Spiceworks brings mobile device management capabilities to IT professionals

Spiceworks has announced a new partnership with Fiberlink that will bring its MaaS360 mobile device management (MDM) product to Spiceworks 7. Through the partnership, 2.5 million Spiceworks users will be able to inventory and monitor mobile devices and applications from Spiceworks for free and upgrade to premium services from MaaS360 for additional mobile security and management capabilities. The addition of mobile device management rounds out Spiceworks’ vision to give IT professionals the tools they need to manage on-premise, cloud and mobile technologies.
“The addition of MDM to Spiceworks 7 will simplify my life as an IT professional and give me the tools I need to manage the devices on my network from a single interface,” said Shayne Kawalilak, network systems analyst at Rosenau Transport. “For the first time, inventory and monitoring capabilities will be truly free, and I can easily upgrade through Spiceworks if I need additional management functionality. The Spiceworks and MaaS360 integration will have a major impact on how IT professionals like me do our jobs.”

According to Spiceworks’ May 2013 report “As BYOD Becomes Mainstream, Complexity Increases for SMBs,” 61 percent of small-to-mid-sized businesses have instituted a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy with broad support for Apple iOS, Google Android, Microsoft Windows 8, and Blackberry devices. However, only 37 percent of respondents have deployed or plan to deploy a MDM solution to manage those devices.
“This partnership and the introduction of Spiceworks 7 will reshape the MDM market and how 2.5 million IT professionals manage the mobile devices on their network,” said Scott Abel, co-founder and CEO of Spiceworks. “MaaS360 is one of the highest rated, most popular MDM offerings in the Spiceworks Community so we’re excited to bring these capabilities to our users and a give them the tools they need to make their Spiceworks experience even better.”

Free Mobile Device Inventory and Monitoring
As part of the partnership, Spiceworks users will be able inventory and monitor mobile devices and applications on their network for free. These capabilities will allow users to:
· Mobile device and application discovery – See Google Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows Phone devices on their network as well as the applications running on those devices. Information on mobile device manufacturers and carriers will also be viewable from Spiceworks.
· Simplified device enrollment – Enroll, inventory and monitor individual or groups of devices over the air based on Spiceworks People View and Microsoft Active Directory.
· Custom alerting and monitoring – Create and customize alerts for jail-broken devices, disabled passcodes, installed applications and storage and data thresholds.

Premium Mobile Device Management Functionality
Fiberlink will provide preferred pricing for MaaS360 to Spiceworks users who need additional mobile device and application management functionality including:
· Over-the-air configuration – Remotely provision and update device features, email profiles, WiFi and VPN settings.
· Manage and update policies – Create and customize device policies, such as passcodes, feature restrictions and application compliance, for specific device types, groups, or ownership.
· Remote support – Reset passcodes, send messages, locate, lock and selectively wipe employee devices.
· Distribute applications – Deploy and centrally manage applications on select or entire groups of devices and configure them to install automatically.

“This partnership represents an industry first that will simplify how millions of IT professionals address a mobile workforce, BYOD, and other business challenges,” said Christopher Clark, president of Fiberlink. “Together, Fiberlink and Spiceworks are bringing award-winning mobile device management capabilities to the platform 2.5 million IT professionals use to manage their network, deploy the latest services, and connect with peers.”