Symantec announces mobile security, management strategy

Symantec's mobile strategy focuses on effective integration of its mobile security and management solutions to help customers reduce downtime, increase user productivity, improve response time and provide protection and management throughout the mobile device life cycle-from provisioning and management to security and eventual device retirement, the company said in a statement.
"As mobile devices become more sophisticated, provide greater corporate access and store more data, organisations require greater control and management to protect corporate information and ensure user productivity - all while reducing costs", said Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director, Symantec India.
"Our mobile strategy is designed to protect and manage data wherever it resides and automate procurement and provisioning, provide ongoing maintenance and protection and quickly retire the mobile devices if they are lost, damaged, stolen or replaced", he said.
Having a comprehensive mobile strategy in place would become increasingly important as mobile devices continue to permeate the business environment, the company said.

IDC research indicates that the number of worldwide converged mobile device shipments would reach more than 167 million by the end of 2009 and forecasts that it would increase to more than 291 million by 2013, representing a 14 per cent compound annual growth rate. In fact, the smartphones market in India alone, sized at five million in 2008, is expecting a compound annual growth rate of 23 per cent by 2011, according to technology research firm Ascenda.
As more mobile devices access corporate networks, often through unprotected pathways, malware writers and criminals would use this window to gain access to sensitive data, the company said.
Symantec's mobile management and security strategy follows a lifecycle model, provides tight integration and aligns with the broad Symantec portfolio. As part of its mobile strategy, Symantec now offers three new products to help customers mitigate risk, manage complexity, control costs, automate processes and address compliance concerns with efficiency and cost savings, the statement added.