AT&T announced
that the Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 (
is now available to AT&T business customers who use smartphones running
Windows Mobile 6.1.
AT&T also announced today the availability of the
Early Adopter QuickStart Program that was developed cooperatively by AT&T
and Enterprise Mobile and is an exclusive offering designed to assist AT&T
customers with deploying the Microsoft mobility solution.
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Mobile Device Manager is an enterprise-grade mobile device
management solution that also provides security, mobile Virtual Private Network
(VPN) and software distribution for Windows Mobile devices. Mobile Device
Manager is natively supported by the latest version of the Windows Mobile
operating system, Windows Mobile 6.1. Windows Mobile 6.1 is now available for
free download to AT&T Tilt and
smartphones from AT&T, which has the broadest portfolio of Windows Mobile
devices of any
carrier. Additional new smartphones launched by AT&T later this year will
feature Windows Mobile 6.1 with support for Mobile Device Manager.
Mobile 6.1 smartphones now have secured access to applications, files,
corporate data and other information that is located on the corporate network
and previously inaccessible without a secure VPN connection. For example,
customers can now access information such as price sheets, marketing collateral
and legal documents on the corporate network -- items that were often
previously available only through PCs or laptops.
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Mobile Device Manager also gives the corporate information
technology (IT) departments of AT&T customers that use Microsoft software's
new security and management tools that work well with existing infrastructure
investments, such as Active Directory and SQL Server. Mobile Device Manager's
tight integration into Active Directory extends group policy management
capabilities to Windows Mobile smartphones. This integration allows IT managers
to manage smartphones similar to the way they manage desktop computers, making
them first-class citizens on the corporate network.
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The
QuickStart Program enables enterprises to try Mobile Device Manager's unique
abilities to manage mobile devices, define access rights, provide additional
security features for data transmissions, coordinate over-the-air software
updates and protect the corporate network from unauthorized access. Using the
program, customers can define their mobility management and security requirements
and build a "test" scenario as well as deploy a proof of concept for
evaluating and testing within their environment.
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available through Microsoft resellers. The
Early Adopter QuickStart Program is available through a co-sale arrangement
between AT&T and Enterprise Mobile.