On Wednesday, Google Inc. announced its Android for Work program in an effort to tap into the “business and innovation potential” of the more than one billion Android smartphones in use.

Google claims that for many Android smartphone owners the devices have become essential tools in their day to day lives, both personal and professional. But Rajen Sheth, director of product management of Android and Chrome for Work feels that “for the majority of workers, smartphones and tablets are underutilized in the workplace.”

Google is partnering with a group of tech companies ranging from device manufacturers to network infrastructure providers to management software and app developers to launch Android for Work. Some well-known brands make up the ranks, including Cisco, Salesforce.com, Box, SAP, Samsung, LG, BlackBerry and Adobe among others.

The overall goal is to allow business to deploy, manage, secure and develop enterprise apps on the Android platform.

Android for Work on Android 5.0 (Lollipop) lets users configure “work profiles” alongside their personal profile. The IT department can then deploy and manage work-related apps to the work profile while securing them through Android’s default encryption, enhanced SELinux security enforcement and multi-user support.

The separate profiles mean that employees can continue to use their personal apps and profiles secure in the knowledge that their employers are only able to access work-related apps and data and cannot view or erase personal data.

Devices running Ice Cream Sandwich through KitKat do not support work profiles natively. For these users, Google has created the Android for Work app. The app can be managed by the IT department and delivers mail, calendar, contacts, documents, browsing and work approved apps.

For the IT department, Google has created Google Play for Work.  IT can use this dedicated app store to deploy and manage enterprise apps for users on Android for Work. It lets IT easily distribute apps and control who has access.

Android for Work comes with built-in productivity tools via a suite of business apps for email, contacts and calendar, which supports both Exchange and Notes and provides document editing capabilities for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Google is hoping to attract software developers by touting that they only need to create a single version of their Android app and can deploy it to any Android device without the need for alterations or wrapping.

For IT departments, Android for Work will provide a simple way to manage Android devices through integration with enterprise mobility management (EMM) providers. Google promises that it will add more EMM partners to the program in the near future.

Image via Android for Work