In the modern landscape, businesses need an enterprise mobility strategy to approach the management and use of the countless devices they rely on. Research from Samsung shows that 57% of employees now rely on smartphones to do their jobs, and that doesn’t include the many other mobile devices that businesses across a variety of industries use. For example, rugged devices like RFID scanners used in tracking assets and inventory in a warehouse.
Businesses face considerable challenges related to security, tracking, and mobile device management (MDM). What is MDM? It’s every task that goes into the deployment, use, and maintenance of mobile devices. The prevalence of mobility in the enterprise leads businesses to seek out enterprise mobile solutions that can meet these challenges.
These are some of the essential areas of mobile device management strategy that businesses can focus on to improve results today.
1. Understand Your Company’s Needs
Enterprise mobility strategy isn’t going to be the same for every organization. Your eventual plan will focus on the specific needs of your organization and the mobility strategies that best address them. To find the right solution, your organization must first define those needs.
First, you’ll need to consider the type and quantity of mobile devices your organization may need. Do you need smartphones to keep in contact with employees, laptops for remote work, portable scanners, and other systems? The specific applications your organization needs will also factor into your business mobility solutions.
MDM tools can improve your organization’s outlook, so identifying current bottlenecks and issues is another important step. Your mobility strategy should focus on both your current needs and your future needs, so your organization must understand where it’s headed in the coming years.
2. Ensuring Successful Mobility Solutions Deployment
Deployment is the most crucial step in managing devices for any organization. Successful deployment can prevent a wide range of common issues from occurring, saving your organization both time and money.
During deployment, organizations must ensure that devices have the proper mobile applications and software and that everything is operating correctly. Most devices will also have activation requirements that will likely require support.
MDM software is also necessary to ensure the proper tracking of devices during and after deployment. Organizations must follow the appropriate inventory and documentation procedures to ensure that devices are going where they’re needed.
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Managing cloud-based applications and corporate network accessibility are also vital elements of proper device deployment. This is likely to be a highly technical undertaking with serious security ramifications as well.
Enterprise mobility management (EMM) solutions can ensure that every step of mobile device deployment goes off without a hitch. Given the enduring impact that deployment will have on the use of any device over its lifetime, it’s essential to get it right.
3. Move Toward a Single Dominant Platform
One of the most prominent digital transformations taking place across multiple industries today is the transition from products to platforms. Conventionally, organizations have relied on individual software acquisitions to develop enterprise mobile solutions. Today, many businesses are shifting toward a platform-focused approach where a single platform delivers all software.
Research from McKinsey shows that the percentage of companies with an integrated approach to their tech needs has doubled over the last two years to 33%. Even more companies say they will undergo such a transformation in the future.
Transitioning your mobility management solutions toward this type of approach can bring many benefits. Compatibility issues are one of the most significant issues when dealing with data accessibility and other essential business functions. Mobility solutions centered on a single dominant platform do away with those issues.
The benefits often go beyond simply avoiding incompatibility. You can take full advantage of the synergy of various aspects of your enterprise mobile strategy when all the parts work together seamlessly.
4. Develop Effective Security Infrastructure
User experience and functionality are important areas to address, but security should be the first consideration when exploring any potential mobile device management software options.
Businesses of all kinds handle sensitive information every day. This could be confidential client details or private information from your employees. In some industries, there are additional requirements for handling sensitive information, such as HIPAA.
The consequences of losing this data can be catastrophic in terms of legal, operational, and reputation damage. Any effective mobility solutions must address security infrastructure thoroughly.
Ensuring that mobile devices have the latest operating system and security software updates is vital, as threats can quickly take advantage of outdated devices. Implementing proper network security around remote work and remote control for these devices is also critical.
5. Outsource MDM With Device as a Service
What is mobile device management meant to accomplish? It’s to ensure that your employees have the tools they need to get their jobs done in the modern workplace. However, mobile device management brings many challenges and requires significant technical experience and insight to handle correctly.
In many cases, organizations can turn to Device as a Service (DaaS) to ensure that their employees have the devices they need without the need to devote resources to mobile device management strategies.
With DaaS, your organization can receive fast access to any mobile devices as they’re needed. That includes smartphones and laptops, along with industry-specific mobile devices, including portable scanners, printers, and more.
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DaaS makes it so that your organization doesn’t have to worry about the many stages involved in mobile device management. Procurement, staging, deployment, monitoring, support, and recycling are all handled by the DaaS provider.
You’ll also have access to high-quality support whenever it’s needed through a single point of contact for all of your devices, which can save your organization a lot of time. DaaS also provides considerable cost savings while still ensuring the effectiveness and security of your mobile solutions.
6. Relying on a Comprehensive Mobility Management Service
DaaS can provide for the needs of many organizations, but it isn’t right for everyone. Some organizations need to own their own devices and rely on carefully customized software, solutions, networks, and applications. In these cases, comprehensive mobile device management services could be the best choice.
With these services, critical functions such as monitoring, management, security, and support are all consolidated through a cloud-based MDM platform. The platform can provide a wide range of important services.
Real-time monitoring and alerts help improve security by measuring usage and activity. Asset visibility can track both the status and the location of all devices in real-time, providing even greater protection. Research from IBM shows that the average cost of a corporate data breach is now $4.35 million, so these security features are essential.
Customized dashboards and KPIs let your organization focus on the elements of mobility management that are most important to your business goals. And, of course, this comprehensive service provides exceptional remote support.
Realizing Your Enterprise Mobility Strategy With Lowry Solutions
There are many different approaches that any organization can take to implement its enterprise mobility strategy. Whether you need support in specific areas or are looking for a team that can provide for all of your MDM needs, Lowry Solutions can help.
Lowry Solutions has been providing enterprise mobility solutions since 1974, and we’ve kept up with cutting-edge technology to deliver the most effective solutions available today. With Lowry Solutions, your organization can enjoy the reliability, security, and ease of use that come with a professional mobility solution.
Our team can develop a custom solution that addresses the unique needs of your organization. We can provide deployment, DaaS, MDM, migration, and more. No matter where you are in terms of strategy implementation, we can help you with the next step.
You can schedule a consultation with Lowry Solutions today to find out how our solutions can benefit your organization.
