Tech Term: Mobile Device Management

While smartphones and tablets can help businesses quite a bit, they can also be quite detrimental to their success. If you can get past the issues related to employees bringing their own devices to the workplace, then you’ll be able to save a considerable amount of time and resources on device procurement, but you certainly want to make sure you have a mobile device management policy put in place first.

Mobile Device Management in a Nutshell
Mobile Device Management, or MDM, allows your employees to use their mobile devices for work purposes, but without the many risks associated with doing so. It does this by using encryption, giving an administrator control over who accesses what information based on pre-established roles and permissions. This basically gives your employees the freedom to use their devices for work purposes, minus the frustration that it causes for you. This keeps your data as secure as possible while maintaining employee freedoms. Businesses that have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy generally take advantage of MDM as part of it.

What MDM Allows
MDM allows for several benefits that are great for businesses looking to save money and keep their devices secure:

• Cost Effectiveness: The fewer devices you have to purchase for your employees, the more you’ll save in procurement. If you go the route of BYOD, an MDM can alleviate some of your concerns regarding this.
• Management Capabilities: MDM gives your business the ability to oversee the security of any employee device, even remotely. This can help to make sure that a device doesn’t bring a threat home to the network unknowingly. It also gives your administrators the ability to make sure work-related applications are installed and configured properly. Admins also have the power to block any distrust worthy apps or users, as well as remotely wipe any lost BYOD devices to keep them from being used to access company data.
• Improved Compliance: Some industries have specific standards that must be met in order to avoid repercussions or comeuppance. MDM solutions are all about maintaining compliance with these standards. This gives businesses an advantage if they ever encounter a data breach.

To learn more about how Directive can help you with MDM, reach out to us at 607.433.2200.