Exchange Server – Rob Tiffany

If you don’t have an Enterprise Mobility Management #EMM solution, start with Exchange Active Sync to enforce #mobile device policies and #security.

Baby steps. While you might not say Microsoft Exchange Server in the same breath as enterprise mobility management, this product has managed more devices than any other system over the last decade. Since most enterprises already use Active Directory for identity coupled with Exchange Server on-premises or via Office 365 in the cloud for email, calendar and contacts, this is a simple way to get started. A protocol called Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) that dates back to the Pocket PC and is used by virtually every mobile operating system to allow the magic to happen.

So what does this have to do with managing devices? Well, EAS helps secure smartphones and tablets via policy enforcement. This allows you to require PINs and passwords, device and storage card encryption, remote wipe for lost or stolen phones, and S/MIME email encryption, to name a few. It also lets you disable features like a phone’s camera, removable storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SMS and others. If you’ve worked in the public sector, this probably rings a bell.

If you think managing your mobile devices via Exchange ActiveSync is unorthodox, remember this was the only way to manage iPhones until iOS 4 and Android until version 2.2 was released. I think EAS facilitated the BYOD movement more than any other factor.

Reduce expenses and risk to your company by enforcing security policies on your mobile devices using the capabilities found in an email server you probably already own. What basic steps has your organization taken to enforce mobile security on smartphones and tablets?

Learn how to digitally transform your company in my newest book, “Mobile Strategies for Business: 50 Actionable Insights to Digitally Transform your Business.”

Rather than extending your entire #network out to #mobile devices via #VPN, publish individual services through a #web gateway or the #cloud.

Most remote employees gain access to Intranet resources through a virtual private network (VPN). Using 3^rd party or built-in software, employees provide credentials and sometimes a smartcard to create a VPN tunnel. Once created, employees can securely exchange data with internal resources. This is anything but seamless and employees find setting up VPN sessions and re-authenticating due to dropped connections to be a hassle. They want to access things the same way they do on the Internet.

Let’s take a look at a better mobile reality. Most companies around the world use Microsoft Exchange for corporate email. For more than a decade, mobile users on virtually every platform have been able to securely sync their email without first creating a cumbersome VPN connection. This was possible because Exchange publishes its Active Sync service through a reverse-proxy over TLS. The email app is responsible for passing credentials to the server. It works the way mobile employees expect all their mobile apps to work.

You can do this too by publishing your internal web sites and REST + JSON APIs on port 443 through a reverse proxy that lives at the network edge. Reverse proxies are appliances or server software that let you create a multi-channel access gateway. Of course, when you move your workloads to the cloud, none of this will be needed anymore.

Improve user productivity by eliminating the need to create cumbersome VPN connections to achieve secure connections. What remote access technology changes are you making at your organization to make life easier for your employees?

Learn how to digitally transform your company in my newest book, “Mobile Strategies for Business: 50 Actionable Insights to Digitally Transform your Business.”

Tag: Exchange Server

Reduce Company Expenses and Enforce Mobile Security with Exchange Active Sync

If you don’t have an Enterprise Mobility Management #EMM solution, start with Exchange Active Sync to enforce #mobile device policies and #security.

Reduce expenses and risk to your company by enforcing security policies on your mobile devices using the capabilities found in an email server you probably already own. What basic steps has your organization taken to enforce mobile security on smartphones and tablets?

Learn how to digitally transform your company in my newest book, “Mobile Strategies for Business: 50 Actionable Insights to Digitally Transform your Business.”

Click here to purchase a copy of my book today and start transforming your business!

Improve Productivity by Publishing Services to Mobile Employees via a Web Gateway

Rather than extending your entire #network out to #mobile devices via #VPN, publish individual services through a #web gateway or the #cloud.

Improve user productivity by eliminating the need to create cumbersome VPN connections to achieve secure connections. What remote access technology changes are you making at your organization to make life easier for your employees?

Learn how to digitally transform your company in my newest book, “Mobile Strategies for Business: 50 Actionable Insights to Digitally Transform your Business.”

Click to purchase a copy of my book today and start transforming your business!