Put down that sudoku because here’s today’s puzzle: What is Remote Device Management (RDM)? Is the device remote, or the device management? Trick question, because the answer is both. RDM is a collection of different ways to monitor, manage and control a fleet of devices—wherever they are—from the comfort of your secret evil lair, wherever that is.
What Is Remote Device Management and Why Bother?
RDM is the must-have-darling tool if you’ve got a ton of smartphones, laptops, and tablets scattered all over the globe, but only one pair of very, very tired hands. RDM is often used synonymously with Mobile Device Management (MDM) because let’s face it, they both do the same thing, kind of. Sometimes the concept of remote access sneaks into RDM. If you’ve ever dealt with an IT help desk and seen your cursor move around the screen all on its own, you’ll know how creepy, and yet how useful, remote access is.
Some functions of RDM are automated, which is on a whole other level of usefulness in terms of saving time, closing up data security gaps, and generally making life easier. Some functions are manual, to help you take control of an individual device, or where you need the overseeing or configuring talents, at the helm of the all-seeing Eye of Sauron centralized RDM dashboard.
RDM serves up a whole dumpsterful of functions that will keep the whole of your business happy, not just the IT team in the basement. Depending on your flavor of the RDM toolbox, and the functions you choose to add on, your HR colleagues will love how RDM saves them time, and heartbreak and makes onboarding and offboarding quick, consistent, and easy peasy. Your compliance officer will dance a little happy jig because RDM automates a mezze of data security and compliance tools. Your team is much happier working in their PJs from home, with access to everything they need. RDM lets them do this.
Remote Device Management: 6 Reasons to Love It
Buckle up, because this is a crazy ride. But only if you like this sort of thing. Luckily, we do, so here are six of our favorite RDM features:
- Remote Lock and Wipe
Uh-oh. CFO Randy has misplaced his laptop. Again. He has access to all that secret corporate takeover finance data, and now his laptop could be anywhere, with anyone. Who knows? Certainly not Randy. It’s a data security risk, and you don’t want to be tomorrow’s headline. If only there were a way to lock down the device, and wipe that corporate data off it. Like, now. Relax, use your RDM dashboard to lock down Randy’s laptop, and erase that corporate data from it for good measure. Risk eliminated. - Device Tracking
This time, Randy misplaced his iPad. It’s probably at home, but maybe in the car. Or maybe one of his kids took it to school. Let’s track it down. RDM’s geo-tracking feature can show you on something like Google Maps the device’s whereabouts. You even may be able to discover what network it’s connected to. Sorted. - Geofencing
RDM’s geofencing capability gives you an option to set geographical boundaries and create alerts for when devices enter or leave your chosen area. This is handy, for instance, if you’re in charge of school IT and want to make sure your suite of new iPads stays in the carousel in class, rather than wander outside school boundaries. - Mass Actions
Hands up, who wants to perform tedious administrative tasks on a fleet of mobile devices, one device at a time? No takers? We thought so. Enter RDM. It allows you to perform actions on multiple mobile devices simultaneously. Mass action capability releases thousands of person-hours for more fun or strategic tasks. There’s enjoyable flexibility with the mass action functions. You can choose to:
- Change up how you group your devices: assigning, deleting, and re-assigning them to different teams, buildings, service areas, or however you organize your business.
- Send mass emails to some or all of your colleagues.
- Remove or add restrictions to some or all of your fleet.
- Send remote commands to some or all of your devices, for instance, to update the inventory, or log out the users.
- Publish corporate apps.
- Data Security Enforcement
Apart from the remote lock, remote wipe, and device tracking, RDM has many other data security features that reduce the risk of a data breach. Because many of the features are preconfigured and automated, you can drastically reduce human error. Security features can include:
- Blocking of certain apps, games, and websites.
- Enforcing the use of passcodes and regular password changes.
- Using cloud Single Sign On to reduce password fatigue and lessen the dangers of poor password management.
- Blocking access to unsecured wifi, e.g., in public places like airports.
- Pushing OS and software updates.
- Configuring and enforcing security policies.
- Closing accounts and offboarding protocols when lots of people leave the business at once, e.g., after seasonal work.
- Mass enrolments of new devices.
The RDM’s centralized dashboard also acts as an IT asset register, which you’ll need if you’re aiming for accreditation with regulatory compliance frameworks, such as SOC 2, SEC, or HIPAA.
- Onboarding Automation
If you’re less than delighted about manually configuring new devices for new hires, RDM’S automated onboarding capability will be on your letter to Santa every day of the year. Yes, you’ll need to do a little preconfiguring, but it really is a ‘set it and forget it’ scenario. Zero touch and conditional access are the two main RDM methodologies validating and providing new hires securely and safely, in minutes.
Getting Started with Remote Device Management
The fun thing about RDM is that it’s easily configurable to fit your organization. A rich choice of add-ons, features, and functions will streamline productivity, secure data, and improve business processes, such as recruitment. What’s not always easy to decide which features are the nice-to-haves and the must-must-must-haves, and how it all works with the fleet you already have.
Give us a call if you need some independent advice and a friendly chat about What Is Remote Device Management. RDM is our thing, and we’d love to help you out.