Remote working isn’t new, but until 2020, relatively few businesses had a remote working policy in place where employees could work from home on a regular basis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered this balance between office-based workers and remote employees.
Practically overnight, companies around the world had to shift rapidly to a remote-based system and many believe it’s a change that is here to stay. In fact, our Future Ready Report found that 44% of businesses expect flexible and remote working practices to remain in place, long term.
Reinforcing that view, CSS Insight reported that 34% of senior leaders expect more than half of their workforce to work mainly from home after COVID.
Given how so many of us rely on technology to do our jobs, this “new normal” presents key challenges around mobile device management.
The difficulties of supporting mobile devices
Many organisations have found it a challenge to accommodate mobile devices and remote workers effectively into their operations. Some are still wrestling with basic issues for using mobile devices effectively such as network coverage, app stability and device battery life.
These types of problems can affect the productivity and satisfaction of remote workers. Unreliable coverage could lead to communication problems with fellow employees or even clients.
According to a recent survey of more than 1,500 companies, 50% of employees said issues with their mobile devices or apps were keeping them from doing their job once a week. Furthermore, 88% of IT workers said it took 30 minutes or longer to resolve mobile issues, while 70% reported poor or unreliable WiFi or mobile coverage each month.
This is why the choice of mobile network provider can no longer be an afterthought. Your business needs to ensure its mobile devices and platforms are robust and stable enough to support the large increase in numbers working remotely.
What mobile device management can do for you
So what can you do to manage, control and secure mobile and remote devices for a dispersed workforce?
Your business can support employee devices wherever they may be with mobile device management (MDM). With MDM in place, your business can configure mobiles and tablets with email and network settings at the touch of a button.
Your business can maintain an inventory of all devices, monitor their use and send software updates to the entire estate. This makes life easier for remote workers by automating responsibilities that may have caused anxiety.
Your business can scale up or down to match any changes you make. You can add new devices within minutes or define and amend user profiles and groups to suit your needs. You can send software updates from a central location to the whole workforce, or to designated employees, no matter where they’re located.
You can lock a device remotely if it is lost, stolen or misused. This helps reassure remote workers their devices are protected. Corporate data and device configuration details can also be erased in the event of an emergency.
Security in a digital age
As your business increasingly relies on remote devices, it’s time to make sure you’re increasing your security too.
With a device lifecycle management service, you can rest easy that your remote workforce has access to high-performing, secure devices wherever they are.
Find out more about how mobile device management could help protect your business and support your employees
