VMware Inc. has come up with a novel new application for software-defined networking that extends the benefits of the emerging management paradigm beyond the complicated mesh of cables and wires running through the data center directly to business workers, or more specifically, their mobile devices.

The model draws on the virtualization giant’s presence across both sides of the equation to provide organizations with the ability to bring employee-owned phones and tablets under the control of the automated policies governing their networks. That allows VMware’s mobile management suite to take advantage of the isolation capabilities built into its software-defined stack.

NSX, as the network virtualization platform is known, implements a concept called micro-segmentation to split up infrastructure into logical partitions that are completely isolated from one another as far as the workloads running inside are concerned. That seals off any access routes that hackers might normally exploit to deepen their reach into an organization’s network.

The functionality provides an added level of security on top of the application-level controls included in VMware’s mobility platform, allowing administrators to set up subnets configured to provide only the data that a particular business requires. The same microsegmentation can also be applied to the company’s desktop virtualization suite to isolate individual instances and thereby stop a hacked account from compromising the entire network.

From a competitive standpoint, meanwhile, integrating the technologies kills two birds with one stone. Not only can VMware boast of providing an extra layer of isolation that rivaling device management providers without a presence in back-end networks can’t match, but the combination also gives CIOs yet another reason to buy into its software-defined networking stack as well.

Amplifying this is the fact that desktop visualization mobility are usually fairly low on the operational agenda, which reduces the amount of risk – and convincing – involved in making such a change, thereby widening the appeal. And once VMware has a foot in the door, it becomes a much simpler matter to expand to the mission-critical applications that it’s ultimately targeting with NSX.