Mobile application management (MAM) is seeing increased adoption levels as enterprises seek solutions more flexible than traditional mobile device management (MDM)., according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Currently, MDM solutions comprise over 60% of enterprise mobility management solution users; however, by the end of 2019, MDM share will drop to a bit more than 30% and MAM will command the lion’s share at over 60%. Thanks to large growth in the Asia-Pacific region, MAM will supplant MDM as the preferred enterprise choice, notes the research group.

"MDM is a tool being reserved more for corporate-liable devices, while MAM is a mobility solution for the masses, or employee-owned devices associated with BYOD," says ABI Research Senior Analyst Jason McNicol. "For employees to embrace enterprise mobility initiatives and more importantly policies, more flexible yet secure solutions are mandatory. Hence the growing demand in MAM solutions."

ABI Research has identified three different MAM groups: MAM 1.0 consists of enterprises like App47 and Apperian focusing on app stores and app development platforms; MAM 2.0 is comprised of vendors like Mocana, IBM-Fiberlink and VMware-AirWatch that provide more wholistic app solutions and mobility services; and the newest group MAM 3.0 is a workspace management solution, like AT&T Toggle or Citrix.

"MAM has evolved from a MDM side-kick role to a more important, central role for enterprise mobility," McNicol continues. "Impacting this shift is the growing integration of security in MAM solutions. Initially MAM was more focused on app development and deployment tools with limited attention to security. Now, app security is just as important as usability and scalability. These advances in security have really aided the MAM evolution and growing market acceptance."