With Nick Elia

SOTI announced an expanded product strategy and direction today with the release of its SOTI ONE platform. SOTI’s flagship MobiControl remains at the center of the offering, but the vendor has added important enhancements and integrations to its platform that will help make the vendor a viable alternative to other competing EMM solutions.

Most notably, SOTI integrated a mobile rapid application development (mRAD) component to its solution range. The tool (named SOTI Snap) will be welcomed by SOTI’s customers, as it can help simplify the processes associated with developing and provisioning mobile applications. But as the mRAD segment is highly competitive and no two vendors are alike, all offer differentiated approaches to streamline and simplify mobile application development. SOTI’s Snap product has been in development for roughly two years and the company gets credit for building this tooling internally, creating clear and concise messaging for Snap and is likely to see immediate interest from its tenured customers.

SOTI has also extended its endpoint management capabilities to include Apple’s MacOS, added important self-service and support elements to the platform, and augmented the search function on its console.

Here are the key components of SOTI’s ONE platform:

• EMM – MobiControl remains a key part of the SOTI ONE platform and new capabilities are expected to be rolled out in Q4.
• Help Desk – To address time-to resolution issues within the operations of the business SOTI will be adding a mobility specific solution called SOTI Assist to their existing platform that will leverage advanced remote control and diagnostic tools such as an audit trail / ticketing system to speed up the process.
• RMAD – SOTI Snap is a no-code mobile app development solution that will improve the cost and time associated with deploying applications across multiple platforms at the same time.
• Business Intelligence System - Aimed specifically at business users, this solution will utilize data compiled from mobile apps/devices and IoT endpoints to predict trends, produce customer insights, and optimize operations.
• IoT Management System – New IoT system that enables enterprises to manage, secure, and connect endpoints no matter what their OS or communication protocol is. Will be managed through SOTI’s IoT gateway to ensure data from secured endpoints is sent to the Platform. Will also be able to connect to “legacy” devices as well.
• Marketplace – Place where customers can share and exchange information about specific SOTI products and services. Solutions added to platform can be applicable to enterprises in any industry.

Partnerships Required to Drive EMM Growth
SOTI has a considerable amount of partners within their ecosystem and have realized that focusing their efforts on creating more alliances/partnerships is very important for their growth. We see these partnerships as critical for growing their customer roster. SOTI claims to be growing at 40%+ YoY – this figure is well above our estimates for any competing vendor. While we are skeptical, the vendor has been having success expanding its footprint across its customer base, and continues to win business amongst its customers who are transitioning from legacy rugged devices to the Google Android platform. SOTI has accomplished this through its continual and aggressive partnership activities with Android OEMs.

EMM Market Pivot?
The pace at which organizations move in modernizing their end user computing (EUC) deployment environments will dictate how quickly the EMM market reaches a pivot point. The pivot will require EMM vendors to incorporate new security integrations to their platforms for identity management, analytics, SaaS applications, and encryption. Pure play EMM vendors like SOTI and MobileIron must diversify their offerings and continue to develop their IoT businesses, as alternative approaches to managing a mobile workforce while securely provisioning apps continue to emerge. VMI and bare metal hypervisor solutions are quickly becoming commercially viable with vendors like Hypori, Nubo, and Cog Systems leading the way. Diversified vendors with EMM solutions like BlackBerry, Citrix, IBM, Microsoft, and VMware will continue to participate in the market but are already well down their respective UEM and IoT paths.

Like other EMM vendors, SOTI is hoping that UEM revenues will soon begin materializing. Ultimately, they will; platforms are “burning”, but laggards will hold on to their legacy infrastructures and systems for many more years. In this vein, diversification will be critical for sustainability—while best-of-breed vendors like Jamf, MobileIron and SOTI are enjoying great runs and are growing businesses, they must aggressively pursue innovation and deliver valuable new services to continue growing.

VDC will be releasing its annual EMM report in June. Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you participate in this market and have not been contacted.

View the 2017 Enterprise Mobility & Connected Devices Research Outline to learn more.