B2M Solutions, specialists in the management of the mobile enterprise, has responded to the demands of mobile line of business users with its mprodigy mobile management suite, giving its channel partners greater opportunities to add value to their mobile deployments.
This latest release of mprodigy 1.9 provides B2M's partners with greater control, flexibility and ease of use over the planning, installation, configuration and use for all types and size of mobile enterprise.
The growing list of channel partners offering B2M's mprodigy management suite now includes companies such as Avnet Technology Solutions, Ryzex, Blackbay, Spirit Data Capture and Varlink.
The new powerful tools for Planning, Installation and Configuration allow partners to set up an mprodigy system with greater accuracy and minimal effort. It gives them the flexibility to set up large scale, multi-national enterprise installations for one customer and then enable smaller scale 'single box' deployments for another. mprodigy can be configured as an 'in-house' customer managed solution or set up as a managed service configuration allowing B2M's partners to provide a range of services to manage their customer's mobile populations.
Other new features include 'out of box' Browser Commissioning of mprodigy which enables ultra low touch by partners and much faster commissioning of devices. The enhanced remote control features give the central Help or Support desk a valuable tool for training or for immediate remedial action if a user cannot operate their mobile device. And B2M's compatibility tests ensure that 1.9 fully supports all leading mobile devices; updates in this release include the Motorola MC35, Casio's new DT-X7, HTC devices and the Touchstar Falcon.
Julie Purves, Managing Director of B2M Solutions says, "These latest enhancements are easy to use yet are rich in functionality. They give our partners a solid foundation on which to build their own 'value-add' services around mprodigy. Most importantly, it can help them to plan, configure and install a scaleable, mission critical mobile enterprise solution from the very straight-forward through to the highly complex multi-server systems. In turn, end customers can be confident that mprodigy can be installed and configured efficiently to meet the needs of their enterprise."
Highlights of the new mprodigy 1.9 includes:
Planning, Installation and Configuration
The new Planning Tool is easy to use and supports many complex out-of-the-box configurations. A short questionnaire helps determine the topology of an installation such as how devices communicate (WLAN, GPRS, LAN) plus specific parameters such as IP addresses. The mprodigy tool then generates a planning summary listing hardware and software pre-requisites, a system schematic, network requirements and a configuration data file that is used by the Installation Tool. This Installation Tool is an easy to use software wizard which prompts the user for the components that need to be installed. Once everything is installed, the Configuration Tool can then be used if any changes are required.
Browser Commissioning
With 'out of box' Browser Commissioning, channel partners no longer need to pre-install mprodigy on to a device; a web browser is all that is required. Now, a new device can be sent to a mobile user direct from the manufacturer or hardware supplier. The user takes the device out of the box, goes to a web browser and opens the mprodigy web page. Everything is then done automatically and mprodigy will configure the device on to the system. It works over any network - GPRS for field-based users or over a wireless LAN when in a depot or store.
There is considerable growth in field-based roles, such as parking and utility inspectors or service repairs. These people do not return to a depot, warehouse or store but are managed from a remote support centre. They need a system where they are not required to travel to a central point.
Remote Control of Devices
The comprehensive remote control capabilities enable a central Help or Support Desk to keep devices fully operational. With mprodigy 1.9 the support desk can 'take over' the user interface on a device (or multiple devices) as though they had the device in hand. This is useful for training purposes or for initial diagnosis of a problem. It compliments the extensive features already available in mprodigy that allow fully resilient communication with devices to retrieve files, execute programs, reboot or reset devices and retrieve audit logs and diagnostic information. Many of these features can be performed across multiple groups of devices simultaneously so that the Support Desk user can, for example, reboot the whole population of devices overnight to ensure that they are in a 'clean' state for use at the start of the next working day.
The comprehensive Role Based Security features in mprodigy 1.9 ensure that the ability to 'take over' the device is not used indiscriminately. Multiple layers of security enable only identified users to have remote access to mobile devices; this ensures unqualified personnel cannot modify settings which could result in a device with a different configuration.
Julie continues: "A key concept behind mprodigy is that all devices in an enterprise must be in a known working state so that they can be managed effectively and are always in full working order. Through mprodigy, our customers trust that we will provide an environment where they don't have to worry."
Licensing
An enhanced licensing system now gives partners a streamlined way to set up and renew licences with their customers.
About B2M Solutions - Managing the Mobile Enterprise
B2M Solutions, specialists in managing the mobile enterprise, provides the framework that pulls together an entire mobile infrastructure; maximising the productivity of the remote workforce and protecting the investment in a mobile estate.
The modular and scaleable mprodigyTM can be incorporated at any stage of a mobile project to ensure that remote mobile solutions are deployed and managed efficiently. It meets the needs of line-of-business remote users (in parcel delivery, logistics, field service, industrial and retail) who require access to mission-critical corporate data whilst on the move.
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