Helping Customers Find the Right Enterprise Mobility Solution

With the prevalence of mobile devices, work is no longer a place we go—it’s something we do. Smartphones and tablets have enabled employees to check email or edit work documents, whether at the office or on the go. Yet enterprise mobility is a double-edged sword: While devices have increased employee morale and productivity, they have also introduced challenging security concerns that place corporate information at risk. For instance, according to the 2013 Norton Report, 49 percent of working adults reported that they used their personal device for both work and play.

While many companies are eager to harness the flexibility of mobility, they can easily feel overwhelmed with the many considerations needed, such as establishing a mobility policy that achieves a balance between productivity and security. This presents an opportunity for partners to educate their customers and help equip them with an enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution that enables IT departments to secure and manage corporate data across different mobile platforms and deployment models (such as BYOD, CYOD and COPE).

The Five Must-Haves for an EMM product

Numerous EMM products exist, but the best solutions offer a variety of customizable security and management tools to balance enterprise security needs with personal user preferences. With the right solution, IT can secure corporate data across numerous device platforms and prevent sensitive data from being exposed or getting into the wrong hands. When helping customers identify the best EMM product for their needs, keep these five capabilities in mind:

1. Device management allows employees to access their work email from mobile devices while enabling IT to apply corporate security settings to the device. Companies should look for device management features that work on a wide variety of platforms so IT can support a range of employee device types.

2. App management dives a layer deeper than device management, permitting IT to apply application-level controls. By leveraging app management, IT can better support personally owned devices, securing and managing specific corporate apps such as email or CRM without disturbing personal apps such as social networks.

3. Content management allows employees to securely access work information, including documents pushed to devices and files stored in content repositories (such as network file shares or SharePoint) from their mobile devices. Companies should look for solutions that offer encryption on-device data storage and authentication options, as well as ways to control document versions, alert users to new files and remove content once it’s expired.

4. Identity and access control tools restrict unauthorized access to the information and network resources on devices, including when a device is lost or stolen. Companies should look for solutions that include authentication with time-saving features such as single sign-on, which allows employees to use the same credentials to log into a laptop, mobile app and other corporate systems.

5. Threat protection guards mobile operating and file systems from new and evolving threats. An EMM solution should provide IT with the ability to centrally manage threat protection and set polices based on the device’s security posture and/or an app’s risk characteristics. Solutions should apply real-world information on app behaviors to protect user privacy, detect malware and mitigate performance risks such as battery drainage.

With the right solution, you can help your customers reap the benefits of increased productivity, while keeping their data secure. Encourage your customers to learn more about EMM and how they can take advantage of the latest technologies and solutions to develop a successful mobility strategy by exploring the additional resources and support available on the Symantec website.

Rick Kramer is Vice President, GSI & NSP Partners, Americas Channel & Commercial Sales. Guest blogs such as this one are published monthly and are part of The VAR Guy’s annual platinum sponsorship.