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A Brave New World of Strained Symbiosis

Article from ADMIN 09/2012

By ADMIN Magazine

As I sit here writing the introduction for this issue of ADMIN on my iPad, I realize many of you are facing the newest conundrum striking your overfilled plates: Mobile Device Management. There's possibly no greater joy than having management heap another ton of complexity onto your already heavily laden backs. Mobile devices present a new frontier of challenges and opportunities for businesses. Adding hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of mobile devices to the mix places more strain between the ever-demanding user and the ever-cautious system administrator. It's the dawn of the Mobile Enterprise, and you need to come to terms with it now or forever hold your peace.

Your first task, after the consumption of many caffeinated beverages, is to assess just how many devices you're faced with adding to your list of managed systems. A good estimate is one device per user. Some users will have multiple devices, and a few will have none. This single fact could triple, quadruple, or more-ple the number of managed devices on your network.

The next task isn't as easy. For it, you must tally the different mobile device types you deal with. Think of the possible options facing you: Windows Mobile's various versions, Android's many iterations and formats, Apple's iOS-based devices, Blackberry, and perhaps even the stray WebOS phone or tablet. You've added a new complex variable to this recipe for less sleep and more caffeine. Your best bet is to rely on a trusted Mobile Device Management (MDM) or Mobile Application Management (MAM) software suite. You'll need one that supports all possible device types, that has a remote "wipe" capability built into it, that includes Active Directory or LDAP support, and that intrudes as little as possible into the functionality of the devices themselves. After all, you don't need a thousand angry users emailing you about the fact that you've effectively "bricked" their devices. Take a deep breath and another double

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