Mobile Device Management: For your benefit or for your vendor's cross-selling goals?

The following is a guest post by TC2 Asia-Pacific managing director Joe Schmidt, who is based in Singapore.

Mobile Device Management (MDM) is a conundrum for enterprises that provide smartphones and other mobile devices to their employees, or who allow employees to access company resources using mobile devices. At TC2 we've been advising clients to pay attention to this burgeoning support requirement and to take steps to implement a solution, or risk exposing the enterprise to security breaches and support issues down the road.

It's certainly a major consideration in the more-developed regions of Asia, where wireless device deployment is almost universal and user demand for mobile business applications functionality is pervasive. As a result, last week's Mobile Device Management Asia conference in Hong Kong, where I spoke, was heavily attended by handset manufactures like Nokia, regional service providers such as Optus from Australia and Maxis from Malaysia, and third party MDM software and service providers. And it provided a great window into what's coming down the pike globally, especially as smartphone use displaces older devices in many vertical industry markets.

What was clear from the presentations and my discussions with attendees is that MDM is being targeted at the enterprise market. But one key hinge point I'm watching is whether the service providers and device manufacturers are using MDM more to support the enterprise or more to grow their own revenue by selling applications and value-added services.

After the founder of the Device Management Forum gave his opening remarks, he launched into a presentation on the evolving landscape of MDM in the enterprise. The main points of his talk were that in order for MDM to deliver business and end user benefits, it must be able to acquire, configure, deploy, secure, and maintain mobile devices.

He went on to say that the key players that have emerged in the MDM market are the mobile service providers, device manufacturers, and third party software houses and integrators. Many of those players followed on with presentations on the latest developments in MDM.

These presenters explained how MDM can provide over-the-air software updates and how their products and solutions can remotely lock a device or wipe it clean if necessary. The MDM providers elaborated on the level of information that can be loaded and maintained for a device, including a device's operating system, the applications loaded on a device, how the applications are used, and even the location of where a device is used.

But one service provider openly explained how it is using the massive amount of data it captures to build life logs of each subscriber. It then uses the logs to create marketing campaigns and promotions targeted at the subscribers. That's fine for them, but what does it do for you? Well, one of the reasons the conference producer invited me to speak was to "keep it real" and to let the audience know what enterprises really want when buying mobile services and to provide the enterprise's view on MDM.

I told the audience that mobile services are indeed strategic to enterprises and that demand would continue to grow, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and the expansion of high-speed wireless networks. I said that MDM ranks very low on an enterprise's list of requirements when initially buying mobile services, but that MDM does hit the radar screen once a deal is done. I explained that enterprises grapple with tough questions when they consider supporting an enterprise mobility program, such as:

-- How can enterprises permit user choice while enforcing corporate governance?

-- Are mobile applications productivity enhancers or security threats?

-- Where should MDM stop and user privacy start?

My takeaway from the conference and what I've seen while helping clients procure mobile services around the world is, like it or not, if you're an enterprise that uses mobile services, you're going to need to understand MDM and eventually you'll need to implement a solution. But before you do, make sure you define your mobile strategy, then develop and implement mobile policies that address corporate vs. employee liable plans, entitlement and reimbursement, acceptable use, demand management, support, and security.

If you take these steps first, you'll have a better understanding of the type of MDM solution that works best for you and your users -- and that enables most of the benefits you're paying for to flow in your direction. We'll be keeping tabs on this key emerging support requirement and invite your comments as well.