Decision

To award a contract for a period of two years on the Network Services 2 framework year to Vodafone for Samsung Knox Enterprise Mobile Device Management.

This includes a suite of applications to secure, protect and monitor corporate Samsung Phones and Tablets.

Samsung Knox Enrolment

Samsung Knox Enterprise

Samsung Knox E-FOTA

Samsung Knox Intelligence

Samsung Knox Configure

Product Name

Unit Type

Qty

Contract Term

Unit Price per term (£)

Total Price (£)

Knox Suite

Per Seat

600

24 months

£48.35

£29,010.00

Reasons for the decision

Our estate of phones and tablets (Around 600 devices) are all Samsung with our chosen supplier for the mobile phone contract for voice and data being Vodafone which was signed in April 2023 for three years.

Vodafone is a confirmed Samsung partner and the preferred vendor for Samsung Knox Enterprise as our existing partner for our Voice and Data contract, we also purchase new handsets via Vodafone.

Google Workspace is used across the organisation for data storage and software tools like Sheets, Docs and Slides. Google Workspace also has built device management controls that allow remote wiping of corporate handsets and basic security controls to ensure our data is safe and our phones and tablets secure. The mobile device management (MDM) for Google has been reviewed and confirmed to no longer be fit for purpose in the modern day of security standards and following external audits has highlighted risks that are on our Digital risk register that need to be mitigated.

1 - Google Workspace does not allow any control of Android updates on mobile phones; this results in corporate phones being with users that are not forced to install the latest firmware security updates and can leave phones at risk of cyber attacks utilising vulnerabilities in Android versions.

Risk Rating: 15

2 - Google Workspace does not allow any compliance controls of handsets across the estate; compliance refers to reporting or dashboards that monitor your corporate devices and flags which devices comply and which do not with your policies, for example, Encryption status, Password status.

Risk Rating: 11

3 - Google Workspace is not compatible with Samsung Knox Enrollment which is a free service by Samsung that allows you to purchase handsets through a registered partner (For us this is Vodafone) who will on purchase register the IMEI of the handset to your Samsung environment when the handset is powered on it will auto-detect that it is owned by Adur and Worthing Councils and auto-configure into our MDM. This also ensures the device remains within our security control even when the handset is forced wiped in the event of being lost.

Risk Rating: 6

Alternative options considered

VSDM - Vodafone Secure Device Manager

Vodafone do sell their own MDM solution, however on working with Vodafone and assessing the technical specification it was agreed that to cover all our Risks that Samsung Knox would be the right choice to ensure a completely secure environment as we only procure Samsung Devices.