Top 10 Best Mobile Device Management (MDM) Software Vendors

Mobile-Device Management Software (or MDM Software as it is frequently known) secures, monitors, manages and supports mobile devices deployed across enterprises. A key challenge for an IT department in any modern company is the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) revolution – employees wanting to use their own mobile devices to do work. This presents a plethora of security challenges and therefore the need for a robust mobile device management solution.

It is of tremendous concern to many leading enterprises that so many employees access sensitive corporate data via their personal devices and with the right MDM software solution in place, you can effectively manage the risks across both company-owned and employee-owned devices – securing, monitoring and managing with ease.

According to research published by Nemertes Research Group Inc at the end of 2013; over 25% of employees are expected to use tablets as a complementary device for work by the end of 2014, and a growing number of workers have already replaced their laptops with tablets within companies reporting this trend. Yet only 46% of companies worldwide have implemented an MDM solution. Is your enterprise at risk?

How does it work?

A typical setup involves two components; a server and a client.

The server sends out the management commands including updates and backups to the mobile devices within the network. The client runs on the handset and receives the commands, implementing them on the device. More often than not a single vendor provides the two solutions but in some cases the two components can be separated.

The first generation of mobile device management programs was very cumbersome, IT or users themselves would need to connect a handset or install a specific SIM in order to receive updates. This certainly has its limitations and certainly doesn’t scale beyond a certain point.

The next generation involves commands being sent over the air. The administrator of the mobile device management program could use the management console to update and configure a single handset or even a group of handsets within just a couple of clicks. This kind of program is easy to manage and more important is highly scalable which is essential in any growing enterprise.

Device management software platforms ensure that end-users benefit from plug and play data services for whatever device they are using. Such a platform can automatically detect devices in the network, sending them settings for immediate and continued usability. The process is fully automated, keeps a history of used devices and sends settings only to subscriber devices which were not previously set, sometimes at speeds reaching 50 over-the-air settings update files per second. Device management systems can deliver this function by filtering IMEI/IMSI pairs.

What are the key benefits?

A robust mobile device management software solution allows your company to enjoy the exceptional benefits of a BYOD program whilst mitigating the risks to your corporation’s data.

Greatly reduced equipment costs
Boost Employee morale
Decreased IT staff burden

What should you look for in an MDM solution?

Here are things to look for in an MDM solution:

Backup/restore functionality for all that important corporate data
Cloud-based to allow easy updates
Remote configuration and monitoring
Passwords, blacklists and other security policies enforcement
Granular logging & reporting functionality if compliance is important in your industry
Remote disabling of unauthorized devices and applications
Scalable, so new users and increasingly sophisticated devices can be accommodated easily

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