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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.