A leading provider of advanced mobile device management solutions, Odyssey Software, Inc., announced that Penton Media's Windows IT Pro® and SQL Server Magazine® named its Athena Add-In for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 was named as a winner of the "Best of Tech·Ed 2008 IT Pro Awards" in the Systems Management & Operations category.

Companies who offer innovative products for the industry, are recognized by The Best of Tech·Ed 2008 Awards. The judges reviewed more than 223 products and services submitted for the contest and chose 29 finalists to be interviewed at the Tech·Ed 2008 IT Pro Conference in Orlando, Fla. Winners were announced on June 12 at an evening reception and are also posted on www.WindowsITPro.com/awards.

Providing vital functions designed for the management of devices running mobile messaging or line-of-business applications, Athena from Odyssey Software is an innovative, extensible mobile device management solution for Windows Mobile, Windows Embedded and other Windows-based devices. By enabling help desk personnel and IT support staff to comprehensively manage these devices over any IP-based wired or wireless network, Athena extends and complements the native device management capabilities of Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

Through the Athena Add-In for System Center Configuration Manager 2007, unlike other third party device management products, which universally employ their own servers and consoles, Athena's on-device agent is designed to integrate seamlessly with the Microsoft management platform's infrastructure allowing enterprise customers to leverage their investment in this platform and its inherent scalability, security, failover and reliability - no proprietary Odyssey Software infrastructure, servers or consoles are ever required.