How to Support Your Device Management Strategy
by Natalie Schlueter
Mobile Device Management can be complex if not properly strategized. The ever changing atmosphere and reliance on BYOD or supplied 1:1 devices can make for a stressful time when a device management strategy is supposed to be in place. With more and more employees and students utilizing technology in their place of work, employers need to consider their Mobile Device Management strategy even more than before.
Beyond Mobile Device Management software, an organization should consider what to do to manage the physical devices especially on a 1:1 ratio. Some questions to consider when thinking about a device management strategy are:
- How will you implement the management of devices at the beginning and end of each day?
- Will there be rules that need to be followed by employees or students?
- How will the devices be updated when needed?
- How will the devices be checked out?
And many more.
Some of these questions can be answered without a question of doubt, but what happens when other tools are needed to provide for the simplest, most efficient way of answering these important questions.
First, what is Mobile Device Management?
Mobile Device Management or MDM is the process of enhancing corporate data security by monitoring, managing and securing the mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and phones that are used in all enterprises. These enterprises can include, but are not limited to, education, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and government.
This system of management provides IT teams and admins to control what users do in terms of rules and regulations on the device and when storing the device.
It can help track visibility of usage and any other things that might be of use for the organization with specific API’s and plug-ins adaptable for the solutions necessary in the MDM strategy.
Why is Mobile Device Management important?
Mobile Device Management is important because it can minimize:
- Theft and Loss
- Risk associated with BYOD
- Device Mal-treatment
- Employee Miscommunication
- Overcharged Batteries
- Charge issues throughout the Day
Having a device management strategy in place can minimize many risks to devices and can ultimately maximize time, efficiency and practical use of electronic devices in your environment.
How can charging solutions aid in the strategic planning of a device management strategy?
Mobile charging solutions provide IT teams and admins the added assurance that devices are under their control and can easily be managed, synced and provisioned with the newest updates needed for the entire fleet.
Secure Devices Overnight Charging solutions not only provide a place to store, charge, sync, and provision, but they also provide added security for overnight charging and accountability with scan in / scan out for mobile devices at the beginning and end of each day.
IT teams and admins are able to see which end users turned in their devices at the end of the day and which users did not to hold them accountable for their actions. Because of this feature, devices are rarely lost, stolen, or damaged.
Increase Battery Life and Operation of Devices Other charging solutions allow for easy battery charge, careful not to overflow the device battery and provide a full rate charge to all devices. Many charging solutions operate with a smart cycle timer or an intelligent charging landscape with battery, time and amount of devices in mind.
With this type of charging, IT teams and admins can expect devices to be fully charged and ready to go when they need them, aiding in the mobile device management strategy overall.
Assign Users Directly to Bays or Certain Devices If you want to have a system in place that assigns specific users to specific devices because of the features on the devices or simply because you want to keep track of devices and avoid conflict, a charging solution will help you easily manage this. By having syncing and provisioning tools to give you complete control over Pin codes and RFID cards, you can manually assign individuals to specific bays on certain charging solutions and ease the tension of which device to choose at the beginning of each day.
Send Updates and User Abilities Out to Devices with One Click With a syncing and provisioning tool connected to a charging solution, with the click of a button you can send updates out to an entire fleet of devices. This saves a gigantic amount of time so that you can focus on other important things in your strategy.
Charging solutions can take the handy work out of the device management strategy so that IT teams can focus on what matters most which is increasing efficiency, expanding the strategy and updating software to match the ever-changing technology landscape in offices, schools, hospitals, and everything in-between.
How can Bretford aid in Mobile Device Management?
TechGuard Connect® Charging Lockers: These lockers provide users with the added security of being able to check in their own devices with a unique pin code if the strategy is to BYOD.
If your strategy for mobile device management is to assign users to specific devices, you can do this with the cloud-based locker that lets you assign users a unique pin code or RFID to access their device.
PowerSync Pro™ 2nd Generation: If your device management strategy only accounts for iOS devices this is the solution for you. Provision, and re-provision your fleet of apple iOS devices with this solution. Lower support costs and automate device provisioning to an entire fleet by combining Apple Provisioning Utility (APU) with GroundControl to gain full control over devices.
You can use this solution with Apple iPads, iPhones, or iPad Minis.
CUBE Cart® Pre-Wired: This traditional solution will provide you with mobile device charging, secure overnight storage of devices, and an even, full-charge with a digital cycle timer that provides smart charging. This solution can house up to 36 devices and is good for managing a large fleet.
Contact Bretford
To find out how your mobile device management strategy can be enhanced with charging solutions contact Bretford today and talk to an experienced sales representative by calling (800) 521-9614.
CUBE Cart® Pre-Wired
Tablet . Laptop . Chromebook
Save time and let Bretford wire your CUBE Cart® with USB-C power adapters so the cables are perfectly organized and ready to deploy out of the box!
TechGuard Connect® Charging Lockers
Tablet . Laptop . Chromebook
Mobile device locker that combines charging in every bay with keyless access control. All centrally managed from the cloud with Bretford Connect®.
PowerSync Pro™ Generation 2
iPad . iPad Mini . iPhone
The PowerSync Pro Smart Hub provides a best-in-class hardware experience for simplifying the management of these devices.
