Infotech Lead America: LG’s Optimus Vu is an enterprise-ready smartphone that offers what LG describes as ‘Privacy and Business (P&B) Virtualization’, to enable users to securely split personal data from business data to make the most of BYODfriendly environments.
Created in partnership with Verizon Wireless and VMWare, the Android based phone splits the operating system into half so that users can install and use their own data and applications in one half while giving their IT department secure, controlled access to business applications installed on the phone. The separate virtual workspace reduces the company’s burden and liability of managing the entire device while enabling IT to provide better control and security.
According to a research by Ovum, 50 percent of employees say privacy concerns would stop them accessing their own personal apps on a corporate provisioned smartphone. The LG Optimus Vu, known as Intuition in the U.S. is designed to keep personal and business-related matters separate on the same device.
The VMware Horizon Mobile offers a secondary operating system completely different from the one running on the device itself so that the user may switch back and forth between the two operating systems as needed.
In case the device is lost or stolen, corporate data is safeguarded with AES 256 data encryption and the ability to wipe the corporate workspace remotely, instead of wiping out the user’s personal data as well.
LG plans to introduce P&B Virtualization in more of its mobile devices as enterprises continue to look for maximum enterprise security on devices to make the most of embracing BYOD without encroaching on their employees’ private data on their devices.
Meanwhile, LG competitor Samsung’s KNOX version of Android which was developed specifically to win defence and enterprise contracts, was approved for use on Pentagon’s military networks earlier this month.
