DME now delivers full Mobile Device Management capabilities for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. They can now be managed centrally from DME Mobile Device Manager Console, automating the control of these devices in the enterprise.
With Apple's release of the 4.2.1 update of its iOS for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, a series of enterprise features now makes it possible for DME to deliver full mobile device management on all Apple mobile devices.
Using the Simple Certificate Enrolment Protocol (SCEP), DME can now manage and monitor iOS 4 devices without any particular user involvement. Some of the useful aspects of this feature include the ability to update device setting profiles and to obtain critical device information.
“Prior to the introduction of Apple MDM, sending configuration files required that the users accepted the installation of the profile. When it comes to security settings, for example, it is not ideal to rely on user intervention to ensure it applies. From now on profiles are installed silently on enrolled devices. Organisations can also distribute in-house apps and provision profiles using DME,” Carsten Eliot Nielsen, Excitor's CTO, explains.
The Apple MDM APNS protocol enables Apple iOS 4 devices (iPhone, iPod, iPad) to enrol with a server, which may then issue commands to the devices without user interaction. This resembles the "OMA DM bootstrap" which applies to Symbian, Windows, and Java devices, which also creates a trust between server and device.
DME for iOS is effectively isolating corporate and private data - the newly added support for Apple MDM will help administrators with configuring corporate WiFi, VPNs and, eg, blocking YouTube or other data intensive applications. It also adds the option to completely wipe and reset the device, deleting everything on the device, not just the corporate data.
Security and other settings which the administrator wants to implement on iOS devices are defined in XML profiles using the Apple iPhone Configuration Utility and then distributed to the users using the iPhone profiles window.
DME for iPad brings secure corporate e-mail and PIM on the popular tablet, and uses the iPad's native capabilities to create a great user experience.
Excitor launches its new secure e-mail and PIM client, specifically designed to match the iPad's screen size and capabilities. DME on the iPad gives completeness of the desktop experience on a considerably more convenient form factor.
iPad has contributed to the trend for personally owned mobile devices to become part of the corporate landscape. DME's capability to partition corporate from personal data on all devices, including the iPad, means that the introduction of personal iPads can be embraced by businesses, without fear of security breaches.
In order to support the iPad, which in its configuration is closer to a smartphone than a laptop, companies need to be able to manage and secure it, and grant it access to the corporate e-mail infrastructure. Excitor's early integration of Apple's iOS for the iPhone and iPod Touch has facilitated the work on DME for iPad, but it is a brand new e-mail client that fully exploits the iPad's size and features.
“We are very excited to be one of the first companies in the world to introduce a secure e-mail and PIM client for the iPad,” said Carsten Eliot Nielsen, Excitor's CTO. “Some of our new and existing customers have been able to test it and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It confirms our belief that the iPad is going to be a key platform for enterprises in the future,” he adds.
Apple has already sold more than 8 million iPads worldwide. Gartner is expecting that the total tablet sales for 2011 might reach 54.8 million units. Excitor's ambition is to being able to support all mobile devices, smartphones or tablets, and is already supporting the iPad's early competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
DME for iPad can be downloaded for free on Apple's AppStore.
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