Q. We are in the process of a migration out of Blackberry smart phones into Active-Sync phones (mainly IPhone 4S).

We are an exchange 2010 shop – but the active sync management thru the GUI is still rather weak – and I don’t like to dive into powershell scripts each time I want info.

For those of you who have implemented a MDM server for your phones and tablets – which service did you choose and why (AirWatch, MobileIron, Good, etc.)? I am most interested in:
* Basic security policies enforcement – password resets – lock – wipe if lost.
* Integration with apple app store for business purchases – user deployment – central purchasing for $ apps.
* Registered devices management – deletion of old broken devices, prior upgrades.
* Visibility into apps and OS patches by user.
* An activation system might be helpful – but manually activating on the device is not that bad.

I am open to hosted cloud service or traditional server – whichever gives me the tightest Exchange link.
Bruce L. Roberts
J.F. White Contracting Co.

A. We were looking into MaaS360, but haven’t decided. How many devices are you dealing with? For us it is in the 250 range, with iPads.
Todd Eldredge
Donley's

A. We decommissioned our BB server a month ago. 150 migrations to Android devices and a couple of iPhones. We are using AirWatch for MDM. It is an OK product but more geared towards iOS. We may look at the Motorola solution.
Jerry Humble
Penhall Company

Q. Good Evening everyone – You input is appreciated. We have made a decision to move from tape to cloud and the three candidates are...

1. Barracuda
2. AppAssure
3. Axcient

Does anyone have experience with these? Your recommendations would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Jim Gaba
Sierra Nevada Construction, Inc.

A. Ivey has not used any of these, but is using an independent company called "The Solutions Team" that provides cloud backup in a Tier IV data center and also provides redundant backup in a secondary data center if you desire.

Have been using them for a couple of years not and so far have been pleased with what they provide at a fairly economical cost.

Can provide info if you are interested in talking to them.
Luther Burrell
Ivey Mechanical Company

A. We use a combination of online and offline backups. We have a Microsoft Data Protection Manager 2010 onsite then a second unit offsite. The DPM server does file snapshots during the day and stores up to five days, this provides quick restore. For long term I use the backup feature in Server 2008 R2 and have those backup files copied over to a 3TB USB drive using Robocopy then once a week take that to the offsite facility. When using the backup feature of Server 2008 R2 it creates a VHD file so you can mount it or load it into Hyper V. Microsoft has upgraded this to System Center 2012. We have been using this method for over a year.

I haven’t had time to research the System Center 2012 and what changes that will bring. Have you read anything of interest on System Center 2012? I did a price check and with 15 servers I don’t think we can afford it.
CJ Rainer
Doster Construction Company, Inc.

A. Good to see someone else using DPM 2010. Great product!
Todd Eldredge
Donley's