Zenprise 7.01 Out Now : What’s New From Previous Version 6.6

Zenprise recently released an upgrade to their flagship mobile device management MDM solution. My team has been showcasing a previous version 6.6 and went through the upgrade to Zenprise 7.01 this week. The Zenprise ZDM upgrade took around 15- 20 minutes, which steps included upgrading the software and java on the hosting server. Here is a comparison of both versions of Zenprise ZDM.

Dashboard: Zenprise 7.01 now includes a dashboard or centralized landing page. From a visual perspective, it’s a great way to quickly identify the state of the system and managed endpoints. The picture below is customized for 6 different reports. Functionality wise, the previous version of Zenprise could accomplish the same things by clicking around.

iOS and Android Enrollment: The new 7.01 version of Zenprise offers a dedicated section for device enrollment that includes options such as  MDM server discovery, email or SMS notification. We felt enrollment was a weak spot for Zenprise however this release dramatically simplifies the process. The group enrollment features makes it much easier to deploy the Zenprise MDM software to a larger number of users at once. Furthermore, Zenprise 7.01 can import a CSV file to populate its database for bulk enrollment.

iOS Location Services, Geo-tracking and Geo-fencing: This is a huge feature. Admins can set location service policies to located devices at any given time. Geofencing allows admins to define a geographic perimeter and perform a selective or full wipe upon perimeter breach. We have had requests for Geofencing that range from stopping students from walking off with school issued mobile devices to military secured facilities wiping any device that leaves the controlled area. In high security areas it it possible to wipe a device on-demand as it exists a “safe” zone.

Automated Actions and Notifications: Zenprise has enhanced their abilities to notify users through email, SMS or agent push. This is key when users violate a policy and need to be alerted. You can also setup automated actions such as notifying users when specific conditions have been met, such as when a device is rooted or jailbroken.

Content Distribution and Collaboration for Android as well as Android Agent Tamper Proofing: Zenprise 7.01 has added the ability to make it almost impossible to remove the Zenprise agent from Android devices (outside of completely wiping the device) as well as enhanced content sharing through SharePoint.

Other Minor Updates:

• Zenprise ZDM will recognize Active Directory usernames and discover the Zenprise ZDM server accounts are associated with.
• User Groups Now Under Device Tab
• APNS Cert Expiration Visual Indicator displayed in the About tab.
• Andriod and iOS Enterprise App catalog: Ability to provide user’s list of recommended apps for their device. iOS can now re-brand the enterprise app catalog.
• Samsung Integration which is pending on ZDM 7.0 Samsung Android agent approval.
• iOS Enrollment no longer dependent on UDID
• Perimeter Network Access Control for mobile devices meaning blocking devices from registering in your network.
• Improvements to viewing service level agreement information and updating license files.

Here are two screen shots showing a comparison of Zenprise ZDM 6.6 and 7.01

Zenprise 6.6

Zenprise 7.01

Written and edited by Joseph Muniz and Aamir Lakhani