Mobile Device Management software allows organizations to control and secure access of personal smartphones and tablets on a company’s network. What’s that mean – not just anyone can access your organization’s data on any device. Setting up a BYOD policy to work in conjunction with Mobile Device Management is the best way to ensure your data is safe.
MDM
When you have Mobile Device Management (MDM), you can allow mobile devices on the corporate infrastructure without any worries that the data accessed on that devices is walking out your front door. Aside from the security aspect, a Mobile Device Management plan also encourages more productivity in your workforce. If you needed to push a notification to all users for something like a closing, Mobile Device Management makes this easy and effective.
Employees are able to safely an easily work from anywhere, anytime. The VPN and Remote Desktop Services are available through Mobile Device Management platforms. If an employee leaves the company or loses their device, you’re able to remotely wipe the company data from the phone or tablet.
BYOD
Before diving into a Mobile Device Management software, it’s important to create a BYOD (bring your own device) policy so your employees know what to expect and what is expected of them. A BYOD policy can eliminate a lot of problems before they come up. This policy should include acceptable use, device selection, reimbursement, and applications and security.
Including acceptable use should help to decrease time employees send on their devices for personal reasons on company time. Device selection is important because if you don’t want to cover tablets or certain smartphones, those standards should be set in place before you have to deny someone access. Reimbursement policies are great for employees who need to use their personal devices quite often for work purposes. Giving them money towards their monthly cell phone bill eases any tension they might feel about using their personal device for work. If you have a BYOD policy, there might be certain apps you want employees to have on their phones. This could include something like Microsoft Teams. The security aspect is arguably the most important piece of MDM and BYOD. You want to make sure employees keep their phones up to date and any security apps on their phones. The MDM software should go a long way towards security efforts with personal devices.
Taking this two-pronged approach to personal devices on your organization’s network should ensure that you keep your network secure. Everyone within the organization knows what is expected of them with personal device use and you have a way to monitor and control what data is going in and out.
