As the use of tablets and smartphones within organisation grows further, mobile device management (MDM) becomes an increasingly "crucial discipline," Gartner says.
The analyst predicts global pure MDM revenues (excluding revenues from messaging and security) will exceed $500 million in 2012.
"With the unabated growth of consumerisation, IT leaders need to implement MDM to manage corporate- and employee-owned devices, and assign responsibilities inside IT departments for the service, application and security of all these devices," Gartner continues.
MDM demands coordination between security and operations-- with a person or group monitoring the the mobile device landscape while working in tandem with security.
Organisations are also changing their approach to controlling mobility-- from a single-standard to a more flexible approach Gartner calls "managed diversity."
Such a flexible strategy supports BYOD programs while monitoring business-specific (corporate liable) devices.
MDM is a relatively young market, despite some vendors and products being around for a while. Gartner counts around 100 MDM vendors, most of which offering on-premises or software-as-a-service tools.
Organisations have to choose their approach to MDM-- either heavyweight (container-based) or lightweight (policy-based) depending on specific requirements and factors including device ownership, security, compliance, app delivery and device usability.
Go Gartner Says Mobile Device Management is Essential for IT Success