Mobile Security Featured Article

Mobile Device Management is an Enterprise Management Issue

As mobile devices flood the market and bring your own device (BYOD) becomes increasingly popular in the workplace, mobile device management (MDM) and mobile security management (MSM) is becoming quite topical. Businesses benefit in security when using MDM, however, effective security should go beyond the device, so says a recent report.

Basically, instead of focusing solely on securing the device itself, emphasis should be placed on securing the enterprise. It really is as simple as shifting the focus; instead of locking down devices, enterprise management can go a long way for not only the enterprise, but the mobile workforce behind the enterprise. The approach is simple: IT managers develop a frame for their security needs and then the mobile security part will follow.

Mobile device management encompasses several areas, all of which serve the same general goal - making sure gadgets changing the way employees work are a help rather than a liability. Where mobile device management has fallen short, mobile enterprise management has gained speed. What mobile enterprise management offers is meeting the needs of both corporate and employee-owned devices and the end-users attached to them instead of just the device itself, offering broad spectrum coverage in an era where security is priority.

It behooves organizations to develop a strategy that will offer employees capable devices, apps, and services, and allow information to flow freely so that employees can easily access it. Providing the ability and flexibility to adapt to individual needs produces good long-term results, and it can be done if a company focuses on the bigger picture and not just the gadgets that make up the landscape.

Mobile enterprise management offers real-time visibility into hardware, software, configuration, and location data so businesses can manage assets more efficiently. Companies like MobileIron offer mobile enterprise management software that manage apps, content and devices all in one. MobileIron's enterprise mobility management solution offers cross-platform management capabilities for IT as well as a Web experience for the enterprise end-user.

The company is on record as having a large market share of the mobile enterprise management software market, and demonstrated a growth rate of 421.4 percent in 2011, according to IDC.