The acronym EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) is increasingly giving way to EMU (Unified Endpoint Management). EMU, or Unified Endpoint Management, makes it possible to provide the same services, apply the same rules and processes on all terminals (fixed, mobile, hybrid, whatever the OS) using a single solution for managing and securing the fleet.
So what about it? Myth, near or far reality? Based on his knowledge of the latest technologies and the feedback from ITS Ibelem, of which he is the Managing Director, Jean-Cédric MINIOT shares his vision and convictions with us. ITS Ibelem, a subsidiary of the ITS Group, is a pure player in the field of mobility?
Today there are two universes with two distinct modes of operation that seem to be evolving at the opposite end of the spectrum. That of the management of PCs and laptops with stable processes, anchored but sometimes heavy and costly, and that of the management of mobility tools, sometimes operating iteratively but demonstrating agility, responsiveness and scalability to provide a user experience in line with the times.
These two worlds should logically be merged to become one with two priority objectives:
- deliver a unique work experience on any occasion and in line with users' expectations,
- rationalise the costs inherent in two parallel modes of operation while maintaining a high level of security.
While traditional PC management tools offer undeniable advantages with greater stability and security, they can sometimes seem complex to maintain. Sources of complexity include: GPOs (Group Policy Objects), masters, application management, monitoring deployments, the need to operate across corporate LANs, and more.
EMM solutions do not offer exactly the same level of management today. The deployment of terminals may seem tedious in the eyes of the user, but in return, they allow :
- remote management of terminals,
- a single, simplified application management,
- the deployment of terminals in BYOD with the possibility of perfectly splitting the personal and professional universes,
- Mac OS administration (for some of them) .
However, by observing the market and its developments, trends are emerging that should lead to a convergence of the two worlds. Among the most significant developments is the extension of Windows 10 management outside the corporate network, which is conducive to the administration of these terminals through EMM solutions.
In addition, processes and functional bases common to several OSes are emerging. Enrolment procedures are, for example, facilitated on a larger number of terminals by offering an optimized "Out Of Box Experience" thanks to programs developed by editors and manufacturers. Apple first developed its "Device Enrollment Program" (DEP), Samsung the "Knox Mobile Enrollment" (KME). Google has made available "Android Enterprise" and its various deployment strategies and finally Microsoft is promoting its "Windows AutoPilot" service,
The last structuring evolution: we note a reinforcement of the security of EMM solutions which are gradually catching up with the level reached on PCs. They manage, for example, identity in an integrated way and offer, as a complement, MTP (Mobile Threat Prevention) solutions. One of the major players goes as far as integrating a single agent combining terminal fleet management and threat detection and correction.
Given these advances and the scalability of EMM solutions, there is every reason to believe that the promise of unified management is on its way to being realized. This is my conviction and it is shared by our experts who work on projects for major international groups including tens of thousands of terminals and aiming to design and disseminate the work experience of the future. Please note that when I talk about the future, I'm talking about the near future, since we're looking at a horizon of one to two years.
It remains for the various entities of the IT and Business Units to agree, among other things, on a new organisation and division of tasks. This evolution should, in the long term, allow them to free up time to deal with highly strategic themes on which everything remains to be done: Intelligence.
By Jean-Cédric MINIOT, Managing Director, ITS Ibelem
