Operators can become trusted enterprise DM provider
Operators are again being asked to look at enterprise device management as an area ripe for service growth, although one technology provider is warning that current systems do not address enterprise needs.
Bob Tinker, CEO of MobileIron, told Mobile Europe that there has been a “huge wave” of smartphones crashing into the enterprise market – with 55 million entering the enterprise market this year. This wave is “creating pain” for IT departments that have been “caught off guard”, Tinker said.
“The enterprise is a really large market opportunity for mobile operators that has been relatively ignored,” Tinker said. “Mobile operators can help their customers say yes to a wider range of devices in the enterprise.”
Tinker claimed, however, that “traditional providers of device management are not sufficient for the enterprise.” Most device management platforms are focused on configuration, provisioning and settings, Tinker claimed, but, “Enterprises don’t care about devices, they care about data and services – how well the services are working and how much they cost, not about device provisioning.”
“As mobile device management becomes more complex and costly, companies need help from a trusted provider,” said Tim Marsden, director, Communications and Media Solutions, HP. “Operators can become that provider. They can leverage the advantages of the cloud, efficiently manage a company’s mobile devices and, ultimately, build a new business for themselves.”
HP has addressed this by launching today device management as a service – intended to enable operators to address the enterprise IT market. HP’s Cloud Services Enablement for Device Management as a Service (HP CSE for DMaaS) allows IT staff to manage mobile devices and PCs through the cloud.
Using over-the-air technology IT managers can configure devices, distribute applications, diagnose problems, enforce security policies and protect data with full back-up and restore capability.
HP says that the benefits for businesses are: reduced cost, complexity and risk; access to state-of-the-art mobile device management technology; reduced capital investment; and the ability to extend high-value productivity applications to mobile workers.
The core of the HP MDM solution is provided by device management company Mformation Technologies. “Device management as a service is an idea whose time has come, and CSPs are uniquely positioned to be the trusted provider to businesses,” said Rob Dalgety, global marketing director, Mformation Technologies.
HP’s Aggregation Platform for SaaS acts as a mediation layer between the HP Mobile Device Management solution, the operator’s OSS/BSS and the business customer’s environment.
Tinker’s company MobileIron recently announced its Virtual Smartphone Platform 3.0 release. The release contains a Mobility API for channel partners to integrate MobileIron data and actions with other enterprise systems and build their own applications for mobile device management, security and analytics.