Mobile device management is one of the most important technologies in 2021. However, still very few enterprises understand it. Most business owners don’t know what they need for their ideal MDM system. It can be hard to find a good MDM system until you understand MDM. In this article, we are going to share everything you need to know about mobile device management.
What is MDM or mobile device management?
MDM software is used by companies to remotely secure, manage, and monitor devices of all kinds. It is similar to how a store manager will check all the store employees. They will ensure that everyone is doing their work properly.
MDM is not limited to mobile devices only. It can manage desktops, tablets, smartphones, and other technologies also. Thus, you should consider implementing MDM software as you can manage everything.
MDM technology is very important for businesses as businesses are allowing remote work. Every business is allowing BYOD. Thus, you should ensure that you can manage, secure, and monitor these devices.
MDM is the process of managing your mobile devices. You need to define policies and deploy security controls for managing your mobile devices. It will help you in having a complete view of your network. If you don’t have MDM in place, then you can’t track the third-party actions.
Benefits of MDM
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Remote Device access
MDM software will ensure that you can access the mobile devices that your employees are using. This can be a personal device or a company-issued device.
Remote device access will help you in controlling the way your employees are using your data. This will ensure that you can check the data that they are using or sharing.
In case of theft or unauthorized access, you can block the devices remotely. This will help you in limiting the damage.
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Enhanced Security
A lost device is not a big issue for organizations. However, data loss is a big thing. Data loss can cause a lot of problems for your organization. Thus, you should ensure that your data is secure.
A mobile device is always at risk of cyber attack. MDM will help you in maintaining an additional security layer. This will ensure that your data is protected.
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Enhanced Support and update
You should ensure that your devices are up to date. This will ensure that your organization’s latest device and data policy is enforced. Mobile devices users will generally not follow the compliance rules.
MDM will help you in ensuring that all your employees are updated. You can push remote updates to their devices. This will ensure that all the devices are compliant with the latest policies and updates.
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Device tracking
Some solutions will provide you with the ability to track your user devices. This will ensure that you can track your devices in case they are lost. You can also set geo-locks on your device. This will ensure that your data and device are always secure.
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Better device compliance
Organizations need to constantly change their digital and data policies. You need to update your devices according to the latest guidelines.
MDM will ensure that all your devices are updated. It will help you in ensuring device compliance. Your devices will always stay compliant with your policies.
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Better application control
Sometimes your employees can use their own personal applications on their devices. Due to this, your network will be vulnerable to attackers. All these applications will be using your network. Thus, you should ensure that these applications are blocked.
No one wants to risk their data. You can use MDM for controlling the applications that your employees are using. It will also help you in controlling the data that is used by these applications.
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Cost savings
Data is very important for your business. You can lose thousands of dollars if sensitive data is lost. Thus, you should ensure that your devices are protected. You can save a lot of money by using MDM solutions. MDM solutions will help you in protecting your data from a breach.
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Supports BYOD
Most organizations are going for BYOD. BYOD will help you in reducing your operational costs. Your employees will stay productive and happy as they are working on their personal devices.
If your employees are not present in your office, then they need to do work from their personal devices. Thus, BYOD is a necessity for most businesses. This will result in better performance. Your organization’s profit will also increase.
If you are using personal devices, then you also need to consider data security. The chances of a data breach are more if you are using your personal devices. Thus, MDM will help you in safeguarding your data. You don’t need to hamper the BYOD policy.
These are the main benefits of using MDM. But you should ensure that you are following the best practices while deploying your solutions. The top 5 practices that you should follow are:
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Create a BYOD policy
Most people are now using their personal devices at work. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are creating a BYOD policy for them. You should ensure that you are transparent with your employees about the device that they can use. If your employees don’t know about the devices that are permissible in your office, then they might be using some wrong devices.
There are hundreds of digital devices that can be used in the workplace now. You should establish a clear policy regarding the devices that can be used in your office. For example, if you want your employees to use iPad and iPhones only, then you should tell them about this policy. This will ensure that they are using these devices only. Similarly, if android products are not allowed, then you should ensure that the restriction is known.
If you think that your employees won’t follow these rules, then you can provide them with company devices. This will ensure that your employees are using your devices only. However, this will be very expensive for your business. You need to spend a lot of money on buying these devices.
