Why Mobile Device Management is No Longer Enough

What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, smartphones and tablets were still novel, but today, it’s likely that most (if not all) of your employees own one or several. And they’re using them to accomplish personal and professional tasks at home, in the office and on the road.

As the lines between home and office continue to blur, we’ve accepted that the mobile workforce is here to stay. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is widely supported and has also given life to bring your own apps (BYOA), bring your own cloud (BYOC) and bring your own network (BYON).

All of this means that corporate data travels with your employees, no matter where they go, and is shared between devices and networks. But with increasing data mobility comes significant risk to data privacy and security.

How Do Data Privacy Concerns Shape the Future of Enterprise Mobility Management?

When it comes to mobile device management (MDM), it is no longer enough to simply manage devices. The focus has shifted from device management to data protection in response to growth in the number and sophistication of threats exploiting mobile vulnerabilities. However, while securing devices, one can’t lose sight of the need to ensure productivity, so users can get their work done regardless of time, location and choice of device.

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) has emerged as an approach to accomplishing these goals. With the right mix of MDM, Mobile Application Management, and security and content management capabilities, EMM is the starting point for managing anything on a mobile platform.

As noted recently by Gartner, EMM suites are the glue that connects mobile devices to their enterprise infrastructure. A comprehensive EMM solution offers your workforce not only security, but the tools and simplicity required to fuel productivity and get access to what’s needed to get work done.

Beyond securing mobile workforces and devices, EMM is vital to future IT and security strategies focused on getting a handle on the interconnectedness driven by the Internet of Things (IoT). As the IoT gives organizations more endpoints to manage on the network, EMM will need to keep pace to reliably secure these new technologies.

What to Look for in Your EMM Solution

In choosing an EMM offering, it is important to seek out a solution that offers strong identity management tools with single sign-on capabilities to optimize the user experience across mobile devices. Enabling fast, simple onboarding is equally valuable to the end user experience. Just a few steps should be all that’s required to populate devices with everything employees need to be productive.

VMware AirWatch is an EMM solution that answers the challenges of both productivity and security and allows your IT team to:

• Manage all endpoints in a single solution
• Support full application lifecycle from development to deployment
• Automate process and deliver intelligent insights
• Protect corporate apps and data on any network
• Increase mobile productivity with engaging business applications

For your end users, the AirWatch Content Locker allows them secure access to managed content and features:

• Aggregated search to simplify access to all corporate content across multiple content repositories and devices
• A single access point to content across OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox and others
• Simple file sharing that keeps your team in sync with the latest content from your private network
• Support for various devices (phone, tablet, desktop) and file types

Simplicity, productivity and security. All are key to finding the right EMM solution. The experts at OneNeck can help you assess your mobility risks, security needs and productivity goals, and identify the right EMM solution to meet your unique needs.

Download the AirWatch white paper to learn more.

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