Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions are applications that help organizations manage the mobile device lifecycle for both corporate and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) smartphones, tablets, and other devices.
Emerging in the early 2000s, these tools allow IT administrators to manage all devices that connect to corporate networks, applications, and resources. This allows them to control access, install software, push configurations, manage applications, and more from a single management console.
Without MDM, organizations often grapple with security risks, device management inefficiencies, and productivity challenges. Sensitive data can be vulnerable to breaches, device configurations can be inconsistent, and IT support can be overwhelmed.
With increased flexibility from an MDM solution, enterprise users get on-demand access to organizational data, information, and services using a device configured and maintained to meet their organization’s needs and requirements.
For IT administrators, MDM can enhance the efficiency of business operations with:
MDM works through a combination of software, processes, and security policies that are applied to enrolled mobile devices. At its core it relies on an MDM server (in the cloud or data center) and an MDM agent (installed on the phone).
The MDM server enables IT administrators to monitor, configure, and manage corporate or personally owned mobile devices regardless of device type, model, or operating system. This process involves creating policies through a management console to help monitor devices and determine how they can be used. This might include:
Once established, the policies are pushed over-the-air by the MDM server to the MDM agent on the individual devices. The MDM agent then applies the policies using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) built directly into the device operating system.
The MDM server can be deployed as either a cloud or on-premise solution.
Cloud-based MDMs are hosted by a third-party and accessed through the internet.
On-Premise MDMs are hosted on the organization’s own servers.
As enterprise mobile device usage soared in the mid to late 2000s following the iPhone boom, requirements for managing mobile devices increased. These changes saw the development of mobile application management (MAM) and mobile content management (MCM).
MAM solutions increased control over the deployment, updates, and security of mobile applications. Whereas MCM solutions provided IT administrators with the tools to manage and secure corporate data. By 2014, tools with all these capabilities came to be known as Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions that delivered increased protection of company data for apps, files and users.
To further complicate matters, recent developments in device management have seen the emergence of Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solutions which encompass both MDM and EMM.
Mobile Device Management (MDM) |
Unified Endpoint Management |
Enterprise Mobility Management |
Focus on mobile devices |
Focus on all endpoints |
Focus on mobile devices, content |
Delivers primarily device management |
Delivers device and application management, |
Delivers device and application |
Key features include device enrollment, |
Key features include MDM features plus |
Key features include MDM features |
Challenges include user resistance |
Challenges include balancing security |
Challenges include balancing security |
Typical use cases include |
Typical use cases include |
Typical use cases include |
For organizations developing a mobile strategy or looking for ways to manage their mobile device deployment, mobile device management offers significant benefits. Using a centralized management platform to manage mobile devices, MDM can improve operational efficiency, productivity, and security.
While some features can vary depending on the vendor and the tool, there are some capabilities and components that are common to all robust MDM solutions.
While choosing the right MDM solution for your business will be defined to some extent by the requirements identified in your internal reviews of mobile requirements and your existing infrastructure, there are other ways to help you choose the right solution.
Bitdefender GravityZone Mobile Security is a mobile security solution able to protect mobile devices with Android, Chrome OS, or iOS operating systems against multiple threat vectors. It is designed to protect an employee’s corporate-owned or BYOD from advanced persistent threats without sacrificing privacy or personal data.
Providing Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) on all major platforms, it ensures safe and secure access to corporate data, safeguarding devices from modern attack vectors, including zero-day, phishing, and network attacks, by detecting both known and unknown threats.
GravityZone Security for Mobile can be integrated with MDMs for better protection and easier deployment.
Any organization that has employees using mobile devices to complete business tasks, access corporate data, or communicate would benefit from implementing MDM.
MDM helps ensure compliance by enforcing data protection regulations, providing audit trails, and controlling access to sensitive data.
MDM solutions can protect user privacy by clearly defining the scope of data collection, implementing strong data encryption, and providing users with control over their data.