Mobile Device Inventory Management- A Guide to Help You Do It Right


Staff WriterStaff Writer3/30/2022

What is mobile device inventory management ?

Inventory management is the process of tracking and keeping tabs on the different devices that a business owns. This can range from tracking the number of iPhones, iPads, and Android devices that a business owns, to keeping track of which computers and laptops are in use at any given time. Keeping track of all the different mobile devices that a business owns can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. This is where mobile device inventory management comes in. A mobile device inventory management system helps businesses keep tabs on the different devices that they own, and helps them manage their mobile device inventory more efficiently and effectively. This article will highlight some of the benefits of using a mobile device inventory management system, and discuss some of the most reliable and user-friendly options available.


What is Device Inventory Management?

Device inventory management refers to the process of analyzing and maintaining a device's software, data, or content. It's important to adequately manage your devices because this helps you avoid data loss and other issues that could harm your business. When it comes to inventory management, there are a few common mistakes many organizations make. One of these mistakes is failing to update the operating system on their device. This can lead to security breaches or simply wasting time due to the lack of efficiency in the operating system. Another mistake people often make is not backing up their devices periodically. As such, if anything were to happen - like someone accidentally deleting an email account - you could lose access to your organization's critical data. To help you avoid these costly mistakes, we've put together this guide on how you can best go about managing your mobile devices as an organization-


How Does Device Inventory Management Work?

The first thing you need to do is figure out what types of mobile devices your organization has in its possession. This includes smartphones, tablets, and other devices that may have access to your company's data (like wearables like smartwatches). Once you know what devices are available, it's time to inventory them - the goal here is to determine the state of each device. Do all the devices need repairs? What about software updates? Or security patches? Once you know which devices need updates or repairs, that information should be logged in a spreadsheet or database for easy reference. The next step is to identify any missing or lost devices - this will help you track down any wayward smartphones when needed. The last step is to evaluate the current software on each device and make sure it's up-to-date. Tracking inventory of your company's mobile devices will help you stay on top of technology in today's world of constant change. It'll also ensure that your business can meet customer needs while minimizing downtime due to technological issues.


Device Inventory Examples

An inventory of devices can be done in a number of ways. It can be as simple as documenting the make and model of each device, or you can go a step further and document the serial numbers for each device. This will allow you to keep track of your assets even better. We recommend keeping all documentation in an Excel spreadsheet. You'll want to include a column for the date, make, model, serial number, location, and other relevant information about the device (like if it's locked). If you're using an enterprise mobility management system for your mobile devices (such as MobileIron), then this is where you would plug in that data instead. And if you're using a cloud-based service like Zoho or Salesforce, we recommend updating your inventory automatically with new devices by setting up triggers.


The Benefits of Device Inventory Management

There are various benefits to device inventory management, but one of the most important is the ability to geo-locate your devices. This will ensure that you know where your devices are, what their battery life is, and more. Without this type of management in place, you might find yourself wondering where a device has gone. For example, let's say a customer leaves your business with an open wifi connection. If someone walks up to them and offers them a free wifi connection in exchange for their email address and other contact information, your device could end up connecting to that person's network without you knowing about it. This could lead to possible data breaches as well as phishing campaigns that steal sensitive information like credit card numbers or passwords. You need to be able to easily see when this happens in order to quickly take action to protect your data and keep customers safe. Device inventory management is essential for preventing these types of security risks from happening.


The Disadvantages of Device Inventory Management

If you're not a tech expert, it can be challenging to know what apps, operating systems, and best practices are right for your business. It's especially difficult when you have to consider which options work well with your budget and the needs of your employees. As such, we've created this guide with the goal of guiding you through the process of inventorying and managing your mobile devices. We'll walk you through how to get started, what inventory management software is out there, as well as tips on how to manage your mobile devices properly.


How to Get Started with Device Inventory Management

So, you're thinking about inventorying and managing the mobile devices in your organization. Great - we'll show you how to get started with device inventory management. The first step is the hardest, but it's also the most important- deciding which devices are right for your business. You need to find out what devices are relevant to your environment (in our case, this means smartphones and tablets) and then decide whether they're a good fit for your company. Once you've figured out what devices make sense for your company, you can start generating a device inventory list by gathering data from various sources like IT, customer service, field sales teams, etc. This information should include things like hardware specs, device ID, operating system version and software version. It's also important to identify primary users of each device so that you can assign the correct person as the owner of the device in question - this will come into play later on when assigning access permissions to specific users. For those of you who have already gone through this process, congratulations! For those who haven't yet begun planning their inventory strategy, don't worry - we'll walk through everything step-by-step below.


Wrapping Up

What's the most important thing to remember when it comes to inventorying and managing the mobile devices in your organization? There are a number of things you should be aware of, but the most important thing is to have a goal. In other words, you need to be sure that you're not wasting time by inventorying what doesn't matter or doing it at all. What does matter? That's for you to decide. But there are some good guidelines available for those who need a little help getting started. We hope this guide has helped clarify some of the more common questions about inventorying mobile devices in your organization. Now, we invite you to explore our blog for more insights on this topic, and others - and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out!