments if the risk to the enterprise of unauthorized disclosure is low to medium (depending on the risk appetite of the enterprise). 4

6. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Take-Aways Technology changes from device manufacturers (notably Apple and Samsung) impact how containers are deployed on these devices. Container vendors are adjusting their products to take advantage of new capabilities. Use cases are maturing and now include requirements for information distribution, sharing and synchronization, as well as resident mobile and mobile Web apps. Dealing with use cases moves the discussion out of the technical realm and into the domain of organizational culture and end-user preferences. User experience is an important consideration for the use of containers. While the user interface is likely not native, containers can bring improvements over native apps and benefits in the area of support. 5

7. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Take-Aways Activity in the container market is picking up with mobile device management (MDM) vendors adding capability and platform support. MDM and container vendors have been noticed by larger firms as evidenced by two acquisitions in November 2013 (Bitzer Mobile by Oracle, and Fiberlink Communications by IBM) and another in January 2014 (AirWatch by VMware). 6

8. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Take-Aways The strengths of managed information container technology are: -Containers enable the separation of business and personal applications and data so that a single device can be used for both work and personal life. -Containers help an enterprise manage the risk of sensitive data exposure through authentication, encryption, selective wipe and data use controls. -Containers can provide a common user experience across multiple devices. -Containers can help reduce enterprise support costs for mobility. -Containers can provide a single sign-on capability across multiple applications. 7

9. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Take-Aways The weaknesses of managed information container technology are: -The user experience is not the same as native applications on the device and, therefore, is not sought after by employees. -Even when the container app has benefits or when true native apps are used in the container, the UI still has a poor reputation. -Container vendors are not supporting all mobile computing devices and OSs. -Users do not like the process of switching between the container and the main user screen or the associated reauthentication that is often necessary. -Containers do not support the complete separation of phone and texting functions on mobile devices without the use of a separate voice over IP (VoIP) or unified communications (UC) application. -The protection offered by managed information containers is only as strong as the OS they are running on. -Technology and market changes make container vendor selection a tactical decision. 8

10. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Take-Aways Recommendations: -Containerization remains a strategic technology, but consider your vendor choice to be tactical, and do not consider container products to be long-term strategic purchases. -Determine use cases first as the use cases will define information and application requirements. Apps will drive the decisions around security controls to a greater extent in the future, and knowing the use case will help to identify the appropriate container solutions. -Use cases also define risk and help determine if containers are an appropriate option. Containers can be used when the risk of unauthorized disclosure is low to medium (depending on the risk appetite of the enterprise). -Include users in decision making. User experience is an important consideration, and user input is critical to later acceptance. 9

11. © 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Protecting Enterprise Information on Mobile Devices, Using Managed Information Containers Conclusion Container products are not appropriate for all users, use cases and devices, and while they do provide security, containers often do so at the expense of user experience. Containers, in general, provide an appropriate level of control for low-risk and (perhaps) medium-risk enterprise information in a mobile environment, but enterprises should consider container product choices as tactical, short-term solutions. The mobility market is evolving, and while container products have generally reached a level of parity when it comes to base functionality, the future of specific container products is unclear. 10