IBM MaaS360 Goes Global for Mobile Data Privacy

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IBM today announced that MaaS360 is expanding its reach into more of the company’s cloud data centers, allowing multinational corporations and businesses to adhere to local data privacy and sovereignty rules.

According to IBM, its cloud stretches across 47 data centers in 26 countries. MaaS360, the enterprise mobility management (EMM) platform the IT giant acquired in 2014, currently operates out of four data centers, delivering EMM services from North America, Germany and Singapore.

Soon, MaaS360’s footprint will grow a lot larger.

The company is working on switching on the service in IBM Cloud data centers in France and India. Throughout 2017 and 2018, localized versions of MaaS360 will spread across an additional eight data centers situated in Europe, Asia and the Americas, according to Jim Brennan, program director of Threat Protection at IBM Security.

In each region, the service “contextually architected with regional ordinances taken into consideration,” enabling globe-spanning enterprises to manage their mobile data without running afoul of local privacy regulations, he explained in a blog post. One of those laws is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which is scheduled to go into effect in May 2018.

“The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will dictate how businesses address their data life cycles — things like management, access, storage and security. Those who fail to comply will face costly consequences,” wrote Brennan. “It’s important for clients to maintain focus on large-scale mobile rollouts that meet local requirements.”

To help customers prepare for GDPR, IBM is spinning up new Privacy Consulting Services based on the new data privacy requirements. The company’s experts will help organizations assess their readiness, develop a strategy the conforms to local regulations and plan a roadmap.

IBM also announced a new feature that helps IT departments combat mobile-enabled shadow IT.

A new integration with IBM Cloud Security Enforcer allows businesses to monitor the use of unsanctioned apps on mobile devices. As an added precaution, apps are subjected to integrity and safety checks based on data from the company’s global threat intelligence network, IBM X-Force.

“With today’s expansion of our mobile security and management capabilities within the IBM Cloud, we’ve built a formidable platform for global clients to embrace mobile locally and globally,” said Jim Brennan, director of Strategy and Offering Management at IBM Security’s Endpoint Management and Security division, in a statement. “With more than five million devices under management for over 10,000 clients, MaaS360 has proven its ability to scale for clients of all sizes. Clients now will be able to bring even greater mobile flexibility to their employees.”

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.