Zenprise brings automatic provisioning to Android devices

Zenprise is gearing up for Android-based tablets in the enterprise with extended capabilities in its MobileManager suite, including remote control support for IT helpdesk staff and automatic provisioning of approved applications via an Android Enterprise Application Store.

Available immediately, the new capabilities are delivered in an upgrade to the Device Manager module of MobileManager and are intended to provide IT departments with the tools required to better support Android-based devices as these are adopted by enterprise firms.

Zenprise believes that many of the tablet devices sold in 2011 will go to enterprise customers, and about one third of all tablets will be Android-based, following the slew of devices announced at CES, for example.

"We look at these statistics and trends, and the conclusion we reach is that the laptop is dead," said Zenprise chief marketing officer Ahmed Datoo.

Some Zenprise customers are already giving tablets rather than laptops to groups such as sales teams, he claimed, which allows them to check email and give presentations, but are cheaper than laptops.

However, while laptops typically come configured with the user name and password, Wi-Fi settings and software installed, "in today's world, tablet users have to go through the process of configuring Wi-Fi, email and installing software, and could spend days doing all that", said Datoo.

The new Android Enterprise Application Store is designed to address this, according to Zenprise.

The name is slightly misleading, since it does not resemble or replace app stores such as those of Google and Apple, but is instead a facility that allows an IT department to automatically provision applications out to Android devices, based on user profiles.