Do you have the tools to manage mobility as your business grows?

How to know when your business is ready for a new mobility management solution

Every day, employees from businesses across virtually every industry rely on their mobile devices to help them do their jobs efficiently. From smartphones to tablets to wearable technology, a business’s connected devices are vital to daily operations and growth. But as a business grows, it’s not uncommon for the number and type of mobile devices it uses to increase, creating new challenges to effectiveness and increasing major security vulnerabilities.

Fortunately, getting on top of mobility management before it’s too late is something any business can do. In this article, we look at a few of the common challenges businesses face as they grow and how to prepare your business with the help of a mobility management partner.

Adding devices without adding risk

Review the number of mobile devices in use per employee across your business; then, consider how adding more devices will impact efficiency and security. With each new employee and new connected device(s), you increase the risk of cyberattacks and compromising data.

Security risks multiply when employees use their mobile devices for both professional and personal use. Employees don’t always realize the implications of using mobile apps like WhatsApp, YouTube and other social media platforms. But before you block access to mobile apps, there are a few questions to consider first.

Security risks multiply when employees use their mobile devices for both professional and personal use.

Are the devices company-supplied or do employees bring their own? Does your company have one carrier or several? Answering questions like these will help you find a mobility partner that can get the most from each device’s functionality and security. The right partner can ensure apps are properly installed and updated regularly, plus let you restrict access or functions that might hinder productivity or compromise security.

Think security that travels

As a business expands to meet customers in more locations, owners should be aware of the risks of unsecure networks traveling employees can encounter. Whether connecting on the go to access important files stored in the cloud or transferring customer data from a remote location, employees using unsecure networks like those in coffee shops and hotels are a major security blind spot.

The right mobility partner can provide security that travels with your mobile teams. Assigning specific authentication for each employee can protect their devices and your critical business information, so they can connect from the road with confidence. 

Tip: If your employees are connecting to WiFi while traveling, make sure each has a unique authentication key or a VPN to protect devices and information.

Mobile content management is a must

The advent of 5G is expected to usher in a new wave of connected devices able to collect and transmit customer data. But more customers equal more data and a greater responsibility to keep this information secure. Mobile content management should be an important part of your overall mobility management solution, both today and in the future.

Consider a solution that not only protects sensitive content on your mobile devices but also determines what information employees can access and distribute. To keep your business one step ahead but also a reliable steward of your customers’ information, a mobility partner can provide this security and deliver alerts about emerging concerns and threats.

Strengthen your IT support

Evaluating your mobility management needs shouldn’t stop with mobile employees. It’s equally important to consider increased demands on your IT department. Monitoring and managing servers, networks and devices need to be top priorities—and cannot be done as a side project.

As your business grows and technologies evolve, the right mobility partner can help support your existing IT resources and help those resources scale for the future. Unified endpoint management (UEM) is a good example. UEM extends your mobility strategy by allowing you to support a broader range of devices, including management and monitoring of servers, desktops, networks and more. . The result is a robust IT department capable of supporting your people across all of their devices.  

Don’t leave the future to tomorrow

Planning for future growth can be as important as dealing with the day-to-day. Consider what might happen if your number of employees increased by 20 percent. What if it doubled? Would your current system be able to respond, remain efficient and stay secure? This is an important consideration when choosing a mobility management partner as well. If their support can grow at the same pace as your business, it will ensure your mobile devices help your employees perform at their best while your business remains secure for years to come.

Learn more about the mobility management services available with Rogers, or  contact a representative  to talk about what solutions make sense for your business.