Why MDM Solutions Are Essential For Small And Medium Business Growth?

Why MDM Solutions are Essential for Business Growth

Mobile devices have become deeply integrated into business operations, from sales teams accessing CRM data in the field to delivery drivers relying on GPS for routes. As a result, effectively managing your fleet of mobile devices is now imperative for data security, regulatory compliance, and optimizing workflows. Implementing a mobile device management (MDM) solution provides intelligent oversight of your mobile environment to reduce risks and capture new opportunities for business growth.

The High Costs of Mobile Security Neglect

Allowing smartphones and tablets to freely access sensitive corporate systems without governance is a dangerous risk. According to Juniper Research, the average cost of a corporate data breach will exceed $150 million by 2023, with over 4 billion records compromised. Verizon’s research found that 28% of security incidents originate from lost or stolen mobile devices not protected by adequate safeguards. Additionally, a Ponemon Institute study on healthcare breaches revealed each stolen healthcare record costs organizations $429 on average. The financial damages quickly add up if mobile usage remains unchecked by robust security policies and remote control functionality. By implementing MDM systems to monitor integrated mobile endpoints and swiftly respond to threats, businesses can save millions in potential data breach fines and other liability costs over time.

Key Benefits Provided by MDM Platforms

Additional compelling benefits provided by MDM platforms include:

• Centralized Policy and Configuration Management: Automatically enforce password complexity standards, mandated VPN connections, and other security policies across all managed mobile devices. This ensures adherence to corporate standards and compliance with regulations like HIPAA without extensive manual effort. Studies by Forrester have found properly configured policies reduce help desk calls for mobile troubleshooting by 35% on average.

• Streamlined App Deployment and Updates: Install required native or internally developed apps on all endpoints instantly and push updates remotely without requiring users to manually find, download or install anything new. This saves IT resources up to $35 per app update according to S&P Global research, and prevents version inconsistencies that lead to compatibility issues.

• Geofencing and Usage Monitoring: Define geographical boundaries or time-of-day restrictions for specific applications to control device usage for workforces like field technicians or restaurant employees, even setting devices to single-app kiosk mode. This helps mitigate productivity loss from application misuse or inappropriate activities during working hours.

• Automated Device Provisioning: New devices are quickly configured with all necessary settings so workers across locations can be fully productive from day one after receiving corporate mobile equipment. This accelerates deployments up to 5x over manual methods.

• Remote Troubleshooting and Maintenance: Diagnose performance issues, remove unwanted apps, adjust resource allocation, and enact other corrective actions without requiring the mobile device to be physically brought into IT departments for support. This minimizes downtime and business disruption for users, while saving service desk labor costs.

MDM Delivers High ROI Across Business Applications

The capabilities provided by MDM can drive substantial ROI across various common business uses cases such as:

• Healthcare Clinics: Manage bedside tablets or wall-mounted devices to digitize patient intake forms, connect IoT monitoring tools like wireless blood pressure cuffs, facilitate virtual visits, and enable self-service bill pay terminals. Forrester predicts a $7.50 per patient per month profit boost.

• Field Services: View dashboards displaying locations of devices issued to field technicians, rapidly identify nearby available workers using geo-tagging to minimize customer downtime, verify completion of required on-site inspection checklist items in real-time, and remotely access Android devices to troubleshoot from the central office instead of rolling a truck. McKinsey estimates efficiency gains over 15% here.

• Logistics and Transportation: Merge MDM with a telematics platform to actively track delivery vehicle locations, monitor fuel consumption and engine diagnostics for preventative maintenance, define allowed routes and stops via geofencing for safety compliance, and restrict driver devices to only navigation/dispatch apps to minimize distraction risk. Savings can exceed $1000 annually per vehicle.

• Retail and Hospitality: Enable secure checkout terminals, digitize menus and ordering processes, support business intelligence analytics on purchase data, keep kiosk mode devices updated, and quickly swap failed units. Increased revenue per location over 10% is achievable.

Key Considerations When Evaluating MDM Solutions

Not all MDM solutions are created equal. Basic options may only provide core functionality like remote wipe commands for lost or stolen devices, while more advanced enterprise-grade choices deliver extensive automation around policy changes, granular usage controls, and custom integrations. Hospitals have very different needs than construction companies, so assessing your specific organizational usage, risk factors, and growth objectives is imperative before moving forward with a large-scale deployment.

Additionally, the method of MDM deployment can significantly impact total cost of ownership, user experience, and change management requirements. An all-at-once rollout can be fast yet highly disruptive if employees are uninformed on new device restrictions or enrollment procedures. With proper education, this rip-the-bandage approach can excel. Conversely, an incremental phase-in across groups gives more time for hands-on training but delays realizing the full benefits.

Comparing Leading MDM Solutions

Proper MDM architecture should evolve alongside your business needs – what works for a small team won’t suit an enterprise with 10,000 devices across global sites. As your deployment expands, using a tiered policy model for executive, operations, and general office groups allows fine-tuning oversight appropriate for each user type while avoiding micromanagement.

Finally, cost savings from operational efficiency gains, risk mitigation, and other benefits should exceed overall expenses after tallying solution licensing, implementation, and ongoing administration costs. Model projected headcount growth across 3-5 years and calculate breaches avoided using your industry’s average fines. While positive ROI outlook is a key Go/No Go factor in moving forward with MDM adoption, improved security posture, compliance adherence, workforce mobility and productivity should also hold meaningful strategic weight in decision criteria.

Conclusion: Gain Control to Unlock Mobile Potential

Mobile technology underpins workforce enablement initiatives across industries from medical IoT devices modernizing patient care to AI image recognition speeding inspections for insurance adjusters. As mobility and smart endpoints transform operations, an MDM approach has become essential for controlling costs, securing data, and extracting maximum value from technology investments. Partnering with proven enterprise MDM vendors arms your organization to capitalize on new opportunities while enforcing guardrails against chaos. Schedule consultations with leading providers to align on the ideal MDM roadmap for powering your digital transformation journey. The time for action is now.