ManageEngine, the real-time IT management company, today announced it now manages Android devices in the latest version of its desktop and mobile device management (MDM) software, Desktop Central. The move extends the mobile device management support in Desktop Central to include smartphones and tablets running Google’s popular mobile OS as well as devices running Apple iOS. For more information, visit http://ow.ly/gGdTA.

Android remains a dominant player in the mobile device market. IDC estimates the worldwide tablet market hit 122.3 million units in 2012, with Android capturing 42.7 percent of the market. By 2016, the tablet market is predicted to reach 282.7 million units.¹ Android’s market success is being driven by factors such as its open source platform as well as the variety and competitive pricing of Android devices. In turn, enterprise will continue to feel the impact of increased Android adoption as a growing number of users request access to corporate data from their personal Android devices.

“The mobile usage trends will eventually drive sharp increases in demand for enterprise MDM solutions that embrace BYOD while ensuring enterprise data security,” said Mathivanan Venkatachalam, director of product management at ManageEngine. “The growing Android market and increasing demand for Android support among our customer base encouraged us to add Android support to Desktop Central as quickly as possible.”

Feature Highlights of Android MDM in Desktop Central

Data wipe – IT staff can remotely wipe the data from a stolen or misplaced device or remove the corporate data from the device when an employee leaves the company to prevent confidential data falling into the wrong hands.

Mobile application management – IT professionals can distribute and manage in-house and Google Play store apps. Technicians can distribute apps based on user requirements and track the complete inventory of all the apps installed on the mobile device.

Configuring profile/policy – IT technicians can create polices that can restrict users from accessing the Internet (EDGE or packet data), thereby ensuring data security by preventing users from exporting corporate data. Similarly, certain device features such as camera and Bluetooth can be disabled.

Default option to run background applications – Companies can enforce that certain, mandatory applications run on user mobile devices, to provide connectivity or to conform to enterprise policies. Desktop Central ensures these applications run at all times in the background, and users may not close them accidentally while accessing other applications.

Support for Android devices follows on the recent inclusion of iOS MDM capabilities in Desktop Central, a move that has already won praise from users like Blake Rodemeyer, IT manager, Guaranty Bank & Trust.

“We were looking for MDM features that can help us to track inventory of mobile devices, view software versions in a dashboard, and more importantly, it should be user friendly and cost effective,” said Rodemeyer. “Desktop Central helped us to achieve it.”

Pricing and Availability

Desktop Central 8 is available immediately. Prices start at $10 per computer annually for the Professional Edition. The MDM add-on module support is available on all the editions, and prices start at $15 per device annually. The Free Edition of Desktop Central manages up to 25 computers and two mobile devices. A free, fully-functional trial version is available at http://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/download.html.

For more information on Desktop Central, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/desktop-central/. For more information on ManageEngine, please visit http://www.manageengine.com; follow the company blog at http://blogs.manageengine.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter at @ManageEngine.

Related ManageEngine Desktop Central News and Resources

• News: ManageEngine Manages Mobile Apps with Desktop Central; http://ow.ly/dYody
• Video: http://ow.ly/gQtDC
• Demo: http://ow.ly/gGnd1
• Support: http://ow.ly/gGnh3

About ManageEngine Desktop Central

Desktop Central is web-based desktop and mobile device management software that helps in managing thousands of servers, desktops and mobile devices from a central location. It automates the complete lifecycle management of desktops and mobile devices from provisioning to retirement. For more information on ManageEngine Desktop Central, visit http://www.manageengine.com/desktop-central/.

¹ Source: IDC, http://ow.ly/gGmqO

About ManageEngine

ManageEngine delivers the real-time IT management tools that empower an IT team to meet an organization’s need for real-time services and support. Worldwide, more than 65,000 established and emerging enterprises - including more than 60 percent of the Fortune 500 — rely on ManageEngine products to ensure the optimal performance of their critical IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, applications, desktops and more. ManageEngine is a division of Zoho Corp. with offices worldwide, including the United States, United Kingdom, India, Japan and China. For more information, please visit http://www.manageengine.com/; follow the company blog at http://blogs.manageengine.com/, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and on Twitter at @ManageEngine.

ManageEngine is a trademark of Zoho Corp. All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Tags: ManageEngine, real-time IT, Zoho, Desktop Central, mobile device management, MDM, Android, BYOD, smartphone, tablet, mobile application management, desktop management, service desk, help desk, cloud monitoring, virtualization, cloud, IT management, business service management, application performance monitoring, user experience monitoring, network management, server management