Microsoft today announced the general availability of mobile device management (MDM) capabilities for Office 365.
Users of Office 365 will be able to manage access to data across devices running iOS, Android and Windows Phone, with no additional cost.
Capabilities include conditional access, allowing enterprises to set up mobile security policies on devices that connect to Office 365, which ensure data can only be accessed on devices that are managed by the company.
These policies use Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Azure Active Directory and apply to Office applications as well as general business programmes.
Also included in the enterprise mobility suite is device management, which allows companies to set and manage pin lock and jailbreak detection to prevent unauthorised users from accessing data when a device is stolen.
In addition, the offering includes selective wipe, by which users can remove Office 365 data from an employee’s device while leaving personal data intact, targeting the burgeoning BYOD market.
"These new capabilities help you better manage and protect access to Office 365 data while enabling people to be mobile and productive from anywhere," commented Shobhit Sahay, technical product manager on the Office 365 team, writing on the Office 365 blog.
"These new MDM features in O365, alongside the incredible functionality offered by the EMS, empower enterprises to solve short-term IT challenges, while proactively planning and building for the future," wrote Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Enterprise Client & Mobility, on the company’s In the Cloud blog.
He continued: "With the functionality and familiarity of Office 365, end-users will become increasingly more productive, and with the IT tools of the EMS, any organisation’s infrastructure will become more reliable, more secure, and better equipped to deal with the increasingly challenging demands of the modern workforce."
