In April, we announced Windows Phone 8.1 and with it we introduced several key features that were developed specifically with business customers in mind. Today, Windows Phone 8.1 is the smartphone of choice for many businesses – across the globe and across industries.
Windows Phone 8.1 is uniquely differentiated in a number of key areas, it’s truly enterprise-grade – from its security enhancements to the ease with which IT can provision and manage it. When I hear from customers, manageability in particular stands-out as a top reason they choose Windows Phone. Windows Phone 8.1 integrates very easily into an existing Microsoft infrastructure environment, which makes it a great choice for organizations. It also has a built-in MDM client that allows IT organizations to use their choice of management system (i.e. Windows Intune or third-party MDM tools like MobileIron, Citrix, SAP and Sophos) and simplified device enrollment, helping to lower support costs. Through the MDM system and (SCEP), IT can also enroll, renew and revoke certificates for user authentication.
Companies also tell me they are moving to Windows Phone 8.1 for security. It’s top of mind for a lot of businesses right now. In a world where employees are increasingly using their smartphones to get work done, corporate data is now just as mobile and around-the-clock accessible as employees are. Windows Phone 8.1 evolves the security architecture substantially to help protect company data on smartphone devices – including device encryption to protect the data if it’s lost or stolen; Office Information Right Management (IRM) for protecting documents and email, and new to Windows Phone 8.1 is S/MIME support for signing and encrypting email directly from Outlook. Additionally, Windows Phone 8.1 can utilize remote business data removal to enable IT to wipe corporate data if a device is lost or stolen and it sandboxes apps to better protect against malware and rootkits. Finally, Windows Phone 8.1 now includes virtual private network (VPN) and enterprise Wi-Fi support for secure connectivity to corporate networks.
Customers also choose Windows Phone because of our unmatched range of hardware choice across both form-factors and price points. Running the same OS, customers can choose Windows Phone devices with rich hardware capability as well as devices at price-points that are significantly lower than offerings from our competitors.
And it just keeps getting better. In July we announced the Windows Phone 8.1 Update, which included an array of enhancements, including availability of Cortana in additional markets, to make Windows Phone even more personal by providing it with a personal assistant as well as new Live Folders for the Start screen that can help people organize their apps. It also included improvements to data and identity protection on public networks. For example, the added ability to send and receive data through a virtual private network (VPN) when connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots.
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op companies like multinational telecommunications company, BT and banking and insurance group, CaixaBank; are among our many Windows Phone customers. Delta Airlines is also a proud supporter, and are working to equip more than 20,000 flight attendants with Nokia Lumia 1520 devices this fall for on-board manuals and in-flight sales.
Source: Windows Phone 8.1, the smartphone of choice for businessWindows For Your Business
