XenMobile MDM provides the foundation to address these needs through role-based management, configuration and security of corporate and employee-owned devices.

IT staff can use it to automatically apply policies and apps to groups of devices, and users can self-enrol the devices they bring to work. XenMobile MDM includes Active Directory integration.

Other functions included app blacklisting and whitelisting, blocking jailbroken devices, and wiping or selectively wiping (to erase business data while leaving personal data intact) devices that are lost, stolen or out of compliance (eg, when employees jailbreak their iPhones and the policy forbids jailbreaking).

Also new from Citrix is the Mobile Solutions Bundle for Enterprise Mobility Management, which comprises XenMobile MDM, Citrix CloudGateway (the company's unified service broker for aggregating, controlling and delivering Windows, web, SaaS, iOS and Android applications - think of it as an enterprise app store), and - as an introductory promotion - ShareFile (Citrix's enterprise-grade file sharing and synchronisation product).

Together, these products "cover the field" for smartphone and tablet deployments, Hackney suggested.

"We are becoming a significant player in the MDM space... For the first time ever you can get all the components for enterprise mobility from one supplier."

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Given the need to cover around half a dozen use cases, products from two or three different suppliers would need to be combined to provide equivalent functionality to that offered by Citrix, he said.

Since MDM is well defined and something that most enterprises already understand and budget for, Hackney believes XenMobile MDM will serve as a "conversation starter" that will allow Citrix to explain what it has to offer in the mobility space.

The product is applicable to organisations with as few as 20 devices, he suggested.

"The promise of mobility hinges on the ability for IT to deliver secure apps and data to users on any device," said Amit Pandey, Citrix group vice president and general manager, mobile platforms.

"When customers bring their own devices to work, as is increasingly the norm, IT doesn't have the tools to manage or secure the content on them.

"With its comprehensive portfolio of mobile solutions, Citrix offers customers the ability to say 'yes'. Yes to total mobile freedom by providing a complete solution that can manage and secure all devices, apps and data while giving users the ability to experience work and life their way."

XenMobile MDM is offered on a per-device or per-user basis, with the choice of a perpetual licence or an annual licence, and for on-premises deployment or as a cloud service. It will be available from 25 February 2013.

The announcement follows the late 2012 acquisition of MDM specialist Zenprise by Citrix.