System Center Product to Manage Devices

Mobile Device Manager, a new member of the System Center product line due in the second quarter of 2008, will help IT administrators manage Windows Mobile-based smart phones by simplifying the process of adding the devices to the corporate network, providing automatic application installation and inventorying, and preventing data loss when devices are stolen or lost. However, customers may need to purchase new devices: thus far, only two mobile phones are listed as being compatible with Mobile Device Manager, and even those will require a software update.

Managing Devices, Securing Data

Mobile Device Manager tries to address three difficulties IT organizations face in deploying smart phones: managing the devices themselves and their installed software, ensuring that sensitive corporate data stored on the device is secure, and providing reliable and secure access to the corporate network.

Device management. Most IT administrators are already familiar with the need to configure their end users’ PCs, including maintaining an inventory of hardware and installed software and establishing and enforcing companywide settings for the OS and applications. Mobile Device Manager aims to perform a similar function for Windows Mobile smart phones. With Mobile Device Manager, users can enroll new devices in the company’s Active Directory without enlisting the corporate helpdesk. In addition, Mobile Device Manager will allow IT administrators to install new software or update existing software on the device. Administrators can view and configure devices through an MMC-based management console or PowerShell scripts.