It just got easier for federal workers to run SAP. The U.S. Government Services Administration (GSA) recently designated SAP as a qualified vendor of mobility management solutions for federal government agencies, simplifying their purchase of secure mobile tools to better serve the public.
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| VIDEO: SAP Afaria is on the short list of MDM solutions easily available to U.S. government agencies. |
The SAP Afaria mobile device management (MDM) solution is one of the select options that agencies can choose from, following GSA’s vetting process. Afaria is a core component to the SAP Mobile Secure portfolio, combining with SAP’s Mobile Documents app, for instance, to secure mobile devices, apps and content.
“The GSA certification is the first step toward generating a comprehensive MDM program,” SAP’s Thomas Voshell said. “Agencies should look at their device management options as part of their overall mobile strategy, and pick solutions that fit into that bigger picture and natively integrate with other solution components.”
For example, workers at a defense contractor may not be allowed to have cameras in their workplace, as Sybase IT Manager Jeff Schwartz noted on SAP TV. Administrators can use Afaria to put users in a “No Camera” group, removing the camera from their devices and allowing users to take their mobile devices into secure locations.
“That’s really important from a cost savings perspective because now you don’t have to have two devices for a user,” Schwartz said. “Or you could allow personal-use devices, where you could apply policies to the device without removing any of the user’s personal data.”
MDM solutions can even wipe company data from personal devices.
GSA’s Government-Wide Mobile Device Management Program uses existing government-wide contracts and purchase agreements to streamline the process that agencies use to acquire MDM, mobile application management (MAM) and mobile life cycle management solutions. That process includes GSA-defined requirements for vendors, recognized suppliers to meet those needs and secured baseline pricing.
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Related Media:
“Big Data Streamlines the Workplace and May End Telecommuting” in SAP Business Trends
“Mobile World Congress 2013: A Taste of Digital Transformation” in SAP Business Trends
“Afaria Mobile Device Management, Demo” on SAP TV
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