The 7 Mobile Device Management Best Practices

Mobile Device Management (MDM) practices are integral to the success of any MDM deployment for enterprise or personal use. In fact, it does have a direct impact on how you utilize company-owned devices and resources. It also plays a role in protecting and safeguarding your organization/enterprise from risks like data breaches, theft, malware attacks and the likes. In this guide we’ll look into 7 Mobile Device Management best practices you ought to adopt as a business/organization.

1 Mobile Device Management Best Practices

As aforementioned, mobile device management best practices are at the core of the success of enterprises especially those that use company-owned devices.

While there is no one-for-all solution to MDM practice, here are some of the best MDM practices worth implementing in your enterprise/organization.

1Clarify Management Needs

Management needs are the foundation of an array of important MDM solution decisions. You need to identify and clarify the needs of your organization/enterprise to direct you to the right MDM solution for your enterprise.

Make sure you factor in the type of devices you need to manage, the challenges you are trying to solve, the numerical number of devices in question, your business scalability, and of course the size and structure of your business.

Additionally, ask yourself whether your main objective is security, monitoring, kiosk, managing applications, getting reports of device-usages, or employee control among others. Since there is no one-size-fits-all solution, taking these management needs into account will help you choose an MDM solution that significantly suits your business.

2Choose a Suitable Tool

Management needs are the foundation of an array of important MDM solution decisions. You need to identify and clarify the needs of your organization/enterprise to direct you to the right MDM solution for your enterprise.

The choice of your MDM solution can make or break the ability to meet your MDM needs. It’s worth noting that MDM tools come with features designed to address certain MDM needs. While some features might be similar across some MDM solutions, others provide a unique set of MDM features that suit specific user needs.

Additionally, these tools come with different pricing plans and may be designed to only work with certain devices. Therefore, when choosing a suitable MDM tool, consider factors like cost, functionality, supported devices, ease of use and integration, and the maximum number of devices supported among others.

This ensures that you invest in an MDM tool that works for you without breaking the bank.

3Deployment

Your MDM deployment method is crucial and you cannot afford to ignore it. A well-chosen deployment method can help your organization easily achieve its objectives and goals. The basic common deployment methods as you will see in several enterprise-grade MDM solutions like AirDroid Business are cloud and on-premise deployment methods.

Cloud premise lets you deploy your MDM solution via cloud services while on-premise deployment method is where the MDM solution is hosted, deployed, and maintained within the premises of the organization.

Remember, each deployment has its strengths and limitations and it is important to thoroughly understand them to enable you to choose a deployment method that suits mobile device management security best practices and works best works for your enterprise.

4Remote Monitoring & Access

Remote management and access is one of the best practices of MDM solutions especially with the evolution of digital platforms and remote working. With several companies adopting work-from-home or remote offices with bring your own device or use of company-owned devices in remote offices, remote monitoring and access are becoming more important than ever.

This MDM practice allows your administration or IT department to access target devices remotely, manage them, and control them according to company policies for effective device utilization, security, and employee management.

5App Management

Apps can be a major source of data leaks and malicious attacks on enterprise devices. Unmanaged apps provide loopholes that can be exploited by cybercriminals to steal valuable company data for malicious intentions. This can prove costly to the organization especially where company devices are used by diverse employees across remote/different workstations.

With proper app management practices, companies can control the apps that can be installed, ensuring that apps from only verified sources are installed. Additionally, the admin can retain exclusive rights to install, uninstall, whitelist, blacklist, and restrict users not to install apps from unknown source. Whether you choose BYOD, COBO, or COPE strategies, always make sure the approved apps meet the compliance standards and are approved.

6Establishing Policies

Establishing and enforcing strong policies helps you execute MDM solutions for your enterprise with clarity. MDM policies can govern various crucial aspects of MDM solutions including defining how devices should be deployed, the level and extent of employee interaction with these devices, and what conditions ought to be met to execute certain operations on target devices.

For example, if you are using the BYOD strategy, you expect your policies to define the type of devices permitted, access conditions, integration policies, limitations, and exit strategies for these devices from the company’s MDM system. You can always tailor your MDM policies based on your unique needs.

7Location Tracking & Geofencing

Location tracking and geofencing have become a popular MDM solution, especially where device security and employee/child control are the primary objectives. With this feature, you can configure target devices to only access or run enterprise functions as long as they are within a certain geographical area.

Using MDM solutions like AirDroid Business, for example, you can monitor the real-time location of your remote devices for ease of security audit. Additionally, you can access logs and trace the movements of the respective users for better control and management.

2 Best MDM Solutions for Different Enterprises

Now that you know a thing or two about MDM security best practices, let’s now look at some of the best free and official solutions you can use:

Free & Official Solutions:

1Esper

Esper is one of the best free MDM solutions for official solutions. This MDM tool is useful in monitoring, deployments, software updates, and troubleshooting of devices like Android, iOS, or a mixed device fleet from a single console.
This tool supports over 1500 devices of different operating systems and you can deploy without stress since its tooling is made for modern device fleets. Additionally, this MDM solution lets you troubleshoot from anywhere and update your devices at will.

● Pricing: Esper has a free trial for you to use, but if you want more functions, you will need to purchase their plan.

2Knox

Knox is an intuitive cloud-based MDM solution that helps you secure, deploy, and manage your devices. It is optimized for Samsung devices to allow admins to deploy mobile devices with speed and ease. Know offers an automated enrollment service and a quick start wizard meant to allow admins to seamlessly establish groups and profiles.

● Pricing: It is free for personal use, for business, you'll need to purchase a plan.

For Small Scale Enterprise with Lower Price:

1AirDroid Business

Android Business is a powerful MDM solution for small-scale enterprises owing to its lower price and good capabilities. This tool is popular for its amazing policy controls, kiosk mode support, geofencing, and remote control. Furthermore, AirDroid Busines provides easier and more convenient enrollment methods including cloud-based and on-premise deployments. Furthermore, it offers plenty of customization options to tailor your MDM to meet your needs.

● Pricing: It starts from $12 per device per year.

2AppTec360

AppTec360 is a popular MDM solution for mobile devices, Windows, and MacBooks. This MDM solution lets you set granular policies for your devices, apps, and network data. With this tool, you can deploy your apps and share relevant documentation across multiple devices from a central place. AppTec360 is also known for its ability to block malware, phishing, and data loss across managed devices.

● Pricing: The price depends on different manage requirememt. For Unified Endpoint Management Package, it is $ 1.54 per device.

For Big Enterprise:

1IBM MaaS360

IBM MaaS360 is a powerful MDM solution for big enterprises. It helps companies of any size to simplify and automate their device management. It can manage iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows, and iPadOS from a single console. The good thing about this tool is that its unified endpoint management is driven by AI, making it easier to manage multiple platforms from a single console.

● Pricing: Contact the sales team to get a quote.

2Manage Engine

Manage Engine is an MDM solution that is almost synonymous with big enterprises. This enterprise MDM solution allows you to manage and secure multiple devices of different operating systems from a single console. It is designed to inject the power of mobility into your enterprise workforce through employee productivity enhancement while ensuring corporate security. This tool offers a plethora of features including device, app, security, email, and content management.

● Pricing: You have to contact the sales team to get a quote.

3Conclusion

In a nutshell, you need to adopt the best mobile device management practices if you’re to streamline how you manage, secure, and monitor mobile devices. Before making up your mind on what MDM tool is best for your enterprise, make sure you develop a comprehensive checklist that cuts across your needs, budget, type, and size of business, projected scalability, and the features offered by an MDM solution.