Selecting a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution is becoming one of the most pressing issues facing IT departments today. The solution has to meet the needs of the enterprise and the users in a number of domains including security, data management, technology, and business.
Selecting a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution is becoming one of the most pressing issues facing IT departments today. The solution has to meet the needs of the enterprise and the users in a number of domains including security,
data management, technology, and business. And it has to do this while fulfilling the requirements of a very demanding workforce that is passionate about its technology, and wants uninhibited performance.
Today’s users want to be able to use their personal devices – irrespective of the brand or platform – for critical business applications that enable them to access everything from email and calendars to enterprise internal data, wherever they are, and whenever they need it. Enterprises are waking up to the reality of this demand, and have realized that they can no longer curb the free will of the employees. Indeed, it offers many benefits too. The cost savings of allowing the employees to bring their personal devices in itself leads to a fairly positive business case.
However, the users have a tendency to prioritize their personal needs over their professional responsibilities, and use their devices with a reckless abandon that can lead to security and privacy risks. Connections to unsecure network connections, usage by multiple individuals, stolen or lost devices, and malicious applications downloaded from unauthorized sources are but a few things that can jeopardize the enterprise systems and data through an employee’s device. That is where a mature MDM solution can help your enterprise.
Other than the security itself, there is another very important aspect of MDM – the ability to support the mobility ecosystem with functionalities like device management, application distribution and upgrades, remote support in case of issues etc. When choosing an MDM solution, there are some key features that you should consider.
1. Features – there are two aspects to this – firstly, the ability of the platform to support multiple OS and device types like iOS, Blackberry and Android (and the different vendor devices like HTC, Motorola, and Samsung). Secondly, the functionalities provided by the platform. It is not necessary that the option with the maximum number of features is the best. A lot of times, some features will be gimmicky, and not really useful. So watch out for what you need.
2. Security – Remote wipe, containerization, app wrapping, personal data vs. corporate data backup etc. are some key desirable things here.
3. Market Standing of the market – You don’t want to put your money on some vendor that may or may not be there tomorrow. Look at the market cap, analyst view, customer base, and reputation before selecting.
4. Support structure – Understand the technical support that you will receive in implementation, and steady state. See if you will get a dedicated account team to manage your requirements. The sales cycle should also be smooth, with the people listening and understanding you well.
5. Management – Once again, 2 ways to look at this one. One thing is how well the platform manages the devices in terms of the depth of technology integration and the level of control available over the device. Another thing is how easy it is to manage the implementation itself. For e.g., do you have a centralized console, how much hardware, software, and database implementation you need to run the product etc.
6. Comprehensiveness of the solution – You don’t want to buy 10 products from 10 vendors or manage the complexity of the relationships. You want a comprehensive, seamless solution as much as possible.
7. Flexibility – How much configuration and customization is possible In the solution.
