"The enterprise market for wireless data services has expanded from a few special users to a mainstream IT service used by many employees across multiple roles," said Gene Signorini, vice president at Yankee Group. "If companies don't deliver a thoughtful, standard solution across their user base, they'll soon find themselves in the midst of mobile chaos as users take matters into their own hands. They will be left with a management mess and miss out on the strategic business benefits mobility can deliver."

iPass Mobility Management builds on iPass' global enterprise flat-rate pricing plans, initially introduced in 2006, by incorporating comprehensive device management capabilities. For the first time, organizations can manage their constantly changing portfolio of mobile connections and devices with minimal upfront investment, and without the risk of skyrocketing costs. Customers pay a flat fee based only on the number of devices subscribing to the service, no matter how many times they connect or use the iPass network within a given month—giving companies the cost predictability they need to extend the benefits of mobility beyond frequent business travelers to include any worker.

"Many companies shy away from getting aggressive with mobility because they fear the financial and administrative risk, and because their LAN-based tools don't give them the necessary visibility and control. This undermines IT's ability to deliver affordable, policy-compliant solutions that meet business objectives," said John Kasser, vice president of Internet and security services, Sayers, a value-added provider of a wide range of technology products and services. "iPass' new managed mobility solution tackles these issues head-on with a complete and economical approach that is also uniquely tailored for mobile use."

Addressing the Key Aspects of Mobility Management
Often companies hinder worker productivity by denying or limiting wireless access due to security and cost concerns. This has created a "don't ask, don't tell" environment where individual employees buy and use unapproved Wi-Fi and 3G services while IT looks the other way. The result is increased exposure to security risks as users attempt to configure hardware and software, and increased costs as employees buy connectivity services at expensive retail rates in hotels, airports and cafes.

iPass Mobility Management addresses these problems by enabling companies to provide employees with unlimited global use of dial-up, hotel broadband and Wi-Fi hotspots, with options for 3G mobile data and home broadband. Simultaneously, the IT department gets a complete set of tools for managing both connections and systems, including hardware and software inventory, assessment and remediation, third-party security validation, patch management, usage and compliance reporting as well as device and application configuration.

iPass Mobility Management is a simple, cost-effective way to deploy and maintain enterprise-wide mobility. It operates across a broad range of portable and mobile device platforms; including Windows XP and Vista PCs, Windows Mobile-based handheld devices, and additional handheld platforms in the future.

"Mobility is changing how companies work, and this change is driven by end-users," said Joel Wachtler, vice-president of marketing and strategy at iPass. "Companies who succeed will be those that embrace the potential and take a proactive approach to mobilizing their workforces. At iPass, we're committed to helping our customers realize the benefits of mobile technologies at every level."