With Bring Your Own Device and other more mobile tools becoming more and more common (especially with the number of people working from home right now) the ability for a business to retain control of their technology and their data is critical. To accomplish this, Mobile Device Management is an indispensable tool.
Let’s review a few best practices as they pertain to mobile device management, or MDM.
What is Mobile Device Management?
Mobile device management is the strategic application of software that reinforces policies to dictate how data can be accessed and used. This also allows your IT resources an element of control that otherwise would not be possible, helping to boost your data security. As a result, your business can safely embrace the various benefits of a Bring Your Own Device strategy.
Of course, your IT resource needs to be discerning with the solution they use, and make sure that their overall strategy covers a few key points:
The Policy is Realistic
Here’s the thing: if you’re allowing your employees to use their personal devices, you can’t assume that they are all of the same mind when it comes to their preferred operating system. This means that you need to ensure that your MDM solution supports both the Android and iOS systems.
In addition to this, your solution needs to play nicely with both devices you provide and those that your employees own, with a policy that recognizes this.
You Can Keep Track of these Devices
So, once you’ve caught Ritchie in accounting skimming some money, you’ve had to terminate him. Your MDM solution should be able to warn you if he is still able to access company accounts via a mobile device and revoke these permissions, as necessary. Of course, there are other benefits as well. Troubleshooting issues becomes a lot easier with these capabilities, making it more efficient to diagnose and resolve potential issues.
Security is Maintained
Ritchie aside, it would be nice to think that you can trust your employees, but the “I won’t be targeted” optimism bias can easily convince them that it’s safe to be lax in their security practices. Fortunately, an MDM solution can help you avoid trying to change their mind otherwise by instead enabling you to enforce certain security standards, including password hygiene, device encryption, and remote wiping capabilities. It is also possible to implement firewall, antivirus, and assorted other preventative measures.
Backup, Backup, Backup
Keeping your data protected from danger is one thing, but you also need to ensure that you have the means to recover it, if it were to be lost. This includes the data that your employees produce on their mobile devices. Following best practices and having this data automatically backed up to the cloud will help protect any progress made, especially if a device is damaged or lost.
WheelHouse IT is here to help you with all your IT challenges and needs. To learn more about what we can offer, reach out to us at (877) 771-2384.
