Smartphones have gone way beyond use for just phone calls and texts. They’ve become mini-computers we keep in our pockets and more of a company’s work is now being handled by mobile rather than desktop.
91% of companies provide at least one mobile app to corporate employees.
While the increased flexibility of working from a mobile device can improve speed and productivity, it also comes with serious security challenges. How do you secure company data when it’s being accessed from multiple mobile devices from multiple locations?
A Mobile Device Management application can be the answer you’re looking for. This tool can be used to manage both corporate owned and employee-owned mobile devices to give you the best of both worlds – mobile flexibility and protection for your business.
Unity IT is all about helping businesses in Fresno, Clovis, Madera, and Visalia with all their IT management needs, and that includes keeping their data and devices secure so they can work without worrying about a data breach or data loss incident.
How Does Mobile Device Management Work?
A Mobile Device Management (MDM) application allows you to virtually “keep an eye on” and administer multiple mobile devices from a centralized dashboard. This has a number of advantages, the key one being security.
The issue with un-managed mobile devices is that they can be lost, stolen, or an employee can leave without notice, their account access to company apps still active, leaving your business vulnerable to data breaches or lost work product.
Using MDM allows you to get a handle on multiple smartphones and tablets and secure access to your applications and data remotely.
Set Up
Set up for Mobile Device Management can vary slightly according to the platform you’re using, but typically an app will be downloaded onto each mobile device and activated from an administrative console.
Some applications, like Office 365, have MDM already built in, so all you have to do is activate it.
Use for BYOD and Company-Issued Phones
Over 78% of businesses used a bring your own device (BYOD) policy last year, which is not surprising. Most businesses prefer BYOD because of the cost savings and easier adoption by staff.
Mobile Device Management can be deployed whether you’re using corporate-issued devices or BYOD and is designed to be used over multiple operating systems and device types.
Ways to Protect Your Business Using MDM
Your sales team has their tablet stolen from a trade show booth. You get off a flight, take a cab ride to your hotel, and as you’re unpacking realize you’ve left your smartphone in the pocket of your airline seat.
These are common scenarios that happen all too often, and if those lost or stolen devices can access corporate data, your business security could be in trouble. But if you have a MDM platform in place you can save yourself multiple headaches.
Here are some of the security and efficiency features you’ll find when using Mobile Device Management.
Secure Data
MDM allows you to employ multiple security protocols across employee mobile devices that protect against theft or unauthorized access. These include:
Ability to remotely erase confidential data
Require screen locks
Implement strong passwords
Locate a device via GPS
Remotely lock out a device from company applications
Easy App Deployment
Instead of telling everyone to download a specific app and hope they all remember to do it, you can instantly deploy new apps an app updates to all employee devices from a central control dashboard.
Keep Track of Devices
Do you know how many employee mobile devices currently have the ability to access company applications? Using Mobile Device Management allows you to keep an up-to-date inventory of mobile devices automatically, so you always know where your data is being accessed and used.
Helpful Reporting
Is no one using that new app that you thought would increase productivity? You might waste valuable time thinking something is working when it’s not, if you don’t have any insight into mobile usage.
Using the MDM platform allows you to see mobile use trends with visualized data and receive automated reporting that can help you make productive business decisions faster.
Backup & Data Restoration
Using a tablet can make work portable and boost productivity, but that tablet gets lost, and you could lose work product along with it. Mobile Device Management allows you to set data backups for company files, so they’re captured in a cloud-based storage system automatically and able to be restored if needed.
Would You Like to See Mobile Device Management in Action?
How would you like to see a test drive of a Mobile Device Management application? Unity IT can show you how you can better protect your business by smartly managing staff mobile devices.
Contact us today for a MDM test drive at 559-297-1007 or reach out online.
