Market
momentum for software that helps companies provision, manage and safeguard
mobile handsets is picking up where it left off in 2011.
Centrify Feb.
14 unveiled Centrify DirectControl for
Mobile, a Web-based service that protects potentially sensitive corporate
data transmitted via Apple iPhones and iPads, Android smartphones and tablets,
and other gadget platforms.
Enterproid
meanwhile struck an agreement with Broadsoft in which it will integrate its
mobile device management software with the unified communications specialist's
platform.
The new software products come as more corporate employees are bringing in their iPhones, iPads and various Android gadgets to use in the workplace, part of the increasingly prevalent BYOD (bring your own device) trend.
Centrify aims
to set itself apart from Good Technology, Mobile Iron and others of its ilk by
letting companies use their existing Active Directory infrastructure and
policies. This affords businesses significant efficiencies at a time when most
large businesses rely on the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) software for identity
management and provisioning.
Centrify CEO
Tom Kemp told eWEEK that other mobile
device management (MDM) vendors force their customers to tack on new IT gear,
change firewall settings or use a new management console. Each device is tied
to a corporate user, so the device is automatically wiped when that user quits
or is fired.
DirectControl
for Mobile also provides automated self-enrollment and single sign-on for
multiple devices. This means users will enroll and receive their authentication
credentials, e-mail, WiFi and VPN settings, which will ease some of the pain
for IT help desks.
Once
DirectControl is up and running, IT admins will be able to control mobile
security settings, lock or remotely wipe devices, and protect corporate email,
VPN and WiFi networks.
Centrify
communicates with the on-premise Active Directory environment over the Web for
easier device management regardless of whether or not a device is connected to
the corporate network.
Centrify
DirectControl is a paid subscription service, costing $24 per device per year.
However, the
company also unveiled Centrify Express for Mobile, a free mobile security
solution that will support as many devices as a business wants to throw at it.
Unlike DirectControl, this product won't include technical support so
businesses are on their own once they choose to use it.
Meanwhile, Enterproid
is bringing Divide, a platform that splits personal and professional data
on a single smartphone or tablet, to BroadSoft's platform, which supports
high-definition voice and video conferencing, text messaging and instant
messaging for telecommunications carriers.
In yet another
BYOD play, this integration will allow corporate employees to access text
messaging, corporate directory, call settings, extension dialing and more
services from their personal mobile device. Employees can lock or wipe their
mobile device in the event it is lost or stolen.
This isn't the
first partnership Enterproid has struck. The startup is licensing
its software to AT&T (NYSE:T) for Toggle, a software application that
essentially does what Enterproid does, but under the carrier's brand.
Enterprise Mobility News & Reviews 
