MobileIron helps Arup manage mobile devices world-wide

Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm, has selected MobileIron as the foundation for its mobile-first initiatives. 

Arup employs 11,000 staff across 91 offices in 39 countries and has designed some of the most innovative structures in the world, including the Sydney Opera House and both the National Stadium (Bird's Nest) and Aquatics Center (Water Cube) for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. 

Many of Arup's designers, planners, engineers, consultants, and technical specialists have been using mobile devices connected to the firm's network to to enhance their work activities. When the device count reached several thousand, the firm wanted to enable better mobile device management.

"We reviewed ten of the leading enterprise mobility management (EMM) vendors and selected MobileIron for its outstanding performance on a global scale and its superior alignment with our technical needs," said Associate Principal and Regional IT Leader Clive Bortz. "It was clear that MobileIron and its channel partner Esselar were the better choice for our Global Infrastructure team in the UK."

For Bortz, the move means that Arup can support a global mobility programme that increases employee productivity using only existing IT staff. Arup's IT team encourages employees to enroll their devices by highlighting a growing list of in-house productivity apps and the ability to support bring your own device (BYOD). 

The firm's mobile policies vary by region depending on employee needs. In the Americas, many employees receive corporate-purchased mobile devices, but they can also enroll personal devices through the self-service portal. Similar policies support users in Europe. Employees in Asia can select their mobile devices from a company-approved list. 

Arup is now seeing the advantages of developing and delivering a wide range of mobile apps. The firm uses MobileIron Apps@Work to make internally developed apps readily available to employees in a branded app storefront. MobileIron supports Android, iOS and Windows mobile devices.

Many of the company's apps are designed for the iPad. For example, Arup's Projects on the Go app allows staff in East Asia to review a collection of the firm's most common projects and tap pictures to see descriptions of the services the firm can provide. A similar app called Arup Worldlets employees tap points on the globe to learn about major projects Arup has completed in each country.

"With MobileIron we are able to provide a consistent mobile experience for staff in all regions," said Bortz. "We have given our engineers a way of making their applications available to our entire organisation."