ANTenna Blog -- Mobile

The latest round of cool smartphones has turned them into favorites among consumers. Increasingly, they are bringing these devices to work, regardless of whether or not their employers have sanctioned their use. Consequently, small and medium businesses need help securing these devices and Good Technology wants to provide it.

Good Technology found that nearly four out of five companies have seen an increase in the number of employees who want to bring their cell phones into the workplace in the last 6-12 months. The iPhone is leading this groundswell: 82% of respondents in the US and UK are getting requests to support that phone. Companies are then put in a difficult position. If they turn down the request, the employee may try to connect the device to the network anyway. If corporations give in to the demands, they have to manually configure the devices one at a time and then secure them on an ongoing basis.

Good for Enterprise automates that process and provides secure access to applications and data running behind a company firewall. The software provides remote wipe capabilities, on-device data encryption, and the ability to manage all devices from a single, Web-based management console. Good’s software, which already supports Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, has been extended so it supports the Apple iPhone, Palm Pre, and Google Android devices.

Good Technology has identified an area of growing concern to small and medium businesses: mobile device management. The company, which has been in business since 1996, seems to have developed an interesting – and growing – line of mobile device management applications. However, larger vendors, such as mobile handset suppliers, security software suppliers, and carriers, are also moving into this space. Customers may want to take a look at the company’s products but be aware of the potential issues that can come along with dealing with a fledgling supplier in a highly competitive market.