The first hint of Android’s new mobile operating system “Android 8.0 Oreo” was brought to us in March, and it was finally unveiled last August as the competitor for Apple’s OS iOS 11. However, far from simply being a product for the general public, Google has shown that this phone is for the business world as well.

To borrow a phrase from a Google Enterprise blog I read, “The new Android 8.0 Oreo brings a sweet combination of improved productivity and enhanced security to enterprise customers, building on the consistent investments we’ve made to make Android stronger, easier to manage, and more productive for the enterprise.”

So, let’s take a look at three key areas that Goggle has made improvements for the enterprise.

Zero-touch enrolment

Goggle has introduced a new zero-touch enrolment functionality which means enterprises can deploy corporate-owned Android devices with preconfigured management settings so that employees can begin using them right out of the box.

Devices are configured online and drop-shipped to employees.

Personal space on your work device

Android has introduced a new ‘work profile’. This feature separates users’ work and personal data on the device so IT has the security it needs and users have the freedom to use the personal apps and services they want.

Using these separate profiles, employees will no longer need to worry about people looking into their personal data. Only the work data is managed, giving IT full control of corporate information and keeping employees’ photos, apps, and other personal data separate.

This will make Android 8.0 Oreo the only phone needed by employees who can use it both inside and outside the office, secure in their minds that their personal details are safe. Speaking of safety…

Stopping malware

Google’s new Project Treble security solution separates underlying vendor implementation from the core Android framework. This modularization isolates each hardware abstraction layer (HAL) into its own process so each HAL only gets the hardware driver and kernel access it needs. This improves sandboxing and makes it harder for hackers to exploit the kernel.

Google is also enabling stricter enforcement of Play Protect. This security service is always-on, and scans for malware and blocks potentially-harmful apps. In Oreo, Google Play Protect can be managed by IT, so they can block unknown or risky apps across the whole device or just within work profiles.

With the inclusion of secure password reset it’s now easier for admins to help users securely recover from forgotten passwords on encrypted devices.

There are even more improvements on the Android 8.0 Oreo, but we think that these are the sweetest features. With all of this in play, Google is on track to making Android the number one phone not just for the consumer but the workplace as well.

Paul Swaddle OBE is the founder and CEO of Pocket App. A self-confessed ‘gadget geek’, he has been working at the leading edge of mobile technology for the past 15 years. He co-founded Pocket App, one of the UK’s largest independent app developers, in 2011 to bring the creative and technical development elements of mobile technology together under one roof.