iPhoneCTO

Managing iPhones with Microsoft Exchange: An Incomplete Solution

by Dan Dearing on 10/04/09 at 10:06 pm

Dan Dearing is the Vice President of Marketing & Product Management for Trust Digital and a contributing editor for iPhoneCTO.

User pressure to deploy the iPhone is leaving IT organizations no choice but to find a way to support it or risk exposing the network to security vulnerabilities. For many IT organizations the obvious choice is to use Microsoft Exchange.  After all, Apple has made it easy for users to connect their iPhone with Exchange and then turn on the native security capabilities of the iPhone. The viability of this approach, however, is dependent on some larger considerations:

•  How is IT functionally organized?  If different IT teams manage messaging and mobility this approach may create some angst within the organization centered on the issues of console access, email server overhead and email service availability.

•  How many users have an iPhone?  Supporting more then 25 iPhones can create a huge headache for IT since neither Exchange nor Apple provides tools to automate the activation of iPhones and manage their lifecycle.

•  Are users only using the device for email?  After all, many users choose the iPhone for all the applications it supports.  Does it make sense to couple the iPhone to Exchange if deeper application support is required?

Scalable deployments of the iPhone that leverage its power and usability require a platform dedicated to managing and securing the iPhone with capabilities on par with the Blackberry Enterprise Server. When examining said platforms, IT decision makers should look for a platform with the following:

•  Auto-discovery of iPhones syncing data with the corporate network. This enables the IT organization to know how many iPhones are connected to the enterprise, and to whom those devices belong.

•  Full life-cycle management: Life-cycle costs are dramatically reduced via a blend of end-user service capabilities and automated security and management.

-  Enterprise device activation: End-users can easily activate iPhones via a simple to use self-service portal to access IT messaging and sync services. Corporate security policy is applied immediately upon activation.
-  Automated management: Once an iPhone is activated, it is automatically enrolled into the management system. The system monitors compliance status and sync status continuously. Other configurations such as Wi-Fi and VPN can be distributed based on directory group membership.
-  Decommissioning: Remote wipe in case of theft, loss, or device end of life.

•  Compliance: the management system provides the ability for the IT staff to visualize the compliance status of iPhones, and optionally, enforce compliance with network access control (NAC).

•  Web-based centralized console for system administrators, policy managers, and help desk personnel that form the IT mobility team.

•  Integrated reports asset/inventory management and security audits to track and monitor registered iPhones.

These capabilities empower the team responsible for making the iPhone enterprise ready and enable use of the iPhone with applications beyond Exchange email.

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