Mobile devices are everywhere. We use them for work, play, shopping, and so much more. But did you know that businesses need a way to manage and secure all those devices? That’s where Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) comes in.
Think of EMM as the backstage crew at a theater. While the actors (your devices) perform on stage, the crew (EMM) ensures everything runs smoothly. They handle the lights, the props, and the stage, so the show can go on without a hitch.
But what exactly is EMM, and why is it so important for modern businesses? This guide will help you understand what EMM is all about. You’ll learn why it’s essential and how it’s evolved over time. We’ll also explore how EMM can enhance security, boost productivity, streamline compliance, and reduce costs.
So get on your reading groove and get ready to take a closer look at EMM. It’s more than just tech talk; it’s a key part of how businesses succeed in today’s mobile-first world.
What is EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) ?
Enterprise Mobility Management, or EMM, is a set of tools and capabilities that can help businesses of all sizes. EMM is a way to make sure people in an organization can use mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, safely and efficiently. It allows businesses to control how these devices are used and makes sure that the information on them is kept safe.
In simple words, EMM is like a set of policies that enables a business to manage all its mobile devices used by its employees. This includes ensuring the right apps are on the devices, the data is secure, and everything works the way it should.
Using EMM, organizations can let their staff do their jobs from anywhere, using any device, without worrying about losing important information or facing technical glitches.
6 Key Components of EMM: What You Need to Know
Enterprise Mobility Management is the infrastructure that helps an organization manage its wide-scale mobility applications and systems.
The mobile landscape is becoming complex and less secure; most employees are accessing (or manipulating) company data from remote locations. It has now become essential to bring into place a holistic and integrated set of methodologies and enterprise-backed policies to manage mobile devices, networks, and services and provide a secure and reliable environment (devices and applications) to the employees – which can be defined as Android Enterprise Mobility Management.
While implementing a flawless EMM strategy, an organization must understand its core components that directly or indirectly determine its performance and overall efficacy.
1. Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Mobile Device Management implies secure monitoring of mobile devices used to access business data and applications – these devices could be owned by the company or the employees (BYOD). A device must be registered with the company’s MDM software for the IT admin to have complete supervision.
To monitor what resources the device is accessing, look out for possible infiltrations and malware, perform app management and distribution and configure security controls to ensure the safety of corporate data and resources. Most MDM solutions also offer containerization to segregate personal and business information and enable selective remote clean-up (wiping) of corporate data.
MDM helps to implement an organization’s security policy for mobile devices used for business purposes. Before investing in an MDM solution, you should evaluate if it can support and ensure your security policy compliance and the kind of devices it supports.
2. Mobile Application Management (MAM)
Mobile Application Management provides for more granular policy enforcement, management, and security of apps (a subset or specific apps). MAM will enable the IT or admin to monitor and evaluate the state and health of corporate apps. It may also restrict the installation of apps that can induce threats, risks, and vulnerabilities or hamper user productivity. A typical MAM solution provides features like securing, deploying, configuring, accessing, updating, or removing business applications on mobile devices.
3. Mobile Content Management (MCM)
Mobile Content Management is a kind of Content Management System that acts as a repository of important corporate documents, information, and data, which can be remotely pushed into mobile devices to support specific word requirements by the user or the employees. It allows only approved applications to access or transmit data and enables the administrator to remotely upload, deploy and manage content on the registered mobile devices.
A sturdy MCM process helps employees stay informed and productive by letting them access business content securely from any place and effortlessly collaborate across secured networks and MDM-registered devices. Mobile Content Management is one of the important for Digital Signage Kiosks.
4. Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Identity and access management controls refer to a structure of IT security policies that define how and which employees can access corporate data, resources, and apps within a secured environment. In simple terms, it ensures that only a company’s right set of people should have apt access to enterprise and technology resources and maintains a fool-proof system of identification, authentication, and user authorization.
It may restrict access from specific hostile networks or locations and grant access rights based on employee roles, profiles, and device compatibility. It also includes password management, single-sign-on, blacklisting and whitelisting, per-app control and settings, etc.
5. Mobile Configuration Management
Mobile Configuration Management is the strategy that ensures that the local device settings are accurate, secure, and compliant with your organization’s IT security policies, procedures, agreements, and implementation standards.
An administrator can track and detect compliance violations, push the latest security controls to mobile devices, and trigger alerts in case of any prohibited activity in the mobile ecosystem. It is essentially a part of mobile device management.
6. Mobile Support Management
A strategic process of providing apt and accurate support for managing a company’s enterprise mobility programs can be defined as mobile support management. Whether it is a simple software for writing tools or a more complex enterprise mobility solution, any solution is incomplete without a support structure.
Effective mobile support management ensures that customers can access vendor’s help and support with any issues related to their device infrastructure, mobility deployment, user experience, IT ecosystem, security policies, mobile apps, and so on.
Mobile support management ensures quicker employee onboarding, smoother transition to updates, and enhances productivity by timely addressing and resolving issues.
Enterprise mobility management is a complex process that must continually evolve to fit the dynamic mobility needs of an organization. Organizations will have different enterprise mobility requirements depending on business size, type of application and data, number of employees, and corporate-owned or personal mobile devices.
