Like it or not, we live in a mobile-first world wherein almost all daily activities whether personal or professional are dependent on electronic devices. Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and other handheld devices have become a part of our everyday routine. The effect that smart devices have caused on the way businesses work is colossal. Enterprise mobility is one of the revolutionary trends that has resulted from the massive usage of mobile devices.
The real question is, how do businesses implement a fail-proof mobility strategy that brings about efficient remote device management and secures sensitive business information at the same time? The answer is Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions.
How do MDM solutions simplify Enterprise Mobility Management?
MDM solutions offer a platform for businesses to manage, secure and monitor their device fleets that are dispersed across territories as a part of their enterprise mobility. Several businesses are inherently mobile such as logistics, transportation, warehousing, last-mile delivery, construction, mining, etc. Some businesses provide their employees with an opportunity to work from flexible locations on their personal devices (BYOD).
MDM solutions extend a comprehensive console that businesses can use to push security policies over-the-air on their device fleets, monitor device inventories, track locations, offer remote support and much more. This plays a huge role in streamlining Enterprise Mobility since most of the tedious IT operations are automated and remote management capabilities diminish the need for on-site visits.
There is a constant surge in the adoption of MDM solutions as businesses realize the importance of the role it plays in streamlining their remote businesses processes. According to a report, The Mobile Device Management Market was valued at USD 3.40 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 10.67 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 21% over the forecast period 2021 – 2026.
Let’s take a deeper look into how the integration of MDM capabilities with business processes can bring about smooth business mobility;
7 MDM capabilities that can be integrated with business processes?
1. Increased visibility of device inventory and employee activities
When enabling workplace flexibility, it becomes crucial for businesses to keep a tab on their dispersed device fleets. MDM solutions offer a variety of capabilities that simplify the process of device inventory tracking and monitoring.
The MDM software provides the real-time locations of all their devices, spread across territories. In addition, modern-day MDM solutions also offer detailed reports and analytics on device vitals such as battery consumption, storage space, device inactivity, SIM swaps and much more. Such reports help organizations to assess the performance and health of their devices, as well as keep a check on the overall device usage by employees.
2. BYOD implementation for improved productivity
Today, people commonly own one or more smart devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops. Several organizations allow their employees to use their personal smart devices to access corporate tools and resources to work from the office or any other location. This trend, called the Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend is beneficial for organizations since they’re are saving investment costs that go into purchasing individual work devices for every employee.
It is also beneficial for employees since they get to work on their own familiar device or their choice. However, to implement a successful BYOD policy, organizations need to ensure that the corporate data being accessed by employees does not leak out and also that employees’ private data on their devices remain intact.
MDM solutions offer a plethora of features to construct an efficient BYOD policy. Following are some of the many features that organizations can leverage from MDM solutions;
- Create segregated work profiles that ensure corporate and personal data do not mix.
- Enforce a strong passcode policy
- Restrict hardware buttons, USB ports, etc. to restrict the copying of corporate data
- Configure Conditional Email Access to prevent unauthorized access to corporate emails
- Push network and VPN (Virtual Private Network) settings
- Configure data encryption policies
3. Over the air Application management
All organizations rely on a specific set of tools and applications to simplify and carry out their businesses processes. However, not every team in an organization requires every application. IT teams provision employees’ devices based on the set of apps they require for their role.
MDM solutions help to fasten this mundane manual process of provisioning each device individually by enabling IT admins to create profiles for each team and push specific applications over the air on bulk device fleets at once, remotely.
Moreover, Modern-day MDM solutions extend contemporary capabilities such as ‘Kiosk mode’ which helps lockdown smart devices in a single-app or multi-app mode. Devices locked down in kiosk mode run only the single chosen application multiple-selected apps and act as a purpose-built device such as digital signage, ticket-booking kiosk, single-purpose GPS device, etc.
4. Centralized cloud-based content management
All businesses processes and related operations rely on efficient communication and transfer of information. Calls and emails are a traditional way of communicating in a corporate environment. However, cloud-based file sharing is the nextgen and highly reliable way of exchanging corporate information.
MDM solutions enable employees to stay connected, whether they are operating within office facilities or remotely, and help share corporate data instantly over the cloud. This content sharing capability is not restricted from one similar device to another, organizations can leverage this MDM capability to push videos, text, images even to purpose-specific devices such as digital signages.
5. Remote troubleshooting for reduced device downtime
When working from office premises, employees can instantly connect with IT members in event of device errors or malfunction. But what happens when a remote employee encounters a technical glitch? Today, every business process is severely backed by technology. A device downtime or system errors even for a small period of time can cause a major halt in the business operations and negatively impact the revenue.
Remote troubleshooting is a capability that solves this problem and helps IT teams to reach out to the employees in need instantly to resolve the issue. MDM solutions offer exceptional remote support capabilities such as Remote cast & control, recording of screen and cast sessions, creation of support tickets on integrated ITSM platforms and much more. This ensures that no team suffers an extended device downtime and that the business processes never stop.
6. Simplified provisioning of diverse device types & OS
IT teams of organizations, no matter which industry has a huge role to play in every business operation. They are responsible for provisioning devices of all employees of the organization, monitoring technical aspects on the devices, ensuring no technical glitch occurs and rapidly resolving system errors to ensure that the processes do not come to a halt.
Shouldering such massive responsibilities often tends to overwhelm the IT teams. Implementation of MDM solutions not only helps IT teams to automate most of their redundant tasks but also enables simplified device provisioning and management.
Moreover, efficient MDM solutions allow the management of diverse types of devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, POS, digital signages, kiosks and other handheld and mounted digital devices from a single console. Additionally, MDM solutions enable IT admins to provision Android, iOS, macOS and Windows 10 devices from a single unified dashboard, without having to work individually to furnish every device type and OS.
7. Unified console for bulk operations
Imagine having to work on employees’ devices one at a time to provision devices with the right set of applications, configure security settings, keep a track of device inventory, assess device performance, carry out the routine OS and app updates all through individual tools and processes.
Now imagine having an all-in-one tool that not only lets you provision but also pushes apps, configures security policies, automates and schedules routine OS & app maintenance and extends instant support over the air, for your entire device fleet, all at once!
MDM solutions, offer you this comprehensive console that helps you carry out all IT operations from a single dashboard, remotely.
Closing lines
Every industrial sector has seen a surge in the implementation of MDM solutions owing to the time, effort and cost-saving approach that they put forth. Scalefusion is one such popular MDM solution that offers exceptional features including all the ones mentioned above to help streamline business processes.
