VMware Inc. has enhanced its AirWatch enterprise mobility management (EMM) platform with enhanced deployment security and workflow features.

AirWatch 8.3 is intended to address the continuing quest to “enable more work to be done on the mobile platform,” said Blake Brannon, vice president of product marketing for AirWatch. “User experience trumps everything at the end of the day.”

With that in mind, VMware has added support for its new Workspace ONE application virtualization client that aims to provide a unified experience across every endpoint on the corporate network. Workspace ONE, which was introduced last week, enables employers to define the security level of an application based upon the requirements of the device accessing it. This feature enables single sign-on (SSO) to be applied to simplify installation by enabling users to avoid having to enter passwords by using VMware’s cloud -based authentication service.

AirWatch security now provides conditional access to any app or services using  the same technology used for mobile SSO, but with additional capability for the application to determine if it’s running on a container, jailbroken phone or managed device. “Effectively, it allows you to restrict someone from going to apps outside of the corporate app store and causing a breach,” Brannon said.

Access to corporate data can now be micro-segmented only to specific services rather than to the entire backend database. “Rather than giving every user access to the full network, an app can be given access to just to the servers they need to communicate with,” Brannon said. “We can effectively have millions of VLANs at one time.”

The new release also expands the AirWatch Privacy First Program with a website and visual privacy app that provides education about security and privacy while also dispensing advice on the value of mobile devices for productivity. VMware said AirWatch’s mobile management systems separates work and personal data, never allowing IT to capture personal information such as texts, personal emails, photos and notes-to-self. “You have a right to abide by privacy laws around the world,” Brannon said. Policies can now be set by someone other than the IT administrator, such as a chief privacy officer. This is particularly relevant in international situations where privacy laws may vary.

AirWatch 8.3 also adds industry templates, conditional access to mobile apps and device-to-datacenter security with expanded integration between AirWatch and VMware NSX network virtualization. The templates were compiled from analysis of customer mobile deployments to determine the best way to represent industry-specific workflows. “We’ve built the process to be wizard-driven so you don’t have to discover all the settings yourself,” Brannon said.

NSX integration enables administrators to dynamically set policies between AirWatch and NSX from a single console, limiting the footprint that mobile apps, data, devices and networks have inside the data center connection.

Cloud pricing per user starts at $103, with a full price schedule posted here. AirWatch claims to have 62,000 business customers.

Image courtesy VMware