Verizon, AT&T Roll Out New Mobile Management Services
Verizon and AT&T today each rolled out new mobile management services aimed at easing the burden on mobile IT by making it easier to oversee multiple mobile devices -- that may or may not be company-owned -- running on different operating systems.
Verizon's offering is called the Mobile Services Enablement Platform (MSEP) and is designed to help businesses create enterprise applications that can be accessed from a variety of mobile devices while still providing the same user experience as seen when using a desktop computer. AT&T's new service -- MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform (VSP)-- helps businesses better manage and secure smartphones on multiple operating systems within their organizations.
The news of Verizon's and AT&T's latest mobile device management services comes at a time when the mobile landscape is becoming more difficult to supervise, as companies grapple with a fragmented OS environment, a mix of personally-owned and company-owned devices and logistic issues pertaining to the deployment of enterprise applications for mobile office workers.
"Enterprises are prioritizing mobility initiatives as a key strategic focus, expanding the use of smartphones and investing in a range of mobile applications to address the needs of information workers," according to the Oct. 28 Forrester Research report, "Managing Mobile Complexity."
In looking at the coming year, 46 percent of companies surveyed identify supporting more mobile applications for out-of-office users as a key priority, and 33 percent identify supporting more mobile applications for employees who work in the office as a key priority, according to the report.
Managing applications with Verizon's MSEP
In addition to providing customizable application-development templates that can be tailored to create new business-specific applications, Verizon's MSEP is also integrated with major enterprise software applications including Siebel, SAP, Oracle, Remedy, Salesforce.com and Amdocs. As a result, users can have a similar experience with these programs whether accessing them from an office or remotely, according to Verizon. To enable a truly borderless enterprise, businesses need to arm mobile workers with secure access to the applications essential for their day-to-day operations, Carrie Gray, executive director of solutions marketing for Verizon, said in a statement. The MSEP is the newest addition to the Verizon Managed Mobility portfolio, which is designed to improve mobility programs in five key areas, enabling enterprises to subscribe to one or more of the following modules:- MSEP Supports mobile enterprise applications by enabling the deployment of new and enhanced applications, as well as the mobilization of business processes and traditional desktop applications.
- Mobile Device Management Delivers tools, applications and data to employees, where and when required, and creates and enforces flexible mobile policies across devices, groups or individual users.