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BlackBerry developing 'simple' enterprise cloud service for BB, Android and iOS
BlackBerry is in dire straits, but a freshly announced enterprise cloud service could be something of a Lazarus Pit. A post to Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog states that the service will allow admins to keep an eye on employee smartphones and tablets as well as distribute apps. This apparently won't require any IT experience or servers, and will cost "less than a cup of coffee" per user per month. The as yet unnamed service will operate across Android and iOS as well as BlackBerry, which could make it attractive as a BYOD tool and potentially keep it relevant regardless of the Canadian firm's manufacturing future.
Business is cozying up to iOS 7
iOS 7 has been officially available since September 18, and given the attitude of corporations to move slowly on operating system updates and embracing new technologies, you might expect that it will take time for iOS 7 to make it into the executive suite. Joel Mathis at Macworld says that nothing could be further from reality in a post today titled "Why businesses are embracing iOS 7." Mathis quotes Erik Frieberg of VMWare as saying that "You might even say that iOS is the most corporate-friendly OS on the market right now." Through a series of discussions with mobile enterprise experts, Macworld found that they are quite happy with iOS 7's advances in five main areas: Device security: Activation Lock makes it easy to keep thieves or those who find lost devices from being able to restore or reactivate devices running iOS 7, and Touch ID on the iPhone 5s provides an added layer of security. App security and management: In a world where iPhones and iPads are entering corporations as part of "bring your own device" initiatives, being able to create a dividing line between corporate apps and data and personal usage is important. iOS 7's Per App VPN feature means that corporate apps can easily connect to a company's virtual private network for work, while personal apps cannot. Distribution and management of apps is simpler now, and Enterprise Single Sign-on gives users access to multiple apps with one passcode entry. Tools for teamwork: Here, Mathis notes that iOS 7's AirDrop capabilities are being used in Kibit's Collaborate app for file exchange purposes. Those same capabilities can power other collaborative apps that are still on the drawing boards. Widespread adoption: Corporations don't have to deal with multiple versions of the operating system due to easy updates. Mixpanel's trend data shows that almost 70 percent of iOS devices are now running iOS 7 after just two and a half weeks. That's easier on corporate IT departments, as they don't need to design app deployments for multiple versions of an OS. Free office apps: Now that iWork is available for free on new iPhones running iOS 7, Apple can compete with Microsoft Office with three apps that appeal to corporate users. Mathis' post concludes with a wish-list of items that corporate IT leaders are hoping Apple embraces for future versions of iOS, but he points out that "despite these shortcomings, the experts consulted by Macworld seemed uniformly impressed by iOS 7."
Dell announces Venue 8 Pro and Venue 11 Pro Windows 8.1 tablets (hands-on)
Ever since Dell dropped the surprise announcement that it would revive its Venue brand, we've been looking forward to getting our hands on the company's new line of Windows 8.1 tablets. That time has come with today's launch of two devices: the Dell Venue 8 Pro and the Venue 11 Pro. Their arrival confirms the end of Dell's dabble with Windows RT -- and the discontinuation of its XPS 10 tablet -- heralding a new "portfolio" of mobile devices that the company believes will meet the needs of enterprise customers. Do Dell's buttoned-down tablets offer more than the competition? Join us after the break for a closer look.
LG Gate to tackle enterprise smartphone security with encryption, VPNs and more
Samsung chose to name part of its enterprise smartphone security suite after an Army post, but LG's going for something entirely more generic: Gate. The company's solution appears to work much like JK Shin and Co.'s, safeguarding both private and business data as they coexist on a phone, allowing outfits to use a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) setup. By wielding Gate, users can encrypt their hardware's data, use a VPN and make the lives of IT departments easier thanks to mobile device management features. It's not clear if the software will be offered gratis, but it sounds like it'll be available just in time for the G2's trip stateside.
