Top 4 Reasons to Use a Mobile Device Management System

Companies in modern times are dealing with a unique situation moving into the future, a future where employees are more mobile than ever.  Whether they are working from home, the office, a local coffee shop, or traveling for a business trip, their company documents are expected to always be securely available from remote workspaces.  One of the ways that IT companies assist in granting access to company resources for those working in remote situations isn’t just by providing company devices, but also providing tools for remote management (MDM).  A lot of these tools can be installed on both phones and computers to help assist with the management of company data but are often underutilized by companies who aren’t sure how to navigate remote management tools.  The advantages to MDMs are worth serious consideration. Below are just a few broad reasons why you’ll want to consider setting up an MDM for your company if you haven’t already.

1. Providing Assistance with Inventory Management

MDM is a great tool for assisting with managing your inventory of devices.  They can help you figure out how many of each type of device you are managing, determine who owns each device, record serial numbers and MAC addresses, record encryption keys, and tell you the make and model of each device.  This can help you ensure that when you have a question about the machine, you have important data about it without ever having to interact with the machine itself.  This can eliminate the time professionals must spend interacting with the machine to accomplish troubleshooting and maintenance.

2. Compliance Enforcement

Most MDMs have compliance enforcement features, where IT teams can specify what installed software or enabled features make a device compliant and enforce them on endpoint devices.  Some of these features can include hard drive encryption, the installation of applications, and monitoring syncs to the MDM management portals.  These can assist greatly in maintaining the security of machines across your fleet of devices by notifying your team when a monitored device falls out of compliance.

3. Quick Company Wide Deployments

MDM’s can also assist with company wide deployments that otherwise might be complex or require hours of direct IT intervention with users to get installed and working.  You can push required applications, certificates and settings including on-site Wi-Fi password changes, VPN certificates, and new user software directly to endpoint devices.  This makes it quick and easy to initiate changes with minimal disruption to user workflow.

4. Device Security

One of the biggest advantages to using an MDM is improving company wide device security.  In the event of lost or stolen machines, remote wipe actions can be sent directly to the device to ensure that company data is not compromised.  Some MDM software also can locate devices in the event that a device is misplaced.  If you still want to retain computer data but need to prevent users from accessing a device, you can lock users out of the machine until it is returned to your IT team.  One disclaimer to this feature, is the device does have to be connected to the internet to receive these commands.   However, they are very advantageous to have in modern times where devices are almost always connected to the internet.

Overall, MDMs can add a lot of value to your user devices and provide you with an array of tools that can be deployed quickly company wide.  Whether you have just a few employees or are a growing company that needs to get your remote management under control, MDM’s can be an excellent resource for those looking to strengthen their security posture and spend less time on the tedium that can come with managing user devices.  

Need help setting up a secure and efficient MDM?  Reach out to Deep Core Data and we’ll be happy to investigate how we can get the most use out of your MDM set up.