VMware, LG Partnering Up to Combine Your Personal and Work Phone

Too often, I hear the story of the business professional who gets a new job or whose IT department gets antsy and wants to force a new phone on them. And often times, that “new” phone ends up being much worse and a lot more boring than the one they’ve come to know and love. LG and VMware have today announced a partnership that they hope will be the first step in changing that.

Using VMware, LG’s newer smartphones – predominantly Android-based starting in 2011 – will be able to help you switch between your work and personal profiles with the touch of a button. While virtualization isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination – on Android or otherwise – it’s great how easy they’ve made it here. Once you get your connection settings squared away for the first time, there’s no login to fuss around with each time you want to switch between work and play: just click and you’re immediately taken to the other profile.

And unlike other solutions, VMware keeps a saved state of whatever you were doing, so if you weren’t quite ready to finish listening to that song before you forgot you had to send that presentation to your colleague, you could just flipback and the music player would resume as if you’d never left.

This won’t be much to your common consumer, but for those whose workplaces tend to be strict about the applications and phones you can use to stay connected, LG’s making a case to go with them in 2011. And we know they’ll have some powerful phones that should be enough to entice you regardless. Press details straight ahead.

LG AND VMWARE JOIN FORCES TO ACCELERATE ENTERPRISE ADOPTION OF EMPLOYEE-OWNED SMARTPHONES

Partnership Targets New Methods for Businesses to Manage Employee-Owned Mobile Devices

SEOUL and PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 7, 2010 – LG Electronics (LG) and VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), today announced a partnership to help enterprises of all sizes improve security and control of sensitive corporate data while enabling more flexible access via employee-owned mobile devices.

Using end user computing technology from VMware, LG is aiming to increase its footprint in the enterprise sector while providing more options for both consumer and business customers. This new technology will enable users to adopt the mobile device of their choice, while allowing corporate IT departments to manage sensitive data on those devices with enterprise-level security and compliance.

Initial efforts include enabling LG smartphones to securely run a work account in isolation from a user’s personal account on a single mobile device. With this feature, LG mobile users will be able to safely carry a single device for both personal and work use. Solutions using mobile virtualization technology from VMware are expected to be available on LG smartphones in 2011.

“The enterprise and SMB markets are key areas of focus for LG,” said Ki S. Kim, Vice President of Global Enterprise Solutions at LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Our partnership with VMware is part of LG’s global strategy to develop smart mobile devices for businesses. Enterprise IT organizations are looking for a way to embrace the growing trend of employee-owned mobile devices at work, while still maintaining control over their corporate data. VMware’s industry leadership provides a platform for LG to extend its presence in enterprises and deliver compelling solutions that address the challenges raised by the convergence of IT and mobile communications.”

Enterprises Embrace Employee Owned Mobile Devices
More than ever, organizations are dealing with two fundamental client-computing pain points – providing secure data access to an increasing number of mobile users, and managing the burgeoning diversity of data, applications and client devices within the enterprise. Establishing a new end user computing model to address these points is a fundamental component the VMware “IT as a Service” vision.

“As workforces become more mobile, our customers increasingly view today’s new breed of mobile devices as mission critical tools for their business,” said Dr. Stephen Herrod, CTO and senior vice president of R&D, VMware. “The reality is that today’s employee-owned mobile devices are often more advanced than corporate offerings. As a result, the agile enterprise is looking to embrace new end user computing models that allow users to work on the devices they love. We are excited to work with LG to develop mobile solutions that address the end user desire for affinity and the enterprise desire for manageability, security and control.”

“Smartphones are driving demand for an enhanced mobile experience as business- specific devices lose appeal and employees look to use their personal devices at work,” said Stacy Crook, senior analyst for IDC’s Mobile Enterprise research programs. “For the business market, the individual-liable, employee-owned model is here to stay. Savvy companies will embrace the trend and procure the necessary means to ensure that all devices with sensitive information are managed properly.”

Humphrey Chen, executive director of New Technologies, Verizon Wireless added, “We’re seeing interest from Verizon Wireless customers in the area of mobile personas, which allow a personal mobile phone to be leveraged in a professional setting in a secure way that is IT-approved. The kind of virtualization VMware offers helps to make this happen, and we’re evaluating ways to help our customers achieve this.