Enterprise App Store: The Foundation of Safe, Secure, & Robust Enterprise Mobility Strategies

Your business needs its own app store. Period.

We generally do not give much thought to app stores. Well, what’s there to think about – you might wonder. If you have an Android device, you use Google Play, and if you have an iOS device, you use App Store, right? Sure, that’s how most of us use the app stores of different mobile platforms. However, app stores come in a tremendous variety and complexity. In fact, there is an ocean of third-party app stores out there, and they are growing by the number, size, and popularity. However, this is just the tip of a very massive proverbial iceberg.

A growing number of individuals, groups, and organizations are deploying their own app stores for a variety of reasons. It might be time for your organization to create one too. Here’s why.

The Necessary Enterprise Solution

The rapid rise of the smartphone has made it an unavoidable presence in the enterprises. Whether organizations like it or not, their employees want to play, work, network socially, and collaborate on their smartphones. Faced with the increasing complexity of multiple platforms, apps, and devices, enterprises sought cross-platform Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions to manage their employees’ devices.

The MDM solutions allow enterprises to manage the threats arising from their employees’ devices without compromising on their experience or personal data. In doing so, MDM solutions introduce some sanity into the insanely complex world of enterprise mobility. However, they are not the magic pill to solve all the enterprise mobility challenges. Employees install apps from a variety of sources, and these apps can be a source of threat for enterprise data, applications, and networks.

That’s why enterprise app stores.

Freedom

Launching an in-house enterprise app store grants businesses the freedom to populate these platforms with apps that boost the productivity of their employees. Also, they do not have to worry about conforming with the extensive platform regulations of Google Play or Appstore. In addition, they do not have to worry about the extant vulnerabilities in the apps their employees are using. The apps on the enterprise app store are not only curated by the organization but also updated on employees’ devices on priority. So, any security vulnerabilities on older versions of the apps are tackled effectively.

Driver of EMM Success?

The cybersecurity threats arising from BYODs certainly warrant a more proactive approach from the enterprises. However, this puts them in an uncomfortable position – to manage employees’ personal devices. Privacy concerns apart, this can curb the workforce’s freedom to use apps of their choice – be it games, social media, or other apps – on their devices. Naturally, the organization’s enterprise mobility strategy has the potential to be met with internal resistance from the employees.

A smart, employee-friendly enterprise app store not only features productivity and work apps but also a good selection of entertainment apps, social networking apps, and other popular apps that are popular among their employees. Of course, these must be thoroughly vetted for any security concerns before being published on enterprise app stores. Such a whitelist in-house app store wins the affirmation of the workforce and ensures the higher success of the EMM initiative.

Besides these obvious advantages, an in-house enterprise app store brings many less obvious  advantages like in-depth app usage analytics data, which can prove to be invaluable for an analytics-driven business.