Erich Stauffer

Tag: Mobile Devices

  • Mobile Device Management Tools

    I had a client that was looking for an “active sync monitoring/reporting/blocking tool for BYOD email access in an Exchange environment” so I researched the following solutions:

    iPhone Mobile Device Management-mdm

    Apple Mobile Device Management

    As the massive growth of iOS devices continues to rise, more IT decision makers are implementing innovative Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions to efficiently manage large-scale iOS deployments while improving user productivity across the board.

    The MDM framework built into iOS gives MDM solutions the ability to wirelessly interact with iOS devices that are managed by organizations. Third-party vendors use this framework to build MDM servers that communicate seamlessly with iOS devices.

    MDM gives IT departments the ability to securely enroll devices in an enterprise environment, configure and update settings, monitor compliance with corporate policies, and remotely wipe or lock managed devices. Using an MDM server gives organizations a simple way to get users up and running with access to company services regardless of who owns the device.

    McAfee Enterprise Mobility Management

    “McAfee Enterprise Mobility Management (McAfee EMM) enables businesses to empower their work force with mobile productivity in a secure, simplified, streamlined way.”

    This service blocks, “Unauthorized, unsecured, and modified devices like jailbroken iPhones, and meet audit and reporting demands with enterprise-class reporting.”

    Free MaaS360 ActiveSync Admin Tool

    “Gain Visibility of Mobile Devices within Your Exchange ActiveSync Environment.” In the era of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), more users than ever are connecting to Exchange through ActiveSync without ITs knowledge. With the MaaS360 ActiveSync Admin Tool from Fiberlink, you can easily view all of the devices connecting to your Exchange servers through ActiveSync and remove old device associations with ease.

    The MaaS360 ActiveSync Admin Tool lets you:

    • Quickly identify the number ActiveSync device associations
    • Export mailbox and device information for reporting and maintenance
    • Remove orphaned ActiveSync devices in bulk
    • Best of all, no PowerShell knowledge is required.

    Air Watch Mobile Email Management

    “Prevent access for blacklisted devices and operating systems with device” says Air Watch, “Block access for un-enrolled, non-compliant or compromised devices”

    “Through Secure Gateway, companies can secure and manage their corporate email infrastructure by defining the business logic for connectivity. IT can allow or block both selected mobile users and approved devices and classes as well as create rule sets that require users to access mail using only approved Webmail clients and services.”

    According to Air Watch you can, “Block unmanaged devices…Discover existing unmanaged devices…Block client, user, device model or OS…Exchange 2003/2007”

    Air Watch is the largest provider of enterprise mobility management in the world. They specialize in Mobile Security, Mobile Device Management, and BYOD. They are used by companies like United Airlines, Lowe’s, Delta, US Army Corps of Engineers, NHS, and Skanska. This might be a good place to start looking.

    Exchange Server 2010 Mobile Device Management

    Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync offer many different features for both users and administrators. As an administrator, you can create allow lists, block lists, and quarantine lists specifying which mobile devices are allowed to access your Exchange mailboxes. A quarantine list lets you allow only a user’s assigned device to connect to the Exchange server.

  • Stay Connected with USB Backup Power

    Never miss a client’s call again when you carry along a simple, yet powerful USB battery device.

    USB charging has been around for a while, but devices that both store and charge other mobile devices are just starting to come into their own. These USB battery packs are small, affordable, and can keep you from losing a call or the last level on Angry Birds. Almost any device that can power itself off of a USB port can use one of these devices. The one exception is the iPad, which requires a lot more watts, but there are even USB battery packs for that if you need it.

    Think about it, you protect your PC with a UPC battery backup, why not your mobile phone, which is usually equal to or more important than your PC when it comes to the day-to-day operations of your business. How much would you be lost without power to your cell phone? Just keep it charged and keep a backup charged. Think business continuity and be prepared with a USB battery pack extender. It’s the right thing to do. It just makes sense for your business.

