How to Reduce Enterprise Mobility Management Strain on Your IT Department

Enterprise mobility management can quickly become an ongoing headache for your IT department. Today’s businesses need to deploy mobile devices (such as rugged laptops and 2-in-1s) across a broad spectrum of work environments, ranging from office locations to remote workers’ homes and on-site locations in the field.

Compared to a BYOD approach, providing PCs to your full workforce offers significant benefits in terms of productivity and security. But deploying those devices into the right hands can be challenging enough on its own, and ongoing management of those adds additional layers of complexity to IT department responsibilities.

In the face of device management challenges during large-scale device deployment and management, here are some ways in which enterprise IT leaders can overcome these challenges.

The Logistics of Enterprise Mobility Management During Device Deployments

While keeping an organization’s workforce equipped with up-to-date PCs has become essential for maximizing productivity and efficiency, deployments come with hidden challenges that organizational leaders who are not in the daily trenches with the IT team might realize.

Often, the core of the problem comes down to the size of the IT department. Staffing requirements for enterprise IT teams are often determined by what the organization needs for general maintenance and problem-solving for existing devices. As such, staffing levels may not account for large-scale deployment of new PCs across the workforce at the time they make a large, enterprise-level purchase of new laptops and tablets.

Here are some common deployment hurdles that can complicate enterprise mobility management during the rollout:

Device Distribution

Devices must be distributed to all office workers, remote workers, and field-based employees. The logistics of this task can be overwhelming to IT teams as they coordinate across the spectrum of office pickups and device deliveries. These tasks get more convoluted based on the size of the rollout, both in terms of employee numbers and geographical diversity.

Customized Kitting

Each employee may have unique needs associated with their PC, which means you'll need to ship a customized kit designed for the requirements of each worker. For example, field employees may need extra batteries or storage, where office workers may not. IT must figure out the needs of each individual and make sure they get the right equipment. In many companies, this could mean diverting IT employees from other tasks to pack and ship boxes with the right accessories.

Rugged Laptop Setup

IT workers must coordinate initial device setup and provisioning at scale, which may include BIOS configurations, mapping device buttons, security profiles and permissions, software installations and permissions, tailoring for individual user requirements, and more. These tasks often require a level of bandwidth that far exceeds the capabilities of most enterprise IT departments.

Without some added support for IT, these activities can quickly overtax the average IT department. And deployment is only the first step of an enterprise PC rollout.

Ongoing IT Management of Enterprise Mobile Deployments   

Managing a large-scale device network after deployment is not without challenges. IT must provide:   

• Timely updates to firmware, operating systems, and apps to mitigate security risks. 
• Functionality updates as new capabilities, features and software partnerships roll out for the organization.
• Scheduling, testing, and pushing updates with minimal disruption to a diverse range of employee workflows.   
• Monitoring of devices for unauthorized access, viruses, and other unusual activity.
• Timely repair and replacement of devices that get damaged in the field.   
• Rapid response when field-deployed devices are lost, stolen, or tampered with.
• Lifecycle management for devices, such as usage tracking, monitoring for performance issues, device retirement and replacement, warranty claims and more.

While many organizations will have some type of mobile device management solution in place, those solutions often fall short in terms of real-time monitoring and proactive detection of threats.

Furthermore, when the core of many issues comes down to simple bandwidth issues in the IT department, it may be time to consider more in-depth IT support services.

Scaling Device Management With Panasonic PC Control Suite 

As device deployments grow in scale, IT departments often enlist outside help or invest in better technology solutions to monitor and control their network of devices. That’s where we come in.

With PC Control Suite from Panasonic Connect’s ProServices experts, IT teams gain enterprise-grade tools for managing large-scale device deployments, allowing for the automation and customization of workflows and monitoring tasks. Organizations that use our TOUGHBOOK® and Let’s note™ PCs can leverage PC Control Suite to relieve strain and enhance the capabilities of the IT team. PC Control Suite enables IT teams to:

• Boost IT efficiency: Your IT team can automate a variety of tasks, including configuring BIOS settings, mapping buttons, configuring hardware and more. This allows them to focus their efforts more strategically rather than getting bogged down with troubleshooting and repeatable tasks.
• Improve the end-user experience: Our PC Control Suite helps IT personnel easily tailor each device to the needs of its specific user, resulting in better productivity.
• Enhance security compliance: IT teams can easily push the latest drivers and security updates out across all TOUGHBOOK and Let’s note devices in a timely manner, ensuring compliance with even the strictest security standards and protocols.

Put Powerful Tools in Your IT Department's Hands

PC Control Suite also gives administrators a centralized hub for enterprise mobility management with our PC Hub, which acts as a central dashboard offering complete control of your Panasonic Connect PC network. We also offer System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) tools through our PC Integration Kit, ensuring that even the largest enterprises can tailor driver imports, package creation, deployment and updates for the needs of their organization.

And, when needed, Panasonic Connect can also help with the physical side of device deployments by supporting your company with kitting, asset tagging and other deployment and fulfillment services.

If your enterprise mobility management program is straining the capabilities of your current IT team and solutions, Panasonic Connect can help. With our PC Control Suite, we offer robust security, advanced automation, and a user-friendly interface, giving IT administrators the strategic tools they need to keep devices performing reliably and IT teams operating efficiently.

Learn more about Panasonic PC Control Suite: Your All-In-One Solution for Panasonic Device Management.