London Borough of Brent Chooses MobileIron for Mobile Device Management

-- London council joins ranks of UK local government mobility projects

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- London Borough of Brent has implemented MobileIron, the leader in security and management for mobile apps, documents, and devices, as it moves forward with plans to replace its corporate BlackBerry smartphone estate with up to 3,000 new Apple and Android phones and tablets.

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The council wants to equip more of its employees, particularly its field workers who are constantly on the move, with iPads to improve productivity across all public service divisions including transport, education, housing and social care, leisure, and waste management. It needed a way of effectively securing and managing these devices and the data on them. Stephan Conaway, CIO, at London Borough of Brent, realised that a traditional restrictive approach wasn't the answer:

"I've never agreed with the 'lockdown' approach, where IT buys expensive mobile devices for employees and then renders them useless by imposing rigid and often pointless security measures. A 'light-touch' strategy that would focus on supporting user productivity as well as the important aspects of security seemed a better fit for us. We wanted to leave the mobile devices as they were built, but also be able to track them, ensure use of PIN codes and essential security configurations and to remotely wipe data from them if they were lost or stolen."  

The Brent IT Team assessed the market in pursuit of a mobile device management (MDM) solution that had proven reliability and security features but with the flexibility to maintain the user's native device experience. They looked at solutions from competing vendors but chose MobileIron because of its 'open approach.' Conaway explains:

"We did not want a technology that creates a private envelope on the device. Brent found that they could not use their device-native applications while in a restricted envelope and felt that the approach was far too restrictive for its workforce. MobileIron's approach was seen as more open and allowed Brent employees to get much more use out of the mobile devices' native services."

Working with trusted IT partner, Qolcom, London Borough of Brent deployed MobileIron across its fleet of iOS devices. Keith Reading, director, Qolcom explains, "Already many employees are using iPads to send and receive email as well as to access and read documents, hold paperless meetings and take notes in the field – but managing this is only a fraction of what MobileIron can do.

London Borough of Brent has experienced direct productivity benefits since the introduction of iPads at the council, Conaway explains, "Being able to deploy iPads securely has been a huge productivity boost for our staff. We had previously tried to have caseworkers carry laptops with them, but we found that approach not right for many front line workers. Having MobileIron in place lets us provision the right device for the right person at the right time."

The council joins a growing list of over 45 public sector organisations across the UK undertaking innovative mobility projects with MobileIron. Partner Qolcom is working closely with a number of local government authorities including Leeds, Scarborough, Camden, Stirling and Orkney as the demand to assess mobility strategies increases. Reading explains, "With the multi-divisional nature of councils, smart phones and tablets are growing in popularity and MobileIron is an ideal solution for the public sector to bring together this dispersed environment, and to do so securely. MobileIron's ability to create granular security policies and to apply remote lock and wipe functions is something that speaks directly to organisations handling sensitive data."

Starting with 200 iOS devices, London Borough of Brent foresees the number rising to potentially 500 in the next nine months. Within a year the council will replace its entire fleet of BlackBerrys with as many as 3,000 Apple and Android phones. Conaway concludes, "As we add hundreds of new mobile devices and apps, to our network, MobileIron gives us the peace of mind that we're not introducing potential problems. But if we ever need to step up to more stringent levels of security, we can do that with the flick of a switch." This blend of power and flexibility is what makes MobileIron a winning solution for London Borough of Brent.

Read the full case study: http://www.mobileiron.com/en/resources/resources-overview/case-studies

About Qolcom
Qolcom is a leading integrator of Mobile Device Management and Wi-Fi based solutions. Qolcom is a UK-based corporation, with offices in London/Newbury, England and Stirling/Glasgow, Scotland. For more information about Qolcom, please visit http://www.qolcom.co.uk

About MobileIron
The leader in Mobile IT, MobileIron has been chosen by thousands of organizations that are transforming their businesses through enterprise mobility. Available as an on-premise or a cloud solution, MobileIron was purpose-built to secure and manage mobile apps, content, and devices for global companies. MobileIron was the first to deliver key innovations such as multi-OS mobile device management (MDM), mobile application management (MAM), and BYOD privacy controls. For more information, please visit www.mobileiron.com.