MobileIron aims to overhaul smartphone management

MobileIron backs up device data centrally

MobileIron is bringing its enterprise smartphone management platform to Europe, promising a new data-centric approach that lets customers cut operational costs through greater visibility of assets, while allowing greater freedom of handset choice for end users.

The company will announce today the opening of its European headquarters near Amsterdam, coming out of stealth mode after several months of quietly building interest among corporate customers in Europe, the firm said.

Its data-centric approach to smartphone management is designed so that companies can allow staff to use a device of their choice, a development driven by the popularity of the iPhone over the last few years.

MobileIron's Virtual Smartphone Platform synchronises all data from employee handsets back to the datacentre, from where it is used to deliver services for end users, plus oversight for the IT manager and information on costs for the finance department.

"Our approach is that smartphones are computers. It’s about the data on the device, not just content, but activity and usage data, settings, location information and data on the network service quality," explained MobileIron chief executive Bob Tinker.

This data allows the telecoms or finance manager to monitor usage patterns, which can catch costly usage spikes and reduce network bills by ten to twenty percent, Tinker claimed.

For the IT department, MobileIron has the usual management features such as password enforcement, but it also supports the ability to draw a boundary between corporate and personal data, enabling a selective wipe if an employee that has been using their own handset leaves the company.