The platform allows IT managers to purchase, license, distribute and manage approved applications for the end user.
Computer maker Lenovo
announced its first enterprise app shopthe Lenovo Enterprise App Shopto bring
end-to-end mobile app services to large businesses, enabling custom management,
deployment and publication as well as volume pricing. The Lenovo Enterprise App
Shop makes it possible for corporate users to access and use productivity apps
on their Lenovo tablet or other Google Android-based tablets (version 3.1 and
higher). The App Shop is available immediately worldwide (excluding China)
through Lenovo sales.
The company pointed out that
as more consumers use their personal devices for work, the potential for
security risks and lack of IT management increases. Lenovo App Shop Manager
addresses the challenge of rising IT risks in bring-your-own-device (BYOD)
environments by allowing companies to create their own customized App Shops.
The platform allows IT managers to purchase, license, distribute and manage
approved applications for the end user. However, the App Shop Manager controls
only the apps, not the device itself.
With the influx of personal
and mobile devices in the workplace, its critical for companies to manage the
proprietary and third-party applications their employees are using, said Mark
Cohen, vice president, ecosystem and monetization at Lenovo. We created an app
shop designed specifically for the enterprise featuring Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol (LDAP) integration and cross Android platform support to
facilitate IT management while giving users the apps theyre demanding to boost
productivity.
As a software as a service (SaaS)
cloud-hosted solution without infrastructure and support required, it is
designed to offer a low cost of ownership. App Shop Manager offers services
including a vetted catalog, where all apps on the Lenovo App Shop Catalog are
malware/offensive content-free and tested to ensure they run well on Lenovo
tablets.
The platform features custom
management via the App Shop Manager, which allows companies to select and
de-select apps from the App Shop catalog. Users also have access to the
thousands of apps in the MobiHand Universal Android catalog, but only corporate
approved apps are made available for purchase or download.
Additional features include
private corporate app publishing, whereby corporate customers can publish their
apps to the end users via the App Shop Manager; volume purchase pricing (the
App Shop Manager provides access to the MobiHand marketplace with published
volume pricing discounts); and the enabling and disabling of apps through
MobiHands App Shop License wrapper, which allows companies to disable apps
when required. In addition, IT managers can identify unapproved apps and can be
alerted to users who have the apps installed for removal.
"The distribution and
license management of applications for the classroom is simplified by the
Lenovo Enterprise App Shop, eliminating factory resets and streamlining app
installation, said David Gannon, associate director of academic computing and
media services at Bryant University. We were up and running quickly, and the
App Shop Manager is very intuitive and easy to use.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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