What to Look for in a Mobile Device Management Solution

Regardless of the policies your company sets, your employees are going to have their mobile devices on them; and, depending on their circumstances, they may be tempted to use them to further their work processes. While this may have been cause for concern at one point, there are now methods, collectively known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), that allow you to leverage these tendencies.

However, not all BYOD solutions are created equal, and so you need to be selective as you build your solution. To help, we’ve compiled a list of features that you should look for as you compare potential options for your business’ mobile device management.

First, What is Mobile Device Management?
Mobile device management is a kind of software that enables management and IT administrators to enforce certain policies on devices that are to be used as a productivity tool for work-related tasks. These policies help to protect the business’ network and data from threats. By installing special software on the device in question, an IT administrator can enforce certain policies and even add applications to the device for company purposes.

Why Use MDM?
There are three primary reasons that MDM software has become a popular implementation since its initial development in the early 2000s. All of these reasons pertain to promoting security, as we alluded to before. They are:

Access - one key to a successful MDM strategy is that your employees will be able to access the materials and resources that they require, without putting your business security at risk. Otherwise, what would be the point? If your employees aren’t able to actually utilize the solutions they require through their phones, or your business is left susceptible as a result, implementing MDM is hardly an effective plan. However, once this has been attended to, the access that this affords your employees can greatly reduce the risk of their productivity suffering, and in some cases eliminate the lost time that some circumstances may cause.

Improved Visibility - another key to successfully implementing MDM is to compose and enforce thorough compliance policies regarding the use of the device’s capabilities, which will require an understanding of the other applications that the device runs. This knowledge will allow you to better protect your business from both external and internal threats, securing your data.

General Security Measures - the primary purpose behind MDM is to protect your business’ data and infrastructure from threats. Therefore, it only makes sense that these solutions include baked-in data protection and anti-malware to catch anything that tries to slip in.

Interested in Learning More?
To find out more about MDM and how your business could leverage it, talk to us! Call (703) 821-8200 with any questions you may have.