iOS 7: Benefits to business and enterprise
Ask IT managers and CIOs serving large organizations "What keeps you up at night?" After they get over their cold sweats from considering public security breaches or datacenter meltdowns, they'll probably come around to the rapid, relentless pace of change in the technology ecosystems they're running. Nowhere is that speedy spin cycle more frenetic than in mobile and portable computing, where the "consumerization of IT" driven by bring-your-own-device policies and the radical popularity of iOS and Android has completely overturned the pecking order (as recently as five years ago, Blackberry above all). Apple's story for iOS in the enterprise has been one of incredibly fast uptake, especially considering the usual cycle for upgrades and new platform rollouts. In many ways, that rapid adoption was in spite of Apple's traditional arm's-length relationship with enterprise customers, compared to the tight ties with vendors like Dell and IBM. Over the iOS lifecycle, however, more and more sophisticated features for management and security have helped to make the challenge of enterprise support easier and easier. Aside from Exchange ActiveSync support, introduced in "iPhone OS 2.0" back in 2008, the single biggest piece of the enterprise puzzle is probably mobile device management (MDM). The inclusion of MDM "hooks" in iOS means that enterprise managers can control device configurations (networking, mail, VPN and more) and keep track of their deployed fleet. Apple offers its own core MDM tool as part of OS X Server, but most organizations of scale find themselves turning to third parties for their MDM solutions. There are several pieces of good news in iOS 7 regarding MDM. First of all, many of the major ISVs have announced day-one support for the new operating system: AirWatch, MobileIron, Maas360 and JAMF's Casper are all compatible right away (you can see the full matrix of supported MDM tools at Enterprise iOS). Second, Apple has added many, many more hooks into the MDM toolkit on iOS 7. Want to manage AirPrint printer destinations, or even AirPlay-enabled Apple TVs? Can do, in iOS 7 MDM. Install apps silently, push app configuration settings, or even preset a fleet of purchased devices to auto-enroll in your MDM when employees take them out of the box? It's in there. What else do enterprise managers of iOS device fleets have to look forward to in iOS 7? Apple's brief rundown of iOS 7's business-facing features hits many of the highlights; let's dive into a few of them here. App Store license management. Ever since the App Store launched in the summer of 2008, the process of buying and assigning iOS apps to corporate users has been fraught with difficulty. Until the Volume Purchasing Program launched three years later (!), the best/only way to manage this process was via gifting, or having employees expense personal purchases. Those apps, and their sunk costs, would also walk out the door if the employee left the company. No more -- now the VPP can deliver licenses rather than download codes, and the apps are company-owned. If an employee leaves, the license and the app can be deactivated and redeployed. (Mac apps and iBooks are also now available for volume purchase.) Enterprise SSO. Single sign-on implementations are common in enterprise, but were tricky to deal with on mobile. Now iOS 7 allows apps to work with the system-level SSO capability, meaning that business users (with the proper back-end and app support) can enter their corporate credentials once and use multiple apps without reauthentication. Multiple levels of in-app data encryption for third party apps. Application data can now be automatically encrypted until the first time a user passcode is successfully entered after a device reboot; optionally, developers can flag apps to re-encrypt the data when the phone locks. Managed Open In. Want your employees to open their email attachments in a specific, managed application rather than willy-nilly in whatever iSharedThis app of the month they choose? The option now exists to limit the range of the share sheets for corporate data. I can see this being a valuable tool in highly secure and regulated enviroments, and a huge annoyance/productivity killer most everywhere else. Per App VPN. Virtual Private Networking is an essential piece of the enterprise ecosystem, but until now it was either all on or all off on iOS -- when on, all network traffic funneled through the corporate concentrator. Now, MDM admins can define which apps should use the VPN connection, and which ones can simply go straight to the Internet. One of the business-friendly features that was rumored for iOS 7, LinkedIn system-level integration, actually is not present in the 7.0 release -- it may make an appearance at a later date. Below, a rather remarkable alt-universe version of Apple's iOS 7/iPhone 5s announcement (courtesy of enterprise iOS and Moovweb) imagines what could have been if all the enterprise features had been front and center. You can read more about the enterprise features of iOS 7 in Craig Johnston's thorough rundown for iMore.
