Mobile Device Management

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According to VDC Research, using MDM (mobile device management) can save an organization more than $230 per device, per year, in support costs.

Mobile Device Management

Provides Control And Cost Savings

Mobile computing solutions play an increasingly important role in enterprise operations, from the warehouse floor to the delivery truck, and from the corporate conference room to the sales teams' cellular phones. Because every mobile device in use has to be provisioned, supported, and updated, managing those operations has become a logistical nightmare for IT departments. That's why many companies have turned to third-party MDM software platforms to handle these support functions. "IT administrators desire to manage these devices like the servers, desktops, and notebooks in the rest of their organization, but are challenged with the rapid growth and diversity of these devices," says Mark Gentile, CEO of Odyssey Software. "Mobile device management is required to improve user productivity, control costs, and lower TCO [total cost of ownership]."

According to VDC Research, using an MDM solution can save an organization more than $230 per device, per year, in support costs. For a 1,000-unit solution, that could potentially provide more than $1.1 million in savings over five years. Gartner reinforces these findings with the claim that MDM systems can reduce operational costs by up to 49%. MDM solutions allow the IT team to remotely support mobile devices, centrally distribute software updates, and provide technical support to end users no matter where they are. "By using the proper mobility platform, IT departments can avoid sensitive information being stolen, manage complications of getting through the enterprise firewall, correct versions of local software, and encrypt data communications," adds Mark Jordan, senior product manager for Afaria at Sybase.

How To Choose An MDM Solution According to VDC's study, end users were primarily concerned about using MDM solutions to minimize device downtime and provide remote help desk support. To that end, they looked for systems that could provide real-time device troubleshooting, remote distribution of software upgrades, and a secure connection to deliver security patch updates, enforce feature control, and even manage peripherals.

Although capabilities may vary, there are three key functional areas that an MDM has to support: device provisioning, asset reporting, and interactive remote support tools and control for troubleshooting and repair. Some vendors have begun to roll out additional features, such as the ability to report GPS location information; the ability to report detailed phone status, utilization, and messaging information; and the ability to lock down or "wipe" the device if it is lost or stolen.

When evaluating vendors, users should look for solutions that are easy to deploy, can ensure strong data encryption, and that support multiple mobile operating systems. However, it is important to establish which mobile devices the MDM should ultimately support. "Companies need to assess what data is needed, where and when, and whether its current system is able to ensure access to updated corporate assets while providing maximum security," Jordan says.

By focusing the solution on devices that run critical business applications, users can improve their ROI. "Too often companies simultaneously evaluate the needs of all their mobile devices when determining the suitability of MDM," says Ron Hassanwalia, director of sales and mar-

by Brian Albright

Mark Gentile CEO, Odyssey Software

Ron Hassanwalia director of sales and marketing, SOTI

14

June 2010



Alan Dabbiere chairman, AirWatch

Mark Jordan senior product manager for Afaria, Sybase

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Resource Article

keting at SOTI. "MDM can reap a significant ROI if focused on devices that run mission-critical applications. The MDM discussion can become clouded with supporting iPhones, Android devices, and other platforms."

Other factors to consider: What sort of network will the MDM communicate over, and are there any bandwidth limitations? Will the MDM solution integrate with existing enterprise IT management platforms and be able to support future upgrades of that platform? Before deployment, users should run a pilot to make sure the product can scale effectively, using test scenarios based on a number of potential real-world scenarios -- slow or intermittent connections, applications that are in constant use, and systems that require shared files to be updated.

Evaluate Mobile Requirements In Advance One of the biggest challenges in deploying an MDM solution is that many companies don't fully understand how and when end users are utilizing their devices. "Before selecting and then implementing an MDM solution, most companies do not develop or cultivate an institutional understanding of an end user's needs," says Alan Dabbiere, chairman of AirWatch. "Subsequently, for each job function's mobile device, IT may be unable to determine the best device for the job. They are also unable to determine the device's optimal configuration and settings."

The increasing number of mobile device platforms on the market also complicates these deployments. "With each new operating system platform, the openness, support for enterprise-level management capabilities, and the development tools make creating a common mobile device management solution that is easy to deploy impossible," Gentile says. "IT should do a thorough analysis of what devices are being used, how they are being used, and what the company's future needs are to determine which operating systems are critical to manage."

According to Hassanwalia, companies may find that partitioning different groups of mobile users can improve system operations. "Adopting one system to manage all mobile devices actually reduces the efficiency of managing line-of-business applications for technicians and reduces the mobility ROI due to downtime," he says. "While controlling an email/voice device might seem a necessity, there is often no ROI gained around supporting it." There are specific limitations to supporting new Android and iPhone smartphone platforms, because the current versions of the phones limit the ability of third-party solutions to manage them. (The upcoming version of the iPhone is supposed to be more enterprise-friendly, however.)

Regardless of those challenges, companies still need to have a strategy for managing and securing employees' personal mobile devices and should develop guidelines in advance for how these devices are used on company time. "Those organizations that allow employees to use their own personal mobile devices on the job often fail to

define up front a list of acceptable devices as well as the organization's basic business requirements," Dabbiere says. For instance, can the employee's device integrate with the company's VPN (virtual private network) or Exchange server? Establishing a secure connection is critical; otherwise, these devices can compromise the corporate network. "Corporate IT departments naturally are cautious about opening up the network and allowing full access to any device," Jordan says. "Finding just the right balance -- maintaining the integrity and security of the network while allowing easy access to the applications users need to be more productive -- will give organizations a competitive advantage in the coming years."

MDM Solutions Reduce Support Costs

Generally, the return on investment for an MDM solution

will be determined by the number of devices deployed,

how dispersed the workforce is, how many different appli-

cations are in place, and whether or not an existing enter-

prise management system is already installed. Primarily, the

benefits stem from allowing the IT staff to support a grow-

ing number of mobile devices with a limited number of

resources. "An enterprise-grade MDM solution gives IT an

integrated, real-time view of all deployed mobile devices

and its wireless LAN's access points and controllers, sim-

plifying and streamlining issue identification and trou-

bleshooting," Dabbiere says. "IT response times also

improve, providing mobile users with real-time support."

These benefits extend to the field by improving security,

reducing downtime (an ROI killer for any mobile solu-

tion), and boosting productivity in the field by reducing

support calls. "Users can work remotely instead of always

being connected to headquarters, and salespeople com-

plete more calls each day, collaborating more effectively

with their colleagues while seeing an improvement in the

accuracy of the information they collect," Jordan says.

MDM solutions also provide an important asset tracking

function, which can provide significant savings. "In the

distribution logistics market, SOTI has some customers

that on average save $3,000 to $4,000 a month finding

lost devices," Hassanwalia says. "With fleets of more than

10,000 devices, logistics companies usually write off a

0.3% loss. That seemingly small amount can result in

more than $100,000 a year in replacement hardware."

In order to calculate an ROI, though, companies need

to have some idea of what their baseline IT support costs

are. Examine those costs, then measure improvements in

reduced call volume, call duration, and first-time call res-

olution, as well as device downtime. MDM solutions are

rapidly becoming a critical part of any mobile deployment

in order to maintain productivity and reduce IT support

costs. Carefully evaluating the types of devices you have

deployed, as well as their role within the business, will

guide you to the right MDM system and allow the com-

pany to continue to expand its use of mobile computing

solutions moving forward.



June 2010

15

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