A good EMM will ensure security policy enforcement and compliance and enhance employee productivity while ensuring mobility, data security, flexibility, and employee privacy.
How Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is Reshaping Enterprise Device Management?
BYOD has played a considerable role in the emerging EMM market. When the first iPhone hit the shelves, the surge of BYOD programs in organizations across diversified verticals was witnessed. To ensure that personally owned devices are free from contingencies while being used for work and at work, embracing a solution that can cover all the pitfalls became mandatory. Organizations turned to EMM as a solution.
However, it is evident that the BYOD program is surging rapidly each year but is also waning drastically. This has a reciprocal impact on the emergence of EMM if we constrain it for a definite purpose. As per a study conducted by Forrester Research, it has been stated that the number of employee-owned devices used for work and at work has decreased by 5% since the previous year.
This is because the companies are willing to compensate by paying an additional stipend to the employees or are themselves buying the devices and deploying them.
To remodel the frameworks in the BYOD program, the organizations are focusing on advanced security protocols ahead of just remote device wiping to secure corporate assets. The ability to even restrict the granular settings on the devices being used at work has allowed organizations to rethink how they can approach and utilize EMM to the maximum potential.
Adept companies across the globe are utilizing the EMM tool that allows them to manage BYO devices in a more flexible and agile manner that reduces the employee workload and also compartmentalizes the work and the personal profiles separately for security purposes.
EMMs Importance in Increasing Workforce Productivity
EMM is prime for organizations that utilize mobility solutions to oil operational activities and improve employee productivity. Other than that, it also allows the organizations to:
1. Add Layers of Security to Corporate Data
With the utilization of EMM software, organizations can set a predetermined layer of corporate security and policies on all corporate-managed devices to ensure that critical assets are protected from being compromised.
2. Virtual Deployment of Critical Corporate Assets
With EMM, organizations can deploy mission-critical assets or apps on selected devices or device profiles with advanced restrictions preset to avoid unauthorized eyes.
3. Provisioning of Devices for User Management
Organizations can streamline user onboarding with the help of EMM. Organizations can automate the onboarding of the devices deployed with preset mission-critical apps and data that must be pushed to a specific user along with stringent defined policies to be assigned.
Through a central holistic dashboard, organizations can also remove the provision applied as soon as an employee deboards so the device can be provisioned again for a new employee.
Need Help Choosing the Right Enterprise Mobility Management Software? Here’s What You Should Consider!
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) constitutes a framework of services and technologies catering to the need to secure corporate assets on the employee’s mobile phone. It might reflect an amalgamation of tools that can be utilized in various scenarios, but it generally is a suite of mobile management systems and services.
With EMM, the protection of intellectual properties, serving of corporate data and assets, and mission-critical integration can execute an enterprise IT system in a streamlined manner.
If we must debate or evaluate what type of EMM system an enterprise should consider, it totally depends on the specifications required on the company’s mobile phone. It will undoubtedly vary between organizations since the need will differ, and so will the solution.
There can be instances when an organization demands the entire management of the personal mobile device used by the employees with the authority to wipe a device and its data if the device is lost or stolen. In contrast, other organizations might only demand the focus on application management or contact management. The specific mission of EMM is to empower workers to be highly productive while embracing mobility solutions.
If the devices used by the employees for work and at work are not managed by the organization, they pose a definite threat to the data security of corporate assets. Data retrieval is almost impossible if the devices are lost, stolen, or compromised, and it also increases the probability of unauthorized access.
Other than that, the administrator of the mobile phone can, at their discretion, download or install specific malicious applications that might have the probability to expose the corporate data on a public network; this can pose a concern for the IT admins. Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) adds to the layer of security and the corporate assets on the employee’s mobile phone and empowers productivity by embracing mobility solutions.
Case Studies:
Darya-Varia Laboratories witnessed incredible user productivity and work efficiency by utilizing one of the most powerful capabilities of Scalefusion
Scalefusion helps Magna manage & secure Android devices on its Production Line
How EMM Works: Making the Move to Mobile Management Easy
Utilization of EMM solution/software in an organization authorizes to keep data threats on the shore so that optimum productivity is retained along with the security of corporate assets like apps, content, and credentials.
The solution of EMM empowers the organizations to structure the security enforcement such as blacklisting malicious and unauthorized applications, enforcement of keyguard usage and advanced settings, prevention of unauthorized use of corporate data, and virtually wiping the data on the devices in case of compromisation.
By doing this, EMM can empower the employees in an organization to work on the go without worrying about corporate data theft.
