Cisco Systems unleashed a secure mobile client for the iPhone Thursday that is now available for download at Apple’s Apps Store. Targeted at enterprise users, the new app is designed to give mobile workers direct access to business-critical data residing behind corporate firewalls while remaining in compliance with company security policies.
AnyConnect Mobile supports the iPhone, iPod touch, and Windows Mobile today, noted Cisco spokesperson David Oro. “We also include … laptops running traditional PC operating systems,” Oro said.
Cisco has also announced plans for Android support, with the first platform being the upcoming Cisco Cius tablet, Oro observed. “Numerous other mobile platforms are under development, but Cisco has not publicly announced details yet,” he said.
Boosting the IT Comfort Factor
When corporate workers initially pushed their organizations for access to business apps on the iPhone, many IT enterprise managers objected due to security concerns. But more than 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies were either deploying or piloting the iPhone by July this year, noted Apple COO Tim Cook.
“We also see that over 60 percent of the Fortune 500 are deploying or piloting iPhone” as well as “around 400 higher-education institutions that have included the iPhone for faculty, staff and students,” Cook told investors this summer.
Apple helped pave the way for wide-scale enterprise adoption by launching improved iPhone security and management capabilities, along with higher connectivity speeds, noted IDC Vice President Christian Christiansen. “With these improvements, iPhone is becoming increasingly secure and suitable for enterprise use,” he observed.
Now Cisco wants to boost the iPhone comfort factor even further by giving IT administrators the tools they need to enable corporate resource access on a per-user or a per-group basis as well as the ability to revoke access privileges for lost or stolen devices. Moreover, Cisco’s new iPhone client offers DTLS…