F5 Unveils F5 Mobile App Manager

F5 Networks, Inc., the Application Delivery Networking solutions provider, has announced F5 Mobile App Manager, a new hybrid cloud solution for mobile application management that enables organisations to safely and cost-effectively support enterprise BYOD initiatives. With F5 Mobile App Manager, enterprises can extend corporate applications and data to employees’ personal mobile devices while leaving all personal content under the control of the device owner.

F5 Mobile App Manager is a BYOD solution that combines the policy management and secure application delivery features of the BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) with the scalability and affordability of a SaaS offering. It is fundamentally different from “BYOD 1.0” Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions in that it securely connects only corporate applications to the enterprise network, and it manages only the enterprise content and applications on a device rather than the entire device itself.

For IT organisations, F5 Mobile App Manager relieves the burden and responsibility of managing employee-owned devices while still enabling them to control device access to their network, track inventory, monitor threats and vulnerabilities, and protect corporate information.

“As more employees want to use personal devices in the workplace, enterprise IT has had to make tough choices: support BYOD initiatives despite having limited security controls, impose complete control over employees’ personal devices using MDM solutions, or reject BYOD initiatives altogether,” said Mark Vondemkamp, VP of Security Product Management and Marketing at F5. “F5 Mobile App Manager enables IT to make intelligent BYOD choices that benefit both the company and employees; it gives IT the control and flexibility it needs to protect corporate resources without restricting an employee’s use of the device or infringing on their privacy.”

As a hybrid cloud offering, F5 Mobile App Manager opens up new opportunities for enterprises that have not yet embraced BYOD, enabling them to do so without incurring the expense of deploying and managing yet another solution in their own data centers. For organisations dissatisfied with their MDM solutions, F5 Mobile App Manager provides a secure, flexible, and cost-effective alternative that is less invasive and restrictive for employees.