Mobil Device Management (MDM) and Wireless Expense Management (WEM) is a crucial aspect of modern IT management, especially with the increasing use of mobile devices including cell phones, tablets, hot spots, and back up LTE in the workplace. Choosing the right strategic provider will allow you to control security and enhance policies on all the devices under management reducing risk, increasing operational effectiveness and saving on your bottom line. There are traditionally three primary aspects of MDM/WEM that we recommend clients review and assess in their outsource journey: plan optimization, device support and security.
When reviewing MDM/WEM strategies, we want to confirm providers have direct Application Programming Interfaces (API) that allow them to communicate directly with Wireless Carriers (Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile) on your behalf. This brings real-time reporting to your organization so you know which devices have not been used in months (are perhaps become ‘paper weights’), are on outdated plans, who may be roaming and who needs international access. This API access allows a Partner provider to update plans while communicating savings and changes effectively to your team in real time.
Ensuring you are on the correct plan is step one for financial optimization, but streamlining the process of enrolling devices and users is also a big challenge. This includes initial procurement of the device, setup and configuration, remote wiping if needed, disabling and E-waste of devices, all of which can be time-consuming for internal teams. Most partners in the MDM/WEM space offer plans to support your internal policies for mobile devices shifting this time-consuming challenge off your teams.
Security, security and security is a significant concern when managing mobile devices. Ensuring that devices are secure from threats like malware, data breaches, and unauthorized access is critical. MDM/WEM solutions will enforce security policies, encryption, and remote wipe capabilities to protect sensitive data for your organization. With 3 million devices being infected with malware every 6 months; monitoring company email, applications and access is the final trifecta in a balanced MDM/WEM solution.
Addressing these challenges requires a well-thought-out mobile device management strategy, a reliable MDM/WEM solution and ongoing monitoring and adaptation to changing technology landscapes and security threats. IQ Wired has the partnerships in place to support your journey finding the right MDM/WEM partner. While we recommend looking at all three aspects of a partner/solution, the crawl, walk, run approach to outsourcing this challenge is also widely accepted. We are here to support you and assist in making this potential operational shift for mobile device management.