Good Adds Android, iPhone Support

In order to help businesses handle the proliferation of employee-owned smartphones, Good Technology said Monday it is adding Android and iPhone support for its Good for Enterprise mobile messaging service.

The company said it expects enterprises to see a major influx of employees wanting to get their smartphones on the corporate network, and this consumerization of IT can lead to cost savings and productivity gains but also represents security risks. Good is hoping to address those concerns with its Good for Enterprise apps, which provide enterprise-grade messaging capabilities on a wide variety of devices.

The app securely connects handsets with Microsoft Exchange servers and Lotus Domino infrastructures. Good's Android and iPhone apps can be downloaded from the platform's respective app stores for free but end users must have a Good client access license before being able to access corporate e-mail. Good now supports nearly every major mobile platform, and it plans to add support for more operating systems in 2010.

Good said its customers are seeing increasing demand for iPhone support, and the iPhone 3GS has features like true Exchange policy support and hardware encryption that make it a good corporate citizen. While some would still like the device to be able to multitask and have stronger app provisioning capabilities, Good said businesses in multiple industries are eager to support the touchscreen device.

Good said it expects companies to see a very large demand for Android-powered smartphones in 2010 because manufacturers like HTC, LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson have shown support for the Linux-based OS. Android 2.0 boosted the enterprise features of the OS, and Good said it expects Google to continue to incorporate more enterprise-friendly services over the next year.