Selective Management of Mobile Devices in an Enterprise Environment

• US 20100299376A1
• Filed: 05/20/2009
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ivanti, Inc. (Ivanti Software, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: MobileIron, Inc.
• Inventors: Mishra, Ajay Kumar, Batchu, Suresh Kumar
• Granted Patent: US 8,695,058 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: N/A
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24573 using data annotations, e.g. user-defined metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes

Abstract

In various embodiments, a method is described that includes registering a mobile device with an enterprise by storing registration data for the mobile device in a device management database; designating one or more group designations for the mobile device; storing the one or more group designations in the device management database; determining one or more policies for the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more group designations; and selectively taking action on selected data from the mobile device in the device management database based on the one or more policies.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

registering a mobile device with an enterprise by storing registration data for the mobile device in a device management database;

designating, by one or more device management servers, one or more group designations for the mobile device;

storing the one or more group designations in the device management database;

determining, by the one or more device management servers, one or more data logging policies for the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more group designations; and

selectively logging, by the one or more device management servers, selected data from the mobile device in the device management database based on the one or more data logging policies.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein registering the mobile device with the enterprise by storing registration data for the mobile device in the device management database comprises creating and storing a device object for the mobile device in the device management database, the device object comprising a device object identifier that uniquely identifies the mobile device, and wherein storing the one or more group designations in the device management database comprises associating the one or more group designations with the device object.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the device management database comprises a plurality of first resources, each first resource comprising a file or other data structure and metadata associated with the file or other data structure, and wherein the mobile device comprises a plurality of second resources stored in the mobile device, each second resource comprising a file or other data structure and metadata associated with the file or other data structure, and wherein selectively logging selected data comprises:

logging particular second resources stored in the mobile device based on the data logging policies.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein selectively logging comprises:

creating and storing a new first resource in the device management database, the new first resource corresponding to a particular second resource stored in the mobile device; and

generating and storing a resource link in the device management database, the resource link associating the device object with the new first resource.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein selectively logging comprises:

generating and storing one or more resource links in the device management database, each resource link associating the device object with one or more first resources stored in the device management database, the one or more first resources corresponding to one or more second resources stored in the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein logging particular second resources comprises one or more of:

logging second resources corresponding to a particular file type, file folder, or file directory based on the data logging policies;

logging second resources stored or modified at the mobile device within a particular period of time based on the data logging policies; and

logging second resources that have been tagged.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively logging selected data comprises:

storing application usage data in the device management database.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the application usage data comprises activity data, the activity data comprising call usage data, email usage data, text messaging usage data, or internet usage data, and wherein only selected activity data is logged based on the one or more data logging policies.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the application usage data comprises context data that correlates the activity data based on location data corresponding to the activity data or time data corresponding to the activity data, and wherein only selected context data is logged with corresponding activity data based on the one or more data logging policies.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the application usage data comprises content usage data, and wherein only selected content data is logged based on the one or more data logging policies.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein designating the one or more group designations for the mobile device comprises designating the mobile device as being either employee owned or enterprise owned.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein designating the one or more group designations for the mobile device comprises designating the mobile device as corresponding to an employee of a particular enterprise department or a particular enterprise employee class.

13. One or more computer-readable tangible storage media encoding software that is operable when executed to:

register a mobile device with an enterprise by storing registration data for the mobile device in a device management database;

designate one or more group designations for the mobile device;

store the one or more group designations in the device management database;

determine one or more data logging policies for the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more group designations; and

selectively log selected data from the mobile device in the device management database based on the one or more data logging policies.

14. The media of claim 13, wherein the software operable when executed to register the mobile device with the enterprise by storing registration data for the mobile device in the device management database comprises software operable when executed to create and store a device object for the mobile device in the device management database, the device object comprising a device object identifier that uniquely identifies the mobile device, and wherein the software operable when executed to store the one or more group designations in the device management database comprises software operable when executed to associate the one or more group designations with the device object.

15. The media of claim 14, wherein the device management database comprises a plurality of first resources, each first resource comprising a file or other data structure and metadata associated with the file or other data structure, and wherein the mobile device comprises a plurality of second resources stored in the mobile device, each second resource comprising a file or other data structure and metadata associated with the file or other data structure, and wherein the software operable when executed to selectively log selected data comprises software operable when executed to:

log particular second resources stored in the mobile device based on the data logging policies.

16. The media of claim 15, wherein the software operable when executed to log particular second resources comprises software operable when executed to log one or more of:

second resources corresponding to a particular file type, file folder, or file directory based on the data logging policies;

second resources stored or modified at the mobile device within a particular period of time based on the data logging policies; and

second resources that have been tagged.

17. The media of claim 13, wherein the software operable when executed to selectively log selected data comprises software operable when executed to:

store application usage data in the device management database.

18. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the processors and tangibly storing one or more instructions, the processors operable when executing the instructions to;

register a mobile device with an enterprise by storing registration data for the mobile device in a device management database;

designate one or more group designations for the mobile device;

store the one or more group designations in the device management database;

determine one or more data logging policies for the mobile device based at least in part on the one or more group designations; and

selectively log selected data from the mobile device in the device management database based on the one or more data logging policies.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processors operable when executing the instructions to register the mobile device with the enterprise by storing registration data for the mobile device in the device management database comprise processors operable when executing the instructions to create and store a device object for the mobile device in the device management database, the device object comprising a device object identifier that uniquely identifies the mobile device, and wherein the processors operable when executing the instructions to store the one or more group designations in the device management database comprise processors operable when executing the instructions to associate the one or more group designations with the device object.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the device management database comprises a plurality of first resources, each first resource comprising a file or other data structure and metadata associated with the file or other data structure, and wherein the mobile device comprises a plurality of second resources stored in the mobile device, each second resource comprising a file or other data structure and metadata associated with the file or other data structure, and wherein the processors operable when executing the instructions to selectively log selected data comprise processors operable when executing the instructions to:

log particular second resources stored in the mobile device based on the data logging policies.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processors operable when executing the instructions to log particular second resources comprise processors operable when executing the instructions to log one or more of:

second resources corresponding to a particular file type, file folder, or file directory based on the data logging policies;

second resources stored or modified at the mobile device within a particular period of time based on the data logging policies; and

second resources that have been tagged.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processors operable when executing the instructions to selectively log selected data comprise processors operable when executing the instructions to:

store application usage data in the device management database.