What does the success of a mobile enterprise strategy decree?
Today’s challenge for companies involves greater integration between existing IT structures and mobile devices. In particular, attention to security policies and the management of personal devices represent an increasingly important aspect in the business environment.
MDM, Mobile Device Management must provide the solution to a problem that has been affecting the IT area of companies for a few years: exponential growth and the variety of devices and systems.
This growing phenomenon is linked to various aspects regarding management and mobile protection necessity, and IT security in general.
Which are the key elements for a correct MDM strategy?
For an MDM strategy to be effective, several aspects need to be considered. First of all, it is essential to have clear ideas about which devices the company employees use, or are expected to use. Furthermore, it would be important to also define which operating systems are implemented and which apps can also be used from mobile.
In the field of mobile protection, the security policies should include rules on the complexity of the passcode, encryption, initialization and remote lock (used in case of loss or theft of the device for remote initialisation and deletion of data).
Other very important elements are the remote distribution and updates of the system and the apps, the silent installations, the management of the whitelist / blacklist and, last but not least, the OTA (Over The Air) management which allows sending the configurations directly on the user’s device, wherever it is.
Finally, do not underestimate the management through a web console, the choice and scalability of the devices and the procedures for reassignment to new users.
Forrester’s best practices:
If we want to present a sort of vademecum of which are the best practices for an effective MDM strategy, we can recall the Forrester study on device management, and summarize it in these highlights:
- Classify the company’s resources
- Study a strategy that involves some flexibility in order to support device diversity
- Invest in an effective and certified MDM solution
- Increase passcode policies
- Define what procedures to adopt for requesting and releasing devices
- Use web-based console for management of management and security operations
- Explain to staff what support services are available (IT department)
- Set the device to lock remotely when you reach a maximum limit of failed authentication attempts
- Reduce the retention time of data on mobile devices
- Establish standard procedures to remotely lock devices in the event of theft or loss
- Have an emergency telephone number to contact in case of theft or loss of the device
Ermetix UEM is an EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) solution that is able to guarantee the control of mobile devices respecting all the Forrester’s criteria, increasing security and giving great flexibility to the ICT department.