What Is Mobile Application Management?

Mobile Application Management (MAM) is the ability to securely install, monitor, update, and coordinate applications on individual devices. Using Mobile Application Management tools and software, IT experts can control the installation and uninstallation processes for publicly available applications and specific in-house business applications designed for employee usage.

This management capability extends to personal devices owned by employees, also known as BYOD devices, and to devices owned by the organization and distributed to employees, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and any other device with access to individual applications.

Contemporary Mobile Application Management tools use new cloud-based technology to provide extra efficiency, consolidated organization and access, and improved security measures for protecting, providing, and restricting access to individual apps.

Benefits of Mobile Application Management

Mobile Application Management provides IT experts and network managers with a convenient advanced level of security for protecting their network by securing every mobile application entry point.

The benefits of Mobile Application Management include:

Increased organizational capabilities, including the option to make custom catalogs of apps that are relevant to their particular organization

Better security as apps related to the workplace are separated from personal app usage on the same device, providing more security around work-related apps

More efficient operational capacity. IT experts can coordinate, monitor, deploy, adjust, update, organize, and protect organization-specific apps across all user devices from the convenience of a single console

Separate apps by department and project. IT admins can grant or restrict access to different applications depending on the relevant project or department rather than indiscriminately providing open access for each app to all employees

Application update coordination. App managers can control and coordinate individual application updates from their central console to maximize individual app protective abilities

Application configuration management. In-house IT teams can configure apps across systems, setting up authorization procedures and requirements for Android, Windows, and iOS apps for personal and company devices

Manage business-specific apps. IT teams can install and monitor public apps across all user devices and specific in-house apps built for employees of that particular business to use

IT admins can use Mobile Application Management tools to automatically install applications on user devices with minimal user interaction required. This silent installation process allows IT teams to streamline all organization apps’ setup, deployment, maintenance, and update procedures.

Mobile Application Management Features

Mobile Application Management allows network managers to control access to mobile apps, providing essential layers of security for their organization. With mobile application management software, network managers can:

Determine which apps are mandatory for all employees or a specific team working on a particular project. This means the mandatory app will be accessible to each end user that needs to use it.
Restrict individual devices to only function with a pre-authorized set of allowed applications.
Blocklist applications, forbidding access to these apps through organization networks.
Containerize apps on personal devices that individual employees bring from home.
Monitor data usage across specific applications.
Create catalogs of apps and group apps according to specific functions.
Assemble a database of managed apps that are relevant to the organization.
Set up permissions and configurations for each app that employees can access through the organization network, including push notifications and security updates.

How Mobile Application Management Works

Mobile Application Management software provides coordination and control capabilities for an organization’s IT expert or team of administrators. IT admins can remotely manage and deploy public and in-house business-specific applications through a consolidated central control hub.

IT admins make adjustments through an OTA connection, an over-the-air connection. This OTA connection can be a cellular or Wi-fi network that allows the admin to sync with and access apps across employee and employer devices.

IT managers schedule and deploy app updates, install new apps, uninstall outdated or redundant apps, grant permissions for specific teams, users, or devices, and restrict access for other users and devices.

Additionally, IT admins can containerize apps, separating personal applications on user devices from apps related to their business or organization. Each app gets stored in its container, keeping it distinct and secure from other categories of apps on the same device.

Mobile Application Management vs. Mobile Device Management

Mobile Application Management differs from Mobile Device Management (MDM), in several ways. While mobile application management and MDM offer app containerization and wrapping functions, the two approaches work differently. Mobile Application Management controls applications that have particular features. Customers can customize these features to their needs, deciding, for example, whether or not to include an app catalog supplied by the vendor.

On the other hand, MDM manages the device that contains the app, controlling the application by controlling the actual device. MDM was an early solution to meet the emerging needs of managing mobile device usage in the workplace.

FAQ

Why do organizations need mobile application management?

Mobile application management is essential for protecting sensitive business data from being accessed by cybercriminals or accidentally leaked by unsuspecting employees.

Businesses that allow employees to bring their own devices to use at work (BYOD) are especially vulnerable to possible data breaches via unsecured app activity. So mobile application management software allows IT admins to protect, monitor, and manage all aspects of corporate app usage across personal and corporate devices, minimizing security vulnerabilities.

What is the difference between MDM and MAM?

Mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) share certain features but differ in crucial ways. With mobile device management, IT admins control and manage users’ devices to access an organization’s network.

With mobile application management, on the other hand, IT admins coordinate, control, and manage the applications themselves, installing updates and granting or restricting access to the apps directly without controlling the device they are using.

What is a mobile application?

A mobile application is designed to provide various services and functions within the mobile device it is designed for. This includes a consideration of the limitations and abilities of the particular device. These mobile devices include smartphones, tablets, or mobile music players.

There are generally three main types of mobile applications. These varieties include cross-platform apps, which address issues of hybrid functionality across devices, web apps, which also work online, and native apps, which provide sophisticated user experiences.

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