Continuum has inked a partnership with Fiberlink, a mobile device and mobile application management company, to provide enterprise-class MDM solutions that managed service providers can pass on to their customers.
The addition of Fiberlink's MaaS360 product to Continuum's RMM platform will allow MSPs to have much-needed conversations about BYOD and mobile device management, said Michael George, CEO of Continuum, from ConnectWise's IT Nation conference in Orlando, Fla., on Friday.
"People are using mobile devices for every dimension. Commercial applications are being substantiated on the phone and we think this is not a place for homegrown, homespun solutions. That's a real dangerous thing. You're dealing with HIPAA compliance, [Sarbanes-Oxley], a whole bunch of things around policy and complexity with issues that extend to mobility outside the firewall," George said.
[Related: 7 Enterprise Cloud Computing Trends To Watch]
The Fiberlink solution is in beta testing with a limited set of MSPs now and should be available as a general release early in the first quarter, George said.
The Fiberlink solution enables MSPs to remotely turn on GPS location tracking and asset tracking and allows for full or partial wipes of mobile devices. Importantly, MSPs can perform the tasks through the same RMM platform from Continuum that they currently use, George said.
"We have said we will be a single pane of glass to enable our MSP partners to remotely monitor and manage anything that plugs into a wall or is on the network. The phone is casually connected extension of that," George said.
Rob Autor, senior vice president of global services delivery for Continuum, said Fiberlink released 30 updates to its product this year and was built with enterprise-class security in mind.
"The people they're serving have very complex, large corporate environments. We are able to help bring it to small business. They don't have feet on the street and [SMB] relationships. This is their gateway to the channel," Autor said.
Continuum spent several months evaluating Fiberlink and about a half-dozen other solutions before signing Fiberlink, George said. "This is not a short-term commitment," he said.
PUBLISHED NOV. 9, 2012
