Sybase's iAnywhere updates Afaria device management & security software to v5.3

June 27, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- iAnywhere Solutions, a subsidiary of Sybase (NYSE: SY), today announced the latest version (5.3) of Afaria, the company's mobile device management and security software for enterprises.

Version 5.3 of Afaria adds support for the newest version of these operating systems, including Windows Mobile 5 for Smartphone, Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone, Symbian 7.0 with the UIQ and Series 80 shells, and ARM Thumb Processor devices.

Another new feature is outbound connectivity. Administrators can notify a device or group of devices to connect for critical updates. Notification retries are automatically made when the initial notification is not successful.

As well, the ability to centrally control device settings has been expanded to enable Microsoft ActiveSync configuration sessions, set up email accounts and rules, configure GPRS radio settings, and control which applications are allowed to run on mobile devices. New settings can be supported via XML-based configuration definitions.

Afaria's Security Manager component -- which offers lock-down capabilities for administrators -- has been updated as well. Afaria 5.3 introduces additional policy management improvements for password recovery situations, faster performance and new encryption capabilities for PIM data, and additional protection for data when devices are lost or stolen.

Afaria 5.3 also adds support for Microsoft's Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003. Using Afaria SMS Integration Suite with Afaria 5.3, software packages created in SMS can now be deployed to mobile devices including Windows Mobile-based Smartphone, Symbian, RIM BlackBerry, and Palm devices directly from the SMS console. A detailed inventory of hardware and software asset information from these devices can be populated in the SMS inventory repository. The process of distributing software and retrieving asset information is seamless to the administrator due to Afaria's extensive integration with the SMS 2003 Administrator Console and Management Point.

Afaria Patch Manager 5.3 improves the patch deployment process and adds significant optimizations to the delivery of software patches to laptop computers connected to wide area networks with low or varying bandwidth. An improved patch creation and deployment process enables administrators to more easily configure patches for deployment to targeted clients, according to iAnywhere. Administrators can improve file delivery by breaking patches into smaller segments and delivering them individually over a specified period of time. Bandwidth throttling enables patches can be delivered using Afaria bandwidth throttling capabilities so that patches will not interrupt other business processes. Afaria Patch Manager automatically updates itself with new patch information from Microsoft on a scheduled basis, eliminating manual updating.

For more information on Afaria, see the iAnywhere web site or the company's summary page on MobileVillage.

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