Since Facebook went public, its appetite to cull and then leverage user data for advertisement, or any revenue generating purposes, has grown more voracious each quarter. Mobile usage though has always been problematic for the house that Zuckerberg built. Facebook’s unique ability to raise the ire of dominant mobile OS platforms like iOS and Android has caused for frustrating experiences on smartphones and tablets, and we all remember the absolute debacle of Facebook Home last year.
However, at yesterday’s F8
Developer’s Conference, Facebook threw down the gauntlet for data
dominance with AppLinks. This deep linking platform for data swapping
between apps and across operating systems promises to deliver a nirvana
of purchasing simplicity that has been rather arduous for app developers
until now.
Mobile Fiefdoms Overthrown
Mobile content is a
business plain and simple. While end users need it for productivity,
make no mistake that the three major operating systems will do
everything in their power to make sharing data across their respective
platforms as difficult as possible. By taking the OS agnostic route,
Facebook is positioned to become the trusted source for finding mobile
information in a very similar fashion to Google’s dominance over Web
data.
The Consumer to Enterprise Conundrum
AppLinks promises a new
nirvana of purchasing power for the consumer. Imagine you are reading a
movie review on Rotten Tomatoes, with AppLinks in play you will be able
to seamlessly jump to Fandango to purchase tickets, or for older films,
simply jump to the streaming service of choice. It’s an effortless flow
of data, which is not impossible today, but it’s also not easy. Of
course this will deliver a plethora of new pop-up advertising, but at
this point we have all succumbed to the fact that any connected activity
will be used to sell us.
For enterprises though,
this seamless information sharing waves an enormous red flag of danger.
Unsecured corporate apps or data on mobile devices could leave an open
door for AppLinks to grab sensitive corporate data and disseminate
it…to…well anyone. Advertisers to savvy Blackhats skilled at setting up
legitimate fronts for their nefarious activities could become privy to
data that should only be seen by company eyes.
Readying Mobile for an AppLinks World
Despite the dangers,
improving the user experience on mobile devices should never be
thwarted. Rather, it is incumbent upon IT departments to layer in the
right protection, especially when dealing with a large stable of BYOD
users.
IBM WorkLight
can take on half the battle. With this rich suite of app development
tools, Applink connectivity can be taken off the table at the code level
during development. For legacy apps, or companies without the coffers
to cough-up the cash for the WorkLight, there’s always the protection
offered by Mobile Application Management.
In this scenario, IT has the ability to blacklist any apps on users’
devices that might be part of the AppLinks networks. If this approach is
too draconian as Applinks gains prominence and you have a wide swath of
BYOD users, another option is Application Security
inside a mobile container. In this scenario, all corporate data
(including apps) remain separate from the user’s personal life.
No matter what tactic you
take as an enterprise, the only wrong course of action is inaction. How
do you plan to prepare for AppLinks? Let us know in the comments.
