MobileIron 4 Tames Smartphone Sprawl And Enables Private Apps

The media is abuzz with with predictions of just how big the bang can be that accompanies the explosion of smartphones and mobile broadband-enabled tablets going on now in an enterprise near you. While analysts look into their crystal balls, those who manage networks struggle with how to reconcile the popularity of mobile devices with corporate policy, and examine how they need to adjust their own approaches to balance device usefulness with organizational security. Enter MobileIron, the Tamer of Apps, Herder of Cats, and teller of a good story that's about to get better.

It took me two presentations before the value of MobileIron sunk in, but once the hook was set I was impressed. In my own workplace, I see the proliferation of Android devices, iPhones and iPads, and other mobile devices loaded up with apps of all sorts. I have been in on discussions about how to best secure these devices and the data on them, how to handle the inevitable loss or theft of a key executive's mobile device, and I currently sit on a team trying to architect an IT asset inventory solution in a complex environment.

After speaking with Ojes Rege and Jesse Lindeman, MobileIron's Product VP and Director of Product Management respectfully, I appreciate what MobileIron is doing in a space that otherwise could quickly turn chaotic. And with the just announced MobileIron Version 4, the value proposition becomes much more interesting.

Back to exactly what MobileIron does before I get into what is new and cool. The quick and dirty comes down to this: through either a hosted or customer-located management console, MobileIron provides granular and flexible control over mobile devices and multi-OS device mixtures. Lose a device? Remotely wipe it. Have a mix of corporate owned and personal iPhones used for business? Rule the corporate subset as you would a tightly-controlled Active Directory environment, while only getting only as invasive on the personal units as needed to keep data secure and required apps updated. Have international travelers ringing up huge roaming charges on their Blackberries? MobileIron can alert both user and administrator before things get ridiculous as the charges mount. Have doubts about the performance of your mobile carrier's network? Yep- MobileIron can identify issues and give you a metrics-based leg to stand on when you need to challenge the carriers to live up to their end of the contract.

Devices can even be blocked from syncing corporate email if they are not authorized, if so desired by policy. MobileIron puts monitoring and control in a powerful single-pane-of-glass view, and once you see it in action it makes perfect sense as the answer to getting a handle on what mobile devices should and shouldn't be doing. Again, this is powerful stuff.With today's press release for MobileIron Version 4, two buzz-worthy features jump out. Predicting the desire for in-house developed applications for Apple's iOS 4 devices, MobileIron has secured the "trusted management platform" designation from Apple. This means that through MobileIron, in-house apps can be distributed outside of Apple's restrictive AppStore paradigm. Distribution of in-house apps is tightly controlled, and is designed to prevent them from leaking beyond organizational boundaries and can be limited to specific user groups.

Develop an app for the Sales Department, and R & D folks can't get to it if you don't want them to. MobileIron truly brings the same flexible management to the new apps portal as it provides for mobile devices.

The second big part of version 4 is a little more ambitious, and I'm a bit skeptical about how effective it will prove to be. For Android devices, MobileIron's latest provides rogue application protection. Got users downloading apps that you don't want them to have? You'll be alerted, and the users will be automatically warned. Sounds nice on corporate-owned devices, but could be a nightmare to manage on those owned by employees. Part of what I pay for with my data plan every month is the freedom to experiment with apps on my Droid, so I'm not sure how you draw the line between alert-worthy rogue apps versus those that are OK.

If you want to get a handle on what is likely one of the most fluid parts of your network (and yes, far-flung mobile devices are part of your network whether you care to admit it or not), MobileIron just might be what the doctor ordered.