Enterprise Device Alliance Extends Integration to Include Macs, iPhones and iPads Within Enterprise IT

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Enterprise Desktop Alliance, announced today that it is extending its scope to include Apple iOS devices in response to the widespread acceptance of smartphones and tablets by large organizations. To reflect this expanded scope, the organization has changed its name to the Enterprise Device Alliance. The Enterprise Device Alliance and its member companies conduct research, provide education, and deliver solutions to organizations that need to integrate, secure, and manage Macs, iPads, and iPhones within their established, Windows-based IT infrastructure. More information about the organization and the member solutions is available at www.enterprisedevicealliance.org.

"IT departments in large organizations are being pushed to accommodate user demands to integrate Macs, iPads and iPhones into their IT infrastructure," said T. Reid Lewis, president of the Enterprise Device Alliance. "The members of the Enterprise Device Alliance provide solutions that easily extend current IT infrastructure and management practices to secure, to deliver services to, and to manage Macs and iOS devices."

The adoption of mobile devices by employees of large organizations has reintroduced many of the same challenges brought by the introduction of the laptop. The IT staff have to quickly learn and implement best practices to:

• secure the company's and its customers' information when access is untethered from a physical location
• ensure that the company is complying with government and industry regulations related to data access
• maintain compliance with mobile app software licensing
• discourage a resourceful and determined user community from bypassing the legal and ethical constraints related to application usage and data access to which responsible organizations adhere
• provide users with secure and managed alternatives to self managed, often unencrypted file downloading and distribution; and
• manage the loss or theft of a device that fits in a pocket, yet can access a corporate database

Survey of mobile device management in the enterprise

The Enterprise Device Alliance is conducting a survey of enterprise administrators to determine the penetration of smartphones and tablets devices into their organization and to examine the management priorities they are confronting. The survey is available at: Survey: Managing Mobile Devices in the Enterprise.

About the Enterprise Device Alliance and its member companies

The EDA member companies provide interoperable solutions that allow enterprise IT managers to uniformly extend their Windows-based services, security and controls to Macs, iPads, and iPhones. The centralized administration EDA companies enable for IT staff includes the new class of devices and thus ensures the security and compliance of these systems within organizations while avoiding the need for a costly and un-wieldy parallel management infrastructure.

GroupLogic

GroupLogic helps enterprise and education IT organizations simply and securely integrate diverse computing platforms into enterprise environments, connecting employees to enterprise files, content and assets to facilitate a more productive and efficient work environment. Whether IT organizations are looking to integrate existing Apple assets, purchase additional Apple hardware like Macs, iPads or iPhones, or want to take advantage of the hardware costs savings that accompany the adoption of IT consumerization, GroupLogic enables IT organizations to easily and securely manage the rapid integration of diverse platforms while ensuring resources are optimized. GroupLogic's proven products - mobilEcho, ExtremeZ-IP, ArchiveConnect, and MassTransit - are in use by some of the world's most innovative companies, including Christie's, International Greetings and Omnicom Group. http://www.grouplogic.com/

Web Help Desk Mobile

Empower your IT technicians with 24/7 access to critical customer service data with the Web Help Desk mobile web application. Technicians can deliver exceptional customer service to their clients no matter their location – all from the palm of their hand. Web Help Desk, a worldwide innovator in cross platform help desk software, delivers a centralized approach to ITSM, simplifies the management of IT services in a heterogeneous environment, and provides portability across platforms when needed.

Absolute Software

Absolute Software Corporation (TSX: ABT) is the leader in tracking, managing, and protecting computers and mobile devices. The Company's Computrace, Absolute Manage and LoJack for Laptops solutions provide theft recovery, data protection and computer lifecycle management capabilities to organizations and consumers. Absolute Manage allows IT administrators to remotely manage, wipe and lock Apple iOS 4 devices from either a PC or Mac, computer—without the need for extra hardware or software infrastructure. With the addition of MDM, Absolute Manage customers can manage PCs, Mac computers and now iOS 4 devices from a single, comprehensive user interface in a PC or Mac infrastructure. The Company has a reselling partnership with Apple. For more information about Absolute Software, visit http://absolute.com/en/products/absolute-manage/mdm-overview/features.aspx

Centrify

Centrify delivers integrated software solutions that centrally control, secure and audit access to cross-platform systems and applications by leveraging the infrastructure organizations already own—Microsoft Active Directory. From the data center and into the cloud, more than 3,500 organizations, including 40 percent of the Fortune 50, rely on Centrify's identity consolidation and privilege management solutions to reduce IT expenses, strengthen security and meet compliance requirements. For more information about Centrify and its solutions, call +1 (408) 542-7500 or visit http://www.centrify.com/

About the Enterprise Device Alliance

The Enterprise Device Alliance (EDA) is a non-profit technology group that serves as a resource for organizations deploying, integrating, and managing Macs, iPhones and iPads in Windows-managed environments. The EDA delivers free information, market data, and access to solutions that support heterogeneous environments. The EDA member companies are leading technology solution providers for cross-platform enterprises. Member companies include Absolute Software, Centrify, Group Logic, and Web Help Desk. For more information, visit www.enterprisedevicealliance.org .

CONTACT:  

Tom Cromelin
925-997-8459
[email protected]

SOURCE Enterprise Device Alliance