AFMC, which is responsible for equipping the U.S. Air Force with the world's best weapon systems through research, development, testing and evaluation, acquisition management services and logistics support, evaluated several mobility solutions before narrowing the search to iPass and one other vendor. After consulting other iPass corporate and federal agency customers, the team decided to move forward with a 12-month evaluation of an iPass solution using CherryRoad GT, a leading iPass federal channel partner and systems integrator.

With more than 40 percent of the Air Force's total civilian workforce at 12 U.S. Air Force Base locations, AFMC personnel must remain connected to vital operational and logistics information -- regardless of where military or personal travels take them. Frustration with previous mobile access capabilities led many users to resort to their own means, using unapproved sources, such as free Wi-Fi, personal remote access providers and hotel broadband day passes -- which were often purchased through expense reports. This made it difficult for AFMC IT and purchasing staff to determine actual mobility expenses. In addition, compliance became an increasing concern as default settings for these remote access methods could easily circumvent VPN services and security policies.

One major benefit of the iPass/CherryRoad GT partnership was the ability to deliver an integrated solution using the iPassConnect™ mobility manager which integrates AFMC security policies and multiple connection technologies such as dial-up, Wi-Fi hotspots, wired Ethernet and 3G mobile broadband into a single intuitive user interface. This allows the user to see all the different ways to connect on a single screen and choose the best available connection.

"iPass helped us provide a single pane of glass to our senior leaders and road warriors, while providing a common interface and reporting tools to our support staff," said Bernard Lannan, CTO Robins Air Force Base. "In the past, separate help desks supported Wi-Fi, networking and cellular technologies. iPass technologies, coupled with CherryRoad GT integration, helped unify this disjointed support structure."

iPass Mobile Office gives users simple and secure broadband access via the world's largest multi-technology virtual network. The Mobile Broadband service option adds 3G wireless mobile broadband connections to this offering. These services help customers unify the use and management of mobile connections and devices, increasing employee productivity while controlling mobility costs.

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