Top 10 Things to Consider When Choosing a Mobile Device Management (MDM) Service Provider
With the popularity of mobile these days, it’s pretty easy to get caught up in the idea of developing a mobile app without considering everything involved in the lifecycle of that app. That’s one of the reasons why you may want to consider working with a Mobile Device Management MDM service provider. However, picking an MDM service provider for your needs isn’t as easy as just choosing a name from a search. There are some very important considerations you’ll need to think about when making this decision. Here are the top 10 issues you should discuss at the time of your choice.
10. Who will be monitoring the uptime and performance of the MDM?
Unless you have somebody monitoring these factors, you won’t know when your mobile apps are down and when they’re having performance issues. Whether it’s your team member or someone at the MDM service provider, make sure you know who’s responsible for it and how often you can expect reports.
9. Who will be responsible for handling tickets or incidents related to the MDM platform?
You’ll want to have a specific individual or team that you can contact when there’s an issue with your MDM platform so that you can go directly to that person rather than waiting and hoping that somehow somebody is actually working on your platform issues.
8. Who will be in charge of security patching, and how often will it be handled?
Cyberattacks and data breaches are becoming more and more common. Protecting your business’s data and your customers’ information is vital to your company’s wellbeing. Knowing who will be responsible for security patching and how often it will take place is vital to your mobile devices’ security.
7. How will you manage role-based access?
Your marketing team needs to access YouTube to see what competitors are doing and review comments on the videos your company has released. Your production line, not so much. Role-based access management allows you to create these limits.
6. Who will generate out-of-the-box or custom reports from the MDM?
Knowing what is happening with your MDM is a big part of gauging its success. For that reason, you need to know who to contact for reporting.
5. Who will process day-to-day Moves/Adds/Changes and Removals?
To make sure that these vital changes are handled on a regular basis, you need to have someone in charge of making those changes. Whether it’s someone in your business who is trained to handle it or someone at the MDM service provider, make sure that you know who it will be when changes need to happen quickly.
4. Do you have guidelines in place to manage hierarchy within the MDM?
Hierarchy of MDM devices is vital to tracking your assets. Divisions including departments, groups and purposes let you provide access to specific folders, track devices and pull information, making them easier to control.
3. How is MDM configuration based on security policies?
When MDMs are properly configured, they can provide automatic top-down security updates. This allows you to ensure that all connected devices are up-to-date on their security and not using an older security patch that has vulnerabilities. Your security policies should reflect this type of configuration.
2. Who will devise your change management process?
If you do have to change your MDM service provider, how will you manage that process? Understanding how that process will take place and who will be in charge of it on your team is vital, especially if you discover that your provider cannot live up to your expectations or is causing issues with your business.
1. Who will segment your user base and document its requirements?
Creating solid documentation and segmentation of your system is an important part of understanding how the parts of that system work together. You may want to segment between kiosk screens, tablets, and smartphones. What about your access point names? Are you using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or other connectivity?
By understanding your mobile device management needs, you’ll be able to make a much smarter choice in an MDM service provider. Once you’ve had a chance to talk to several MDM service providers, you can make an educated decision because you’ll have a better understanding of why these questions are so important.