Good Technology: iOS continues enterprise dominance; growth seen in secure browsing and messaging

Good Technology announced its 10th quarterly Mobility Index report (PDF) yesterday. iOS continues to dominate mobile device activations, smaller form factors outpaced larger ones, and secure browser activations nearly tripled quarter-over-quarter.

As security failures continue to make the headlines, it is encouraging to see the most growth in secure browsers and messaging across the Good Technology client base. The report states that secure browsing represents 27 percent of all apps deployed by organization with custom business apps and secure messaging both at about 20 percent each.

Secure messaging led smartphone apps while document editing led the tablet space. Data such as this shows that people are indeed getting work done with their tablets while the smartphone remains a critical messaging device.

iOS quarterly activations increased from 69 to 73 percent, Android dropped from 29 to 25 percent, and Windows Phone remained at about 1 percent (same as the previous six quarters). These figures match what I see at my small engineering consulting company.

The Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were released in the fourth quarter of 2014 and Good's data shows that activation of these two devices made up 30 percent of all activations.

The iPhone 6 dominated the iPhone 6 Plus with 77 percent compared to 23 percent. While I personally find the battery life and improved camera of the iPhone 6 Plus more attractive for work, the majority of people prefer the smaller form factor.

It is interesting to see that iOS and Android activations varied between industries. The report states that iOS made up 95 percent of devices in the legal industry, 82 percent in the public sector, and 81 percent in financial services. Android showed strength in the high tech industry with 45 percent, manufacturing at 39 percent, and transportation at 35 percent.

Good Technology serves more than 6,200 organizations worldwide, including 100% of the Fortune 100 commercial banks, aerospace and defense firms and more than half of the other Fortune 100 companies. The data for these quarterly reports is collected from its customers so offers a good representation of what you can expect across the business world.