Managing the life of your devices

Let’s not beat around the bush on this, devices can be a big headache for employers. They are costly and varied. They are also prone to loss, theft and being dropped! Managing the life of a company’s devices is hard work.

So what are the benefits of good management?

The latest technology brings many benefits that we have explored already in this series. They help to attract and retain good employees. They also allow for flexible working – anywhere, at any time. And, if managed correctly, devices can actually enhance security — think multifactor authentication by SMS.

But the major benefit is in the area of personalization. The key to the best digital workplace is beginning with the individual and developing people-centric technology design. The device your worker is using is smart! It can become a rich and powerful data source that you can use to optimize your workplace efficiency and employee experience.

The benefits of better understanding your workforce are manifold, such as:

• Identifying and responding to employees’ technology needs including flexibility, access and security
• Understanding the training needs of your employees – personal data can help you to advise and promote the most relevant training tools and courses, ensuring you’re always up-skilling your workforce
• Communicating changes in employment benefits and administration – these can be carefully communicated to the right people, in the right way, at the right time
• Allowing for self-service so that employees can chose the devices and software they want and find most useful
• Developing better knowledge of performance, key targets and strengths
• Resolving issues via self-service – many employees prefer to manage their own IT issues without cumbersome (and costly) support

So how can an employer achieve all of this while still saving costs? The answer is automation and subscription. These two shifts can move you from an expensive, cumbersome and painful process to one that is cheaper, more efficient and also brings added benefits.

Automation means that you can:

• Control a large variety of devices through automated security and access updates
• Allow for the data analytics benefits that are detailed above
• Support self-service functions such as issues management and purchasing

Moving to a subscription means that you can:

• Give your employees the “wow” factor and offer the latest devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops and printers
• Reduce operational costs and the need to manage a never-ending set of new versions and feature releases
• Avoid large capital outlay
• Get IT out of the device business by streamlining device lifecycle management and provisioning as-a-service billed per-seat, per-month

If you think about these benefits then planning for the digital workplace will feel more manageable.

How are you managing the complexity of devices at your workplace?