Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) has launched a global cloud-based service that enables companies to secure, control and manage corporate data and mobile devices of their employees.

With the SingTel Mobility Device Manager (MDM) service, companies are able to manage devices of different mobile OS and ensure information security for mobile devices used by their workforce. This includes company-issued devices, as well as those belonging to employees.

“We are seeing a surge in the number of companies that allow their employees to bring their own mobile devices for work. In fact, the use of smartphones for business activities worldwide is projected to grow by 116 percent by 2014. This opens up new security issues, particularly for companies with regional operations. With SingTel MDM, companies can now secure data through security policy settings and governance, control on devices, manage apps deployment and control cost through usage policy management. These can all be done via the simple-to-use web-based portal," said Bill Chang, SingTel’s Executive Vice President, Business Group said. 
 
In the event of the loss or theft of an employee’s mobile device, an administrator can remotely lock the device or selectively erase corporate data to prevent market sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.  Administrators can also determine the location of the missing devices and remotely deploy and track apps downloads within the enterprise. They are also able to configure and provision the devices over-the-air.

SingTel MDM is compatible with all mobile OS platforms including iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Symbian and Windows Mobile. Moreover, it is independent of the location and mobile network, thus facilitating the seamless control of mobile devices globally.

With the apps management and in-house apps publishing features, companies can likewise publish their in-house apps separately from public apps. This ensures that only a company’s employees have access to the company’s apps such as sales, marketing or HR-related applications. Analysts believe that more companies will develop and deploy their own in-house apps for their workforce.

“As SingTel MDM is offered on a monthly subscription basis, companies do not need to make upfront investments in equipment and can avoid the ongoing costs of managing and maintaining complex systems and hardware. This allows them to improve their productivity, increase business agility and reduce their operating costs significantly,” Chang added.

SingTel MDM is collaboration between SingTel and MobileIron, a leading global MDM service provider.