We’re seeing a proliferation of mobile devices in the workplace. Employees now have the ability, and often do, work from anywhere. Employees want consistent access to resources and data. This is great, but it creates a serious challenge for IT. Data and resources need to be secure and protect against unauthorized access. If a device is lost, or the employee leaves the organization, being able to instantly control corporate access is critical.
The solution is referred to as Mobile Device Management (MDM). The device management tools we use come from Microsoft. Rather than a commercial, these are some of things our MDM does and the benefits received:
- Deliver and manage apps across a broad range of devices, including iOS, Android, Windows, and Windows Phone all from a single management console
- Simplify administration by deploying required apps automatically during enrollment and allowing users to easily install corporate apps from the self-service Company Portal
- Help maximize productivity with the Office mobile apps your employees know and love while preventing the leakage of company data by restricting actions such as copy/cut/paste/save in your managed app ecosystem, and extend these capabilities to existing line-of-business apps
- Deploy certificates, WiFi, VPN, and email profiles automatically once a device is enrolled, enabling users to seamlessly access corporate resources with the appropriate security configurations
- Provide comprehensive settings management for mobile devices, including remote actions such as passcode reset, device lock, and data encryption
- Remove corporate data and applications when a device is unenrolled, noncompliant, lost, stolen, or retired from use
Tim Krueger, PEI
