Verizon Expands Managed Mobility Portfolio

To help companies meet the challenge of managing and securing their applications on an increasing variety of mobile devices used by employees, including their own devices, Verizon is expanding and enhancing its managed mobility portfolio.

The new capabilities feature management and security for both corporate and employee-owned iOS and Android OS (operating system)-based tablet and a new enterprise application portal that resides on a device and allows mobile workers to obtain required business applications. New anti-virus and firewall capabilities protect intellectual assets in a mobile environment.

“An explosion of mobile devices over the past few years has fundamentally changed the way we work and blurred the line between our personal and professional lives,” said Carrie Gray, enterprise mobility executive director with Verizon. “The desire of employees to choose their device has left CIOs and IT departments grappling with how to protect sensitive company data. Verizon is creating an environment for enterprises to unleash business applications, while controlling costs and securing company assets across their mobile carrier environment.”

Verizon Managed Mobility customers can now add iOS and Android OS-based tablets to the mix of devices that can be deployed to their workforces. Verizon delivers management and security capabilities for the tablet devices through Afaria software from Sybase, an SAP company, providing enterprise-to-edge security and back-office application extension capabilities such as security policy enforcement, application delivery and control over device management profiles.

Verizon also introduced a new on-device portal for managing enterprise applications that are required or recommended for specific user groups. By having the ability to mandate or authorise applications for various groups and individuals, companies can enable greater productivity while also maintaining command, control and security.

The Verizon Managed Mobility portfolio leverages the strength of Verizon’s IP and wireless networks but can be used with any carrier. The portfolio is designed to improve an enterprise’s mobility program in four key areas: mobile device management and security, inventory and expense management, mobile services enablement platform, and logistics.

Separately, the company announced an expansion of its agreement with SAP to jointly market and sell key components of Verizon’s Managed Mobility portfolio (Mobile Device Management and Security and Mobile Services Enablement Platform). This will enable customers to easily access their on-premises and cloud-based SAP applications virtually anytime, anywhere via the Verizon business-class cloud. The updated agreement makes Verizon the first SAP partner to provide end-to-end enterprise cloud and mobility offerings.