If you are implementing a new system, then there will be various questions that you need to answer. This will ensure that your employees understand the policy. You should ensure that your employees are staying compliant with your policies.
Make sure that your employees know about what will happen if their device is stolen or lost. They should know about the multiple device usage policies. Also, you should clearly state if they can access their personal data.
You should establish clear security policies with your employees. This will ensure that your employees can actually protect your data. MDM systems will help you in achieving this. If your employees are accessing your company data, then you should ensure that you are implementing strict security guidelines. This will only help you in protecting your business.
You should also use a good authentication system. Make sure that your employees need to enter a new password when they are logging into your systems. This will help you in protecting your systems.
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Containerization
More than 90% of employees are using their personal devices in the office. They are using their personal devices for accessing work-related information. Business applications are becoming more common. Thus, your employees can easily work from anywhere in the world. However, these personal devices will also have other harmful apps. Even the best employees can sometimes put your company at risk by installing personal applications. They might give their device access to other parties.
If you don’t know about the personal devices that your employees are using, then you can’t have control over risks.
Containerization will help you in solving this problem. It is helping businesses in establishing what their employers can use and see. You can separate out the professional and personal data by using containers. This will ensure that you have control over your professional data without affecting your personal usage.
Containerization is perfect for businesses that have a BYOD policy. It will help you in taking additional security measures by keeping your data in containers. Some of the main benefits of using this strategy are:
- Isolation: Containers will virtualize memory, storage, and OS. Thus, you can isolate your data from other applications.
- Run anywhere: Containers can run on any device from iOS to Linux.
- Data flow protection: You can set your own security policies in containers. This will ensure that you can control the data flow.
- Device managed wipe: You can wipe your data remotely. This will ensure that you can delete your data from personal devices whenever you want.
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Encrypt data
You should encrypt all the data that is stored in your containers. Encryption will help you in protecting your data from attackers. Attackers need to spend their data in decrypting your data. You can wipe all the data in this time period.
Your MDM solution will help you in encrypting your data. You should ensure that this feature is enabled in every device that is connected to your network. Make sure that you know the data which is being encrypted. For example, the default encryption policy might encrypt all the data that is present. This will include personal documents, a calendar, and contacts.
Some devices will automatically enable the encryption. This is true for iOS devices. However, this is not present in all devices. Thus, MDM should provide encryption capabilities to devices that don’t have encryption features. If all your important data is encrypted, then you don’t need to worry about all the security issues.
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Track apps
Mobile applications are very helpful as they can help your employees in completing their work. However, you should be careful as some applications can also steal data. Some applications like Dropbox will also allow your employees to store your data without your knowledge. You might think that this is not threatening for your business. However, what will happen when your employees switch to another company.
These uncertainties can lead to problems in the future. Thus, you should ensure that you are preventing this problem. MDM solutions will help you in tracking the applications that your employees are using on their personal devices. Your employees might be working from their homes. Thus, you can’t manually check their device. This is a tough task for your IT department. Thus, you should use the MDM platform for solving this problem. It will help you in effectively managing the applications that your employees are using.
Mobile Application Management or MAM will help your IT admins in remotely managing mobile apps. This will ensure that your IT admins can control your employee devices from their office. IT admins can manage all the applications that are present on their devices. They can also push remote updates to their devices. Thus, you can update your employee applications remotely. Your IT admin will have access to the list of all the apps that are present in your employee devices. You can also check the data that your employees are accessing.
Employee-owned digital devices are going to become the new trend. You need to use a BYOD policy if you want to increase your employee’s productivity. Thus, you should ensure that you are managing these devices before they destroy your business.
Conclusion
IT is going to become an important part of your business. Thus, you should know how to effectively manage it. A good MDM can help you in changing your entire business. Thus, you should ensure that you are investing in a good MDM solution. It will ensure that you are not wasting your time and energy in managing your devices. An MDM solution will help you in accessing your employee’s personal devices. It will ensure that you are protecting your business from attackers.
You should also consider working with a good MSP. A good MSP can help you in managing all these things. They will help you in installing and managing MDM devices. Thus, you don’t need to worry about managing all these things. If you need more information regarding IT services, then you can contact Bleuwire.
Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.
