ISSN 2348-1196 (print) International Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology Research ISSN 2348-120X (online) Vol. 9, Issue 1, pp: (145-151), Month: January - March 2021, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Publishing Enterprise Mobile Application Process 1
Adel A. Marghalani, 2Hafed A. Alghamdi, 3Marwan A. Dulaijan, 4Meshal K. Thuaini 1,2,3,4
Information Technology, Saudi Aramco
Abstract: The recent exponential adoption of modern mobile device and application access management solutions brought a set of misperceptions, between information technology analysts and information security experts, regarding publishing IT services on mobile devices. Many large enterprises and organizations utilize more than one solution to meet business demands and increase employees' productivity. Deciding on which technology a mobile application should be published is still ambiguous. Therefore, this paper articulates the importance of having a standard process to be adopted by the enterprise, to streamline the process of publishing mobile applications on mobile devices. Enforcing this process will standardize the development of mobile applications within the enterprise, and ensure these applications are published on the most suitable and cost-effective mobile management platform. Only Android and iOS/iPad devices will be considered in the paper as Windows device management will be covered in another paper. Keywords: Mobile Device Management, Enterprise Mobility Management, MDM, MAG, EMM, MAM, BYOD, Public Stores.
I. INTRODUCTION A standardized process for publishing mobile applications is necessary for enterprises and organizations to roll out mobile applications on a suitable, reliable, and cost-effective platform. Without having a standard process, a mobile application can be hosted on an expensive platform such as Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), or an unsecured platform, such as public stores based on the application's developer preference. For example, a mobile application that does not access sensitive information nor requires an access to enterprise resources can be hosted on a costly platform. An application that accesses an enterprise sensitive data and resources can be hosted on public app stores, exposing the enterprise data to potential security risks, or might violate the country’s cybersecurity regulations. Many available management solutions such as public app stores, Mobile Device Management (MDM), Mobile Application Management (MAM), Mobile Access or API Gateway (MAG), and Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) are available for hosting mobile applications, and its APIs where each of these solutions provides different levels of security controls. Some of these solutions offer security controls for the mobile applications' access and devices operating system to ensure having extra protection and control over enterprise data stored on these devices, such as adding device-level passcode or applying data leakage prevention (DLP) controls. In general, there are six popular methods for publishing enterprises' mobile apps will be presented in the next section. The primary purpose of this paper is highlighting the urgent demand for having a standard process that ensures each mobile application is analyzed promptly during the planning phase, in coordination with developers, security experts, and infrastructure analysts, to determine the best method for publishing the mobile application. Following this process should assist in having most enterprise mobile applications published in the most efficient solution with the minimum required security controls.
II. ENTERPRISE MOBILE DEVICE AND APPLICATION MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS Before diving into the development of the publishing mobile applications process, it is vital to have an overview of the most popular mobile application publishing solutions. There are six enterprise solutions most organizations consider for publishing mobile applications. The criticality of a mobile application, publishing costs, and the sensitivity of data it is accessing should determine the solution for publishing the mobile application. Some mobile applications can be published
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