Aruba Launches New Device, App Management System To Go All-In With BYOD

flagship mobile device management (MDM) platform ClearPass

These new application management capabilities are being added to ClearPass through Aruba's new WorkSpace offering, which is in beta testing now with availability slated for July 2013.

WorkSpace will bulk up the ClearPass system Aruba launched in February of last year, expanding its feature set beyond its core capabilities of provisioning and onboarding mobile devices to a corporate network. ClearPass also delivers capabilities for cloud-based configuration of a device's 802.1x settings, device profiling and device risk management, as well as capabilities for managing guest access to networks.

[Related: Aruba To Partners: BYOD Opportunity Is Yours To Seize ]

The launch of WorkSpace, however, now gives IT teams the ability to use ClearPass to manage BYOD environments at the application level. WorkSpace users, for instance, can assign higher network priority to enterprise or mission-critical applications versus personal applications, restrict network access if a mobile device is jailbroken or contains unapproved applications, or automatically establish application-specific VPNs to encrypt traffic when an employee's device connects to an untrusted network.

WorkSpace also makes it possible for corporate applications to be hosted separately from personal applications on an employee's mobile device, so if that device is lost or stolen, IT can just wipe the corporate data while keeping the personal data intact.

What's more, WorkSpace allows IT to control when and how end users interact with their mobile applications. A time-fencing feature, for instance, lets IT stop an end user from accessing certain applications after business hours, while geo-fencing prohibits users from accessing certain applications from outside a designated physical area.

Trent Fierro, senior marketing major at Aruba Networks, said the addition of WorkSpace to Aruba's ClearPass product positions Aruba partners to jump on the BYOD trend, without having to forge partnerships with new vendors in the MDM or mobile application management (MAM) space.

"The idea here is that they are already selling the ClearPass solution, so adding WorkSpace is great," Fierro said. "What we are saying [to partners] is that you are already talking about network access control and differentiating devices and users getting onto the network, so you might as well talk about the ability to onboard those devices and then add the application and device management on top of that. You don’t have to bring in another vendor for device management, and [partners] love that."

The new application and device management features introduced by WorkSpace will at first only be compatible with Apple iOS-based devices, but Aruba said support for Android devices is expected sometime after launch. The legacy device onboarding features delivered by ClearPass, however, can be extended to iOS, Android, Windows and Mac OS X devices.

Aruba said more than 40 mobile applications have been certified to work with WorkSpace, with more slated to come down the pike. Certified applications today include file-sharing applications like Box and YouSendIt, business intelligence applications like Roambi, enterprise productivity applications like Breezy, and collaboration applications like Dolphin.

In addition, enterprise IT teams will be able to upload custom, internally developed or third-party applications to push out to end users through Aruba Workspace. However, IT will only be able to apply direct policy management to Aruba-certified applications.

PUBLISHED APRIL 10, 2013