Announcing the Egnyte Mobile Data Management Suite

Today we announced the availability of our new Mobile Data Management suite. As a person who has been notified on two different occasions from two different organizations that a laptop with my personal information was lost/stolen, I’m really excited about this new feature set. In both of my cases, each organization provided me with credit monitoring services and credit reports, which was expensive for them, and really a headache for me. These incidents happened in the era where laptops were considered “mobile devices.” The proliferation of smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc. now compound that exposure due to the sheer number of devices that can access and synch files.An increasingly large number of employees are bringing their own devices into the corporate environment and want to use these devices to work from wherever they are. Included in this Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model is the trend of organizations providing employees with stipends to purchase their own computer and bring that computer into the office environment.Many employees now use three screens (phone, tablet, and computer) and at least two of those devices are often employee owned and managed. This is very different than the old model where the company owned and managed the entire computer while the employee might have some personal apps or data on that device.These trends are causing a radical shift in how organizations approach device management. PC management tools were developed to manage the entire PC. MDM tools were designed to manage the entire mobile device. BYOD turns these two models upside down.It’s now coming down to the company managing and securing the corporate “stuff” on the device of choice instead of managing the entire device. In this new management model, companies are concerned with securing the corporate files on the devices, ensuring employees have the right apps, and making sure that only the correct employee/device can access company assets.And let’s be honest -- files are what companies really worry about. Applications really exist to manipulate data or files, whether they’re within an app (Salesforce, SAP, etc.) or outside the app (Word, PPT, Excel, etc.). And more and more of these files are being delivered as native apps via app stores. And if a device is lost or stolen, a company wants to ensure that the corporate files and data are encrypted and can be remotely wiped from the device.The Egnyte Mobile Data Management Suite enables our customers to encrypt and remotely wipe data on devices natively as part of their Egnyte file sharing and sync solution. While we certainly integrate with MDM for customers who want to use Egnyte in conjunction with their MDM solution, we have many customers who just want to make sure the corporate data is secure and can be removed in the event of a lost or stolen device. Securing access by offering two-step authentication and certificate-based device access further enhances the security of the files by making sure that only the right users with secure devices can access the files in the first place.All of these features can be configured and managed in a device control panel that provides a single view of all end user devices connected to the company’s account. Administrators can view information about the user, device type, last time of access etc. and can take corrective actions such as disconnecting or wiping a device from the control panel in the event the device is compromised. Users can even view their own devices, allowing for self-service when needed.BYOD, mobile device access, and consumer file sharing solutions will continue to cause companies to rethink their device management strategy and security policies. Our new Mobile Data Management Suite provides customers with all the tools they need to manage mobile and laptop data security and access, or can work in conjunction with device management tools to manage the full spectrum of applications and data.