Siemens brings Afaria management to OpenScape customers

Both Afaria and OpenScape support multiple platforms

Sybase and Siemens have announced an agreement under which Afaria, Sybase's mobile device management tool, will be offered as part of Siemens' OpenScape unified communications platform.

OpenScape Mobility, announced almost a year ago, enables workers to have a single phone number for their desk and mobile phones and supports seamless roaming between Wi-Fi and cellular networks.

The new partnership now allows Siemens' enterprise customers to deploy and manage the OpenScape client using Afaria, developed by Sybase's iAnywhere subsidiary.

"Our mobility solution is about integrating mobile devices into the communications infrastructure. Users need some form of mobile device management to deliver software updates and configuration changes, which is the cornerstone of this partnership," said Marcus Birkl, vice president of HiPath Sales at Siemens.

OpenScape Mobility used Nokia's IntelliSync for this purpose at launch, but Siemens was forced to seek an alternative following Nokia's decision to stop supporting the technology.

Siemens customers will be offered a reduced functionality version of Afaria that only manages the OpenScape client.

However, an upgrade path is being provided for customers requiring the full suite.

"Some Siemens customers that have been trialling Afaria decided they wanted to manage the full phone, so they wanted the full version," said Friedhelm Schnittker, iAnywhere sales director for Sybase

Under the agreement, Afaria is being sold and supported by Siemens for customers that want it as part of their OpenScape deployment. Some customers already have mobile device management in place and so do not require it, said Birkl.

Birkl explained that Siemens settled on Afaria because it supports multiple mobile platforms, including Windows Mobile, Symbian and iPhone, as does the OpenScape Mobility suite.

"Afaria is also a proficient management solution," he said.

Sybase said the move is the second major partnership announcement for it this month. Earlier in September, US carrier Verizon signed up to use Afaria as part of its suite of managed services for enterprise customers.