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Not content to flood workplaces with Android smartphones like the popular Galaxy S4, the Korean electronics giant Samsung is now targeting businesses with new suite of mobile device deployment, management and support services.
Called Samsung Enterprise Services, the division takes over after Samsung Mobile rings up a sale, according to Tim Wagner, vice president and general manager of Samsung Mobile’s Enterprise Business Unit. As some of his company’s customers replace legacy hardware and deploy Samsung’s devices by the “tens of thousands,” the cost of purchasing mobile devices is just the beginning, they discover.
Samsung Enterprise Services helps the company offer after-sales support and services and completes a mobile device management (MDM) trifecta that also includes Samsung Knox and Samsung Solutions Exchange.
By partnering with commercial MDM specialist Digital Management, Inc. (DMI), Samsung Enterprise Services will offer services that are meant to help businesses get their enterprise mobility programs up and running. These include, according to Samsung, “initial needs assessment, device configuration and migration, deployment and development of customized services.”
Commenting on the partnership, DMI CEO Jay Sunny Bajaj noted, “Samsung Knox brings real enterprise-grade security and privacy protection to Android. This is a huge benefit for end users and IT.”
“Establishing a relationship with DMI to provide enterprise managed mobility services further extends Samsung’s leadership in the enterprise market,” added Bajaj.
Ongoing management, maintenance and support will be provided by Samsung Enterprise Services’ MobileCare component. It offers certified repair, technical support and training that covers both employee-owned and company-issued Samsung devices.
There’s even room for accessories.
Samsung Mobile claimed the distinction of being “the first mobile device manufacturer to establish a strategic relationship with OtterBox,” known for producing rugged cases for smartphones and tablets. OtterBox will contribute a “complete and complementary portfolio” of accessories for enterprise customers, the company noted.
As Samsung wades deeper into the MDM pool, it will be greeted by several big rivals, many of which take much more of a device-agnostic approach to the market.
Dell is currently readying a new, cloud-based product called Dell Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). The server maker will leverage IP from several of its acquisitions, including SonicWALL, Credant, KACE and Wyse.
IBM is also expanding its MDM footprint. The IT giant announced in December that it had wrapped up its acquisition of Fiberlink Communications, the maker of the cloud-based MDM platform, MaaS360.
Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
