Why the next big thing in Mobile Device Management is Office 365
For years we have been hearing about the promise of Mobile Device Management as a way for credit unions to give employees the ability to use their mobile phones efficiently for work while still remaining IT compliant. Many credit union execs want to check email from cell phones, or keep some member information in their mobile contacts, but the fear of being out of IT Compliance and the high cost and complexity of a true MDM solution has prohibited them. IT departments rejoice: MDM now has a simple deployment and is a reasonable option thanks to Office 365.
As a refresher, Mobile Device Management, commonly shortened to MDM, is a software platform for managing mobile devices (mobile phones and tablet computers) that provides features such as remote mobile wipe, password policy enforcement, and encryption. And Office 365 is a subscription plans that include access to Office applications, including outlook email, Skype for Business, plus other productivity services that are enabled over the Internet, or cloud services. (See AltiGen’s Intro to Office 365 Blog Series).
MDM and O365: Bigger than Sliced Bread?
The platform that isn’t slowing down – there are an estimated 80 million Office 365 subscribers to date and growing at exponential rates – is also proving to be advantageous in efficiently rolling out IT security technologies within regulated industries. Mobile Device Management for Office 365 can help you secure and manage mobile devices like iPhones, iPads, Androids, and Windows Phones used by licensed Office 365 users in your credit union in a compliant manner. You can create policies with settings that can help control access to your CU’s Office 365 email and documents for supported mobile devices and apps. If a device is lost or stolen, you can remotely wipe the device to remove sensitive organizational information.
This is yet another huge benefit for credit unions we are seeing by switching legacy email servers to email in the Microsoft cloud with Office 365. This simple MDM solution does a complete compliance check on every phone. It ensures the phone being used is compliant with the policies you setup and customize for your CU.
Dictate and Enforce your Credit Union’s Mobile Policies
With O365’s MDM, you can dictate any number of policies on the back end, whether phones are supplied to employees by the credit union, or personal phones by employees who want to use their mobile phone to check company email, calendars and contacts (BYOD). MDM allows you to set policies from passwords, encryption requirements, backup requirements, phone capabilities (such as blocking the ability to take screen shots), even app requirements: You can block supplied phones from downloading any additional apps to the phones.
Compliance Checks? Check!
A compliance check happens when you enroll the device, then is continually monitored. If at anytime the phone doesn’t meet the compliance checks it can then take an action you require. For example, if a password is entered incorrect more than 8 times, you can go so far as to completely wipe the phone. Or perhaps you just block access to the phones Office 365 services, such as email and contacts. On the softer side, you can set MDM to take no action if a phone is out of compliance, and just alert the administrator to the issue to determine the appropriate action.
Considering Office 365 for your credit union? Want to learn more about Mobile Device Management and the other benefits of 365? Contact the IT compliance experts at enCompass for more information.
View our article: 8 Reasons Your Credit Union Should Consider Office 365
