Getting mentioned in ITWorld this week as a competitor to one of the Top 10 Cloud Startups was definitely cool. But we have to take some exception to being cast in the same light as a company that “provides cloud-based infrastructure that enterprises can use to launch mobile app and SaaS stores.”

That’s kinda like comparing a place that just does oil changes and tire rotations to a full-service garage. As we’ve said from the beginning, for us, the app store is just the start of a smart enterprise mobile application strategy. You need to take the entire mobile app lifecycle in to account, from development through deployment, to distribution, management and upgrade, all while maintaining an overarching awareness of security.

To quote ourselves:

The enterprise is its own animal. It demands system management in a way that’s dramatically different than any consumer app. Security, for example, might be the biggest delineation when it comes to concerns about enterprise mobile app management. In fact, that might be the factor that often turns people away from the idea of enterprise mobile apps (MAM) vs. simply giving everyone organization wide an approved device (MDM).

Knowing this is what real MAM entails, partnering with an app-store-only vendor means bringing other vendors on board to manage those other essential aspects of your enterprise mobility strategy. That gets problematic really fast, especially in a realm where all those variables are so interdependent and essential to enterprise mobility success.

So, congrats on being determined to stand up your enterprise mobile app store, and looking for a vendor who will help you get it done. It’s a brilliant first move — but it’s just the beginning. We’d recommend partnering up with a shop that understands enterprise mobility in its entirety.