Quest Software Breaks Down Barriers to Mobile Device Management

The growing popularity of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives promises greater user productivity and satisfaction, but it can come at a high cost to the corporation—increased access and support issues as well as heightened security risks—if not implemented correctly. While traditional mobile device management (MDM) tools can help IT control the devices accessing a network, they lack the ability to integrate hardware and software inventory into one database and console, which is the desired management environment to accommodate diverse virtual offices and evolving user needs. As part of its overarching User Workspace Management strategy, Quest announces new solutions that let organizations seamlessly manage Microsoft-based and non-traditional devices, data and applications.

Tweet This: Sure ways to break down barriers to mobile device management from @Quest http://bit.ly/vx8fTB

News Facts:

• Quest Software extends support for Android, iPad, iPhone devices and Macs with new and updated Quest Management Xtensions (QMX) solutions, which extend Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager capabilities to over 120 non-Microsoft platforms. With direct integration into System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), Quest QMX tools enable organizations to streamline data access while leveraging a single pane of glass to simplify management and security.

• Quest QMX extension for Android now allows organizations to manage these prominent smartphones and tablet devices through complete inventory, remote commands (wipe, lock, password reset) and configuration.

• Additionally, Quest’s QMX extension for Appleproducts support enhanced management capabilities to simplify operation with corporate applications and data.
  • The QMX extension for iOS incorporates in-demand capabilities, including more detailed control and management features to inventory, report on and distribute applications and updates to these devices as well as keep the organization secure with selective lock and wipe capabilities in the event of a lost device.
  • With the QMX extension for Mac, administrators can use standardization and network readiness in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to deploy corporate images to one or more Mac laptops and PowerBooks. This lets IT quickly resurrect a device that an end-user had completely destroyed.

• For virtual desktop environments, Quest offers the vWorkspace® Connector for Android, Connector for iPad 1.2 and Connector for Mac OS X with latest releases that increase performance and stability. These offerings help corporations address the goals of organizational BYOD initiatives by delivering line-of-business Windows applications to tablet devices.

• Direct, secure integration breaks down barriers to managing mobile devices, delivering the new dynamic workspace when and where users require, at the level of security corporations demand.

Drake University opens the classroom doors to student devices with Quest’s integrated tools

• Drake University is a private, fully accredited, coeducational university located in Des Moines, Iowa with more than 3,500 undergraduate and more than 2,100 graduate students.

• Drake recently found that there was a strong need for the student body, faculty and staff to have their Apple products (Mac and iOS) coexist with Active Directory in its environment, which is ultimately managed by Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager. The university needed a way to integrate these devices into its network without increasing management complexity or creating security risks.

• Deploying QMX has allowed Drake to immediately benefit from comprehensive, centralized yet simplified management across all hardware and software in its network. One database now stores all data, and one console provides views into the entire network, resulting in significant time savings to perform software updates and on-going management functions. Audits that used to take 50 hours now take less than five minutes, while reducing cost and risk associated with licensing compliance. Additionally, the university expects to save thousands of dollars in hardware refreshes each year.

Supporting Quotes:

• Shayne Higdon, senior vice president and general manager, User Workspace Management and Monitoring, Quest Software

“IT departments are finding that the old, limited way of integrating ‘non-traditional’ devices, such as Android, iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, into a primarily Microsoft enterprise only adds more complexity. Quest recognizes that in order to manage these devices seamlessly, efficiently and securely, you need to integrate them directly into existing management platforms that hold user data. With our new and updated QMX tools, Quest can empower organizations to transform what would have been a dumb terminal into a truly valuable and secure extension of the user office environment.”

• Ben Hector, network engineer 2, Drake University

“At Drake University, we’ve seen the rapid adoption of Mac OS and iOS devices over the past two years, but we were unable to track and monitor them properly. We deployed Quest Management Extensions (QMX), which directly integrates with our management system to pull in data on both hardware and software into one database. The deployment of QMX was a no-brainer—it allows our university management to address compliance and budget concerns while letting our IT organization simplify device management across disparate platforms and hardware.”