Mobile Device Management

Mobile Device Management is a critical component of any company’s mobile strategy and Windows Phone 8 can be managed through Microsoft and 3rd party MDM vendor solutions.

With Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) support, Windows Phone 8 can be managed via Exchange Server on-premise and Office 365 in the cloud. As I’ve discussed in previous articles, EAS provides an enterprise with a baseline level of capabilities to manage BYOD scenarios that need to support a wide range of smartphones.

Microsoft has also recently announced mobile app and device management via the next version of Windows Intune and System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1.

I’m also pleased to announce MDM support from leading 3rd party vendors including MobileIron, Symantec, Zenprise, and AirWatch. Here are a few of their press releases:

As an MDM veteran, I’m thrilled to see comprehensive management support for Windows Phone 8 and look forward to seeing new additions to our list of 3rd party vendor support for our amazing enterprise device.

-Rob

In the Spring of 2006, I created a Mobile Device Management (MDM) package for Microsoft called Windows Mobile Provisioner. It was used by Microsoft IT (MSIT) to rapidly provision and manage Windows Mobile devices / smartphones for our employees in the years before we developed and shipped System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008. I drew on my experience in designing, developing, shipping, marketing, and selling the NetPerceptor MDM package for the cloud (Level 3) back in 2003 with my co-founder Darren. Of course, OMA DM and CSPs made creating an MDM system much easier in 2006.

Windows Mobile Provisioner fully integrated with Active Directory to allow the management of policies, settings, and over-the-air (OTA) software distribution based on Microsoft users and groups. As you might imagine, there was a Management and Reporting dashboard as well as a mobile client for user self-service.

The first image below shows the client app where a user could rapidly configure Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) from a single screen:

Mobile Provisioner: Exchange Settings

The second image below shows the client app’s ability to configure the data connections for different mobile operators globally:

Mobile Provisioner: Data Connections

The last image below shows how the client app allowed users to change the themes of their smartphone:

Of course, my MDM solution sent health metrics as well as device and app inventory to the server for analysis. Administrators could push out patches, anti-virus definitions, ROM packages, and other software to selected devices. Apps could also be remotely uninstalled. In addition to the features described in the images above, the rich client app that accompanied the MDM agent gave users the ability to view and download apps, ring tones, and other content made available to users and groups via Active Directory security. I certainly hope the MDM solution your company is using “at least” does all the stuff I just mentioned from a long time ago.

It was a great experience being an early pioneer in the Mobile Device Management (MDM) space; and the first to do it in the cloud at the beginning of the 21st century. Back then, I could count all the MDM competitors on my two hands. Fast-forward to 2012, I think there’s over 100 different players in this space. The majority of them are indistinguishable from each other as they all target the identical MDM APIs exposed by iOS and Android. As usual, differentiation will be invented by marketers.

Good Times,

Rob

Below is an infographic from Zenprise that displays their view of the world in the mobile device management space based on numbers from their customers in Q1 2012.

The most notable item for me is the blacklisting of the Google Play app store on Android devices. In my view, no amount of PIN enforcement, device encryption, or VPN usage can protect devices and corporate networks from the potential malware and trojan horses that Android users may unwittingly download from Google Play. Cloud-based file and data repositories like Dropbox and Evernote are tempting data leakage destinations for users and are therefore finding themselves blacklisted more and more.

Of course, all this flies in the face of a BYOD world where many users would never consent to this level of heavy device management and control over their personal devices.

Zenprise Mobile Device Management Cloud Report - Q1 2012

I certainly love seeing that 15% of Zenprise’s customers with iOS devices are distributing content from Microsoft SharePoint.

- Rob

Archives For Mobile Device Management