MobileIron Tackles Business Data Charge Quandary Through AT&T Work Platform

Mobile device management company MobileIron said Tuesday that it will offer a secured version of the AT&T Work Platform, tackling a long-standing dilemma in the workplace over how to address corporate data charges on personal phones.

The AT&T Work Platform helps business customers overcome the administrative challenges brought about by Bring-Your-Own-Device policies through tools that keep personal service charges separate from corporate charges on mobile devices.

"AT&T is leading the charge on these new initiatives. ... They have been out in the forefront with mobile and enterprise mobile management strategies," David Hawk, global vice president of Global Operator Channels at MobileIron, told CRN. "AT&T's Work Platform is creating a structural shift in the market, and if you look across the globe, everyone else is trying to replicate what they're doing."

[Related: MobileIron's Content Security Service Opens Doors For Channel Opportunities]

AT&T first announced its Work Platform in January. Along with MobileIron, the company also is teaming up with AirWatch by VMware and Good Technology as distributors for its new MDM-based platform.

The platform addresses underlying issues behind businesses that have implemented BYOD policies and are questioning reasonable reimbursement data rates for employees utilizing personal cellphones.

These uncertainties were amplified during a California Court of Appeals ruling in August 2014 that employers must reimburse a "reasonable" amount of a personal cellphone bill if employees use their personal cellphones for work purposes. This California law left many employers scratching their heads about what a "reasonable" portion of reimbursement means and how they could comply with the ruling.

The AT&T Work Platform adds some clarity to this issue by enabling businesses to control the costs of employees' use of AT&T voice and data messaging services for work purposes.

Most companies traditionally offer a stipend reimbursement program, which does not clearly define personal versus corporate data usage.

However, through AT&T's new suite of services, enterprise customers can assign and pay for a data allowance on their employees' devices, and effectively track work data usage. In addition, AT&T Work Platform provides a business-owned second telephone line to serve as a mobile carrier-agnostic VoIP solution.

"We’re changing the way businesses buy mobility today by extending access to AT&T data, voice and messaging services,’ said Sundhar Annamalai, executive director of Advanced Mobility Solutions at AT&T, in a release. ’It’s increasingly important to provide rate plans that satisfy both the needs of the enterprise and their employees. The AT&T Work Platform combined with MobileIron makes it easy for businesses of any size to say 'yes' to BYOD.’

Mountain View, Calif.-based MobileIron, for its part, will bring the AT&T Work Platform to its customers equipped with its own security-based solutions, such as app security and remote device wipe tools.

"It's a very interesting solution, both for the end user and the enterprise," David Clarke, operator program lead for AT&T at MobileIron, told CRN. "Our part in all this is pushing these solutions to end users and putting security controls and policies around them. We're putting additional security around applications in case a device becomes compromised."

MobileIron and AT&T have a solid previous relationship, as AT&T offers the MobileIron Virtual Smartphone Platform, which combines data-driven smartphone management with realtime wireless cost control to enable customers to have a variety of devices on various operating systems.

PUBLISHED APRIL 7, 2015