Samsung Knox May Be The Hero for Mobile Device Management

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This post is sponsored by Samsung Business. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

One of the big topics at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is cybersecurity, particularly as it relates to mobility. As the workforce becomes increasingly and more fluidly mobile, the challenge for IT departments, regardless of business size, is to provide the right mix of security for the companies they serve and agile functionality for users. In the past, this balance required either clunky software that interfered with the functionality of smartphones, or the need to carry a personal phone and a company phone. Neither option was ideal, and we all knew it wouldn’t be long before someone would tackle this universal business mobility pain point.

Enter Knox, Samsung’s brilliant and multipurpose solution to this problem. Once installed, Knox (yes, like the famous fort) lets users switch between their personal apps and its password-protected workspace at the tap of a button. This eliminates both pain points we just touched on: clunky software, and the need to carry two phones: With Knox, smartphone functionality isn’t hindered, and your company phone can now live on the same device as the one you keep your favorite apps on. Problem solved.

From an IT standpoint, the beauty of Knox is that it is specifically designed to work with Samsung devices, so deployment is simple and scalable. (Samsung even offers a small business version of Knox called MyKnox for companies that don’t have an IT department.) On the enterprise side, IT admins can tailor security protocols and access to the Knox container to meet their companies needs.

To make things even easier, Samsung is now releasing its business-ready phones with the Knox Workspace already built-in. Interestingly, Samsung’s play in the space no longer only applies to its Galaxy devices but also extends to its more mid-range Hero product, which makes perfect sense when you think about it. Here’s where things get interesting: Not only does Knox now come pre-installed on Galaxy devices and the Hero, but it now seems increasingly baked into the device hardware at the platform level. In other words, you don’t need to transform a phone into a secure business tool by adding a few apps to it. It already comes fully equipped with that functionality.

What this means to users:

  • – No learning curve: Use the same familiar Android experience inside and outside of the Knox container.
  • The freedom to stay securely connected to your corporate data while on the go.
  • Easily switch from corporate to personal use.
  • Easily locate your misplaced or lost device. (A top concern of IT security managers is protecting data on lost and misplaced devices.)

Remote locking feature allows users and IT departments to secure corporate data on a lost device until it is found again.

With the induction of the Hero into the Knox ecosystem, this also means:

  • All day battery and fast charging
  • Expandable storage
  • True multi-tasking
  • No-touch experience
  • Enterprise app support
  • Big screen, small form factor (more immersive viewing in a more compact package)
  • Water and dust resistant (IP68 certified)
  • Expert services support
  • And of course, integration with global MDM/EMM partners to preserve existing IT investments.

By putting Knox at the center of its most popular devices, Samsung has found an elegant way of liberating and empowering the mobile workspace while addressing deep and complex security needs for the enterprise and IT departments. The days of having to carry two phones and waiting for the mobile enterprise space to catch up are finally over.

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