Microsoft adds free mobile device management to Office 365

sincity · March 31, 2015

Microsoft has made it easier for enterprises to manage access to data within Office 365 by offering mobile device management (MDM) free of charge as part of all Office 365 commercial plans.

The built-in device management implementation allows system administrators to manage access to data across a range of devices including tablets and smartphones on Apple iOS, Google Android and Windows Phone platforms.

Office 365's MDM system works in three distinct ways. Conditional Access lets you to set up security policies on devices that use Office 365 to make sure that corporate emails and documents are only accessed on approved devices.

Device management means that you can devise security policies like PIN lock or jailbreak detection to make sure that unauthorised users don't access sensitive information. Lastly, selective wipe means you can remove corporate data whilst leaving personal data untouched on a device running Office 365.

MDM adoption remains low

MDM adoption is still proving to be a problem in enterprises and a survey carried out by SOTI found that half of companies don't have a programme in place to manage the mobile devices used by workers.

Companies like Microsoft offer MDM free-of-charge makes it even less likely that enterprises will enact specific policies and with this being the case they might not even need to.

Business, Enterprise, Educational, Government and all other Office 365 commercial plans can take advantage of the offering right now and it makes sure that BYOD security isn't an issues when Office 365 is being used.