Business PickupWith an uptick in work-from-home and hybrid work arrangements, businesses are finding themselves having to manage more mobile devices than ever before. By developing and implementing a comprehensive mobile device lifecycle management strategy, companies can establish protocols that will streamline the processes for handling employee phones, tablets, and laptops throughout every step in their lifecycle. Here’s a brief guide to get you started.
Why establish a mobile device lifecycle management strategy?
The benefits of effectively managing the lifecycle of your company’s mobile devices span far and wide. Oftentimes, managing mobile devices is seen as a task that IT alone should handle. In reality, other stakeholders should be involved in the planning and implementation of mobile device lifecycle management, as this will ensure the policies and procedures align with core business objectives.
For example, a sound mobile device lifecycle management policy will help an organization:
- Keep sensitive data secure
- Free up IT teams to focus on more critical tasks
- Empower the workforce to perform their roles more efficiently with the right tools
- Offer ongoing support for remote teams
- Simplify the provisioning of mobile devices
- Minimize downtime
- Fulfill compliance requirements
- Save time and costs associated with mobile device management
What is the typical mobile device lifecycle in businesses?
To understand what your strategy should encompass, it’s helpful to first know the steps in a typical device’s lifecycle. Here are the main steps to plan for:
1. Enrollment
Many organizations supply their workforce with mobile devices like laptops, phones, or tablets. Before these tools can be issued to employees, they must be set up for device enrollment. Through this process, the device gets connected to company resources, such as apps and email. This step also involves implementing data security measures and applying data management policies.
2. Provisioning
Next, devices are set up to be ready for specific users. During this step, the device is connected to the organization, and user profiles and credentials are created.
3. Distribution
Once the device has been fully set up, it can then be distributed to the employee. While employees working in an office may receive the device in person, remote teams may have devices shipped to their home offices.
4. Ongoing management
Mobile device management doesn’t stop once the technology is in the employee’s hands. Ongoing maintenance, such as hardware or software fixes and updates, must be performed to ensure functionality and data security. Many IT teams deploy solutions such as mobile device management platforms to perform these tasks.
5. Retirement
How devices are handled once they’re no longer needed is just as important as how they’re used by employees. Businesses must establish protocols for device retrieval and data wiping, as well as recycling and refurbishment to reap the maximum value for late-model mobile devices. Proper device retirement also helps to ensure data security, as allowing devices to sit idle or having them processed through the wrong channels could introduce the risk of data breaches.
As both an ITAD company and an electronics recycler, Quantum can ensure the final step in your mobile device lifecycle is carried out securely to protect against data breaches, and in a way that yields the greatest return on investment for your devices. Find out more about the industries we work with here.