May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac, where we will be profiling a different mobile management company every weekday. You can find all previous entries here and read our Mobile Management manifesto here.
Centrify’s DirectControl for Mobile offers free device management capabilities. Unlike many other management solutions, device management can be performed using mobile-specific Active Directory group policy extensions rather than any additional interface (though a cloud service interface is also available). Being a free solution, DirectControl for Mobile focuses on a handful of device security functionality. Centrify plans to extend the offering over the course of this year with a full featured premium edition. Although completely functional (see our review), Centrify still lists DirectControl as being a beta release. For organizations with minimal needs or limited budgets, DirectControl is a good option. Centrify also produces a Mac client management tool called DirectControl for Mac that uses Active Directory extensions for securing and managing Mac workstations.
Company: Centrify
Product(s): DirectControl for Mobile
Type of solution(s): device management
Platforms supported beyond iOS: Android
Licensing Model: freemium (free version is currently available, a recurring licensed premium version is expected later this year)
Includes/Offers Maintenance Updates?: included in current licensing
Technical support options: 24/7 support
Deployment options: cloud service with on-premise Active Directory integration
Failover and load balancing options: supports server failover and load balancing
Scalability: supports multiple locations and location-specific administration
Directory system integration: Microsoft Active Directory
Administrative tool options: web/cloud, Active Directory group policy extensions
Data export capabilities: device information, installed apps
Expense management features: none at this time
Device enrollment mechanism(s): website, iOS app
Support for secure/authenticated enrollment?: Yes
Security certificate features: Certificates for SCEP enrollment, Exchange, Wi-Fi, VPN
Remote/On Demand administrative actions: remove passcode, lock, wipe
App management options: none at this time