  • Tablet PCs and Their Effect on Web Design

    2011 is supposed to be ‘the year of the tablet’ and while growth has exploded since 2009 it hasn’t really affected web design, but all that may soon change.

    imageIn the same way ebook readers are changing the way books are produced, tablet PCs may change the way web site content is produced. For example, how would a web site be designed differently if it were meant to be touched instead of clicked? We already have separate domains and style sheets for mobile phones, why not for other mobile devices?

    Web analytics are currently smart enough to detect browser types, but how will we detect tablet PCs. There are so many different types that we need a tablet comparison just to know what tablet runs what operating system for compatibility!

    Maybe it won’t be a problem. Hopefully it will all work out, but as technology progresses, so must web design.

  • Blogtrepreneurs Blogging for Profit

    The Internet is a great unsettled land not unlike the discovery of a new world – and entrepreneurs everywhere are taking notice

    Entrepreneurs who blog for profit are sometimes called Blogtrepreneurs. Whether they come from a business background, an Internet marketing background, web design background, or are still in high school, anyone who can identity a niche (read: need) can turn content creation into revenue creation. In fact, that is exactly what I do everyday whether I’m actively working on a blog (or mini-site) or not. That is because blogging for profit is like a fly wheel. It takes a lot of energy to get it going (finding a niche, an appropriate domain, adding content, and promoting), but once the fly wheel is going it takes little effort to keep it going and you are free to start a new fly wheel, or blog.

    Niches

    Niches are segments of a market and are generally well covered. Micro-niches are segments of a niche and are generally covered less. This is where blogtrepreneurs can add value to the market by helping people find answers to what they are seeking in a nook of a market segment. For example, digital cameras are a market. SLR cameras are a niche of digital cameras and NIKON SLR cameras are a micro-niche of SLR cameras. A site about NIKON SLR cameras could sell it promote or educate about the cameras themselves and about all of their accessories. I have a blog about family photography that talks about different digital cameras and techniques for taking family pictures, for example. Identifying a micro-niche is not easy, but there are many sites out there that can help you identity how to find a niche.

    Domains

    Once you have a niche picked out, its time to secure a domain. There are still good domains to be had, but everyday there are less and less as more people gobble up the remaining ones. In the same way there is only so much land, there are only so many words and combinations of words, which is what adds to domains value over time. When choosing a domain you should include your primary keywords if at all possible. If you don’t know what your primary keywords are for your niche, stop and find out. There are plenty of sites with advice on how to choose the right keywords, which you should use  in your domain. Domains can be registered at registers like GoDaddy.com, but also at hosts like HostGator, 1and1, and BlueHost. I can recommend any of these.

    Content

    Once you have your domain registered with hosting, you’ll want to start adding content. One of the easiest ways to do this is to setup WordPress on your server. BlueHost makes it easy with SimpleScripts, but you can install it manually almost as easy at 1and1 and others. Once WordPress is installed, you can start adding posts, but where will you get the content? Think of writing content like writing a research paper. You can’t copy works, but you can quote and reference. Ultimately you wafted to add commentary and value to the material without plagiarising. You won’t get an F, but Google may not rank your site if it contains duplicate content so write your own. For my nook covers site I pieced together facts around the web to create something whole and new and its paid off.

    Promotion

    Now that you’ve created your content its time to promote your site. Promotion starts from within and that means finding a WordPress theme that is SEO ready it making it so. I’m not going to go into SEO here, but there are lots of sites that explain all about search engine optimization. The next step is creating backlinks, which are links back to your site from other, preferably relevant, sites. Think of backlinks as votes that Google uses to decide who it should rank first for a given set of keywords. Find relevant sites to create backlinks on by commenting or by adding to a forum discussion for example.  I was able to greatly increase my ereader accessories traffic by adding a link to it in a forum about ereaders.

    So do you think you have what it takes to be a blogtrepreneur? Don’t wait. The longer you do the more you delay getting paid and risk losing out on the perfect domain. Want more? Check out my other blog on how to make money online.

  • Laptops at Work

    Same new background. Aren’t I cool?

    [Update 1/7/2012: I still use a laptop like this that my parents gave me recently when they got a new one. It’s over five years old now.]