Mobile Device Management: Evaluating Solutions & Vendors

Posted by Kaleigh Alessandro on Thursday, November 29th, 2012

With the BYOD trend invading financial services firms (and companies of all kinds), the need for mobile device management solutions is at an all-time high. While hedge funds once seemed like a BlackBerry-only industry, the emergence of high-powered smartphones has prompted a shift in corporate communications. But security remains a top concern for all funds.

"Unlike BlackBerry, platforms like iOS and Android are not built with the enterprise in mind," said Phil Redman, an analyst at Gartner. "They are simply not as secure as BlackBerry, and to make them secure, companies have to spend some money."

There are a number of mobile device management solutions in the marketplace, including AirWatch, Zenprise, Fiberlink Communications, SAP (formerly Sybase) and Symantec. Let’s take a closer look at three such solutions we’re seeing used frequently: Good Technology, MobileIron and BlackBerry Mobile Fusion.

Good Technology

With more than 20 percent of the market share, according to Enterprise Networking Planet, Good Technology is the clear favorite amongst mobile device management solutions. With a simple, web-based application for your IT team to manage, monitor and control devices, and easy set-up and deployment, Good makes it easy for firms to support BYOD practices and protect corporate data and infrastructure at the same time. Key features include:

Support of iOS (iPhone & iPad), Android and Windows phones
Secure, FIPS-certified AES encryption for data both at rest and in transit
Remote wipe or lock capabilities
Application-level protection to prevent users from leaking company information

MobileIron

MobileIron claims it was “the pioneer of iOS in the enterprise, delivering the platform’s first private app storefront, BYOD privacy controls and certificate-based identity management.” While it doesn’t support quite the percentage of users that Good does, it still offers a reliable solution. Key features include:

Available as a cloud service or an on-premise solution
Broad platform support (iOS, BlackBerry, Android and Windows devices)
Robust security controls including remote device lock and wipe, encryption, lockdown capabilities and mandated use of data protection

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Architecture

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion

Earlier this year, BlackBerry introduced its newest product, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, as a solution to meet the MDM needs of all types of mobile devices, not just BlackBerry devices. The Mobile Fusion product, while not a frontrunner in the market place, is up-and-coming and many firms familiar with BlackBerry technology may feel comfortable working with a BlackBerry product. Key features include:

Supports BlackBerry, iOS and Android devices
New, web-based interface that provides a unified view for managing mobile devices, users, configurations, policies and more within an organization
BlackBerry Balance allows for the separation of personal and work-related information on a single device
Remote wipe and lock capabilities

Read on about Mobile Device Management and BYOD:

Eze Castle Integration works regularly with our clients to identify and implement mobile device management solutions to meet your firm’s unique needs. Contact us to learn more.