CenturyLink Intros Mobile Management System, Key Component Of A New Channel Push

CenturyLink on Thursday unveiled its new Enterprise Mobility Management solution targeting businesses looking to better handle users' mobile devices in corporate environments.

CenturyLink's new Enterprise Mobility Management, or EMM, solution, is based on IBM's MaaS360 and will be available through both the company's direct and indirect sales organizations, said John DeLozier, vice president of channel alliances for the Monroe, La.-based communications, hosting, cloud, and IT services provider.

CenturyLink Enterprise Mobility Management was introduced at the company's CenturyLink Alliance Ascend partner conference being held this week in San Diego.

[Related: CenturyLink Merger With Level 3 Gives Partners More To Sell In The Enterprise]

CenturyLink is using the IBM platform to help customers implement enterprise-wide mobility plans, with a single system that includes consulting, on-boarding and support services, DeLozier told CRN.

CenturyLink Enterprise Mobility Management manages all iOS, MacOS, Android, and Windows devices, and uses containerization to separate personal and corporate data. It lets customers deploy custom enterprise app catalogs, provides real-time alerts of security breaches from compromised devices, and helps mobile users access corporate intranets, networks, data and documents.

It is available for businesses with as few as 10 users.

CenturyLink’s EMM system is among the first solutions to be targeted at the company's channel partners, DeLozier said.

"Traditionally, CenturyLink has had more of a direct focus," he said. "The difference today is, as we come to market with new products or services, we are engaging the channel early. I ask, 'Do we want to go to the pond and fish or teach 10 people to fish?'"

A complete enterprise mobile management system from CenturyLink will be a good addition to the CenturyLink services customers already get, said Shane Stark, director of vendor and strategic relationships at Carrier Access, a Des Moines, Iowa-based solution provider and CenturyLink channel partner.

Carrier Access already handles several aspects of enterprise mobile management for its clients, and the applicability of the CenturyLink system depends on how well it hooks into partners' existing services, Stark told CRN.

Practically every customer needs some form of mobile device management, but products vary from vendor to vendor, Stark said. "All the plans are different," he said. "We're going to see how CenturyLink's ideas and our ideas mesh together."