HP has officially launched its own suite for managing smartphones and other mobile devices. The tool will support HP iPaq models, but is based on open standards so will also work with third-party devices. It will enable workers to provision mobile devices themselves, while IT staff will be able to lock down or wipe lost handsets.

The HP Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), due to ship at the end of June, enables IT departments to remotely update the software and settings on company handhelds as well as enforce security.

"Businesses want some way of managing these devices, and the more we can do to reduce cost and cut support calls the better," said Neil Dagger, HP's senior category manager for handhelds in the UK and Ireland.

Security was rated most important by customers, Dagger said, so the suite enables either IT staff or end-users to lock a lost device using a simple web portal interface. If the device is recovered, it can be unlocked the same way, or remotely wiped if it contains sensitive data.

The portal also allows workers to provision their own device instead of each handset having to be configured with the relevant settings by the IT department.

"Setting up push email usually needs some technical knowledge, but you can now sit at your PC and just follow the instructions on the portal," Dagger said. This could cut the cost of ownership of mobile devices for organisations by up to 20 percent, according to HP.

EMS is based on technology developed by BitFone, which HP acquired at the end of 2006. It uses the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Device Management (DM) standard, which means that the suite should support a broad range of devices. OMA DM is included in later versions of the Symbian smartphone platform, for example, and is also built in to many feature phones.

HP will make available an EMS client for its forthcoming iPaq 514 Voice Messenger device and its existing 6500 series Mobile Messengers, Dagger said.

The iPaq 514, also set to ship in June, is a Windows Mobile 6 handset with built-in Wi-Fi and a VoIP client. It is expected to cost about £180 when bought without a SIM. Licensing costs for HP's EMS have yet to be released.