Mobile Device Management: The Solution to Remote Work? - Techopedia

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has been an accepted signifier successful tiny companies, and successful immoderate departments of ample companies, for a decennary now. But arsenic the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accentuated the inclination towards distant work, it's wide BYOD is present to stay. (Also read: BYOD Security: 6 Ways to Protect Mobile Devices.)

In this caller landscape, SMBs and the endeavor request a elemental mode to clasp power implicit multiplying mobile devices, applications and security threats portion leaving capable latitude for employees to run flexibly anyplace and anytime.

The solution? Mobile Device Management.

What is Mobile Device Management?

Mobile Device Management is simply a model that brings simplicity and usability to IT attraction for distributed applications. It creates a azygous user interface for power of each institution devices, including their enrolment, and interlinks idiosyncratic individuality with related applications, configuration profiles and usage data. MDM allows tiny IT teams to negociate increasing numbers of devices and applications with centralized automatic controls from a azygous interface. This is due to the fact that MDM works seamlessly with immoderate mobile device, including BYOD and carrier-provided devices. It besides integrates seamlessly with On-Premise Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD infrastructure. From securing firm information to managing users' entree to information and firm applications connected their mobile devices -- each from 1 cardinal determination -- MDM tin amended productivity for employees and amended information for organizations.

Hosted connected the cloud, MDM allows teams to power and unafraid applications remotely. All exertion and bundle information updates are executed over-the-air (OTA) without immoderate manual intervention. (Also read: 5 Remote Work Security Problems - And How to Solve Them.)

MDM tin besides drastically trim IT overhead due to the fact that of its self-service options. For example, Apple's Device Enrollment Program, incorporated successful Jamf Business, lets users automatically enrol their caller devices wirelessly erstwhile they crook them on.

Jamf Connect is an authentication and recognition bundle that opens the doorway for employees to entree concern applications successful the cloud. Employees onboard to institution resources, connected their own, without assistance from the IT department. Jamf Pro and Jamf Now interact with devices with Apple's propulsion notifications to configure distant devices automatically without quality intervention.

What Does Mobile Device Management Do?

MDM creates an inventory of devices by querying their accusation -- specified arsenic serial numbers. As a result, devices' and applications' identities are interlinked.

A dashboard displays the instrumentality owners' identities, their instrumentality and exertion usage and the presumption of their updates. By grouping devices by their communal characteristics, including applications and configurations, it becomes imaginable to update bundle for each of them with a azygous operation.

Threats to the Mobile Workforce MDM Can Solve

MDM presents a solution to respective of the foremost challenges of the mobile workforce, including:

1. IT Service Overhead

Small and medium-size companies with fewer IT personnel, if not one, person to negociate workloads that emergence exponentially with the increase successful mobile applications and greater complexity of remotely keeping way of them for updates and security.

The endeavor volition request tools for the remotely maintaining devices arsenic much of their employees enactment from home. Meanwhile, on-premise IT teams person shrunk contempt the expanded needs for attending to IT services.

MDM tin pacify this contented due to the fact that it allows IT unit to negociate each of an organization's devices and applications from a azygous interface. (Also read: The IT Talent Shortage: Separating Myths from Facts.)

2. Migrating from Old Systems

The endeavor needs to alteration the IT attraction systems meant for its installed basal of on-premise instrumentality and software, arsenic the progressively mobile workforce is rendering them obsolete. The proliferation of mobile devices and unreality services has forced organizations to rethink however they grip attraction and enactment of their equipment.

Microsoft software, wide utilized for on-premise desktops and laptops, and Active server for the attraction of IT, is not meant for a mobile workforce, who usage Apple devices successful expanding numbers and are not needfully disposable on-premise to refresh their devices.

For the mobile workforce, companies contiguous request a caller mode to summation visibility into the ownership of devices and applications and the presumption of their updates successful real-time to guarantee their optimal performance. MDM is acceptable up to supply precisely that.

3. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)

Employees progressively similar to usage a smartphone of their prime for concern and idiosyncratic needs, which users successful a imaginable for a struggle of purpose. But tracking worker devices increases the hazard of breaching privacy.

In different words, IT attraction unit similar to abstracted concern enactment from idiosyncratic use, portion employees privation capable latitude to relation flexibly. Mobile Device Management allows for the champion of some worlds due to the fact that it lets workers entree institution resources and administers updates via the cloud.

4. Security

Mobile devices are susceptible to endpoint intrusions—formidable zero-day threats that are hard to combat aft they breach firewalls, and malware enters the endeavor network. The intruders disguise their beingness by masquerading arsenic interior authorities.

Furthermore, the workforce often wants to usage applications that are not disposable from the App Store. Such applications request interior IT attraction resources to validate them and support way of their vulnerabilities. MDM's unreality integration is utile present excessively -- it allows employees to entree IT attraction resources remotely.

5. Theft and Loss

Devices utilized successful the outdoors person a higher hazard of theft and being inadvertently mislaid. Since mobile devices store delicate information, specified arsenic names of customers, captious competitory information could spill to competitors. (Also read: 10 Biggest Data Breaches of All Time - And How to Prevent Them.)

Since MDM allows IT teams to power each institution devices from a azygous interface, mislaid oregon stolen devices tin beryllium easy locked.

Benefits of MDM: A Summary

• Quickly brings devices nether endeavor control.
• Prevents rogue instrumentality activity
• Secures information with beardown encryption and password protection.
• Securely wipes oregon locks lost/stolen devices.
• Allows for casual plus management, instrumentality tracking and reporting.
• Provides propulsion updates, configurations and applications remotely.
• Provides on-the-fly enactment for employees who usage their ain devices for work.
• Ability to troubleshoot devices successful real-time.

The Future of Mobile Device Management

Windows 10 and 11 tin beryllium tally connected Microsoft's Azure unreality -- and the mobile workforce uses these applications widely. Thus, migrating to Microsoft's cloud present offers the alternate of operating from the Azure cloud, transferring each IT attraction functions from the Active Server. On apical of Apple's offering, Microsoft provides a simplified IT absorption console and a robust unreality absorption platform, Microsoft Intune. Intune:

• Enables administrators to deploy, negociate and standard Intune Services quickly.
• Increases organizational productivity significantly.
• Simplifies the absorption and securing of the instrumentality fleet.

Jamf has adapted to this caller world with its statement with Microsoft Azure to fto users of Microsoft bundle and devices interlink their Azure ID with their Mac ID, utilizing Jamf Connect, and log connected with a azygous ID. That means it's present imaginable to remotely support Macs, Microsoft devices and Android devices.

Jamf besides minimizes breaches of privateness by a argumentation that is discriminating successful the postulation of backstage information -- for the prevention of circumstantial information threats. Applications are besides restricted from utilizing delicate functions of computers specified arsenic cameras, microphones and downloads. Access to these functions needs explicit support of users. This promises to marque mobile instrumentality absorption adjacent much unafraid successful the coming years.

Conclusion

The mobile workforce is nary longer a inclination -- it's the caller mode we bash business. Thus, managing devices from afar is mandatory fo IT teams large and small.

Mobile Device Management offers a solution to galore challenges IT teams look owed to distant work. Incorporating this model into your enactment could assistance equip your IT team, large oregon small, to negociate increasing attraction needs.

With respective MDM solutions disposable connected the marketplace for your iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices, your enactment tin enactment the indispensable information controls successful spot to support your users and information from unauthorized access that could pb to costly information breaches. This gives users the state to enactment nary substance wherever they are, and it empowers IT with the tools to fto users bash their enactment portion keeping information secure.

Mobile exertion management (MAM) is besides a indispensable instrumentality successful ensuring exertion ne'er slows down a front-line workforce.