VMware has expanded its partnership with Google, leveraging Workspace One, AirWatch, and Horizon technologies to accelerate the adoption of Chromebooks in the enterprise.
Revealed at Dell EMC World 2017, the agreement enhances existing application accessibility of the devices, with Workspace One enabling one-click secure authentication and management of applications - cloud, web and virtual - for organisations deploying Chromebooks.
“VMware has been working with Google since 2015 to offer secure Android devices and applications, most recently with advanced support for Android Enterprise,” VMware senior vice president and general manager end-user computing Sumit Dhawan said.
”This partnership shows our commitment to giving customers the flexibility to pick the device of their choice and enabling the delivery of any application on any device to end users.”
Currently, Chrome OS provides multiple layers of protection including security modules, such as Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chips specialised for encryption, alongside verified boot to check for compromises, sandboxing for containing threats and full disk encryption for data protection.
Together with Workspace One on Chromebooks, Dhawan said IT administrators stand to benefit from additional security capabilities to help deploy, configure and secure, web and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications.
“We are also collaborating on advancements to unify native Android applications,” Dhawan added.
“Windows applications can also be delivered through VMware Horizon 7 and VMware Horizon Cloud virtual applications and desktops, that can be quickly accessed through dynamic contextual decision-making, secured in the data centre and provisioned through Workspace One.”
Dhawan said end-users can now utilise single sign-on to a digital workspace, in addition to greater levels of security.
“With Chrome OS we continue to see momentum in the enterprise given our efforts to deliver speed, security, simplicity and share-ability to customers,” Google Chrome OS director of product management Rajen Sheth added.
“From Windows to web to mobile apps, this partnership with VMware and the integration with VMware Workspace One will allow our customers to easily and securely deploy applications on Chrome OS devices.”
The partnership follows news that worldwide shipments of traditional PCs - desktop, notebook, workstation - totalled 60.3 million units in the first quarter of 2017, posting year-over-year growth of 0.6 per cent.
“Application ecosystems are a major factor in the success of an endpoint operating system,” IDC program director of enterprise mobility Phil Hochmuth added.
“Growth in the Chrome OS application ecosystem has improved the quality of the user experience with the platform.
“Adding VMware Workspace One to further support the management and delivery of business applications to Chrome OS devices is a logical move forward.”
James Henderson attended Dell EMC World 2017 as a guest of Dell EMC.