EMM vs. MDM: A Side-By-Side Comparison
MDM | EMM |
The acronym of MDM is Mobile Device Management. | The acronym of EMM is Enterprise Mobility Management. |
Mobile Device Management is the administration and management of mobile devices used within an organization for work and at work. | EMM is an amalgamation of policies, frameworks, people, and technologies that ensure the security of corporate assets on employees’ personal devices across an organization. |
MDM adds a security layer for the IT administrators within an organization with the authorization to manage, secure, and administer the device and its employees’ usage. | EMM boundaries itself to compartmentalize corporate and personal assets and secure the work compartment to prevent compromisation and leakage. |
MDM encapsulates the management and administration of the features and usage of the devices only within the boundary of mission-critical execution. | EMM encapsulates the view of how an employee or people are using the devices containing the corporate devices and not the device itself. |
An MDM generally offers IT administration features, content management, application management, location tracking, geofencing, remote cast and control, implementation of security policies and frameworks, etc. | The features that an EMM offers to the organization include mobile device management, app/browser/content management, corporate assets protection, identity management, etc. |
EMM vs MDM
Benefits of EMM Solution for Businesses of All Sizes
The solution of EMM empowers organizations to secure and manage devices under a single console. Whether organization-owned or BYO devices, EMM solutions assist the IT admins of any organization to enroll, deploy, track, secure, and manage the fleet of devices deployed anywhere.
Other than that, we have listed a few benefits that the EMM solutions provide to an organization:
- Management of a fleet of devices from a holistic and single dashboard console.
- Applying device profiles, groups, policies, frameworks, and restrictions.
- Making separate compartments for personal and corporate assets under the personal devices for management and added layer of security for corporate assets.
- Enforcement of device restrictions for robust security measures.
- Accessing and downloading all the device vital reports individually or for a group of devices.
- Remove any jailbroken or attempted rooted device by your employees.
- Track the location in real-time of all the devices deployed.
- Manage and schedule all the OS updates for all the devices under a single dashboard.
- Reduce the downtime IT support of your fleet of devices virtually with remote troubleshooting.
- Remotely wipe-off devices in case of compromisation, theft, or leakage of corporate assets.
Why Scalefusion Is the Top Choice for EMM Software for Businesses of All Sizes?
Researching and implementing a dedicated, efficient, and cost-friendly Enterprise Mobility Management solution for your enterprise-owned and BYO devices across platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS is daunting. Still, Scalefusion is one of the most reliable options for enterprises in any vertical.
The solution of Scalefusion is the amalgamation of tools in the form of a holistic app package that could instill security and productivity and yield goodwill from your customers in the most straightforward manner.
No matter how many devices you want to deploy, with the wide range of features and tools available in the Scalefusion dashboard, the rapid over-the-air enrollment can quickly fill the IT admins with desirable access control.
Scalefusion’s Emm Solution Is Packed With Features That’ll Make You Want to Enroll Your Devices
1. Kiosk Browser Management
Browsing websites for entertainment during work and at work can revamp the definition of mobility and decrease outputs in operational activities by your workforce. The Kiosk browser management in the EMM solution of Scalefusion can allow the IT admins to virtually blacklist all the non-business critical domains to ensure that the level of productivity is not tampered with.
The IT admins can enforce advanced browser restrictions and push into selected device profiles or groups through a single dashboard console.
2. Remote Troubleshooting
Reduce downtime IT support and costs with the Remote cast and control feature of Scalefusion EMM solution. Virtually extend support to your workforce in real-time in case of technical crack-ups, device or software errors, and glitches on mobile devices by troubleshooting it just like you would physically do.
The remote workforce can cast their device screen for the IT admin to analyze the issue. The IT admin can then monitor and capture the recordings and screenshots in the dashboard to make an informed resolution and keep the device up and running.
3. Application Management
With the Application Management feature in the Scalefusion EMM solution, workforce productivity can be spiked to an unimaginable extent. With Application Management, the IT admins can virtually deploy and push mission-critical applications on the organization’s owned and BYO devices, either in a single device profile or a group of devices in a single go.
At their discretion, the IT admins can also update the applications to the latest version or hold the updates to be implemented for a certain period based on the organization’s framework and policies.
Additionally, the IT admins can blacklist/whitelist the dedicated apps that are necessary to be accessed by the workforce as per their operational input and output expectations.
4. Remote Wipe
There can be several contingent circumstances when the organization owns or the BYO devices can be compromised, lost, or stolen, hence can invite nightmares for any organization to find a preventive option of mitigating the risk of leakage of all the organizational assets.
With the EMM solution of Scalefusion, the IT admins can remotely wipe all the compromised devices to protect and secure the corporate data lying on them from unauthorized view or usage.
5. Live Location Tracking & Geofencing
The IT admins can configure and enforce the location-based settings on all the device profiles or a group of devices deployed to the workforce to monitor their location per mission-critical operations set by the organizations. The EMM solution of Scalefusion empowers IT admins to trace the live location of the workforce to ensure that the devices are at the stipulated locations per the operational mission.
The EMM solution of Scalefusion also offers a Geofencing feature. This powerful virtual location barrier enables IT admins to create a boundary radius for specified on-field device profiles used by the organizational workforce and receive a notification in case the device moves out or leaves the geofence boundary.
How Scalefusion MDM Can Help Your Organization Save Time and Money?
The Enterprise Mobility Solution of Scalefusion is an amalgamation of pertinent tools available for customization and usage for all the verticals across diversified domains despite the size, be it small or medium enterprises or large enterprises.
The IT admins can seamlessly deploy all the organization’s owned devices with Scalefusion software and restrict the end-user to business-critical function ability to scoop the workforce’s productivity and satisfy the customers.