Whenever a company undertakes a merger or is absorbed into another organisation, consolidating two businesses as part of a Merger and Aquisition (M&A) often means combining conflicting IT assets such as mobile devices. Firstly, there’s the mobile operating system to consider as one company may have invested in Android while the other adopted iOS. And what if the acquired company is using older, out-of-support mobile devices?
M&A best practices for mobile users
Whether or not a complete hardware refresh is required, security concerns must be prioritised and mitigated. Working with different security protocols has the potential to increase the risk of data breaches, malware infestations, and opportunities for unauthorised access.
Then there’s the challenge of consolidating and migrating vast amounts of data stored on the mobile devices. The type of information stored on the devices will differ from company to company, but there’s a good chance it will include sensitive information such as customer information, operational data, and intellectual property.
And finally, there’s the user experience to manage. It’s important to keep in mind that the merger may have some of the employees on edge, impacting productivity. Equally, supporting a ragtag array of nonstandardised interfaces, applications, and devices will almost certainly fuel employee dissatisfaction and lead to morale issues, impinging on user satisfaction and productivity.
Managing mobile assets through an imei Managed Service
Rather than seeing potential roadblocks, when you have imei managing your mobile assets through a managed service, we can streamline enterprise mobility management during a merger and acquisition process. With an imei Managed Service, we can provide visibility into new systems and applications, security, and compliance vulnerabilities, and provide the expertise to manage technical integration requirements.
For example, imei can conduct an inventory of all mobile devices used by employees in both companies and appraise the level of mobile device management (MDM) systems and policies in place, ascertaining which devices are enrolled and managed and which are not.
We’ll also evaluate the compatibility of these mobile devices and management systems between the two companies and make recommendations for standardising the devices and operating systems if appropriate. At the same time, imei can review security protocols and encryption standards used at both companies and provide a plan for standardising these to safeguard sensitive company data and meet compliance requirements.
M&A mobile data migration
As successfully migrating the data stored on the mobile devices is critical to success, imei can plan the data migration strategy and establish backup procedures to mitigate the risk of data loss during the transition period.
As part of the M&A process, imei can also take care of transferring numbers and plans from one carrier to another and setting up all users in a consolidated expense management system. This will allow to you know exactly who has what device, what’s included in their plan, and how much it’s costing you each month.
If the acquired company is using older, unsupported devices, a complete hardware refresh may be required. This will probably entail acquiring new devices and retiring and recycling the old ones to mitigate security risks.
Another critical part of our managed service is managing the integration of the MDM with other existing IT infrastructure, to ensure smooth access to corporate resources and applications from mobile devices for employees of both companies.
If your company is undergoing an M&A process and facing challenges concerning enterprise mobility management, please get in touch with imei. An imei Managed Service can help you address enterprise mobility considerations and deliver an empowering experience to the people who use that technology.
To learn more, please get in touch.
