Lots of workplaces give out phones to employees, but making sure those devices are secure and up to date can be difficult. That's why Google introduced the Android Enterprise Recommended program two years ago, letting businesses know which devices meet certain standards for security and reliability. Samsung has been absent from the program until now, but the company is finally joining forces with Google to get select Galaxy devices certified.
Samsung has offered its own Knox Platform for Enterprise for a while now, with the program first being introduced in 2013. Over the past two years, Samsung and Google have partnered up in order to make sure that Knox and Android Enterprise play nicely together, giving business customers access to Samsung's advanced security capabilities along with Android features like zero-touch enrollment.
Customers deploying Galaxy devices will be able to choose between using Google's zero-touch enrollment (which is now available on all devices running Android 9 and above) or Samsung's Knox Mobile Enrollment. Eligible devices include those running Android 11 and above, such as the S20, Note20, and Tab S7/S7+. Samsung joins a growing list of OEMs that Google recommends to enterprise clients. OnePlus launched its first phone in the program, the OnePlus 8, earlier this year. BlackBerry, IBM, and Microsoft joined the initiative last year, too.
Samsung is the most popular Android manufacturer in the US. It's a little surprising that it took this long to get the company on board, but it's finally happening now that Google and Samsung have worked together to make Knox and Android Enterprise features more compatible.