Do Android phone have IT Policies?

[rootbrain]

Have always been Blackberry user, have now switched to Android. Connecting to my company in the past required going through their BES and having a policy pushed to my phone.

If I do that with my new Android, does it also have a "policy" of some sort? (required password, no root, etc. etc.)

 

[Murph5150]

I had to call my IT department for them to help me walk through getting my corporate email set up, but it works great. I didn't know how to do it on my own.

 

[Taintus]

Android cannot and will not link up with a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server). Instead, Android will connect in the same fashion that Windows phone will....using exchange (or Notes, whatever your company uses...) You will have to get a hold of the mail host server address. If you are using exchange, this will most likely be the OWA (Outlook Web Access) address. However, this function might not be enabled for your business. I would check with your IT department to find out.

As for the policies, yes, Android complies will set of mobile rules that are configured on exchange. If you needed to enter a PIN before, you are going to have to do it again. Hope that helps you.

 

[VidJunky]

I saw your examples but I'm not sure what your asking about as far a connecting to a computer. Do you want to remote desktop, or just move files. As for moving files I can say that there is no policy for that, and there are several apps that support this nicely. I use WiFi Explorer. It allows you to type an address into your browser and look at and modify items on your phone, and move files either way. It doesn't or I haven't used it to modify settings, but some apps allow you to control your phone remotely as if you were using the touch interface. I also use PrinterShare to print things from my phone over WiFi. Of course the file moving and printing can be done over wired tether, mostly without any apps.

Just browsing the market there are several free and paid apps to do remote desktop.

As for the items I've used there seems to be no restrictions and I only had to agree to the permissions to install the apps, which only apply to what you will allow the app to do, and of course their disclaimer that they're not responsible for damage blah blah blah.

 

[rootbrain]

I saw your examples but I'm not sure what your asking about as far a connecting to a computer. Do you want to remote desktop, or just move files. As for moving files I can say that there is no policy for that, and there are several apps that support this nicely. I use WiFi Explorer. It allows you to type an address into your browser and look at and modify items on your phone, and move files either way. It doesn't or I haven't used it to modify settings, but some apps allow you to control your phone remotely as if you were using the touch interface. I also use PrinterShare to print things from my phone over WiFi. Of course the file moving and printing can be done over wired tether, mostly without any apps.

Just browsing the market there are several free and paid apps to do remote desktop.

As for the items I've used there seems to be no restrictions and I only had to agree to the permissions to install the apps, which only apply to what you will allow the app to do, and of course their disclaimer that they're not responsible for damage blah blah blah.

Nothing to to with "remote" per se, this is for Exchange email. Copying files is as easy as connecting the phone to USB and using it as an additional drive, so no problem there. I believe the response above is the info I needed.

Thanks for your time.

 

[rootbrain]

Android cannot and will not link up with a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server). Instead, Android will connect in the same fashion that Windows phone will....using exchange (or Notes, whatever your company uses...) You will have to get a hold of the mail host server address. If you are using exchange, this will most likely be the OWA (Outlook Web Access) address. However, this function might not be enabled for your business. I would check with your IT department to find out.

As for the policies, yes, Android complies will set of mobile rules that are configured on exchange. If you needed to enter a PIN before, you are going to have to do it again. Hope that helps you.

Yes, I understand that (Android cannot and will not link up with a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server). It isn't a Blackberry.

But you answered my question in your second statement. Thanks much for your time and response.

We have a corporate license for Touchdown. The "key" is downloaded by each user to their device from a corporate site, open to the internet. It contains company specific information, I assume the connection parameters and other security requirements like SSL, digital certs, PIN/password requirements, lock timeouts and such. Just wasn't sure how it's implemented. There are instructions for me to follow and they include approval from Corp Security to register before you can connect.

Main reason I'm asking is I may be retiring soon and don't want these security requirements for the company to impinge on my personal device when I'm no longer there.

If there are any Exchange admins on board here, I'd be glad to hear the technical details of this.

 

[MrSmith317]

Yes, I understand that (Android cannot and will not link up with a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server). It isn't a Blackberry.

But you answered my question in your second statement. Thanks much for your time and response.

We have a corporate license for Touchdown. The "key" is downloaded by each user to their device from a corporate site, open to the internet. It contains company specific information, I assume the connection parameters and other security requirements like SSL, digital certs, PIN/password requirements, lock timeouts and such. Just wasn't sure how it's implemented. There are instructions for me to follow and they include approval from Corp Security to register before you can connect.

Main reason I'm asking is I may be retiring soon and don't want these security requirements for the company to impinge on my personal device when I'm no longer there.

If there are any Exchange admins on board here, I'd be glad to hear the technical details of this.

Yikes. Ok. Touchdown is probably one of the most popular Exchange clients on the market. It uses activesync. It can be remotely wiped(we do it all the time). No policies are necessary, no extra config etc. When you remote wipe , you're really just remote wiping email from touchdown. Nothing on the phone is touched other than that. iPhone works similarly. The only device that is fully wiped when doing a remote wipe is a blackberry. They suck by the way .. hahaha

 

[rootbrain]

Yikes. Ok. Touchdown is probably one of the most popular Exchange clients on the market. It uses activesync. It can be remotely wiped(we do it all the time). No policies are necessary, no extra config etc. When you remote wipe , you're really just remote wiping email from touchdown. Nothing on the phone is touched other than that. iPhone works similarly. The only device that is fully wiped when doing a remote wipe is a blackberry. They suck by the way .. hahaha

Well KEWL then. By the time they wipe I would have saved or forwarded any emails I needed to keep anyway. I'm pretty good about cleaning up my device email. Use my Exchange inbox and folders to keep what I need and rarely save anything to the device. Too limited on space.

But can password be required, rather than pattern unlock for example? Or PIN or ? or ?

 

[MrSmith317]

Well KEWL then. By the time they wipe I would have saved or forwarded any emails I needed to keep anyway. I'm pretty good about cleaning up my device email. Use my Exchange inbox and folders to keep what I need and rarely save anything to the device. Too limited on space.

But can password be required, rather than pattern unlock for example? Or PIN or ? or ?

We don't use a pattern lock. You can open touchdown and jump right into your email. As far as I know these aren't restrictions coming from your server, rather they are coming from IT. Touchdown is just checking email, not securing the device.

 

[rootbrain]

We don't use a pattern lock. You can open touchdown and jump right into your email. As far as I know these aren't restrictions coming from your server, rather they are coming from IT. Touchdown is just checking email, not securing the device.

Yes that's what I meant, for the device not for email. Thanks.

 

[MrSmith317]

Yes that's what I meant, for the device not for email. Thanks.

Maybe I didn't explain myself on that clear enough. I don't know that there is a way to enforce pin lock etc when using touchdown. Your IT department may say that it's required but there's no way to enforce it. The could even enable it on your phone hoping that most people don't know how to undo it.