Mobile Application Management: Application Compatibility for the Edge

Though the focus of this blog has been on application compatibility and for the past little while Windows 7 and IE9 have been pretty common topics for postings. I came across an interesting post from Jack Madden over at Brian Madden's blog site.

Jack writes that one of the primary challenges of enterprise application management programs is how to address the edge problem: meaning smart phones and tablets.  As an old hand at managing applications in the enterprise, there was a familiar cycle or rhythm to managing applications; 

• Develop
• Test
• Deploy
• Update 
• Retire (kill)

There are quite a few sub-components to each of these stages and the cycle was iterative and repetitive.  When it comes to applications deployed to edge devices (phones and tablets). The story is a little weaker. Phones and tablets are a recent (and reluctant) members to the enterprise application management club and though there are technology vendors out there (and Quest will be mentioned - don't worry), managing mobile application is still a nascent industry.

Jack walks us through the difference between MAM (Mobile application Management) which deals with objects at an application level. Whereas, MDM operates at a device level. MAM helps with the initial deployment of an enterprise application and potentially application updates, but to completely (securely) remove the application from a device with some measure of confidence, you need to engage MDM and operate at the device level.

Now that I am learning about Quest's offering in this space, it looks like we offer QMX extensions for Apple which you can read about here: http://www.quest.com/management-xtensions-configuration-manager-apple-edition/

Quest's QMX Extensions for Apple have the following features: 

• Support enhanced management capabilities to simplify operation with corporate applications and data.
• The QMX extension for iOS incorporates in-demand capabilities, including more detailed control and management features to inventory, report on and distribute applications and updates to these devices as well as keep the organization secure with selective lock and wipe capabilities in the event of a lost device.
• With the QMX extension for Mac, administrators can use standardization and network readiness in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to deploy corporate images to one or more Mac laptops and PowerBooks. This lets IT quickly resurrect a device that an end-user had completely destroyed.

Ben Hector, network engineer 2, Drake University says, "

“At Drake University, we’ve seen the rapid adoption of Mac OS and iOS devices over the past two years, but we were unable to track and monitor them properly. We deployed Quest Management Extensions (QMX), which directly integrates with our management system to pull in data on both hardware and software into one database. The deployment of QMX was a no-brainer—it allows our university management to address compliance and budget concerns while letting our IT organization simplify device management across disparate platforms and hardware.”

You can read more about Quest and their mobile management offerings here: http://community-downloads.quest.com/management-extensions/Video/iOS_v2/index.html

References:

Part 1: Let’s take a look at in-house iOS apps, part 2 of 2: Managing the apps

Part 2: Let’s take a look at in-house iOS apps, part 1 of 2: the iOS Developer Enterprise Program