Satya Nadella didn’t just announce Office for iPad yesterday, he also announced the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS).
The capabilities packaged in the EMS are a giant step beyond simple MDM. The EMS is a people-first approach to identity, devices, apps, and data – and it allows you to actively build upon what you already have in place while proactively empowering your workforce well into the future.
The EMS has three key elements:
- Identity and access management delivered by Azure Active Directory Premium
- MDM and MAM delivered by Windows Intune
- Data protection delivered by Azure AD Rights Management Services
What do these bits do?
Azure AD Premium is packed with features that save IT teams time and money, for example:
- It delivers group management and self-service password reset – dramatically cutting the time/cost of helpdesk calls.
- It provides pre-configured single sign on to more than 1,000 popular SaaS applications so IT can easily manage access for users with one set of credentials.
- To improve visibility for IT and security, it includes security reporting to identify and block threats (e.g. anomalous logins) and require multi-factor authentication for users when these abnormalities are detected.
Windows Intune is Microsofts cloud-based MDM and PC management solution.
Since its launch we have regularly delivered updates to this service at a cloud cadence. In October 2013 and January 2014 we added new capabilities like e-mail profile management for iOS, selective wipe, iOS 7 data protection configuration, and remote lock and password reset.
Following up on these new features, in April we will also be adding more Android device management with support for the Samsung KNOX platform, as well as support for the upcoming update to Windows Phone.
Microsoft Azure Rights Management is a powerful and easy-to-use way for organizations to protect their critical information when it is at rest or in transit.
This service is already available today as part of Office 365, and Microsoft recently added extended capability for existing on-prem deployments. Azure RMS now supports the connection to on-prem Exchange, SharePoint, and Windows Servers.
For example, if an employee leaves an organization or if a document is accidentally sent to the wrong individual, the company’s data is protected because there is no way for the recipient to open the file.
The Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) will be available via Microsoft’s Enterprise Volume Licensing programs from May 1st.
See more info here:
Cloudy with a chance of Licensing 