The modern enterprise walks a fine line with technology. How do you manage employees demands for mobility – often on multiple devices – against the threat that comes with mixing private and business use of data on the same device? Do you really need to trade off productivity and the employee contentment that comes with maintaining a unified system to protect against the possibility your data could be compromised in a cyber attack? Do you really have to give up flexibility to ensure security?
From challenge to challenge
These questions have been challenging IT leaders from the first time employees began using their smartphones for work-related tasks. It was an issue that could be contained when functionality was limited a basic function such as email, but with the adoption of mobile apps, and employee expectations to work interchangeably on phones, laptops and tablets, new challenges requiring sophisticated responses have emerged, foremost of which has become how to deliver a smooth, secure and consistent end-user experience across all device types.
Time to evolve
Traditionally, IT department had to employ one set of tools to manage laptop and desktop computers, and a second set of tools to manage mobile devices. This was all well and good until the emergence of cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT), with its remote sensors and wearable technology. Device management has simply become too difficult a juggling act to keep up. With so much variance between the configurations and security policies of computers, mobile devices, and now IoT tech, companies have come to a point where they must evolve their endpoint management.
Why “yes” to a UEM
Through unified endpoint management (UEM), a company can secure and control any and every device being used in their system, from laptops and desktop computers to tablets and smartphones, from a single console. With a UEM in place, an organization can enjoy:
- Platform independence – a single universal platform for managing all devices in the system;
- User centricity – where IT can control and personalize access to specific content and apps based on roles and processes, usage history, etc.;
- Tighter control – more granular (rules-based) device management, by time and location;
- Cost savings – consolidation of the management tools in use, minimizing potential points of failure, and less of a need to track vendor service-level agreements and product updates; and
- Smoother onboarding – where IT can push software and configurations to anyone, anywhere.
Making the right choice
Your company does well to be mindful of the fact that today’s employees, especially millennials, expect to be able to bring any device into an environment and be ready to start using it in a few minutes or less. If your company has already come to the realization that it needs to put a UEM in place, this puts you even further ahead of the curve. However, such a huge decision cannot and should not be rushed. There are many factors to weigh, and comparing features across even a few shortlisted solutions can be an arduous, not to mention time-consuming, task.
BlackBerry has produced a white paper that provides you with a checklist of the critical areas you must consider when you are deciding on a UEM solution that best fits your business. Download “A UEM Checklist for CIOs” today, and use it as you decide on the best UEM solution for your organization.
