Weighing The Pros And Cons Of Android

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies magazine

The open-source mobile platform has gained ground in the enterprise, but may not be a fit for every company.

The Android operating system is steadily gaining ground in enterprise mobile deployments. In part, this is because smartphones are increasingly being deployed for white-collar applications and in line-of-business/field service applications that were either previously served by rugged, Windows-based devices, or were completely paper based. “IDC analysts say Android now has the largest share of the smartphone market and saw tripledigit growth in 2012,” says Kyp Walls, director of product management at Panasonic System Communications Company of North America. “If you take into account the ongoing influence of BYOD [bring your own device], the growing familiarity with the OS, and the increasing number of app developers creating enterprise solutions, the future for Android in the mobile workforce looks bright. Although it may be hard to nudge Windows off the enterprise OS throne, Android will certainly find an audience.”