For most of our life as a company, we’ve lived in the Mobile Application Management, or MAM, space. 

Not any more. 

Increasingly, we see our future as dependent on dropping the “M.” We’re not just dealing with mobile application management now. We’re dealing with application management at large. 

What this means, of course, is that companies are shifting their focus from using applications only on mobile phones to increase employee productivity. Now, there is a seemingly endless number of devices–many of them totally separate from cell phones and tablets–within which applications can be integrated.

Your smart thermostat may not be a mobile phone, but it has the same needs for application updates and functionality as if it were one. So too does a wind farm, chock full of turbines with hundreds of sensors transmitting data, need applications to transfer data and keep employees in the know. 

Car companies with integrated ‘infotainment’ systems are finding that their systems need applications, and need to be managed just like the rest of their mobile fleet. Even set top TV boxes can be loaded with applications that enhance the viewing experience beyond just streaming shows over cable.

Everywhere you look, there’s another example of a device using applications that isn’t a traditional “mobile” device in the sense we’ve known it for years. Things aren’t just mobile any more.

As we look towards the future of MAM, perhaps it’s time to drop the “M.”