New innovations almost always begin as point products. But the integration of these into more robust systems is what builds solutions – and industries.
Aerohive’s announcement last week that it has added an API for MDM to their HiveOS platform, and that MDM leader AirWatch is taking advantage of same, is evidence that the great mobile management consolidation is now underway. A few years ago I coined the phrase the Consolidation Principle to describe how innovation usually begins with point products that innovate around one new capability, but real adoption of said capability doesn’t occur until that functionality is rolled up with other innovations into more robust products. Should MDM and WLAN management be thus integrated? I think so – in fact, I’d suggest that many elements of IT management presented on a single, integrated pane is clearly the future. Value and ease-of-use are both improved. Multiple databases can similarly be rolled up, and related pools of essential and required information, like directories, can be more broadly and effectively applied with less redundancy, complexity, and opportunities for error. Everyone, including the end-users who benefit from all of this, goes home happy.
I expect to see the Consolidation Principle at work in many announcements this year. Stay tuned.
