New solution and certification addresses the BYOD challenge
Aruba Networks introduced ClearPass, an access management system for the secure provisioning of mobile devices on any enterprise network. It’s designed to enable IT organizations to both drive down mobility services management costs and rapidly scale to address the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon.
In the UK, smartphone ownership has almost doubled between February 2010 and August 2011, with the demand for such devices only continuing to grow. In addition to this, the UK is still seeing insatiable demand for tablet computers, and is now home to almost four million tablet owners. As the burgeoning mobile market becomes increasingly diverse, with devices from numerous manufacturers running a range of operating systems, this rapid fragmentation poses a serious challenge for UK enterprises.
IT departments are effectively racing to facilitate and secure the use of such technologies in the workplace, keeping up with new market entrants and fast-evolving mobile technologies.
Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions, while focusing on the device management, do not typically address the need to provision and control network access for the device, forcing yet another solution for network access controls.
Aruba’s ClearPass portfolio integrates network access controls with automated device provisioning and can be deployed on any existing network – wired, wireless or VPN – as a non-disruptive overlay. It also automates burdensome policy management and device health checks, enabling IT to onboard and control mobile devices at lower cost and with less complexity while improving network security.
Aruba ClearPass integrates all the necessary components for an efficient BYOD workflow, offering a single management platform for all devices, plus the option to license these additional capabilities on the same platform:
Automated device provisioning: Automatically set VPN, email and network security settings, push enterprise applications and optionally revoke device access privileges.
Self-service mobile device network configuration: Enable Cloud-based self-configuration of a device’s 802.1X network security settings.
Device profiling: Accurately identify devices to determine security requirements and enforce policies based on device type and ownership.
Device risk management: Assess the risk that mobile devices pose to the network, restrict access based on risk level, and remediate compromised devices
Guest access: Enable secure guest management with fully automated registration workflows, detailed reporting and targeted advertising.
“The introduction of the Aruba ClearPass access management system addresses a number of very acute pain points in the industry today, all stemming from the deluge of personal mobile devices being brought into previously tightly-controlled workplaces,” said Keerti Melkote, chief strategy officer for Aruba. “Unlike other solutions available today, it does so for both mobile devices and PC operating systems across wired and wireless networks, regardless of the variety of vendors involved.”