What is Enterprise Mobility Management

Stratix answers your questions 

As business strategies and operations increasingly rely on mobile devices, keeping them secure and operating reliably is critical. Not only are endpoints like mobile devices potential points of entry for cyberattacks, but downtime affects productivity, user experiences, and profits—especially when mobile solutions are so heavily interlaced with workflows. Endpoint care solutions like enterprise mobility management go far beyond security; they offer tools to automate maintenance on devices wherever they are—saving IT teams significant time and labor. 

What Does Enterprise Mobility Management Do? 

There are a lot of considerations when an end user is given a company-owned device, or they use their own device for work (BYOD). You have to think about what content they’ll access, the applications they’ll use, and potential issues with different types of network connections— whether that’s cellular or Wi-Fi. Managing and controlling devices and access is a must-have because you have customer and corporate data that you need to protect.  

An enterprise mobility management platform offers robust endpoint security along with the ability to manage devices, mobile applications, email, and other content. IT teams can use it to configure and update applications as well as segregate corporate from private information on devices. That helps prevent the sharing of corporate data when it shouldn’t be. VMware’s Workspace One is an example. It can be used to configure devices, push app updates, and enforce data policies. 

What are the Different Endpoint Management Types? 

Endpoint management tools have evolved rapidly in recent years, which means the industry hasn’t completely settled on universal terms and features. Depending on the provider, you might see endpoint management called Mobile Device Management (MDM), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), or Unified Endpoint Management (UEM).  

At a high level, MDM is typically device-centric, whereas EMM is more user-centric. Focusing on managing the device works great for company-issued equipment, but if you allow employees to access the organization’s apps and data with their own devices, then you need more user-centric tools. UEM typically goes further than MDM and EMM to also manage Internet of Things (IoT) devices. 

The name of the solution isn’t as important as making sure it does what you need it to do, so ask about the features instead. Here are some you may need: 

• Device compliance  
  Detecting devices that aren’t in compliance with your policies; tracking devices using GPS; monitoring, updating, and troubleshooting devices in real-time; locking or remotely wiping apps and data from devices. 
  
• Mobile management 
  Using endpoint management for deployment, management, and support. Examples include pushing updates, distributing new applications, saving backups, and doing device restorations. 
  
• Application security 
  Applying security restrictions like rules around data access, data downloading, and sharing. 
  
• Endpoint security 
  Leverage Mobile Defense Threat (MDT) tools to prevent, detect, and remediate attacks, block bad actor access with identity management, and constantly scan for viruses and malware. 
  
• BYOD management 
  Define BYOD policies and separate work and play (containment)  
  
• Integrates with current tools 
  Does the platform work with any other device management and security tools you use like Apple Business Manager? 
   

Questions to Consider Before Picking an Enterprise Mobility Management Solution 

As you plan your enterprise mobility management solution, there are a lot of variables to think about before you pick a platform. For example, are you going to have only organization-owned devices, or will you allow BYOD? What operating systems will you support? Will your devices and apps need to integrate with other tools like IT service management (ITSM) or Salesforce? Get a holistic picture of your mobile environment and plan accordingly. Here’s a quick checklist of some questions you’ll need answers to: 

What devices do you need to protect? 

• Device type (now and in the future) 
• Brand 
• Operating system 

Any specific capabilities? 

• Restricting mobile access to certain times or geographic areas? 
• Certain content management requirements? 

What are your application needs? 

• What do you use now and plan to use in the future? 
• Will you be pushing apps and updates through your endpoint management solution? 
• Will you require custom-built applications? 

What data needs to be protected? 

• How sensitive is the data moving between devices?
• Do you have to follow specific industry rules like in healthcare or financial services? 
• Will you have to have logs or other records of data movement? 

How easy is it to use the software? 

• Does the platform impair the user experience (critical to device adoption and buy-in) 
• How simple is device enrollment? 
• Is the administration panel user-friendly and uncomplicated? 

Pricing? 

• Is it per device or per license? One license may cover multiple devices, so understand the cost 

Get it Right the First Time 

The end-user journey is essential when looking at different solutions and how they best serve you and your employees. The more buy-in you have, the more they will use new tools to support your organization and customers. If you deploy devices that aren’t easy to use, people won’t migrate to new workflows, and the potential for more efficiency and productivity will be lost. 

Mobile solutions are often more complex than the technology that IT teams have managed in the past, and they require different logistics. The right endpoint management platform can simplify the configuration and management of large numbers of devices, but you have to know how to use it properly. Mistakes can lead to delays and the complete breakdown of digital transformation projects. 

You can avoid those mistakes and get the expertise and scale required for smooth mobile solution deployments by partnering with Stratix. Our solution architects will look at your business objectives and employee workflows to design user-friendly solutions that deliver the right outcomes.