CenterBeam Sees Strong Growth In 2012 As Enterprises Move Mobile Device And IT Support To The Cloud

Need for Comprehensive BYOD Visibility Results in 305 Percent Increase in Mobile Devices Under Management and 37 Percent Rise in New Bookings

Sunnyvale, CA — The proliferation of employee-owned devices – specifically iPads and other tablet computers – in the enterprise, the challenges that IT departments face trying to identify and manage such a wide variety of endpoints, and the desire for employees to work from anywhere at any time has been the catalyst for significant growth on a number of fronts during the first half of 2012 for CenterBeam Inc., a pioneer in cloud computing services. CenterBeam today announced that the number of mobile devices under management on behalf of its mid-sized enterprise customers increased more than 305 percent in the first half of 2012, compared to the same period the previous year, while new bookings grew by more than 37 percent. The company identified significant industry trends that are driving the move to cloud computing, including a growing need to support mobile employees and the devices they choose to use, as well as the demand for easier access to collaboration solutions.

“The explosive upsurge in the number of devices we now have under management underscores how difficult it is for IT managers to track, manage and secure the various tablets, smartphones and other mobile technology that employees are using to access the corporate network,” said Anthony C. Hardt, executive vice president, North American Solution Center and Chief Customer Officer at CenterBeam.  “CenterBeam provides a single end-to-end solution that gives enterprises clear insight into the devices accessing the network – regardless of the type of device or who is using it; identifies the exposure that device may be introducing to the enterprise; takes the required measures to secure these devices and provides 24x7 support so our customers’ employees have the ability to work whenever they need, no matter where they are.”

Mobile device management issues stem from the fact that more and more employees today are moving away from Blackberry products in favor of open iOS and Android-based devices. In fact, CenterBeam has seen a 30 percent decline in Blackberry products supported from the first half of 2011 to the same period this year. In many cases, employees are choosing to use their own iPad, iPhone or Android-based smartphone or tablet, rather than one purchased for them by their company. While it can be cost effective for the enterprise in terms of lowering the capital expenses for the devices, this “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) trend can introduce a number of complexities for the IT team – from simply not knowing how many devices are accessing the network to the inability to configure these devices so that they do not become a security threat or risk exposing sensitive enterprise data. CenterBeam estimates that mid-sized enterprises often underestimate how many mobile devices are accessing their networks by at least 50 percent.  In many cases, it is the iPads and tablets being used in addition to smartphones that contribute to this discrepancy.

Growing Need to Support Mobile Employees

This proliferation of mobile devices and the need for employees to work at remote locations also results in greater requests for CenterBeam to provide 24x7 end user support services, including troubleshooting home networks, for its enterprise customers. 

CenterBeam’s end-user support base has increased 42 percent from June 2011 and June 2012, and the company continues to achieve exceptional scores in its end-user satisfaction surveys, conducted by MarketTools. CenterBeam maintains the industry’s highest customer satisfaction rating with 97.4 percent of users expressing overall satisfaction with the company’s customer support.

Collaboration Matters

As more enterprises seek to virtualize their workforces, CenterBeam expects to see growth in demand for collaboration solutions.  Since the October 2011 introduction of CenterBeam 365+ – which bundles Lync IM capabilities, SharePoint and ActiveSync – the company has seen significant growth in demand for collaboration tools. Lync and secure IM users have grown by 730 percent from June 2011 to June 2012, while Active Sync users have increased 306 percent during the same period.

“Because of the increasing complexity of end point management, the always-on workplace and the ever-growing global nature of our mid-market customers, we continue to focus on delivering the best possible user experience – from technology that simplifies the IT department’s job to our exceptional help desk,” added Hardt. “We continue to make improvements with the evaluation of our processes and execution, training and near real-time, actionable customer feedback and metrics.”

About CenterBeam

CenterBeam is a pioneer in delivering cloud computing and hosted IT services, and for the past decade has focused on providing mid-sized businesses with enterprise-class IT management, services and support. CenterBeam differentiates itself through its broad service portfolio, providing a cohesive IT solution no matter where a customer’s infrastructure resides—on premise or in the cloud. Today, the company delivers more than 217,000 daily services in an integrated solution to end users in six continents, across 49 countries. Visit www.centerbeam.com.