Move over, CMT and EMM; UEM is here to stay

Considering the deftness with which IT admins manage the sea of devices and technologies enterprises use to conduct business, it’s fair to say they are no less than heroes. Business endpoints are lifelines for organizations today. Needless to say, they cannot afford to have them malfunctioning.

Traditionally, organizations used client management tools to gain visibility into operating systems, laptops and servers. CMT helped admins detect attacks and vulnerabilities against business endpoints and take corrective actions. Later, as businesses realized the need to allow employees the flexibility to work on mobile devices, Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions gained popularity too. Both these technologies, however, work very differently and require separate teams to operate.

Gartner predicts that by 2020, 80% of the tasks performed by workers will be done on mobile devices. Well, not that it’s a trend we’ve not noticed. The flexibility and convenience the modern workforce demands, in addition to the ROI this means for businesses, in terms of productivity, mobility, and agility, can no longer be overlooked. After all, it’s not just technology that’s evolving, our working habits are evolving as a result, too. 

But no matter how many business devices are out in the field and how many employees bring their own devices to work, company-owned desk devices connected to the enterprise LAN/Wi-Fi are not going anywhere soon. Plus, there’s a world of connected devices that companies now feel the need to manage and monitor. So, what next? Should companies just keep adding tools to their kitty – all designed to manage different types of devices?

Well, it’s a human tendency to resist change. So, hesitating to switch to a solution that’s just starting to gain ground is but obvious. However, a closer look at what the transition could mean and help businesses achieve can definitely tip the scales in favor of UEM. Not only is being able to manage all business devices from a single console convenient, using a single tool to monitor and secure all endpoints also means reduced cost liabilities, both in terms of the IT infrastructure and resources required. 

Over the last few years, thus, the focus has shifted from CMT and EMM to Unified Endpoint Management, which enables enterprises to ensure their devices are always business-ready, regardless of the type. UEM solutions are designed to help organizations manage their fleets of devices – desktops to IoT devices – from a single pane of glass. And this is how it all pans out – a unified endpoint management solution helps:

• Configure, manage, monitor and secure Android, iOS, macOS, Windows 10, wearable and IoT endpoints
• Unify the application of management profiles, configurations, and data protection and device compliance policies
• Glean detailed analytics reports and improve end-user support by providing a single view of multi-device users
• Orchestrate the activities of related endpoint technologies

For the first time in 2018, Gartner ranked UEM solution providers in a new Magic Quadrant that replaced the one for Enterprise Mobility. This was done to recognize players managing diverse endpoints and aiming to simplify processes, tools, and policies across device environments. According to Gartner, a viable option for a single-pane-of-glass solution is gradually emerging as UEM technologies mature. They expect their market definition of UEM to evolve over the next several years as the readiness for and adoption of UEM become more commonplace.

Companies that have a fleet of diverse devices, those that have already modernized their legacy infrastructure, and those that have to depend heavily on mobile computing devices are best positioned to adopt a unified management solution. While making a choice companies must audit the endpoint management capabilities of tools they are evaluating, along with their ability to evolve/grow with them.

For those still wondering if making the switch is a good idea, here’s some food for thought. Why choose traditional tools over one that can not only ease both app and device management, but also offer actionable insights; bring uniformity in support; remotely support and keep a tab on a wide array of on-field, wirelessly connected devices; push apps and app updates over-the-air; ensure easy mass enrollment and enforce security policies – all through a single window?

In fact, it’s high time companies let go of CMT/EMM tools in favor of UEM solutions, especially when migrating is not even a daunting, time-consuming task. Discover how 42Gears UEM ensures a smooth transition.