Motorola (NYSE: MMI) is eager to help solve consumerization-of-IT problems for the enterprise, and about six months ago it created a new division to work toward that goal. Among the major initiatives, the company is selling "Business Ready" Android devices that come with customization at the operating system level to give IT departments more control, reports Serdar Yegulalp at InformationWeek.

By focusing on the needs of IT departments managing gadgets designed primarily for consumers, Motorola is working to make Android devices more secure, manageable and affordable. Security and manageability are improved by adding a software layer on top of the operating system. This includes mobile device management that Motorola acquired via 3LM, which can put individual apps under either a work designation or a personal designation.

Users prefer this kind of app-centric security to a dual-faceted phone, said Christy Wyatt, senior vice president and general manager of the new division.

Motorola is also looking at ways to control mobile device costs by way of controlling data plans, Yegulalp reports."This is where a sandboxed approach of some kind becomes crucial: How do you separate a user's YouTube addiction from his genuine corporate Citrix usage, especially if they're all on the same billing plan?" he writes. "Different SIM cards isn't a solution, and so work continues to crack that nut as well."

For more:
- see Serdar Yegulalp's article at InformationWeek

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