Small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) across all industries increasingly depend on smartphones and mobile applications to run their enterprises. But there are also more concerns associated with mobile’s growing relevance and dependence. SMBs should carefully assess their mobile device management (MDM) strategy to avoid incurring expensive security breaches.
Describe MDM?
MDM software enables you to manage and enforce your company’s mobile usage regulations on staff members’ smartphones and tablets. It is occasionally a component of an enterprise mobility management (EMM) platform. It increases security, reduces device downtime, and keeps support expenses in check. Each employee’s mobile device will have an MDM client application installed.
The IT administrator may customise and modify settings and rules for all registered devices through an MDM interface.
MDM could first appear to be too complicated for your company, yet it is crucial. Using your smartphone for anything other than voice conversations can put your company at risk for regulatory compliance problems and data breaches. Fortunately, there are economical choices suitable for SMBs, and simple to scale up for your expanding company.
What is MDM used for?
MDM enables you to implement policies on smartphones and tablets by using software agents on employee devices and an MDM server in the cloud or on-premises. Updates and initial policy profiles may be “forced” to download over the air without the user’s consent (OTA). The new policies are applied to the smartphone or tablet by the MDM agent, preventing it from installing specific social networking apps or requiring biometric verification, for example.
Several MDMs available for smaller firms provide the capabilities you need to assist you in securing mobile devices used by employees, whether they are BYOD or company-issued.
As with app stores for consumer apps, you may distribute applications and updates, track devices, enforce substantial password restrictions, track lost or stolen devices remotely, and deliver new versions of mobile CRM programs.
Is cloud-based MDM better for small businesses than on-premises?
Both on-premises and cloud-based versions offer benefits and drawbacks. Businesses must put the MDM server product in a data centre and engage one or more IT professionals to administer it in order to adopt on-premises solutions, which may be too much for a small firm to handle. For businesses that need Active Directory (AD) connection, on-premises installations provide complete corporate control and are the best choice.
In contrast, the manufacturer automatically updates cloud systems and doesn’t need a server. A cloud-based solution is frequently advised as a good place for small business IT managers to start due to the lower initial cost and continuous functionality. Additionally, during the past few years, cloud security has advanced significantly. Cloud data centers are frequently just as secure as their on-premises equivalents, if not more so.
MDM has a per-user cost.
Small companies desire to balance these advantages against the expense while keeping their financial health their primary priority. According to research by Oxford Economics, MDM typically costs between $3.25 and $9 per device each month.
The cost will inevitably increase as you include more features, such as virtual private networks (VPN), containerization, or data separation. Some MDMs, such as the Knox Manage cloud solution, which is reasonably priced, provide free trials.
A data breach, however, does incur significant expenses. The Ponemon Institute estimates that the average price per record is $148. This sum, for healthcare companies, can reach $408. Your workers may have protected information saved in their email inboxes or mobile applications if they use their cell phones for work-related activities. What occurs if their smartphone is misplaced, stolen, or compromised by a malicious program they downloaded?
Small companies frequently don’t recover from a data breach. MDM guards mobile devices used for business, whether they belong to the firm or an employee, and helps shield the company from risk. An MD becomes essential as your small business gets more mobile.
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