How do you update a few dozen iDevices at once?
So, let's say you have a bunch of iOS devices. How do you update them all to iOS 7 at one time? With Configurator and a big honking USB hub, is how. Yesterday while at Tekserve I got to see the beauty pictured above, a 40-port USB hub that costs more than most iPhones. A limitation in the USB spec prevents charging iPads requiring a certain wattage, but otherwise this sucker was able to update a lot of devices all at once thanks to the miracle of technology. Also, if you've ever seen groups of iPads in close proximity all clearly operating from the same image (like, say at the Delta terminal at LGA in New York) you'll probably find one of these guys hiding in the furniture somewhere.
Samsung unveils first SSDs with 3D V-NAND memory, but only for enterprise
Well, that was quick. Samsung said it was producing the world's first 3D vertical NAND memory just a week ago, and it has already started building the first SSDs based on that memory. Unfortunately, they're not meant for the enthusiast crowd: the new 480GB and 960GB drives are instead designed for enterprise-class servers, where V-NAND's blend of high capacity and reliability makes the most sense. Don't be too forlorn, however. Samsung promises that the new memory will eventually reach PC-oriented SSDs, which could bring spacious flash storage to a much wider audience.
Dell's Project Ophelia now shipping to testers, everyone else this fall
If you ever doubted Dell's $100 pendroid would ship, the PC giant is proving you wrong. PCWorld reports that Project Ophelia units have started making their way to the tester community, and the general public can expect them between August and October. Enterprise users can rest assured that the investment won't be in vain, as Dell has said that IT departments will have the ability to manage and secure each Android-based device and can lock down the HDMI gadget at a moment's notice. Your alpaca GIF addiction wont' be private, either: Monitoring capabilities are already in the works and deployed sticks can be wiped remotely. So don't get any ideas.
Samsung announces 3,000 MB/s enterprise SSD, shames competition
The ink has barely dried on Samsung's last SSD announcement and the South Korean manufacturer has already made it obsolete by orders of magnitude. This 2.5-inch enterprise-class SSD isn't for us regular Joes, but if you thought the company's EVO 840's 540 MB/s was zippy, hold on to your desk chair. The newly announced NVMe SSD XS1715 reads data at a mind-numbing 3,000 MB/s. Hitting these absurd numbers isn't without a caveat, though, as this SSD won't run on a SATA-6 port -- it requires a PCIe hookup. When these speed demons do arrive, they'll be available in 400GB, 800GB and 1.6TB sizes. Oh, and we want one. For business.
Microsoft doubles support lifecycle for Windows Phone 8, outlines enterprise feature update
Considering Microsoft's history of supporting desktop operating systems past their expiration date, learning that Windows Phone 8 would be cut off from updates after a short 18 months was a bit of a slap to the face. Thankfully, Redmond has come to its senses: as of this week Microsoft has doubled its mobile OS' support life cycle. Devices running Windows Phone 8 will be sustained through January 2016, provided your carrier of choice chooses to make the update available to you. The company hopes this will make the platform more appealing to enterprise users. Speaking of courting the business crowd, the official Windows Phone Blog also outlines a set of enterprise-specific features, including new options for corporate-level email, WiFi and application management. The full info with all the high-level security features you can handle is in the links below.
Apple details iOS 7's improved business credentials
While iOS already has a place in the corporate world, that spot isn't guaranteed when there's competition with both a renewed BlackBerry and Samsung's Knox. Accordingly, Apple isn't leaving anything to chance: it just posted a page explaining the business-friendly iOS 7 features that it teased at WWDC. The biggest improvements for end users may be enterprise single sign-on and per app VPN, both of which will save hassles when launching work apps. IT managers should have it easier as well -- iOS devices can join Mobile Device Management as soon as they're activated, and a company can assign apps to individual users without losing control. There's considerably more features than we can list here, but it's clear from a cursory glimpse that Apple likes its foothold in the enterprise.
