Understanding device administration

Ensuring devices remain hardened and secured is unrealistic without a proper device management solution. Unless you administer a very small number of devices, you are going to need some form of management to effectively apply policies, distribute software, manage security updates, and continuously service endpoints after they are handed over to your employees. Without it, your organization will be putting itself in an extremely vulnerable situation.

First, let's look at the evolution of device management and the progression to unified endpoint management throughout the years.

Device management evolution

Using a device management model, many large organizations have adopted MECM, formerly known as System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), as the standard for on-premises device management. Configuration Manager is a fully mature solution whose capabilities range from image deployment to software distribution, patch management, and policy...