Novell Documentation: ZENworks 6.5 - Features and Benefits

Features and Benefits

The following sections describe the key ZENworks Handheld Management features and their benefits:

Connections

ZENworks Handheld Management is optimized for low bandwidth, unreliable communication channels using queued messaging, compression, and checkpoint/restart strategies, and it does not require the mobile user to make special connections to the LAN.

For Palm OS and Windows CE devices, ZENworks Handheld Management uses the user's normal connection mechanism (TCP/IP connections or synchronization software, such as Palm HotSync* or Microsoft* ActiveSync*) to transfer data between the ZENworks Handheld Management Access Point and the handheld device.

BlackBerry devices use the BlackBerry wireless e-mail platform to transfer data between the ZENworks Handheld Management Access Point and the device.

Using Policies to Manage Handheld Devices

In ZENworks Handheld Management, a policy is a set of rules that defines how handheld devices can be configured and controlled, including security options, application availability, file retrieval, and more. Policies are contained within policy packages, where they are also administered and customized.

ZENworks Handheld Management provides two types of policies. User-based policies, new to ZENworks Handheld Management, let you manage handheld devices based on user credentials stored in eDirectory. Handheld-based policies, provided by previous versions of ZENworks Handheld Management, let you manage handheld devices without user authentication.

Using ConsoleOne, you can create, configure, and associate policies to do the following:

Ensure that a password is set on BlackBerry, Palm OS, and Windows CE devices.
Because sensitive business information is stored on handheld devices (meeting notes, contact lists, and so forth), your organization might have guidelines that all handheld devices must be password-protected. Using the Security policies, you can ensure that each enterprise device has a password set. If a password is not set on a handheld device, the user is prompted to set one. You can also specify enhanced password settings for Palm OS and Windows CE devices.
Specify which applications are allowed or not allowed on Palm OS devices and which applications are not allowed to be accessed on Windows CE devices.
You can specify a list of software programs that are allowed to be installed on Palm OS devices. Using the Palm Configuration policy, you can ensure that each Palm OS device in your organization has only authorized software programs installed. If a user installs an unauthorized program, the application is automatically removed according to the policy schedule or when the user synchronizes the device. Using the WinCE Configuration policy, you can specify which programs you want to include on the Start menu (on a Pocket PC) or on the desktop (on a handheld PC).
Associate different applications with the buttons on Palm OS and Windows CE devices.
By default, Palm OS and Windows CE devices have specific applications assigned to the buttons on the actual handheld devices. Your organization might have several applications that are used frequently. Using the Configuration policies, you can associate different applications to those buttons, making these applications more accessible and your users more productive.
Specify general settings for Palm OS devices, such as Auto Off, sounds, alarms, beam states, and more.
You can ensure that each Palm OS device in your organization has the same general settings. Using the Palm Configuration policy, you can ensure that all enterprise handheld devices are consistent across your organization to help lower help desk costs.
Set the automatic power-off and timeout values for the battery and AC adapters for Windows CE devices.
You can ensure that each Windows CE device in your organization has the same power settings. Using the WinCE Configuration policy, you can make your users more productive by preventing battery power loss to idle Windows CE devices.
Specify files to retrieve from Palm OS and Windows CE devices to store on the network.
You can ensure that mission-critical information is retrieved from handheld devices and copied to a network location. Using the File Retrieval policies, the files that you specify are retrieved from the device and copied to the network location you specify. You can then back up these files during your normal network backup process.

Distributing Software and Files

Because handheld devices are rarely available at a central location for updating, you need a mechanism to distribute files to them, so that mobile users are kept current with the latest applications, including bug fixes, application updates, and so forth.

ZENworks Handheld Management provides this mechanism by allowing you to distribute applications and install them on remote handheld devices at your convenience.

You can even schedule distributions to recur so that handheld devices are updated with the latest files when any components of an application change.

NOTE: ZENworks Handheld Management supports software distribution to BlackBerry devices when the device is synchronized with a cradle; ZENworks Handheld Management does not support software distribution to BlackBerry devices using wireless synchronization.

ZENworks Handheld Management provides a comprehensive mechanism for scheduling software distributions to run on handheld devices. The scheduling and management of software distributions and software clients is performed from ConsoleOne.

ZENworks Handheld Management provides you with the following benefits:

Benefit	Description
Centralized scheduling	Software distributions are scheduled using ConsoleOne. The administrator specifies: The files to distribute When distributions should run How frequently distributions should run
Monitoring	After software distributions are run, result information is sent to the ZENworks Handheld Management Server, so you can analyze the state of distributions and devices, including: Overall status for all distributions in the system Details about failed distributions Distribution output
Reporting	ZENworks Handheld Management reporting provides detailed reports about your handheld devices and your entire ZENworks Handheld Management system. For example, you can easily generate a report about all software distributions that have run for a specific handheld device or you can generate a report about all applications installed on your handheld devices.
Automatic Grouping	The ZENworks Handheld Management querying capabilities allow administrators to automatically create criteria-based device groups so they do not need to create them manually. For example, administrators can use queries to help them automatically populate device groups so that all devices with StrongARM processors are in one group, all MIPS devices are in another group, and so forth.

Collecting Software and Hardware Inventory

Managing software and hardware assets is a critical function. By keeping up-to-date inventories, you can use ZENworks Handheld Management to do the following:

Ensure licensing compliance.
ZENworks Handheld Management identifies the number of handheld devices and the number of copies of an application that are installed on those devices so you can easily verify the license count against your internal records.
Plan for software and hardware upgrades.
If you decide to update to a specific version of an application or you decide that a certain amount of RAM is required for a new application that has been deployed, ZENworks Handheld Management helps you to quickly identify which handheld devices need to be upgraded and how many components you need to order.