IBM’s already extensive MobileFirst portfolio of software and services is being expanded again, with the proposed purchase of cloud-based mobile device management (MDM) software provider Fiberlink Communications. IBM already offers MDM capabilities but this acquisition has more of a BYOD management slant because Fiberlink's MaaS360 cloud services are designed to offer self-service enrolment of BYOD, in minutes, and use containerisation to separate personal from enterprise data and content on mobile devices. Those features differentiate it from IBM’s existing MDM capabilities and make it a useful addition to the portfolio.
Terms were not disclosed but Fiberlink has around 400 staff and 3500 customers in sectors such as financial services, healthcare and manufacturing and the client list includes brand names like Shell, Vodafone, and MasterCard. As well as slotting into the MobileFirst portfolio, Fiberlink will form part of IBM’s SaaS portfolio as it will run on its Softlayer cloud infrastructure, but will also be available on-premise. This acquisition will put more pressure on independent MDM providers like AirWatch and MobileIron.
Mobile offers IBM a significant new business line and the company has been diligent in acquiring and building resources at the application infrastructure level, addressing core areas like transaction and threat intelligence security (via Trusteer), access management (via Security Access Manager), end point management (via EndPoint Manager), application development (via Worklight and Security AppScan) as well as mobile user experience and engagement via Tealeaf and Xtify (see the HotViews archive here for detail on these acquisitions). The challenge is ensuring they operate together on a technical and user experience level. Unified management and security of content, transactions, processes and identify across mobile and conventional platforms is a baseline requirement for mobile strategies - IBM's expanding bag of mobile offerings highlights the range of capabilities and complexities involved.