VMware Workspace ONE Anchors Mobile Management on Identity

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VMware first announced Workspace ONE back in February. Set to officially launch this summer, the offering integrates elements from AirWatch, VMware Identity Manager and Horizon Air to create secure, user-centric app experiences for both mobile workers and IT administrators based on user identities and policies governing their access to corporate apps and data.

Today, VMware announced new capabilities that organizations will use to manage and secure sensitive mobile app data on devices secured under MDM and unmanaged devices alike.

By supplying a work email address, VMware Workspace ONE provides users with secure, single sign-on access to Web, mobile and Windows application. Using VMware Verify, a two-factor authentication app, organizations can log into corporate applications from any smartphone or tablet. When prompted, users simply swipe to accept a notification, thereby automatically launch the app.

To help balance the scales back in favor of employees, a new Workspace Services feature allows users to implement the data protection capabilities that are built into iOS, Android and Windows 10. The privacy-enhancing feature prevents IT from tracking personal apps, GPS activity, local storage and other mobile device attributes that have little or no bearing on a user’s job.

Workspace ONE will also feature tighter integration with Windows Store for Business, Microsoft’s app marketplace for Windows 10. Finally, the product can be used to manage Apple’s device management capabilities for schools introduced in iOS 9.3. Workspace ONE will support Apple School Manager and the Classroom App, the company said.

All told, Workspace ONE is meant to help businesses allow their workers to work anywhere from practically any device by embracing “the concepts of identity management and self-service,” according to Kevin Strohmeyer, senior director of product marketing at VMware End-user Computing.

“Employees are either pre-entitled or may request access to services. Those services are delivered in a contextual experience,” blogged Strohmeyer. “This means that it isn’t simply about any app on any device with a common policy, but instead, provides the ability to make risk-based decisions on what apps employees should be able to access based on the device they happen to be using at the time, and a whole host of conditions from location to device posture.”

VMware Workspace ONE will be generally available by the end of June. Cloud subscription pricing starts at $8 per user per month. On-premises perpetual licenses start at $150 per user.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.