The 5 Most Common Mobile Device Management Challenges (and Solutions)

Many experts agree that an all-remote or hybrid model is soon to become the new working norm. This shift to digital workspaces, which now include laptops and PCs in addition to smartphones and tablets, has put a strain on many businesses. Companies face a number of challenges managing their enterprise mobility. From security and bring your own device (BYOD) to the user experience and enterprise mobility management (EMM) migration, mobile device management (MDM) is a key priority of digital transformation.

Let’s explore 5 of the most common MDM challenges companies face today and learn how you can overcome them for a more successful future—wherever your workforce may be.

1. Security

Introducing more devices and endpoints into your business means increasing the ways hackers can potentially exploit those endpoints and devices. It’s no surprise that analysts predict the fastest growing cybersecurity category in 2021 to be mobile device security.

A strong mobile security strategy starts in the data center. Bad actors are looking for ways into your network to steal and/or encrypt your sensitive corporate data. Even organizations with strict security and compliance guidelines for all sensitive data often lack those same stringent security measures for mobile devices.

According to an IDG study, 74% of global enterprise IT leaders report experiencing a data breach due to a mobile security issue. In that same study, 95% say a rise in data on or accessed by mobile devices increases the risk of a security breach.

Integrating all your mobile devices under a mobile device management software umbrella can help you close vulnerable gaps. MDM software enables you to securely manage your entire digital fleet, from mobile phones to PCs, maximizing up-time and containerizing personal data from corporate data.

2. Network access control

With the rise of the digital workspace, comes added complexities with more and varied mobile devices—both corporate owned and BYOD. Ensuring your team can still access the apps and corporate data they need, when they need to, is crucial. On the other hand, just because someone has a smartphone doesn’t mean they should have access to your data center.

A core element of your EMM platform is network access control (NAC). NAC checks and verifies devices wanting to access your network, as well as selectively enabling and disabling native device capabilities at a granular level. Categorizing all devices connected to the network by resource, role, device, and location-based access type, NAC can determine their access level based on pre-configured compliance rules.

3. Migration

At some point you’ll want or need to change your MDM software—to save money, consolidate your stack, or just because your current platform isn’t cutting it. Migration has its own set of challenges. In addition to the time it takes to set up new systems, is the steep learning curve that comes with any new enterprise mobility management solution. Relying on end-user self-enrollment when you’re working against an existing MDM contract renewal deadline means running the risk of paying for two solutions at the same time.

It’s important to reach out to employees early on so they’re prepared for the shift. A communication plan with the answers to their questions can smooth out migration confusion. Your plan should include process steps, a clear schedule, and regular updates. Sharing both the benefits, and detriments, of not adopting can motivate your team to embrace the change more quickly.

Whenever possible, couple the migration with a hardware refresh for the best end-user experience. This will have the least impact on your employees since there’s no need to unenroll or re-enroll devices.

4. User experience

The end-user experience has always been important when it comes to managing mobility. With the digital workspace, it is even more important. From migration to designing business mobile applications, the success of your mobile device management strategy rests on creating a satisfying user experience. This starts with ensuring your MDM software is compatible with common mobile device types.

If your company is all Apple iPhones, Jamf Pro may be the best enterprise mobility management solution for you. As an Apple-only EMM, Jamf Pro manages all Apple devices and includes additional capabilities just for those devices.

However, if your company uses various devices and has a large BYOD-user population, VMware Workspace ONE or MobileIron may be better platforms for you. Whichever platform you choose, make sure it has the capabilities you need to support all your device operating systems. The last thing you want is users to experience the gaps and lags in unmanaged devices.

Remote workers expect to be able to work anywhere on any device. Users shouldn’t see any difference, other than layout, from say a mobile phone to a PC, when they go to use a device. To work efficiently they need access to desktop or apps from any device. It doesn’t have to be a managed device. With single sign, once a user gets into their virtual desktop, that’s the only thing they have to sign in to, instead of signing in to every application individually.

A robust enterprise mobility management solution not only provides your end users with a stress-free experience, it also provides your administrators with a great experience.

5. BYOD

In 2018 more than 75% of organizations incorporated BYOD into their culture. The number of personal devices used for work has only increased with the push for permanent remote and hybrid workforce models. Unfortunately, many think their MDM software automatically takes care of BYOD.

Software and people aren’t the answer to a successful bring your own device program. What you need is a well-thought-out BYOD policy. Having a policy in place lets you take back control over your BYOD program instead of it having control over your business. A BYOD policy can save you from many headaches—governance, financial, security, device management. Remember it’s not just smartphones and tablets anymore. Your BYOD policy must also encompass laptops and desktops.

Support for all these devices can be a huge challenge. From answering user questions about email, Wi-Fi, and apps to onboarding and offboarding devices, you need clear policies that enable you to gain more benefits from your BYOD plan.

Vox Mobile has All Your Mobile Device Management Solutions

To get the most out of your managed mobility solution, you need to understand the costs, use cases, and challenges upfront. Vox Mobile can help you create a clear actionable MDM plan that works for you.

We can help you build an enterprise mobility strategy that meets your current needs and can scale with you—we all learned how important that was in 2020. Our team of engineers can operationalize your enterprise mobility program and provide solutions to all your mobility management concerns.

We also have extensive experience with all industry-leading enterprise mobility management platforms—Workspace ONE, MobileIron, Jamf Pro, and others. This means that we can help you along every step of your mobility journey, removing the roadblocks to you getting the most out of your investment.

At Vox Mobile, we understand that the user experience is paramount. Our help desk has a 98% first-contact resolution rate and is committed to ensuring your end users always have an excellent support experience.

With Vox Mobile, you can face your mobile device management challenges head on with solutions to keep that business moving.