On the Radar: Apperian MAM

Transcription

1 Mobile application management and enterprise app store Publication Date: 12 May 2015 Product code: IT Richard Absalom

2 Summary Catalyst There is a massive opportunity for enterprises to develop, onboard, distribute, and securely manage employee-facing mobile apps of all kinds throughout the workforce, to support and secure associated corporate data, and to manage the full lifecycle of each app. There are also many challenges in making these things possible. Apperian s mobile application management (MAM) and enterprise app store platform helps to meet these challenges by securely deploying well-managed apps to users and supporting all aspects of the lifecycle in a way that is not as invasive or restricting as solutions based purely on mobile device management (MDM). Apperian s platform has helped IT and lines of business to secure and distribute more than 1.6 million enterprise apps to users through private, branded app stores. Key messages Apperian s platform can easily onboard, secure, and manage all forms of mobile apps throughout their lifecycles. There is no need for device enrollment, and it provides security and policy management at the app level without requiring a MDM profile. It supports bring your own device (BYOD) policies and doesn t stop users from using apps purchased from public app stores. It supports and secures corporate apps through app-wrapping and policy-based security at the app level, whether those apps are purchased through a public app store or custom-developed specifically for the organization. It can support multiple development platforms and onboard apps without the need to modify code or use software development kits (SDKs). Ovum view Apperian s app-centric approach is a fast and highly flexible and scalable way to onboard apps and manage the full app lifecycle. The close integration with mobile application development platforms (MADPs) speeds the deployment and management of a high volume of developed apps and release cycles common with agile development methodologies. Because Apperian does not require device enrollment, it not only manages apps for full-time employees, but also offers a compelling method for managing and securing mobile apps and data that are in the hands of extended workers, such as contractors, field techs, and dealer networks, or users who simply won t accept an MDM profile or agent on their personal device. For organizations using MDM software for device management, Apperian can seamlessly run alongside it, acting as the system of record for all mobile apps and across all users. Ovum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Page 2

3 Recommendations for enterprises Why put Apperian on your radar? Organizations of all kinds that need to onboard and manage multiple forms of mobile enterprise apps, and make them available to users rapidly and securely on both corporate and personal devices, should look at Apperian. Highlights Solution highlights Apperian delivers its services to enterprise IT departments through its MAM platform. This platform includes a private, native app store for ios, Android, and Windows that supports native and HTML5 apps and links to apps in public app stores. Apperian also exclusively offers a hybrid app that helps to distribute mobile-friendly websites to mobile users. Apperian provides full app lifecycle management for mobile enterprise apps, including onboarding, inspecting, securing, signing and deploying, and updating. Every customer gets a private, custom enterprise app store for deploying apps, allowing for easy management by the IT department, and a consumer-like app store experience for employees. The look and feel of the private app store is modeled on public app stores, making it immediately familiar to users and eliminating the need for training. Apperian supports role-based access to apps within the app store, so users only see the apps that are useful to them. It is this app-centric ability to onboard all forms of apps that makes the solution easy to adopt. Apps can be corporate built, third-party purchased, or downloaded from public sources, and all can be wrapped and managed with policy-based security and implemented with a simple point-and-click selection process. This solves a problem for organizations struggling to deal with securing apps and data in a BYOD environment or when trying to manage and secure data on extended workers devices. Although Apperian can be used alongside any MDM service, it does not require the enrolment of devices in an MDM solution, and it is able to handle unmanaged devices with users and apps that are outside the control of the organization. Rather than move into the MADP space, Apperian aims to empower mobile application developers to publish apps directly to its platform. This means IT departments using MADPs, such as IBM Worklight, Appcelerator, and Xamarin, can easily and quickly publish, inspect, secure, and sign new apps and app versions to an entire organization for testing, pilot, and full deployment. Apperian also provides dynamic security and management policies that provide security layers to an app and helpful management capabilities. With delivery via one of the industry s most advanced app-wrapping capabilities, it can bring apps securely under management without modifying the app s source code or requiring the use of a SDK. Security policies such as remote data wipe, enterprise authentication, and data-at-rest encryption can be applied in a centralized and consistent way as a step in the lifecycle workflow. Apperian also offers management policies such as app usage, which monitors an app s usage in detail to see who is using it and how, with the result available in a Ovum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Page 3

