Complete Guide to Mobile Device Management at Your Company

With a higher-than-ever increase of people working remotely, companies are relying more on mobile devices to complete projects and get the job done. Establishing the right mobile device management system is integral. This process helps your company keep data and devices safe from hackers or other risks that could cost money and disrupt business.  

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So, how do you know the best software and system for you? This article will discuss the importance of mobile device management for businesses, how it works, and how your business might implement it. 

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What is mobile device management?

In modern business, the use of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other devices — whether company-owned or employee-owned — is a given, especially with a remote workforce. It’s integral that your company craft a mobile device management system to remotely monitor, govern, and secure your business’s smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

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Your employees’ mobile devices can leave your company vulnerable to multiple risks — everything from malware, phishing attacks and other hacks, to phones and laptops being physically stolen or lost. 

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A mobile device management plan can help to mitigate these risks. Typically, this process is implemented using third-party MDM software to keep your sensitive business data and documents safe. Mobile device management software is combined with policies on how these devices can be used, real-time monitoring of data usage, and backend infrastructure.

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MDM is connected to other tech-related security practices, including mobile application management, enterprise mobility management, and unified endpoint management.

There’s been a growing shift toward bring-your-own-device (BYOD). Employees use their personal devices to connect with company networks and systems to access your business’s potentially confidential information. While mobile device management focuses more on securing company-owned devices provided to workers, with BYOD, employers turn to mobile application management that manages and controls just specific business applications on workers’ personal devices.

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MDM and MAM are both processes that fall under the umbrella of enterprise mobility management, also known as EMM. Meanwhile, UEM focuses more on managing endpoint security, including laptops, mobile phones, personal computers, printers, and even wearables. 

Why is mobile device management important? 

In recent years, working remotely has become the norm. In the United States, more than 4.7 million people spend at least half of their time working in a remote setting. This means employees use devices such as cellphones, tablets, or PCs and laptops (both Apple and Windows products) to work from outside the office and stay connected with their employer and coworkers.

With these devices potentially providing access to critical and sensitive business information, there’s a security risk to the company if these devices are stolen, lost, or hacked. One study showed in 20% of organizations surveyed, remote workers have caused some type of security breach.

Having a mobile device management plan allows you to monitor your employees’ portable devices and retain control over confidential data and information. Companies need to establish an MDM policy to uniformly manage security for these devices — while allowing the user some flexibility and minimizing the vulnerabilities to phishing, malware, and other cybersecurity threats. 

A strong MDM plan can also save your company money by lowering the cost of IT resources, as well as expenses related to carrier services. It’s estimated that, on average, companies can save $21,220 per every 1,000 devices during the first year they have a mobile device management plan in place. These savings increase another $10,610 during the second year of implementing an MDM policy and another $2,120 after the third year. That’s a 184% return on investment over three years.

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How mobile device management works within companies

MDM software is a critical piece of a company’s mobile device management approach, but there’s more to it than that. Your company’s IT security policies go hand-in-hand with MDM.

Your company’s MDM software can be used to protect the device itself and its applications, data, and content. Additionally, this software can also be used to track inventory, maintain and configure devices remotely, manage applications and data, and monitor device usage.

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Policy creation and enforcement are also essential parts of your MDM platform. By creating standardized device management policies, you can stay ahead of any potential security threats and act quickly if your employees’ devices are hacked, lost, or stolen. Having a uniform policy makes it easier for your IT department if you have a large team of employees with devices to secure and monitor.

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Through MDM, your company will either provide a work device to employees or give their personal devices access to business applications, your corporate network, corporate data, and company email based on their role.

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Your company’s MDM software and an established management console let your IT admins access management features to easily monitor your company’s data for breaches through these enrolled devices — as well as how your employees are using their mobile phones, laptops, and tablets. With the MDM tools your company puts in place, if there’s a breach, you can do anything from wiping a device of all important business data remotely to troubleshooting minor issues. 

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How to implement mobile device management in your company

Once your business has a mobile device management plan in place, you need to implement it. Here are some steps your company should take.

Establish a server 

First, you need to establish your MDM server, which is used to send out commands to remote devices, and a client component, which is installed and operates on these devices. The client receives and implements the commands distributed by the server.

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While your server and client component might come from the same vendor, this doesn’t have to be the case. You can also purchase these components from multiple vendors.

Implement central remote management 

Next, you’ll implement your central remote management system using the commands your server sends over the air. 

