How to Properly Manage Mobile Devices Connected to Your Business

As remote work has become more common, so have tools that assist mobility and Bring Your Own Device strategies. Considering this, businesses need the means to keep control of their data and the technology that can access it. To do so, Mobile Device Management cannot be oversold as a benefit.

Let’s go through a few key best practices for utilizing MDM in your operations.

Defining Mobile Device Management

MDM is effectively the strategic application of solutions and software that establish and enforce policies that control how your business’ data can be accessed and used. In doing so, you give your IT resources the means to improve data security, enabling your business to make the most of a Bring Your Own Device implementation.

As with any solution, of course, it pays off to select your solution carefully. Here are a few considerations to make as you put MDM in place:

You Establish a Realistic Policy

If you’ve decided to enable your employees the ability to use their personal device, it is important that you consider the fact that there’s going to be some who prefer Android, and some who prefer iOS. Your MDM solution will therefore need to support both. Furthermore, you should ensure that your solution is compatible with both the devices you own and those that belong to your employees, with a policy that reflects the difference.

Devices Can Be Tracked and Managed

Unfortunately, there’s always the chance that one of your employees may have to be terminated. An MDM solution can help you to prevent any retribution. Let’s say that this employee was a part of your BYOD implementation. A good MDM solution will inform you if his device still has access to company accounts and revoke that access remotely.

These capabilities also make it a lot easier to troubleshoot and resolve any latent issues in your employees’ technology.

Enforceable Security

While security is clearly important to your business, your employees may not grasp the true extent of their responsibility in upholding it. The inherent optimism bias so many have simply won’t allow them to believe that they need to worry about security. Rather than trying to convince them otherwise, an MDM solution enables you to enforce the standards you want upheld, like password requirements, encryption and security benchmarks, remote wiping capabilities, and others.

Comprehensive Backup

Assuming you’ve properly backed up your business’ data, I have a question to ask you: does that include the data stored on your employees’ devices? An employee’s device is just as susceptible to damage and consequent data loss. In keeping with best practices, you need to ensure that any company data on their device is automatically saved to your cloud. That way, even if the device is damaged or lost, your data continuity won’t be.

We can assist you with your mobile device management, along with many other of your IT needs and requirements. To find out more, give us a call at (703) 821-8200.