MobileIron 4.0: Mobile Management Software for Secure App Administration
Mobile management software firm MobileIron today released version 4.0 of its Virtual Smartphone Platform (VSP), featuring a mobile app management and security tool that allows enterprise IT groups to centralize the discovery, deployment and security of internally- and externally-developed mobile apps.
The 4.O mobile management and security tool covers mobile apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.
Additionally, MobileIron is also rolling out an Enterprise App Storefront combined with a full policy engine to help ensure that only apps sanctioned by mobile IT are being used on both corporate-owned and employee-owned smartphones.
"With MobileIron 4.0, IT gets control over how apps are distributed and used. IT can create its own framework for keeping bad apps out, they can black list or white list, and once a rouge app appears, IT is notified, and then a set of automated actions can happen. You could block access back to email. The strategy is changing from pure lockdown on mobile devices by IT to visibility and then appropriate consequences," Jesse Lindeman, director of product management for MobileIron, told EnterpriseMobileToday.
Mobile IT departments are facing the challenge of managing a mix of different smartphones and tablet PCs, all running on different mobile operating systems -- some owned by the company and some not. The fragmented mobile landscape is also splintering further because even smartphones running the same OS can be powered by different versions of that OS. And, the proliferation of mobile apps being downloaded by users adds to the complexity of supervising mobile devices in the enterprise.
The release of iOS 4.2, which includes enterprise APIs, and the rapid adoption of the iPad, combined with the growing popularity of Android-powered smartphones in the past year, is also fueling fragmentation in the mobile sector.
To address this, MobileIron is providing new functionality across three key areas: