iPass Unveils Open Platform for Global Enterprise Mobility Services

New cloud-based offering enables enterprises to deploy their own carrier independent mobility services; delivers real-time cost control, security and intelligence at the point of connection

iPass today announced the iPass Open Mobile Platform. The new cloud-based platform gives enterprises choice and flexibility to cost-effectively implement and manage their own mobility strategy by mixing and matching any network or device without requiring changes in infrastructure or disrupting the mobile worker’s connectivity experience.

Designed to significantly improve the economics of mobility, the iPass Open Mobile Platform provides the foundation for an expanded portfolio of enterprise mobility services that enables carrier independence, contains expensive connectivity costs, decreases end-user support costs and reduces the administrative burden of managing a mobile workforce.

“The sheer volume of mobile workers and their demands for IT to support a wide range of personal mobile devices, operating systems, and applications are pushing the enterprise mobility market towards increased complexity. Today’s IT departments face the costly challenge of adequately managing and securing what have often become very fragmented mobility solutions,” said Eric Paulak, managing vice president, Network Services and Infrastructure at Gartner Group. “Enterprises are looking for solutions to manage the cost, complexity, and headache of managing and securing a network of siloed products by providing a unified platform that makes it easy for IT to manage multiple devices, policies, and access methods in real time.”

“The most obvious benefit of the iPass services is that we now have a standardized way of connecting to the network in more or less any country in the world. For the users, this solution takes away all the complexity of getting online in a foreign country and means that they can be productive much more quickly,” said Henk Elzenaar, service delivery manager for product line network and telecom at Philips. “For us, it gives reassurance that when users get online; we know they’re doing so in a secure and predictable manner. And for the business units, it means there is absolute transparency of connectivity costs.”

The expanded portfolio of enterprise mobility services are designed to give enterprise IT full visibility into their mobile usage, and to orchestrate policy-based access at the point of connection, while offering employees a simple, secure and seamless connectivity experience. The portfolio includes:

iPass Mobile Connect – a new service that orchestrates policy-based Internet and corporate access through the iPass Open Mobile Client, always on lightweight software that runs on the mobile device. The service collects and transmits data from the mobile device to the enterprise via the iPass Open Mobile Portal, and interfaces with other client software and internal IT systems as needed.
iPass Mobile Insight – a new service that offers companies in-depth reporting and analysis on mobile usage across all their networks and devices. Using the iPass Open Mobile Portal, IT administrators can design and customize sophisticated reports that are driven by the iPass patented SQM data collection system, and monitor 24X7 usage, cost and compliance by division.
iPass Mobile Control – a new powerful policy enforcement service that enables IT staff to apply and enforce cost, security and compliance measures across the mobile workforce by deploying a wide variety of connectivity and device oriented policies in real-time. Combined with iPass Mobile Insight companies can use real-world usage behavior to create policies.
iPass Mobile Network – the world’s largest wireless broadband network. With over 140,000 access points around the world, and support for Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia and many other devices as well as all major desktop operating systems.
“Our vision is to be the champion for the enterprise in the mobility space, and provide the enterprise with their own carrier-independent and device-agnostic mobility solution that meets their unique set of requirements and drives ease-of-use for their employees,” said Evan Kaplan, CEO of iPass. “With a new open platform and flexible service offerings, enterprises can completely customize, adapt, and manage enterprise mobility as they please through one unified solution.”

The extensible iPass Open Mobile Platform is built on a proven cloud-based infrastructure, which handles a quarter of a million transactions a day, with seven data centers around the world, service gateways at hundreds of provider networks and thousands of enterprise customer sites. It allows iPass services to support any network and the broadest range of devices in the industry. The platform already supports over 140 3G devices and through the iPass Open Device Framework customers and partners can integrate new devices in a matter of hours.

“Our customers demand choice and flexibility,” said Patrick Schütz, head of Corporate Sales, Products and Innovation, at Deutsche Telekom AG. “The iPass Open Mobile platform and its open device framework allow our business customers to integrate 3G devices and embedded modules quickly, easily and reliably into our unique global Corporate Access mobility solution.”

For more information - http://www3.ipass.com/

New Advanced Web Security Solutions

F5 Delivers Advanced Web Security Solutions to Help Customers Efficiently Address Threats to Web Applications and Enhance Business Performance
New release of F5 BIG-IP software offers innovative web security capabilities to protect businesses from costly attacks, ensure compliance, streamline management, and optimize application performance

Official Press release and more information HERE

BIG-IP v10.1 Helps Carriers Scale Mobile Infrastructures

The new BIG-IP v10.1 release offers a new approach to mobile infrastructure scaling, enabling service providers and system integrators to benefit from L7 traffic management for their AAA infrastructure.

Key benefits include:
• Support for Diameter and RADIUS protocols
• On-demand capacity to handle highest levels of traffic
• Carrier-class availability with Fast Failover
• Seamless strategy for migration as IPv6 traffic grows
• Total traffic control with iRules

Available today, Service Pack 2 (SP2) for RSA Authentication Manager 7.1 and RSA SecurID Appliance 3.0 is a significant update including numerous fixes and enhancements in key areas such as software installation, Appliance quick setup, replication, backup & recovery and RADIUS.

For software platforms, SP2 is available both as a patch for existing installations and as a full installation kit for new deployments. For the existing SecurID Appliances, SP2 includes both a patch and a new factory image. With this release, RSA Authentication Manager 7.1 SP2 becomes the default shipping release for all software platforms and for the RSA SecurID Appliance.

The following features and enhancements are included in Service Pack 2:
• A rollup of all hotfixes from the original release of RSA Authentication Manager 7.1 to September 14, 2009
• Improved installation and configuration of replicas, as well as improved replication stability
• New disaster recovery options including primary database restore and replica resynchronization
• Improved and simplified installation process
• Support for Active Directory 2008 as an identity source
• New option for generating reports without applying a date/time filter
• Improvements to the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) plug-in
• Enhanced procedure for migrating from RSA SecurID Appliance 2.0 to RSA SecurID Appliance 3.0 that includes the preservation fo RADIUS configuration data

SP2 is available on SecurCare Online for the following platforms: RSA SecurID Appliance 3.0, Windows Server 2003, (32/64-bit) Standard and Enterprise, Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES/AS 4.0 (32/64-bit), Solaris 10 and VMWare ESX 3.5 (hosting Windows Server 2003).

RSA Positioning and Recommendations
The goal of SP2 is to improve the overall stability of AM 7.1 and RSA’s ability to support the product. The focus of the release is stabilization of critical areas that cannot be addressed with hot fixes alone including installation, replication and backup & restore.

Recommendation:

For customers of RSA Authentication Manager 7.1 and RSA SecurID Appliance 3.0, RSA strongly recommends upgrading to SP2 as soon as possible. For existing installations, the Database Patch must be installed before applying SP2.

For RSA Authentication Manager 6.x customers planning an upgrade, RSA strongly recommends migrating directly to SP2 using the new full-kit installer. For new installations (including migrations from RSA Authentication Manager 6.x), the full-kit installer includes both SP2 and the Database Patch.

A new look Armadillo website was launched on Friday 31 July, with a more up-to-date design and an improved structure.

Andy Mayle, Technical Manager, has been leading the redesign project over the past six months. He said:

As well as giving the website a cleaner and more modern design, we wanted to make it more user friendly – which meant completely overhauling the structure. This new website represents an ongoing project that will continually evolve to ensure that our online presence keeps pace with the reputation that we have built up in the industry. Clients will notice several more major improvements to the website during the next few months and I hope they will be greeted with just as much enthusiasm as we had in developing them!

Mark Newns, CEO, said:

The growing importance of e-communications means that it is essential for us to have a cutting edge website. The clear and dynamic image presented by the site supports and demonstrates the way we want to engage with all our audiences in the future.

Armadillo Managed Services, Europe’s leading access security consultancy becomes the first fully accredited RSA Signature Partner in EMEA. Armadillo is currently the only RSA partner in EMEA to hold the highest accreditations in all three technology areas, namely SecurID, enVision and DLP

The new RSA Signature Partner level has been created to distinguish the RSA partners who have shown their commitment to RSA and have demonstrated their expertise across RSA’s SecurID, enVision and DLP platforms.

Solly Khan, Technical Director commented

Armadillo have once again demonstrated their commitment to the RSA Signature Partner Program by being the first partner to attain these accreditations. This achievement further cements Armadillo’s status as the leading RSA Partner in EMEA and is a testament to the expertise of our security consultants who we consider to be the best in the business.

About Armadillo:
Armadillo is one of Europe’s leading access security consultancies headquartered in Stockley Park, London, Armadillo was formed in 2001 and is securing every stage of a company’s network and data communication. With employees requiring rapid access to an enterprise’s applications from wherever they may be, Armadillo has the knowledge and skills to construct an inter-linked security framework that will provide seamless protection from all different threat vectors.

RSA Security Inc:
RSA Security Inc. helps organizations protect private information and manage the identities of people and applications accessing and exchanging that information. RSA Security’s portfolio of solutions – including identity & access management, secure mobile & remote access, secure enterprise access, secure transactions and consumer identity protection – are all designed to provide the most seamless e-security experience in the market. Our strong reputation is built on our history of ingenuity, leadership, proven technologies and our more than 16,000 customers around the globe. Together with more than 1,000 technology and integration partners, RSA Security inspires confidence in everyone to experience the power and promise of the Internet. For more information, please visit www.rsasecurity.com.

Armadillo Managed Services, Europe’s leading access security consultancy, today announced that it has been awarded RSA Signature Partner Status.

The new RSA Signature Partner level has been created to distinguish the RSA partners who have shown their commitment to RSA and have demonstrated their expertise across RSA’s SecurID, enVision and DLP platforms.

Andy Mayle, Technical Manager commented

We are delighted that RSA have chosen Armadillo to be part of the prestigious Signature Partner program. This recognition has been achieved by Armadillo’s consistent performance in architecting, delivering and maintaining RSA’s product line over a number of years.

Solly Khan, Technical Director commented

Armadillo’s success can be attributed to a completely focused technical and sales team, all of whom are accredited and committed to delivering industry leading expertise across the RSA product line. Achieving RSA Signature Partner level further cements Armadillo’s status as the leading RSA Partner in EMEA and is a testament to the exceptional work we have done with our customers in delivering complete access security solutions. Armadillo have made significant investment in training with all our chosen partners, and with our large portfolio of complimentary products it puts us in a unique position to deliver a complete end to end security solution for small, medium and large enterprises alike.

Connecting for Health” have selected McAfee Endpoint Encryption solutions to protect data across the NHS

The need to allow wider access to computer systems, especially portable devices means the potential risks of data loss increases. Whilst it may not be possible to completely physically secure these systems and devices, steps can be taken to minimise data loss and encryption of hard disks and other storage devices is one way of controlling access to sensitive data.

After an evaluation of products and resellers, Trustmarque Solutions has been selected as the sole supplier for a pre-paid solution for all English NHS sites.

Armadillo are one of a select group of partners that are involved in the scoping, implementation and support of the Mcafee Endpoint Encryption solution being rolled out to NHS Trusts throughout the country

Should you require any more information on Mcafee Endpoint Encryption please email sales@armadillouk.com or phone +44 (0)208 6106090 to speak to a sales representative.

Armadillo Managed Services is the leader in providing superior security and compliancy solutions and hold the highest accreditations with all our chosen security partners. Armadillo are proud to have won various awards over the years including RSA Partner of the year in EMEA 2007 and F5 support partner of the year 2007

Armadillo Managed Services, Europe’s leading access security consultancy, today announced that it has won the RSA Partner of the Year Award for EMEA 2007. This success follows on from two consecutive years of Armadillo winning the RSA Fastest Growing Partner of the Year award for the EMEA region.

RSA chose Armadillo as its partner of the year 2006 for a number of reasons. Armadillo managed to achieve more new and annuity business than any other European partner in 2006 – and this was done through thorough understanding of customer requirements, making a dedicated effort to find new authentication opportunities and extending the use of RSA SecurID technology through its existing and expanding customer base. Armadillo’s success can be attributed to a completely focused technical and sales team - all of whom are accredited and committed to the RSA SecurWorld Partner Program. We are delighted to name Armadillo as RSA’s Partner of the Year 2006 and look forward to working with them in 2007 and beyond.

commented Miles Rippon, Director of Channels, EMEA at RSA

Access security is a challenge that every company is having to address, and with RSA already the chosen security partner of 90% of the world’s biggest companies, our work with them is a cornerstone of our ability to deliver the very best technical solutions to our customers, and we are delighted to have won the RSA Partner of the Year Award which is a testament to the exceptional work we have done with our customers in delivering complete access security solutions.

commented David Radley, Managing Director, Armadillo Managed Services.

The RSA SecurWorld Partner Program aims to foster a dynamic and interactive relationship between RSA, The Security Division of EMC, and its channel partners. RSA SecurWorld Partners such as Armadillo Managed Services are experienced in delivering authentication and secure access solutions.