Athena Complements Features of System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 Delivering Over-the-Air Remote Control, Interactive Support Tools and Enhanced Asset Reporting

LAS VEGAS, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Odyssey Software, Inc., a leading provider of advanced mobile device management solutions, today announced its Athena Add-In for Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 at the Microsoft Management Summit 2008. The Athena Add-In complements the features of Mobile Device Manager by delivering over-the-air remote control, a variety of interactive support tools, automated job scheduling and enhanced device asset information including detailed wireless network and phone status, directly from the Mobile Device Manager console.

The Athena Add-In for System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 provides functionalities that are critical to IT and help desk personnel to support mobile devices used for line-of-business applications, such as mobile CRM or field-service, or mobile messaging deployments. The solution also provides extended networking, wireless and phone information, in addition to powerful remote control capabilities -- all optimized for wide area wireless networks. Athena equips IT and help desk personnel with the tools they need to support mobile workers in the field and keep people productive.

"Our recent research has shown that a billion workers around the world will be classed as mobile by 2011, including nearly 75 percent of the US workforce," said Stephen Drake, program director, mobile software service at IDC. "Mobility deployments bring a number of benefits to companies, but developing a plan to manage and secure these devices should be part of any large implementation. Mobile device management solutions, such as Athena from Odyssey Software, that allow for secure and remote diagnostics, maintenance and management can help significantly advance mobile worker productivity."

"According to recent industry analyst research, the use of mobile business applications in leading enterprises is primed to explode through 2009 and beyond, and now more than ever the need for a comprehensive mobile device management solution is readily apparent," said Mark Gentile, president and CEO for Odyssey Software. "The availability of our Athena Add-In for System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 represents a significant development for enterprises deploying Windows Mobile 6.1-based devices. System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008's security policy management, comprehensive device management and Windows mobile-optimized VPN capabilities coupled with Athena's remote, automated and centralized management capabilities deliver a market-leading mobile device management solution."

Unlike other third party device management products, which universally employ their own servers and consoles, Athena is designed to work directly with, and take full advantage of, Microsoft System Center's infrastructure and its inherent scalability, reliability, fail-over and security features. Additionally, Athena's extensible, modular architecture provides a seamless path to deploy and install future enhancements, and enables customers to license only those specific Athena device management add-ins required to meet their mobile device management needs.

"System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 provides enterprise IT with enhanced on-device security and over-the-air policy enforcement, enabling IT professionals to more easily and securely manage mobile devices within the organization," said Lax Madapaty, product manager for System Center Mobile Device Manager at Microsoft Corp. "We are excited to work with Odyssey Software to deliver end-to-end device security, data protection and remote support tools that help balance our customers' needs of mobile data security and mobile device management."

Athena provides broad device support for any mobile device running Microsoft Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded CE, including consumer, rugged and Smartphone devices over any public or private IP-based network. The Athena Add-In for System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 will be available for beta testing in June 2008. Please contact Odyssey Software if you wish to participate in the beta program.

Odyssey http://www.odysseysoftware.com