The VMware mobile virtualization platform: is that a hypervisor in your pocket?
ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review
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Enterprises today are faced with critical decisions as they consider exposing corporate data and applications to mobile devices. Many employees already own smartphones and tablets that have now matured to a point where these devices can be effectively managed using mobile device management (MDM) products. While this maturing device capability may provide the platform for enterprises to ensure a certain level of corporate compliance, MDM systems alone do not provide separation between corporate and personal assets in such a way that the "bring your own device" (BYOD) community is willing to adopt it. Key questions such as "Who owns the data on the device?" or "Does the enterprise have the authority to wipe away some or all of the data on a device upon concern of a security breach?" must be addressed. To extend the utility and flexibility of personally owned mobile devices in the enterprise, device management as well as asset separation should be considered. Unlike traditional corporate-issued laptops, which can be protected by full disk encryption techniques, mobile devices are more diverse in their individual platform capabilities. In addition, at most enterprises, most mobile devices that are brought forward for business purposes are personally owned, and this presents unique challenges. For personally owned enterprise-connected devices, it is important to preserve the user experience as it relates to personal use while providing a containerized enterprise experience as well as the additional layers of authentication that the enterprise imposes. This paper describes IBM's internal transformational journey relating to the creation of a comprehensive mobile ecosystem, highlighting newer revolutionary mobile device virtualization and containerization technologies that can separate personal and enterprise assets, provide for a transparent personal device experience, and ensure the security requirements of the enterprise.