Remote Endpoint Management has become the IT team’s top priority right now.
Due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the sudden work transition has drastically evolved security and remote endpoint management scenarios.
According to reports generated by Owl Labs, about 62% of employees have accustomed themselves to work remotely on a daily basis.
After one year of working from home, organizations know that their remote workforce can work productively from a secure environment that is outside the workplace. However, there’s still a need for an effective remote endpoint management solution to proactively secure all network devices, encrypt corporate data, and help IT admins oversee a company’s remote endpoints.
What is Remote Endpoint Management?
To understand remote endpoint management, let’s have a solid understanding of what an endpoint is. Any remote device that sends and receives communications with the network it’s connected to is called an endpoint, examples of which include workstations, laptops, smartphones, servers, POS systems, and tablets.
Endpoints raise a critical concern because they can be used as an easy entry point for cybercriminals that would make a company’s network vulnerable.
Since the workforce has turned mobile and employees can connect to internal networks from outside the office using any device from anywhere in the world, IT teams need to manage these endpoints by supervising and authenticating the access rights of devices connected to a network. After doing this, the IT team can apply security policies for preventing any external or internal threats caused by unauthorized access.
Remote Endpoint Management offers a central vantage point for IT teams to oversee their company-wide network that includes remote user device endpoints.
In terms of functionality, remote endpoint management is an extension of the monitoring and managing devices connecting to the network within the office.
It would be extremely taxing if IT teams had to extend in-house management models to all remote teams. This could quickly expose endpoints and corporate data to security vulnerabilities. This is why it is fundamental to have robust IT management software that can sidestep these issues and provide the IT team the efficiency and reliability to scale and secure the network.
Features of Remote Endpoint Management
1. Multi-platform support
A remote endpoint management solution offers full-fledged support for diverse remote endpoints such as desktops, laptops, servers, smartphones, and tablets. It also supports the entire endpoint management life cycle for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, tvOS, Android, and Chrome OS. Plus, IT admins can use the platform to easily manage and add devices for remote workforce.
2. Managing BYOD scenarios
The BYOD concept allows employees to use their personal devices ( personal laptops, mobile devices, tablets, and other work devices) for accessing corporate data on any network. While BYOD has improved productivity and reduced business cost, organizations are finding it difficult to manage increased security risks to their network because personal devices are not easily secured to access business-critical information. Remote endpoint solution can also be doubled as a BYOD solution used for managing both personal and corporate-owned devices from a single console.
3. Security configurations
IT administrators can manage applications, system settings, desktop settings, and security policies by deploying remote endpoint management configurations. With this, IT teams can baseline systems and also select targets at both user or system levels. Deploying custom scripts or predefined configurations allows IT admins to secure corporate data by modifying firewall settings for remote endpoint protection.
4. Password policies
Remote endpoints are vulnerable points of all IT assets, therefore system administrators must develop reliable IT security password policies to keep networks and devices secure. IT teams can mandate regular changes, long and unique combinations with different elements, a limited number of log-in attempts, and compulsory log-outs when leaving a workplace to enforce cybersecurity rules.
5. Remote unattended access
Unattended remote access is a way of accessing devices remotely, even if the device is not being used. For quality maintenance, it is imperative for IT teams to have complete control over an organization’s workstations. The team conducts certain remote management tasks off-hours when employees are not logged in. Remote endpoint management gives the IT team unattended access to resolve any issue at any time.
Also Read: Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP): A Deep Dive
6. Critical patch deployment
Cybercrimes have increased in the past decade to exploit organizational vulnerabilities. A common entry point for cyberattacks is unpatched systems. By using an automated patch management solutions for different OS and third-party applications, IT admins can easily automate patch deployment along with and saving time, effort, and resources. System administrators can also avoid bandwidth issues by scheduling patch installations as per their convenience by configuring a deployment policy.
7. Application control and deployment
IT specialists can remotely approve applications and programs that should be pushed on remote mobile devices. Using a remote management tool, IT can uninstall or even blacklist unreliable applications that may pose a threat to a company’s sensitive data. IT admins can also install, configure, and enable a specific application(s) through an and app manager to a specific server, URL, devices, etc.
8. Browser security
To deal with browser-based vulnerabilities, organizations need to have complete endpoint security software to secure web browsers. Doing a quick Brave vs Chrome comparison and choosing the safest option can also add an extra layer of protection against browser-based vulnerabilities.
Browser attacks are especially challenging to detect because they can easily fly under the radar. Browser security levels don’t come with high-level embedded security so IT admins need to customize them to keep intruders away. Get a powerful browser security extension to remotely manage endpoints.
Benefits of Remote Endpoint Management
The benefits of remote endpoint management include the following:
1. Network compliance
Endpoint security management can enable administrators to conduct comprehensive audits of their IT networks. IT can use reports from these audits to exhibit how well the organization is complying with network regulations.
2. Improved productivity
Remote endpoint management optimizes networks to meet business needs. Plus, the patch management services can help optimize IT system performance for higher turnarounds. It keeps all the applications and programs updated. It ensures business continuity by fighting off malicious malware that may ground servers.
3. Save money
One hour of server downtime can cost businesses about $100,000. With a remote endpoint management solution, IT can prevent potential cyber-attacks, and eliminate losses associated with it. Companies can also enjoy reduced maintenance costs with it.
4. Inventory management
Endpoint security enables admins to manage their IT infrastructure inventory by providing comprehensive reports on all the assets in the network, along with their real-time activity. It enables optimized resource management for software, hardware, financial, and personnel resources. Plus, admins can view all IT assets from a centralized point of control.
Conclusion
Remote Endpoint Management solution is the key that unlocks different benefits for IT teams and the companies they serve. The capabilities achieve by this solution can revolutionize IT management.
