MS, Samsung partner on Android

Samsung South Africa has announced that KNOX will now support Microsoft’s Workplace, be able to join both Active Directory and the Windows Intune cloud-based mobile device management solution.

This is in addition to the Cloud Printing solution which uses both Microsoft Windows Azure cloud platform and Microsoft SharePoint. These enterprise-class technologies will improve security and productivity for mobile workers using Samsung KNOX-enabled devices. Samsung’s end-to-end secure mobile platform solution is designed to provide advanced data and privacy protection for enterprise users.

Samsung developed KNOX as a secure and complete mobile platform for the enterprise and we will continue to evolve the offering to protect and respond to ever-changing enterprise mobility and security challenges,” said Paulo Ferreira, Head of Enterprise Mobility at Samsung SA. “As a proud and long standing Microsoft partner, we are delighted to be able to offer its Workplace Join users with full security and support that the Samsung KNOX platform offers. We are also pleased that Microsoft has enabled device management through Windows Intune, enabling enterprise IT managers to take full advantage of the management capabilities offered by Samsung KNOX.

Workplace Join

The Samsung KNOX platform is the first Android implementation to provide full support for Workplace Join to Active Directory, introduced by Microsoft in Windows Server 2012 R2. Available on the latest Samsung mobile devices, Workplace Join will be available on all Samsung KNOX devices towards the second half of the year.

Workplace Join enables users to register devices of their choice with their company, thus allowing them access corporate resources. IT administrators can now effectively manage risk while helping employees remain productive. As a seamless experience for end users, Workplace Join offers a second factor of device authentication through Active Directory. IT administrators can thus gain a stronger verification process which enterprises demand for sensitive resources. With the integration of Workplace Join into the Samsung KNOX platform, enterprise IT administrators can be assured that employees that use their personal Samsung mobile device will be effectively authenticated and allowed access to corporate resources.

In line with our commitment to serve enterprises and users in heterogeneous IT environments, we are pleased to work with Samsung to bring Microsoft’s trusted, cloud-enabled, enterprise BYOD capabilities to Samsung devices,” said Leon Wright, Server and Tools Business Group Lead at Microsoft South Africa.

Like Windows device users, Samsung mobile customers will now be able to take advantage of seamless validation for access to enterprise resources, and Enterprise IT will be able to manage those devices and users through the cloud with Windows Intune. We are also excited to see Samsung use Windows Azure and Office 365 cloud capabilities to give users a smartphone printing experience that rivals desktop and laptop printing results with Cloud Printing. We see many opportunities to collaborate with Samsung in the future to continue providing enterprise-grade solutions for BYOD environments,” concluded Wright.

Windows Intune

Microsoft’s Windows Intune provides first class support for Samsung mobile devices supported with the KNOX platform. By implementing management APIs provided on the KNOX Standard platform, IT administrators can comprehensively manage Samsung mobile devices via the Windows Intune administration console and enable device access in high security environment.

Cloud Printing with Windows Azure

Cloud Printing uses the Microsoft Windows Azure cloud platform and Microsoft SharePoint to provide PC quality printing experiences on mobile devices. Mobile users will be able to easily print documents directly from their smartphone, with results that will be indistinguishable from a printout of the document from a desktop or laptop computer.

Samsung strongly believes in the power of partnerships. With Samsung KNOX now supported by Microsoft’s Workplace, Join to Active Directory and the Windows Intune cloud-based mobile device management solution we continuously evolving our solution to respond to the needs of the enterprise user,” concludes Ferreira.

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