BlackBerry Secure Work Space now available on iOS
BlackBerry made a major announcement Tuesday with the expansion of its BlackBerry Enterprise Service to include iOS and Android devices. The move sees the phone company increasingly focusing on services as it deals with its strengths in the face of iOS and Android market share. Secure Work Space allows BlackBerry clients to manage their files on all devices they support with the companies legendary security, even when they're not on their BlackBerry. "Secure Work Space builds on BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, and we found that BlackBerry's secure infrastructure offered our company the best containerization solution to help mobilize our multi-platform environment, while maintaining a great user experience," said Thierry Lammers, Director and co-founder, e-office mobile. "We're looking forward to deploying this solution across our organization and to our customers in the coming months and bringing the separation of work and personal data to life on iOS and Android devices." BlackBerry reports that a Forrester Research, Inc. study showed that by 2016, 350 million workers will be using smartphones, with 200 million providing their own devices in the office. Secure Work Space allows workers bringing their own devices to have the same security available on a work BlackBerry without having to compromise use of their personal phones. The company released a video explaining the new service, which we have linked below.
Western Digital boosts SSD cred with $340 million sTec acquisition
Western Digital has clearly made a name for itself in the magnetic drive space, but it's hardly the go-to brand when it comes to SSDs. WD's betting that'll soon change, though, thanks to a $340 million investment. That sum will be used to acquire sTec Inc., a US-based SSD manufacturer best known for its enterprise solid-state drives (and a recent insider trading scandal). The company will fall under HGST, a WD wholly owned subsidiary, and will likely continue focusing its efforts on SSDs designed for business use -- serving up ones and zeroes in servers and data centers, for example. Catch a few more deets at the source link just below.
MacStadium to provide new Mac Pro hosting and colocation
For the Mac faithful, it won't do to share space on just any server -- you want to use a Mac server. Likewise, we like to have our own Mac servers colocated at a place that specializes in Macs. That's why hosting providers like MacStadium are so popular. Now MacStadium has announced that as soon as the new Mac Pros arrive, they'll be ready to rack 'em and stack 'em in their hosting and colocation center. The company expects to be able to fit 270 Mac Pro servers per POD on only 12 square feet of floor space in their datacenter. That's what that Lego-like image above represents, with Mac Pros sitting on their sides stacked 15 tall, nine wide and two deep. That MacStadium facility provides redundant cooling, power and security systems, and each of those Mac Pros will be connected to the world with Gigabit Ethernet through a 50 GB/s network backbone. The existing Mac Pro, according to MacStadium, has never been popular in the hosting and colocation world because of their huge physical footprint and high power draw. MacStadium will be able to provide Mac Pros as a monthly rental or purchase, or you can send in your configured Mac Pro for collocation.
Microsoft letting users choose Yammer as default social network in Office 365
Since enterprise-level social networking isn't really our bag, we haven't been paying that much attention to Yammer after Microsoft's paid $1.2 billion to buy it. Still, as part of Redmond's project to merge Twitter-for-business with Office 365, organizations can now make Yammer the primary sharing tool for their users. Unfortunately, we suspect some heavy-handed sysadmin will prevent you from sending those amusing LOLCat pictures your nephew emailed you to the folks in sector G.
AT&T launches Enhanced Push-to-Talk for iPhone with WiFi calling
When iOS has some sway with the corporate crowd, you can be sure that carriers with enterprise customers will notice -- AT&T certainly has. It just released a version of Enhanced Push-to-Talk for Apple's platform, letting workers with an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 chat instantly with large groups. While there isn't much novelty for anyone who has tried push-to-talk before, the iOS app is notable as AT&T's first to support service over WiFi; poor cell reception won't be an excuse for an extended lunch break. EPTT still requires an AT&T subscription, but those who've just recently jumped ship from Sprint's soon-to-end iDEN service will be happy to hear that the app is free at the source link.