4 dashboard view. The platform offers extensive analytics support for a corporate view of app lifecycle usage and performance. Apperian provides all customers with access to a Customer Success Team to offer advice and support to help ensure the success of each installation, as well as assisting with the rollout and launch of key mobile apps. The pre-implementation support services include consultative enterprise mobility strategy planning to help organizations determine how best to roll out and internally market and promote both the private app store and the apps themselves. Technology partnerships Apperian s strategic aim is to work closely with the MADP providers to open up the enterprise opportunity to the wider developer ecosystem, acting as a go-between for developers and enterprise users. It already has partnerships in place with platforms such as Alpha Software, AnyPresence, Appcelerator, IBM Worklight, ifactr, ViziApps, and Xamarin, as well as integration with Jenkins. Apperian also has a long-established relationship with Mocana to provide integrated app-level encryption technology that has been extended to cover VPN technologies and now also Mocana s new Atlas appliance, allowing high-scale VPN tunnels. Background Apperian is privately owned, and it has received $28m in investment, including $4m from Intel in early It was founded in 2009 by a former director at Apple who was on the team that developed the first enterprise apps for ios. The Apperian platform was architected based on the team s early experience in creating apps and its deep understanding of how to get apps privately and securely deployed in an enterprise setting. Apperian has built up an impressive list of resellers, including AT&T, BT, Dell, IBM, Innovapptive, Intel Security, Santa Clara Tech, Telus, and many other app development partners. It is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with teams throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. It employs around 70 staff. Current position Apperian has distributed and installed more than 1.6 million apps in enterprise and public sector organizations. In the last 12 months it has seen a 200% increase in its customer base. Apperian is understandably proud of its high customer retention rate, with a 12-month monthly recurring revenue (MRR) churn of only 1.6%. Most of Apperian s enterprise-level customers are based in North America or Europe and have a large percentage of mobile workers. Its customers include Maxim Integrated Products, NVIDIA, Nationwide, New Balance, and the US Department of Homeland Security. Apperian is a software-as-a-service- (SaaS-) based platform that has term-based contracts. The subscription business grew by 85% in 2015 compared to 2014, with pipeline growth up 300% in the same period. The cost to use the platform begins at around $4 per user per month, with additional fees for the use of premium features as well as volume discounts based on deployment size. Although many of its customers are large organizations, Apperian has increasingly been servicing midsize and smaller businesses looking to tap into the benefits of deploying mobile apps to workers. For smaller Ovum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Page 4

5 deployments, Apperian offers a variety of starter packs providing access its core functionality. Regardless of user size, there is unlimited app support capacity. Future plans Apperian continually updates its platform to progress its rich back-end security and management capabilities for administrators while making the user interface easier and more intuitive. It has also been steadily opening up access to the platform via its application programming interface (API), to make it easier to integrate with other enterprise systems, and we expect this cycle of development to continue. Data sheet Key facts Table 1: Data sheet: Apperian Product name Apperian MAM Product classification Mobile app management and enterprise app store platform Version number N/A (cloud-based) Release date N/A Industries covered All verticals Geographies covered Global Relevant company sizes Mainly large mobile workforces Licensing options SaaS subscription, per user per year URL Routes to market Direct and through resellers Company headquarters Boston, MA, US Number of employees 70 Source: Ovum Appendix On the Radar On the Radar is a series of research notes about vendors bringing innovative ideas, products, or business models to their markets. Although On the Radar vendors may not be ready for prime time, they bear watching for their potential impact on markets and could be suitable for certain enterprise and public sector IT organizations. Further reading Harnessing the Real Transformational Power of Mobile Enterprise Apps, IT (March 2015) Ovum Decision Matrix: Selecting an Enterprise Mobility Management Solution, , IT (September 2014) Ovum Decision Matrix: Selecting a Mobile App Development Platform Solution, , IT (February 2015) 2015 Trends to Watch: Enterprise Mobility, IT (November 2014) Ovum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Page 5

6 Author Martin Gandar, Associate Senior Research Analyst Richard Absalom, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Mobility Ovum Consulting We hope that this analysis will help you make informed and imaginative business decisions. If you have further requirements, Ovum s consulting team may be able to help you. For more information about Ovum s consulting capabilities, please contact us directly at consulting@ovum.com. Copyright notice and disclaimer The contents of this product are protected by international copyright laws, database rights and other intellectual property rights. The owner of these rights is Informa Telecoms and Media Limited, our affiliates or other third party licensors. All product and company names and logos contained within or appearing on this product are the trademarks, service marks or trading names of their respective owners, including Informa Telecoms and Media Limited. This product may not be copied, reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of Informa Telecoms and Media Limited. Whilst reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the information and content of this product was correct as at the date of first publication, neither Informa Telecoms and Media Limited nor any person engaged or employed by Informa Telecoms and Media Limited accepts any liability for any errors, omissions or other inaccuracies. Readers should independently verify any facts and figures as no liability can be accepted in this regard readers assume full responsibility and risk accordingly for their use of such information and content. Any views and/or opinions expressed in this product by individual authors or contributors are their personal views and/or opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Informa Telecoms and Media Limited. Ovum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Page 6

7 CONTACT US INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Beijing Dubai Hong Kong Hyderabad Johannesburg London Melbourne New York San Francisco Sao Paulo Tokyo Ovum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Page 7