White paper

AirShip – the first web browser designed for the enterprise

Designed for the corporate market, the AirShip browser accelerates the deployment and take-up of web applications in the enterprise

Where mass-market browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or Chrome force a single, specific rendering engine, Java version and plug-in selection on the user, AirShip supports multiple browser environments independently of the operating system. The AirShip solution executes in a sandboxed environment, isolated from the device OS and supporting concurrent execution of different browser configurations. For example, AirShip allows simultaneous execution of IE6 and IE8, on any device.

Security by design

AirShip responds to a key challenge for the enterpise with its “security by design” philosophy. The optimum rendering engine and plugins are loaded for each connection and the solution can interface with the enterprise directory for user profile and access rights management. Access to critical web services or SaaS-based applications can be carefully controlled. Different browser sessions are isolated from each other within the AirShip application, and for each session, URL whitelists and blacklists can be preconfigured by system administrators.

Transparent end-user access

The AirShip browser is preconfigured by the system administrator to select and run the appropriate browser components for each web service, transparently for the end user. Because the user interface is just one more component in the AirShip solution, configured independently of the underlying rendering engine, users can be presented with a preferred, familiar UI independently of the browser engine, further improving transparency and ease of use for the end user. Problems of compatibility between different browsers and enterprise web applications are practically eliminated as the system administrator has full control of the browser version, plugins, and connection parameters. The AirShip client application is compatible with a range of devices and operating systems, so that “unsupported” browser configurations can be run from practically any device.

Centralized management

With browser configurations and deployments centralized on the AirShip Management Platform, the AirShip browser smoothes the way for the migration of enterprise applications to the cloud. Access and connectivity are managed centrally, and the optimum configuration for each application is delivered to the end user. Should the marketing department decide to introduce a new service based on a Java engine that’s not supported natively on all devices, a few clicks by the AirShip administrator ensure every user has access to the necessary component without the need for browser updates, software rewrites or the development of a custom virtual application package.