Business mobility services provider iPass has unveiled its Open Mobile Platform, a cloud-based service that offers customers carrier-independent network options.
The company claims that the new platform will give customers much greater choice and flexibility when managing their mobile infrastructure. Matt Cooke, senior marketing manager at iPass, told CBR that the move was driven by the changing ways companies treat their mobile strategy.
“A lot of our clients said that their mobile infrastructure was chaotic, expensive and out of control. IT admins say that they are not getting what they want from mobile carriers,” he said. “More end users are using their own consumer devices for work and that causes problems for IT bosses. They want to be able to manage and run their own network.”
The iPass Open Mobile Platform enables IT admins to manage network connectivity and management through a web-based platform. The move to a web-based application was driven by a desire from admins to be able to control access via the cloud rather than a VPN, Cooke said.
The new platform is made up of four main elements: iPass Mobile Connect, Mobile Insight, Mobile Control and Mobile Network.
Mobile Connect represents the management of the system and can interface between other client software and internal IT systems as needed, while Mobile Insight offers reporting and analysis on usage across all devices and on all networks. It contains the iPass patented SQM data collection system and can provide admins with pro-active reporting capabilities so they are aware when a user is approaching a usage threshold or whether they are connected via a 3G or Wi-Fi network, Cooke said.
Mobile Control enables IT staff to configure, define and deploy policies to be pushed out across a company’s entire mobile fleet, including mobiles, laptops and netbooks. It also enables companies to define policies depending on a user’s role at the firm, so a CEO will have greater functionality than someone lower down the company.
“Connectivity used to be treated as ‘one size fits all’ approach, so everyone would have to comply with the same policies,” Cooke said. “But this is a much more granular approach to focus the policies, so people only use what they are allowed to.”
The iPass Mobile Network represents 140,000 network access points across 90 countries.
Cooke added that iPass has invested heavily in its hosting infrastructure in preparation for the increased load the new platform will place on its system and he also said that the data will be held in secure, geographically-dispersed data centres. Customer data would also be kept separate to improve security.
The Open Mobile Platform will now automatically search through all available networks rather than just iPass hot spots, removing carrier lock-in and offering the option to connect any device to any network.
The new system also contains a Smart Network Connector, which will automatically steer a user to the most suitable network such as a free and available Wi-Fi network or a 3G network from a carrier the business has a deal with. Cooke said that this will help businesses to control costs.
Cooke said that the new platform offers enterprises the, “Tools and services to manage their own networks. Companies are no longer happy with just one provider and want more flexibility. Large enterprises can’t do that so that’s where we come in.”
IPass has already signed up a number of clients to the new service.
