We are living in an era where companies are embracing the best of both enterprise mobility and information technology – now is the time when mobile devices are truly in sync with the latest IT services. Organizations therefore have realized the need to adopt some fundamental changes in terms of adjusting the ITSM infrastructure to accommodate the landscape of mobile device management, which will bring together information about all devices in your ecosystem (BYOD or corporate owned) while empowering the IT admins to secure, monitor, and support mobile devices using a unified platform.
Why MDM-ITSM integration is Becoming a necessity?
Mobile Device Management as a solution that empowers the company IT team to securely manage, control and tracks enterprise-owned and BYOD devices for user productivity, data security and work efficiency. And IT Service Management (ITSM) on the other hand is a strategic approach to design, manage, and deliver the way businesses use information technology (IT). Oftentimes, companies with standalone MDM software confront challenges to maintain parity and synchronization when it comes to evaluating the context between device issues and IT service problems as they lack the connecting ground between the two components – this, in turn, leads to lack of support in driving user efficiency, quick device remediation and productivity.
And because the company IT team is singly responsible for managing and securing the enterprise devices, IT assets and endpoints, integrating ITSM with MDM becomes a necessity. MDM-ITSM integration will enable the data to flow from the MDM application to the configuration management database (CMDB) allowing the IT admins to manage and monitor enterprise mobile devices from the same ITSM infrastructure, which will give a consolidated view of all business endpoints and IT assets from a centralized console and will also drive necessary actions from the same console.
What to keep in mind with ITSM-MDM integration?
ITSM-MDM Integration will enable IT teams to streamline mobile device management and IT asset management operations. While integrating ITSM-MDM, it is imperative that your MDM vendor supports IT operations. Modern-day MDM solutions are being designed with integration capabilities in mind. The other significant factors are:
- Assess every step of ITSM program lifecycle, with MDM in mind, i.e. by rethinking service strategy, design, service transition, and operations.
- Adopt ITSM processes that can incorporate unique MDM requirements. For instance, different protocols for employee-owned devices, updated workflows, mobile-based services etc.
- In case your company adopts employee-owned devices (BYOD), ensure you have a robust BYOD policy in place to configure ITSM processes and procedures to mitigate risks.
- It’s advisable to enable the capability of HTML5 browser support to allow the ITSM admin to operate from either a handheld device, a laptop or a desktop.
- Ensure that the MDM-ITSM integration follows a seamless process that will encourage and drive better user experience and employee efficiency at large.
Let’s revisit the benefits of ITSM-MDM integration
There are multiple benefits of integrating ITSM and MDM. Here we list a few of them.
- With an integrated solution, your IT team has complete control over all the enterprise IT assets including mobile devices, desktops and other software from a single platform, which results in consistency and transparency across the organization.
- MDM-ITSM integration implies that all the device information and data is available from a single and unified console for the IT team to have complete visibility and control over the organization-wide IT assets.
- IT can track all devices on their network as all the devices are stored, secured, and are fully compliant with company policy.
- Integrated MDM solutions do not require self-user management, enabling direct and complete access to complete, up-to-date user records.
- With single user interface the support team doesn’t require much training and with minimal interface and controls, IT teams’ operations become more efficient.
- Integrating ITSM and MDM is cost-effective for corporations that are not looking to purchase and maintain separate hardware and licenses.
An effectively integrated ITSM-MDM solution can improve workflows, increase employee productivity, drive efficient decision making and quick issue resolution across the IT teams and eventually minimize cost, risk and time to market. More importantly, they will provide capabilities to manage and secure mobile devices regardless of ownership and device type, thereby empowering the IT department and its core strengths to provide enterprise-wide solution.
