Back in the day, there was no question about employees using anything other than company-issued mobile devices and computers to get work done and everything was managed expertly by the IT team. You just didn’t bring or use your own laptop or mobile device in the office.
Then around ten years ago, people suddenly became inseparable from their new Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy and started taking these shiny new mobile devices absolutely everywhere, including into the office. Many IT leaders at the time saw this move with a significant upside. The prevailing wisdom was that in a BYOD world where employees bring their own devices into work, it would be simpler for a company to manage and so much more cost effective.
Over the intervening years, as mobile devices have become critical enables of employee productivity, many businesses are now questioning this thinking. With lived experience of employees using their personal devices to connect freely to corporate email and other business applications, IT leaders now wonder if BYOD really is the smartest way to support the mobile era?
With an increasing reliance on mobility in business, and ever-increasing numbers of devices, companies are shifting back to providing corporate-owned devices while outsourcing the management to an expert managed mobility service provider.
BYOD security issues
One of the advantages of company-issued managed devices is you can control the applications your employees use and enforce your company’s mobile policy. If there’s ever a security risk, you have the ability to wipe company-owned devices or revoke access to company accounts and you can even do this remotely.
Employee experience
Another advantage of having company-issued devices is the fabulous employee experience it delivers. Providing a company-managed device for work is seen as an attractive perk, especially when employees are allowed to use it in a personal capacity. Applying containerisation tools, work-related data and personal data remain separate, clearly dividing work and personal life.
And a company-managed device can be used as a key feature of your new starters welcome kit, giving your people get a fabulous first-day experience. With the right managed service, a frictionless onboarding process means employees get a shiny new company-branded phone that’s ready and available to use from day one. And you get peace of mind that the device is provisioned with the correct corporate data access controls, security settings, and policies.
Simplified operational environment
With a managed mobility approach for company-issued devices, you have full control over the devices you support and central access to management tools, speeding device provisioning with the necessary applications and settings, enhancing efficiency, and strengthening security. The centralised nature of device management allows you to provide a function that scales as required, reducing lead and wait times for critical support.
Increasing visibility and reducing risk
When supporting employees with corporate-owned devices, a managed mobility service from imei takes some of the day-to-day pressure off your team. There’s also granular visibility for each device and service used with real-time inventory and invoice reporting, including usage, and calling data to meet compliance requests.
If you are currently weighing up the pros and cons of introducing company-owned devices with a managed service to support enterprise mobility, please get in touch with imei.
