iOS 6 and BYOD: MDM Providers Ready for iPhone 5

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Today, the Apple’s iPhone 5 officially goes on sale. And while IT administrators brace for a crush of new iPhones in the workplace on Monday, mobile device management (MDM) specialists are shrugging off the BYOD challenges posed by Apple’s newest handset.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Amtel announced that its MDM platform is ready to secure corporate email, mobile content and apps on iOS 6 — the operating system that powers the iPhone 5. Promising one-click mass deployment of large and complex mobile user bases, Amtel MDM is primed for the influx of iPhone 5 smartphones, says the company.

With the latest release of Amtel MDM, administrators can use an encrypted web URL or QR code to activate handsets and tablets that are not yet set up with email or lack SMS listener software. Compatible with AD/LDAP, Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) and Office 365, Amtel MDM helps extend corporate email access to users’ devices or lock it down if necessary.

Android devices aren’t left out in the cold. New Android remote management options allow for field updates, configuration changes and troubleshooting without user intervention.

Atlanta-based AirWatch also says that it’s ready for the iPhone 5-carrying hordes. According to AirWatch CEO John Marshal, “Same day support for Apple iOS 6 is critical for our enterprise and education customers to support their BYOD initiatives.”

Supporting those initiatives means allowing organizations to customize the iPhone to fit their requirements. For instance, with AirWatch, administrators can set time-based, automatic profile removal policies, set image backgrounds — for corporate branding purposes, presumably — and restrict contact syncing to mail servers.

When employed in conjunction with Apple Configurator, AirWatch MDM can, for example, direct all network traffic through a global HTTP proxy, block certificates and unauthorized configuration profiles, and disable iMessage, Game Center and iBookstore.

AirWatch is available as a cloud service or via on-premise and appliance solutions. Subscription starts at $4 per month per device.

As a whole, the MDM market has been timely in its response to the iPhone 5. Fiberlink and Tangoe are among the MDM providers that have rolled out iOS 6 support in recent weeks. For Boxtone, a Columbia, Md.-based provider of enterprise mobility management services, the cure for the iOS 6 BYOD blues costs just 99 cents per device per month as part of a limited time promotion.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.