Nick Taylor, Key Account Manager – UK & IE Finance, Jamf
Trust in the banking sector took a nosedive after the financial crash of 2007. The following years resulted in reform which included higher levels of scrutiny from policy makers and the public in order to rebuild faith from customers in the industry. New legislations that capped bumper bonuses which ‘rewarded’ failure as well as new regulations like the Financial Services Act and GDPR also emerged to protect consumers from not only the financial industry but all sectors as a result.
How compliance brings business reform
From HR teams to IT, everyone within an organisation has a part to play in introducing and maintaining regulations – but not everyone will have the skillset or know-how to do so. Furthermore the widespread use of multiple mobile devices, where misuse and breaches are likely to take place, can mean the positive face of reform can quickly become a costly and legal nightmare if it is badly managed.
To help ensure that profits remain high and staff remain productive in their roles while being complaint and regulated, financial institutions require technology solutions that can be deployed and scaled across thousands of employees. This is where a mobile device management (MDM) solution can support compliance.
From controlling rogue devices in the hands of employees that are in the process of leaving to deploying same day updates, MDM solutions have begun to play a key role in ensuring compliance and operational efficiency.
Managing the device of choice
Before you can think about managing the devices within your organisation, you need to know what is being used. For years, Windows was the dominant technology in the enterprise. Apple devices tended to be the preserve of designers and those wishing to stand out, with Microsoft-powered hardware the far more-used stalwart. However, the previous decade has seen a significant move away from this once ubiquitous standard, with Apple devices becoming a common sight. This may not seem like an important change, but with IBM recently revealing that only 7 engineers are needed to support the deployment of over 200,000 Mac devices, compared to 20 for Windows-based, the operational efficiency for large financial institutions is clear. The fewer engineers you need to be dealing with maintenance, the more you have available to deal with the task of demonstrating compliance and improving processes.
It’s not just in-house equipment that IT needs to worry about either when considering compliance.
The worldwide office
With the popularity of remote working going from rare perk to expected work practice, the complexity of managing devices has increased ten-fold. Employees can be scattered across the world, with a range of smartphones, laptops and tablets being used to access company data.
Where MDM solutions come in here is that they allow for IT to remotely lock and wipe a device, reset a passcode, or deploy & remove apps across a whole suite of devices. Additionally, same day updates can be rolled out without the employee needing to do anything.
Helping stay on top of legislation
One area of compliance that has had the biggest impact on not only the financial sector, but across the world, is GDPR.
MDM also helps comply with GDPR through the following:
-
- Insights into how apps are being used and what data is being collected
- Keeping personal and business data separate
- Helping maintain proper data audits
When it comes to tackling the challenges of compliance, every employee has a part to play. Where MDM comes in useful, is that it removes some of this responsibility from every individual and into the hands of IT. This helps reduce the threat of one rogue device costing time and money.
So, what is the best way to start implementing an MDM solution?
Look smaller for best practices
When it comes to deploying and managing technology, many larger legacy brands have struggled due to the costs and time needed. Bucking this trend, many smaller start-ups have prospered thanks to their ability to quickly adopt new services without legacy infrastructure holding them back. Because they have less resources, they have looked at the ways for smaller IT teams to manage and be able to scale. MDM has been a cornerstone of this, as it lets just a few people manage thousands of devices. Freeing up this time for more important tasks means stretched IT teams can focus on ensuring compliance across the board.
Ultimately, for large institutions to stay on top of compliance, they need to be able to reduce the dependency on large IT teams, maintain control over every device and be aware of what every employee is using their different devices for. MDM can help with this and make life easier for everyone.
