Mobile Device Management

“Simplified IT administration.

IT is already overburdened with provisioning, maintenance and support responsibilities. BYOD* shouldn’t increase user productivity at the cost of IT’s. Simplified IT administration is critical, and this is where you will see the most variation when evaluating MDM solutions.

There are several ways that MDM solutions can simplify administration. Over-the-air (OTA) administration and management allows the IT organization to maintain mobile devices anytime, anywhere, so users don’t have to visit the help desk. Initial setup and configuration can also be done over the air. You should also be able to automatically assign devices to existing groups from your user directory and apply the respective policies when they are registered via a self-service portal.

Centralized monitoring and control of all registered devices is a hallmark of MDM, but the ease of use and granularity of functions differ from one solution to another. Look for an MDM solution that allows you to manage all supported smartphones and tablets from one console, regardless of the operating system, service provider, network or location of the device.

If you are also using BlackBerrys, it makes sense to bring them into your MDM solution so you have the full inventory overview in one place. You should be able to track and report on all registered devices, and drill down to individual configuration settings, serial numbers, model numbers, hardware details and installed applications. A dashboard view can quickly show registered devices and whether or not they’re compliant with policies. Auditing allows you to easily track changes to devices and compliance status.

Graphical reports should provide the most important data at a glance. For example, charts should show the percentage of compliant vs. noncompliant devices, managed vs. non-managed devices, corporate-owned vs. employee-owned devices, etc., rather than require you to navigate through numerous menus to find the information.

Finally, the administrative interface should be action-oriented and easy to use. Consider how many clicks are required to perform basic functions like decommissioning a device, viewing device OS distribution, and defining the OS versions supported in the app. One or two clicks maximum should be all it takes to complete these tasks.”

By, Shopos Mobile Control.

  

*Bring your own device (BYOD) (also called bring your own technology (BYOT), bring your own phone (BYOP), and bring your own PC (BYOPC)) means the policy of permitting employees to bring personally owned mobile devices (laptops, tablets, and smart phones) to their workplace, and use those devices to access privileged company information and applications.