21 Feb 2019

Enterprise Mobility Management: trends and challenges

As the shift to mobile continues, managing devices – as well as their applications and the data that flows through them – is becoming increasingly important. Sam Fenwick looks at some of the issues around EMM and mobile security, and how to procure the right EMM solution

Enterprise mobility management (EMM) encompasses the management of devices, apps, content and security, and allows businesses to deal with situations that could otherwise end in disaster, such as a senior employee losing a device that contains lots of commercially sensitive data. It also simplifies the logistics of rolling out and maintaining large fleets of devices, allowing IT support teams to ensure that every mobile device has the correct apps installed and that they are kept updated. A similar, and more modern, term is unified endpoint management (UEM), which extends EMM to include desktop computers, printers, and IoT and wearables devices.

When deciding on an EMM solution, Ojas Rege, chief strategy officer at EMM provider MobileIron, says you should “first look at what employees need to access and take into account that you don’t want to lock down devices. With the increasing consumerisation of IT, employees expect the same functionality at work that they get from the devices and apps they use at home. Therefore firms should consider all users when looking to implement EMM.