Mobile Device Management, or MDM, is a software program for controlling mobile devices such laptops, tablets, and smartphones. These do not always have to be a company-owned; they can also be personal devices that employees use for work (also known as BYOD, or “bring your own device”).Employees are used to choosing their own device and operating system, as well as using apps of their choosing, in the contemporary work environment. This causes the organization to utilize a range of mobile devices, operating systems, and apps, which present huge issues for the IT department in terms of providing the necessary devices and content for them, as well as securely connecting them to the corporate network. This process is made simpler and more secure with the use of MDM software.

Why Mobile Device Management is Important?

The importance of top mobile device management software can be traced by the following statements:-

1. Massive mobile application deployment necessitates the use of asset management and asset protection techniques.
2. Growing worries about security vulnerabilities brought on by employee use of mobile devices.
3. Standardization of procedures and practices for managing mobile devices.

Businesses need business mobility because most, if not all, employee tasks are now performed on mobile devices. Remote work capabilities are made possible by mobile device management, which uses the cloud to access data.

Due to the vast amounts of data that are stored and transferred on each device, mobile devices used by employees have turned into targets for malware, hackers, and other forms of exploitation. Organizations are aware of their obligation to safeguard and prevents the loss of this data while allowing their staff access to essential resources. Mobile device management fulfils this obligation by distributing vital updates and fixes for firmware and apps that are required for functioning as well as security. Real-time data backups provided by device management improve employee work and productivity.

Additionally, the emphasis on mobile platforms has diminished as mobile device management has shifted to include a broad perspective of device management, including desktops and laptops.

How Mobile Device Management Software Works?

Software for managing mobile devices often runs in the cloud or on-premise. IT administrators can remotely configure and control devices using the MDM management console. But first, the MDM server, or alternatively the MDM software, must enrol the devices. This can be accomplished by enrolling devices manually using a token, QR code, NFC, an email, or SMS, as well as through vendor-specific registration programs offered by Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft.

IT administrators can OTA-push configurations and programs to mobile devices via the management console. Technically speaking, the MDM server (software) issues a series of instructions that are carried out via operating system-integrated application programming interfaces (APIs) on devices.

Features of Mobile Device Management Software

The developers of mobile operating systems and manufacturers of mobile devices control what MDM software can and can not do on their devices through their APIs. As a result, mobile device management has become a commodity, with utmost vendors offering a similar set of core capabilities. MDM vendor differentiation comes by integrating mobile device management servers with other enterprise software.

Some of the features of Mobile Device Management Software are as follows:-

1. Device enrollment to configure security policies and onboard new devices.
2. Pre-established user profiles set by your MDM administrator to speed up onboarding.
3. Tracking and reporting of device inventory across the course of a mobile device’s lifecycle.
4. Self-service tools that let users take care of basic IT problems—like security updates—without submitting a service desk request.
5. App management, which may involve using an enterprise app store, distributing new apps, updating apps, deleting unused apps, or any combination of these.
6. Integration with mobile threat intelligence (MTI) or mobile threat defence (MTD) technologies to stop malware and other mobile device-targeting assaults.
7. Hardware feature control for the device enables administrators to limit the use of the camera and access to risky public Wi-Fi networks.
8. Using GPS and remote wiping, mobile device location management protects lost, stolen, and otherwise compromised devices; content management controls and secures organizational content, such as sales enablement content on mobile devices.

Conclusion

Mobile devices at the workplace are here to stay, and businesses must develop a plan to manage them before havoc starts to control the company’s data. Mobile Device Management solutions can help to safeguard, control and secure the data and configuration settings for mobile security devices in a company’s network, for both company and personal devices. Finally, before it’s purchased, good research and testing must be done on Mobile Device Management solutions.