Will Samsung KNOX be a game changer in enterprise mobility?

Samsung’s KNOX lets enterprise users switch seamlessly between personal and business environments on their mobile device, thereby ensuring the security and integrity of their corporate data.

Security is often the top priority in enterprise mobility, which is why some organizations — like the Pentagon in the U.S. — still opt for BlackBerry, even as the platform has been surpassed by Android and iOS in sales and market share. While BlackBerry has launched its latest BlackBerry 10 platform with both enterprise and consumer markets in mind, Android and iOS are now starting to penetrate the enterprise, with the rise of “bring your own device” or BYOD setups.
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The U.S. department of defense, for instance, is set to welcome Android and iOS devices into its official fold starting 2014 (the department uses these for testing purposes at present). But what can help accelerate the adoption of Android devices in the enterprise market would be an initiative that Samsung has recently introduced: KNOX.
Samsung previously launched its SAFE initiative in 2012, which was geared toward the enterprise market. SAFE ensured security and feature enhancements for business use. This time, the latest KNOX feature lets users seamlessly switch between their personal and business profiles on supported Samsung smartphones at the tap of a button.
“The Knox solution allows employees to combine business and personal in a single device, without compromising the security that IT departments are looking for,” said Samsung in a statement. KNOX includes the following features, aimed at enterprise customers:

• Platform security, which includes secure boot, security-enhanced Android, ARM TrustZone based integrity measurement architecture.
• Application security, which includes the KNOX Container environment. This separates enterprise data from personal information that may be stored in a device. The KNOX container has its own home screen, launcher, applications and widgets. App security also includes an encrypted file system and on-demand FIPS certified VPN.
• Mobile device management in partnership with an enterprise-preferred vendor.

An icon on the lower-left corner of the phone lets users switch seamlessly between work and personal device environments, thereby keeping data from each environment distinct, which helps prevent potential loss and leakage of privileged information. While previous efforts at separating data included dual-boot or tunneling in through VPN and using a virtualized environment, Samsung’s solution does not have any lags, delays, or long boot-up times.
As such, KNOX is being cited as a big threat to BlackBerry’s business in the enterprise market. ”It’s not surprising that competitors are scrambling to get into the enterprise,” David J. Smith, BlackBerry’s executive vice-president of mobile computing, said in an emailed statement to the Canadian Press.
As it stands, BlackBerry is seeing a decline in its market share in enterprise. IDC found that 50 percent of smartphones shipped to enterprise customers in 2012 were iPhones. Samsung accounted for 16 percent of this market, while BlackBerry devices shrank to a 10 percent share. Still, the U.S. defense department has about 450,000 BlackBerry devices. The Pentagon wants to give employees the flexibility to use commercial products on its systems, though, without compromising security.
“This is not simply about embracing the newest technology –- it is about keeping the department’s workforce relevant in an era when information accessibility and cybersecurity play a critical role in mission success,” the department said in a statement.
KNOX launches in the second quarter of 2013.