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An administrator — either at the mobile operator, an enterprise IT data center, or using a handset OEM — should be assigned to monitor data and device usage and ready to update or configure groups of devices should any problems arise.  

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Monitoring and addressing MDM needs through a central location with a dedicated team helps streamline the process should any data breaches arise. 

End-user devices are used in the platform network 

When it comes to end-user devices connected to your company’s device management system software platforms, you can use plug-and-play data services designed for each specific device. This allows you to detect any device connected to your business’ network automatically, so you can continuously monitor and manage them.

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This automated process allows you to track all devices on your network easily. It keeps a history of them and transmits settings to all permitted and subscribed devices at speeds up to 50 over-the-air setting update files each second.

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Best practices for mobile device management

As you create a mobile device management platform for your company, here are some best practices to consider:

• Establish a detailed policy. Create an in-depth mobile device management policy, that allows your company to uniformly manage how all devices — whether provided by your business or BYOD — are monitored and secured.
• Require passwords. A device password is the first secure entry point that could allow others to breach your company’s system and data security. Requiring passwords and authentication creates an extra buffer between your devices, data, and the outside world.
• Enforce updates. If the devices connected to your network don’t undergo regular security updates, you’re putting your whole company at risk. Any device that isn’t updated with the latest security features is a weak link that hackers could use to infiltrate your system.
• Only allow workers to use approved apps. Not all apps offer the same security features. Determine which apps are approved for company devices and ensure they’re encrypted and meet your company’s security standards.
• Force backup files connected to all company networks. Regularly backing up your company’s data — to both local drives and cloud storage — is the best way to ensure you have access to all your vital information in case there’s a breach.
• Allow employees only to use certain mobile service providers. The security offered by various service providers isn’t necessarily equal. Some provide more secure data connections and Wi-Fi networks.
• Monitor devices in real-time and report issues immediately. The sooner a breach is spotted and reported, whether a device is lost, stolen, or hacked into, the more quickly your IT management team can spring into action. They can remotely lock missing equipment or wipe it of all company data.

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How MDM works when employees bring their own device

Some companies opt for a bring your own device solution where employees use their personal devices for work activities rather than a company-issued mobile phone (both androids and iPhones), tablets, or computers (whether MacOS or other operating systems). Employees often prefer BYOD. 

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One study shows that 78% of workers think using just one mobile device is useful for balancing their personal and professional lives. 49% of those who responded to another survey said that using their own device when working increases their productivity.

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The good news is that you’re also spending less money on hardware and software on top of increasing productivity. The bad news is that BYOD opens your company to even more risk of data loss and leakage as personal devices are more difficult to manage.

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While you can regularly monitor a company-owned device and require those devices to use backup software, antivirus software, and specific password policies, it’s harder when you’re talking about a worker’s personal cell phone or other mobile device.

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Still, there are guidelines you can put in place and actions your enterprise can take that can help mitigate the risk of BYOD devices. Here are a few best practices for bring your own device solutions:

• Limit access to the device. Establish protocols to limit who uses BYOD devices connected to your network. This ensures only authorized users have access to company data.
• Focus on personal privacy. Some people might be squeamish about giving their employer control of their personal device. Quell any concerns about privacy or that you might spy on them remotely by creating a crystal-clear policy surrounding when and how your IT department might access their device. Communicate this clearly with your workers. Be clear about how personal and business data will be kept separate and treated differently.
• Require the encryption of company data. Enforcing the encryption of your company’s data and applications, even on personal devices, is key to securing your network. If your employee’s device is ever lost or stolen, or targeted by hackers, you'll be glad you did.
• Have a plan in place for lost and stolen devices. Your company should be ready for anything, including if your employee loses their personal device or has it stolen. In this extreme case, your IT team should have remote access to remotely lock it, wipe it of company data, or disable specific applications.
• Communicate with your workers. Crafting a detailed policy is key to the security of BYOD solutions. But you also need to ensure that you’re educating your employees about these rules for managed devices and reminding them of personal device safety practices.

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Get detailed mobile device history reports with Phonecheck

As you consider device management solutions for your company, consider buying devices that are Phonecheck Certified and come with Device History Reports. If you’re managing corporate device stock at scale, our fully integrated platform offers a complete certification suite to background check any used device, letting you know whether it’s been lost or stolen, if it’s paid off, if it’s locked to a specific carrier, and more.

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Phonecheck serves as an extra security tool for your company as you mitigate risks related to its MDM solutions. Avoid costly hidden problems by purchasing a single history report on Phonecheck.com for about the cost of a cup of coffee.

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