Absolute Software: Desktop Management Meets MDM

Absolute Software

The latest Absolute Software release allows MSPs and customers to distribute documents to mobile and on-premise devices by policy settings, meaning you can give employees access to documents but control whether or not they can print or save it.

Companies can also add additional passwords for security and preset when the documents will be deleted from employee devices. It’s another step toward full device management for the nearly two-decade-old company.

Absolute Software originally offered a theft and security tool for laptops when it was founded in 1993. The company began gravitating toward full device management shortly thereafter. As Williams put it,”you can’t talk about security without talking about management.” And that definitely includes mobile device management (MDM).

Absolute read the writing on the wall when it came to MDM (mobile device management) in early 2010. So the company acquired LANrev in February 2010 to build a unified desktop management platform for in-house and mobile enterprise IT assets and meet the demand for MDM.

“We saw a heavy increase in MDM demand last year when Apple released its MDM API,” said Williams, who noted that a large majority of mobile device users are leverage Apple products. Android is next in line but growing rapidly, according to Williams.

Absolute’s MDM offering is noteworthy because it is now one of  the few companies that offer a combined client management and mobile device management solution. Williams said that other companies are  starting to build such offerings, and that Gartner Inc. has reported that the combination is beginning to trend. Still, Williams claims Absolute doesn’t have many competitors to its overall solution.

Absolute is currently serving enterprise end users and VARs in the government, healthcare and education sectors. It does the majority of its business in North America, but also has a presence in the UK and Japan.