Upwardly mobile- CRN article explores how the channel can tap into the mobility opportunity
The rise of mobility and fall of the traditional network perimeter presents a wealth of customer engagement opportunities for Australian channel partners that are prepared to look beyond simply managing the usual suspects.
Once the next big thing in mobility, mobile device management (MDM) has become commoditized to the point where many solutions basically throw it in for free. To stay ahead of the game, managed services providers have expanded the concept of MDM to encompass much more- offering a wider range of services for a much broader range of devices.
Traditional MDM –applied to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets – manages feature such as configuration, security and location tracking. With the rise of the iPhone and other consumer-focused smart devices, MDM became an important tool for keeping a diverse fleet of handsets in order.
Beyond this, Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) expands MDM to cover mobile application, content and identity management. This includes managing secure encrypted containers on devices, which are particularly useful for striking the right balance when managing a bring-your-own –device program. EMM offers the ability to remotely delete sensitive business apps and data without the need to completely wipe the device.
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) then expands this EMM concept to cover a much wider range of endpoints, from smartphones, tablets, and PCs to printers, wearables and IoT devices. This offers a more holistic view of the business’ distributed technology assets, managing all endpoints via “a single pane of glass”.
The basic mobile device management market is “a race to zero”, says George Deligiannoudis-Chief executive of Melbourne mobility managed services provider Mobilise IT.
“My number one advice is that the channel should look forwards mitigating all their customers from MDM to EMM and UEM as fast as possible, this is something that they should have been doing yesterday.” Deligiannoudis says.
“MDM is so heavily commoditized that if a partner goes through the hard word of selling just an MDM platform into a customer then there’s a risk that competing platforms will offer that service free of charge and cut them out of the picture.”
The rice of the internet of things presents channel partners with an opportunity to take their mobility strategy to the next level and strengthen their relationship with costumers, Deligiannoudis says.
IoT isn’t five or 10 years away, for many business it’s today and tomorrow,” he says. ”UEM is a key point on that IoT roadmap, not just to manage more devices but to underpin a complete digital transformation strategy.”
“In return this transition also increases a channel partner’s stickiness and gives them more touch points with the costumer.
See web link to CRN article below
