SoftLayer Provides Management Application for Android

Just weeks after launching its mobile client application for the iPhone OS, on-demand data center services provider SoftLayer Technologies (softlayer.com) has released the SoftLayer Mobile Client for Android, which provides much of the functionality of SoftLayer’s customer portal in a native client for Android OS-based devices.

According to SoftLayer's Tuesday announcement, the SoftLayer Mobile Client for Android includes capabilities for managing tickets, allows the creation and viewing of tickets for support questions or requests. It also provides detailed informailton about dedicated servers, virtual servers, and CloudLayer computing instances, as well as the ability to manage system startup, shutdown, pinging, and reboot. As well, the mobile client provides a window into bandwidth usage information for servers, CloudLayer instances, and virtual racks.

“SoftLayer is committed to making hosting and server management as easy and convenient as possible for our customers,” SoftLayer chief technology officer Nathan Day said in a statement. “So we’ve leveraged the power, security, and connectivity of the latest mobile devices to take that convenience even farther—literally wherever our customers go. And as a native application, Mobile Client for Android truly provides robustness and a level of control that just isn’t possible with a mere mobile-web version of a management portal.”

SoftLayer Mobile Client for Android is available for free download through the Android Marketplace or the SoftLayer website. SoftLayer has already released native mobile management clients for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Applications for additional mobile devices are planned to be released soon.

SoftLayer is obviously not alone in creating mobile management applications. Other web hosts such as Rackspace (rackspace.com) have developed iPhone apps that let customers manage their services.

Mobile management applications have become very popular as individuals come to expect access to a great deal of services wherever they go. Not only do these applications increase the value proposition of these company's hosting services by making them more accessible remotely, but they also, to a certain extent, draw upon a user's aspirational goals of spending less time in front of a computer screen, and being able to stay connected with their IT infrastructure both casually and constantly.