What is Mobile Device Management (MDM)?
Mobile Device Management (MDM) is a methodology—backed by strategy and a technology toolset—that allows organizations to enable staff with mobile productivity tools while maintaining governance and data security. MDM often refers to software that allows IT administrators to enforce security policies across endpoints—a critical part of any modern enterprise mobility strategy.
Why is mobile device management important?
In the modern world of work, employees need access to the tools and technologies to be productive both in and out of office. The recent rise of remote work has made mobile devices like laptops, tablets and cellphones not only ubiquitous but also essential to efficiency in enterprise environments.
While imperative, the challenge with mobile devices is that they can be used to access critical corporate information. If lost, stolen or hacked, these devices become major risks to business data and information security. This is why an effective mobile device management strategy is critical and top-of-mind for many IT leaders today.
How does mobile device management work?
Mobile device management is more than the inventory and provisioning of hardware—and while many people refer to mobile device management as a software, it’s also much more than that. Under the umbrella of MDM falls a series of governed policies and processes needed to protect an organization’s valuable assets, plus the software needed to enforce them.
In technical terms, mobile device management includes endpoint software (an agent) and an MDM server that either lives on-premise or in the cloud. Administrators can configure policies through the server that then enforces them via the agent on each device.
At IX Solutions, we use Microsoft’s suite of device management software to effectively manage our organization’s endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager is a unified device management and security platform that includes Microsoft Intune and Configuration Manager in its arsenal. It enables IT teams to secure, deploy, and manage all users, apps, and endpoint devices without disrupting existing processes.
Benefits of an effective MDM strategy
Meet employees where they are with a diverse BYOD model
Today, many employees opt to BYOD—bring your own device—rather than carrying around both a personal and corporate-owned device like a cellphone. Microsoft Endpoint Manager supports secure endpoint management for on-premises, remote, corporate-owned, personal, desktop, and mobile endpoints.
How? Using Mobile Application Management (MAM), corporate apps like Outlook and Sharepoint can be run on a container that keeps corporate and personal data separate. This enables the organization to enforce security while granting employees the ability to maintain ownership over their personal devices.
Enable unified endpoint security with Conditional Access
If your MDM strategy incorporates the use of Conditional Access, you can create a series of “if-then” policies that enable you to control a user's access to certain assets based on a series of unique identifiers. For example, if a policy states that only users on approved, Intune-managed devices can access certain folders in SharePoint, you’re then able to restrict people working on personal devices from accessing that information.
Learn more about Conditional Access >
Protect your data while optimizing user satisfaction
Device management isn’t all about restriction—it’s also about enablement. With a balanced approach between security and usability that’s built based on your organization's unique needs, you can protect your corporate assets and data while also supporting employees to have flexible, “anytime, anywhere” access to the information they need. When it comes to corporate IT, governance is often the first step to freedom.
Design and deploy your mobile device management strategy
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to mobile device management. Every organization has unique needs based on factors ranging from their operating model, to the nature and sensitivity of their data, corporate and legal compliance, and more. Not sure where to start with MDM? Our team has the wherewithal and expertise to guide you. Reach out today for a consultation.
