According to a research, 2 out of 3 American and European information workers choose to bring their own smartphones and tablets to use at work. While this may seem efficient and boost performance, the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend poses management and security issues. This calls for a mature enterprise mobility management solutions (EMM). SAP recognizes this need and introduces a new and improved version of Afaria in the market.

In her official statement following the Afaria launch, Stacy Crook, program manager for Mobile Enterprise Research at IDC explains the basic framework of SAP Afaria and how will it address security issues of BYOD:

“In our recent report on the mobile enterprise management (MEM) market, IDC recommends that enterprises evaluate mobile solutions that both manage and secure devices and mobile applications. SAP’s MEM offering, [SAP] Afaria, looks to address the broad requirements of enterprises — for both corporate- and employee-owned mobile devices — and users. Some of the key solution differentiators for companies to look for include complete app and device life-cycle support, analytics on all data collected/managed, high scalability, product maturity/flexibility and on-premise and on-demand/cloud delivery.”

The latest Afaria version does not only meet the conventional EMM demands of organizations. It has the ability to eradicate complexity and provide full support to the growing mobile workforce by securing all enterprise data transmitted to and from mobile devices. When a mobile device is lost, the app wipes out all data stored in it.

Key features of the new SAP Afaria include enterprise integration that highlights deep directory integration, enhanced email access control and device remediation, and enhanced PKI certificate management. Application management through app portal enhancements and new API for SAP Afaria and policy features is seen to extend better user experience. There are also iOS enhancements injected to easily detect jailbreak especially in the regions where jail-broken devices are prevalent.

Sanjay Poonen, president and head of Mobile Division at SAP, takes pride on this recent Afaria launch and hints about their goal to connect a billion mobile devices around the globe.  “SAP is the undisputed leader in MDM and now EMM. We win customers because SAP Afaria scales to meet the expanding requirements of large enterprises. As the industry moves beyond MDM to EMM, customers resonate with our vision to connect over 1 billion devices, which puts us in the best position to future-proof their investment with the most expansive mobile platform in the industry.”

BYOD trend is following an upward trajectory. While is positions itself to be an integral portion of enterprises, IT managers are tasked to ensure secure and responsible data access.

SAP on the other hand is aggressively imprinting a solid mark in the mobile industry with its successive recent updates. A few days ago, the company launched an upgraded model of business intelligence (BI) functions of its BusinessObject Mobile app designed for the iPad. This version promotes better visualization, data search and collaboration amongst users. SAP has gone deep from data collection to analysis and decision-making on mobile devices. The recent improvements in mHealth provide analytical tools to providers and payers using smartphones, laptops and tablet devices. It has also been reported that the company is working on full-pledged Windows 8 mobile enterprise applications.