The enterprise services division of technology giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) is looking to grab the attention of mobility-minded organizations with the release of HP Enterprise Cloud Services – Mobility, a cloud-based management solution designed to deliver anytime, anywhere secure access to applications and data from a wide variety of mobile devices.
The cloud solution is part of the company’s Converged Cloud portfolio, which provides enterprises with a foundation of technologies and services to build, operate and consume IT services. The platform provides tools for file storage and sharing through multiple mobile platforms and all types of devices, including tablets and smartphones.
“Mobility in the workplace continues to be a key focus and concern for IT executives,” Pete Karolczak, senior vice president of HP Enterprise Services, said in a statement. “HP Enterprise Cloud Services – Mobility leverages HP’s strong cloud portfolio by providing clients with a mobility service that provides the highest level of user experience and productivity while minimizing risk for IT.”
The platform also provides the ability to configure cloud file storage that can scale up and down, and offers local storage options that address data sovereignty and compliance requirements. It also integrates solutions from Citrix and SAP, which are managed and maintained by HP to help simplify deployment and ongoing operations.
Enterprise Cloud Services – Mobility is available globally with a set of service features and options priced and packaged for flexibility, and user-based pricing allows for multiple devices per user. The platform’s flexibility is further extended through the ability to set granular policies based on user roles, groups or device ownership.
In addition, the service allows users to download approved enterprise applications from a secure storefront, upload files to support collaboration and synchronize files between the HP cloud infrastructure and any mobile device. In an effort to bolster security, mobile data is encrypted in transit and at rest, covering the device as well as the cloud infrastructure.
The announcement comes as organizations of all sizes, from small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to larger public and private entities, grapple with an increasingly mobile workforce, where bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives are providing more flexibility but are also raising serious security concerns among IT professionals.
“Your employees want easy-to-use, anytime, anywhere access to business and personal applications as well as data from their mobile devices – personally owned or corporate-issued,” a company page dedicated to the platform explained. “At the same time, your IT organization needs to protect sensitive corporate information from unmanaged devices to public cloud file sharing services to non-sanctioned mobile apps. The goal of enterprise mobility is to increase productivity, without putting your data at risk.”
Ninety percent of U.S. employees used their personal smartphones for work within the past year, yet only 46 percent believe their employers are prepared for any issues that could arise from BYOD, according to a March study in which a network of Cisco partners polled 1,000 consumers on their mobile use habits at work. Just more than half (52 percent) reported accessing unsecured WiFi networks with their devices, a well-known vulnerability in the cyber-security industry.