Box launches revenue-sharing scheme for app devs, iOS and Android SDKs
As great as free server space is for us regular folk, businesses use cloud storage too (and they actually pay for it). In an effort to attract the attention of mobile app developers, and ultimately keep enterprise clients happy, Box has launched a revenue-sharing program called $rev for those who create business-focused software integrated with its cloud storage platform. It's pretty simple, really. Step one: get your app to play nice with Box; step two: people use the app; step three: make it rain. By getting an app into Box's OneCloud club and enrolling in the $rev program, devs can net up to 15 percent of the "per seat price" in rewards. Although its API is already available, Box has launched iOS and Android SDKs in tandem with $rev to make the integration step a bit easier; more SDKs are expected in the "coming weeks." The $rev scheme is currently in a closed beta phase, but it'll open up in the near future. Interested app crafters can learn more about getting paid by Box, download the SDKs and sign up to $rev at the source links below.
Verizon offers VMware Horizon Mobile virtual workspace to Android users
We'd heard talk long, long ago of Verizon hooking up with VMware for a virtual workspace on its smartphones, and we can at last say that it's more than just chatter. Starting today, Verizon's business customers can buy VMware's Horizon Mobile for their Android devices. The solution gives corporate phones a common desktop with encrypted apps, data and policies that can't be touched from the device's regular environment. While this puts the Verizon-VMware partnership in competition with the likes of BlackBerry Secure Work Space and Samsung Knox, it won't be a perfect match for those services: the two companies are asking $125 per person for Horizon Mobile, and the initial device support is oddly limited to the LG Intuition and Motorola Droid RAZR M (neither is pictured here). Nonetheless, the deal might be a good fit for companies that would rather tie their phones to a single carrier than any one hardware manufacturer.
Toshiba reveals WT310 business tablet: Windows 8 Pro, 11.6-inch display and digitizer pen
Toshiba's got an Ultrabook hybrid on the way for general consumption, and now it's targeting the business-savvy Windows 8 user with its WT310 tablet (a product code borrowed from an old Windows 7 model). Running Windows 8 Pro, the 11.6-inch 1080p slate packs an unnamed Intel Core processor, SSD drive, and comes bundled with a DigitizerPen for quick note scrawling. Around the edges, you're looking at an HDMI-out port, an SD card slot and USB 3.0 port, with standard WiFi (Intel WiDi supported), Bluetooth 4.0 and optional HSPA+ / LTE radios for connectivity. A dock that offers additional ports will also be available. As the tablet "means business," it comes with a bunch of pre-installed utilities for those that need a slate for more than browsing and media, including the Trusted Platform Module, as well as Intel's Active Management Technology and Anti-Theft software. It measures 229 x 189 x 12.4mm (roughly 9 x 7.5 x 0.5 inch) and weighs in at 825g (29 ounces), with the only choice of color being "steel grey metallic." We should find out some of the finer details, like specific CPU, RAM size and SSD capacity, closer to the UK release window of Q2 2013, which we assume will coincide with a US launch. We're also in the dark about price, but given it's aimed at business users, it probably won't be cheap.
Full Samsung Knox launch delayed until a 'later date'
The Galaxy S 4 launch was also supposed to mark the release of Knox, Samsung's plan to balance home life and work through software. Unfortunately, Galaxy owners will have to live slightly off-kilter for a while longer -- the company has officially delayed full Knox service to a "later date." While the GS 4 ships with the necessary underpinnings, both distributors and providers have to fall into place before the suite is completely ready. Samsung hasn't officially said when it expects Knox to arrive in earnest, although the New York Times claims that it may appear as late as July. Whether or not that's true, the setback adds to what's becoming a hitch-prone debut for Samsung's 2013 Android flagship.
