While business users are thrilled by the capabilities of smartphones and quickly adopting them as handheld computers, it is unlikely their IT counterparts share in the excitement because traditional management platforms have not provided the tools to effectively secure and manage them. Until, that is, the arrival of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM).
EMM provides a Web services platform to manage and secure smartphones and rugged devices regardless of manufacturer. This management platform addresses the nuances of smartphone technology while also providing tools that are similar to those used by IT to manage and secure laptops and desktops. An established EMM platform includes:
* Heterogeneous device support: Policy-based security and control for iPhone and other non-BlackBerry devices, which includes device loss protection; endpoint security; data-leak protection; network access control (NAC) and identity management.
* Centralized management: Enterprise-grade device management, providing centralized provisioning, compliance enforcement, asset reporting, help desk diagnostics and a self-service user portal via a secure over-the-air SSL connection.
* User compliance facilities: Reporting and enforcement facilities to ensure user compliance with IT mobility policies.
Furthermore, a comprehensive enterprise mobility strategy must satisfy stakeholders throughout IT, including information assurance, administration and operations and the user-facing help desk team.
Information Assurance
The EMM console lets security administrators create policies for each user based on the type of smartphone used and the security posture associated with the user’s job. Policy assignments can also be made based on the user’s membership within various groups listed in the enterprise’s directory service.
For example, a corporate executive may require a more liberal security policy while a field sales representative might need a higher security policy because there is greater opportunity for device loss. Both policies would describe what IT administrative capabilities are supported by the EMM and specify encryption and password data protection for e-mail, contacts, calendars and documents.
All policies are delivered over the air to the smartphone agent that enforces the policy. Console reporting tools can be used to track the security posture of each user device for compliance reporting. NAC capabilities are also an essential part of the EMM platform and give the IA team a way to ensure user compliance.
Administration and operations
The EMM platform provides administrators with a way to discover and catalog deployed handheld mobile devices. Details about device hardware, software and status are gathered and transmitted to the EMM on a configurable schedule. Information about the population of mobile devices — number of devices, serial and model numbers, and amount of RAM — are provided by reporting tools found within the EMM console and can be used to help plan and maintain an enterprisewide deployment.
While helping to maintain and track each device, the EMM platform also supports policy-controlled and automated deployment of applications, simplifying the deployment process. The platform should also support the installation, removal and upgrading of applications by group policy.
Help desk
The EMM platform provides the appropriate help desk tools for image management, deployment and reporting while also providing remote interactive diagnostics that help resolve issues without requiring users to surrender their devices.
In addition, EMM Self-Service Portals can help offload the help desk of routine issues such as forgotten password and device unlocking. This resource should be accessible to users from a browser on their mobile device or laptop. The portal should provide users with quick and easy access to FAQs, policy guidelines, device documentation and software.
In summary, when you’re evaluating an EMM platform ask yourself these three questions:
1. Is the solution based on centralized management that eliminates operational expense by simplifying how IT administrators and help desk specialists implement policies, assist users and enforce compliance for mobile applications across the enterprise?2. Will the EMM platform offer IT the ability to secure and manage a truly heterogeneous smartphone environment while having the ability to assist in addressing the needs of a mobile workforce?3. Will the EMM solution help the CIO to control smartphone costs while also protecting corporate information?
If a thorough evaluation and selection process has been done then an enterprise will reap the benefits of EMM that include avoiding data center expenses by integrating with existing directory services, database resources and VPN infrastructure. These capabilities, combined with support for almost any smartphone, will enable you to provide choices of smartphones and applications to best meet the mobility needs of workers.
Dearing is vice president of Marketing and Product Management at Trust Digital. Contact him at ddearing@trustdigital.com.
