Whether an organization plans on embracing a BYOD, CYOD, or COPE mobility strategy, security is bound to be its biggest concern. Employers and users alike fear that enterprise apps can lead to security risks, compromising devices, and corporate information. To put their mind at ease, your organization will need enterprise mobility management solutions.
These solutions harness desktop and app visualization to ensure that business data is accessible to people, not yet vulnerable to theft by being stored on a device. However, begin searching for these and you’re bound to find numerous MXM solutions. Ask further about these and you may get confused with all the technical jargon.
To ensure that you choose the right enterprise mobility management solution, here’s a quick introduction to the top three out there.
#1) Mobile Device Management (MDM)
MDM is a software-based approach that enforces policies that secure network access, app download and usage, service usage, and device security. Its solutions manage whole devices or limited to a segregated virtual portion of a device which includes data tracking and remote wipe capability.
MDM suites are the best choice for organizations that have corporate-owned devices. They’re considered “heavy-handed” as they allow enterprises to manage or even control entire devices. Therefore, they won’t be suitable for (or preferred by) personal device users.
Another thing to keep in mind is that MDM suites won’t secure the corporate network or users themselves. After all, you’re managing the whole device rather than securing applications or user access.
#2) Mobile Application Management (MAM)
MAM is another software-based approach. Instead of entire devices, its suites secure access and actions of applications. A much lighter approach than MDM, it requires users to install an app (or apps) that ensures secure access to the network and its resources.
MAM is preferable because it features an enterprise app store where you can provide third-party or in-house, company-branded apps. Employees also prefer them because they don’t interfere with their personal data. Therefore, they work well with a BYOD strategy.
However, MAM has its challenges. Every app requires unique coding to work with individual products. As a result, the availability of apps for a specific platform may be limited.
#3) Mobile Content Management (MCM)
MCM focuses on securing document management. Its suites authenticate, authorize, and control access through usernames, passwords, IP address, etc. Some of the best solutions out there use multi-factor authentication to grant and manage access to company documents.
MCM won’t affect users’ devices or other applications. Moreover, it distributes a single application to the user’s device to access the enterprise’s repository. Administrators will also appreciate the fact that they can limit access by selecting which users get full access and which ones can only view the content.
While considered the least intrusive method for enterprise mobility management, MCM’s high level security has a few limitations. It can change the whole infrastructure of your organization if it requires the deployment of other solutions such as enterprise content management and file sync and share. Decision makers will also need to determine whether to sync to a hub or to/from a device.
With so many decisions to make, businesses will be spending ample time just planning for MCM. So, opt for this enterprise mobility management solution if you have the resources to invest in it.
Choosing the Right MXM Suite for Your Organization
Choosing an enterprise mobility management tool isn’t easy. There’s more to these three MXM tools out there, many of which are quite thorough in comparison. That said, here are five pointers to help you get the right solution.
- Select a tool that best meets your organization’s current requirements. At the same time, keep future needs in mind so that you don’t have to go through the selection phase again.
- Decide whether you’ll expand beyond smartphones in the future and select accordingly.
- The right tool is one that allows you to go with the flow. That way, it can match the flexibility of your business.
- Consider implementing several enterprise mobility management solutions instead of one. That way, you can cover your bases and extend multiple layers of protection to mobile devices, users, and company assets.
- Always factor user experience into your decision. Users and employees are the key arbiters of adoption. So, take their experiences into consideration.
Just keep your eyes and ears open for new technologies as well. That way, you can stay ahead of the competition and protect all the organization’s assets.
