What will the future of MDM look like? 6 trends to watch for in 2022

MDM stands for Master Data Management, which represents the process of creating uniform data in customers’ devices. A research report by Veritas¹ says that organizations lose an estimate of over $2 million due to data management inefficiencies. 38% of the organizations involved admitted that inefficient and ineffective data management processes cripple the decision making process. 

Your Data Management systems will be going from certainties to uncertainties in the next couple of years. The number of devices and apps, the apps people use and how to use them, the security concerns for each system, and the new threats are all set to change. 

MDM is growing in popularity

Businesses are quickly adopting MDM solutions to manage and control devices used by employees. Employees are increasingly bringing their own gadgets to work, creating a security concern for companies. MDM solutions can help you keep tabs on the mobile devices that access your company networks, making them an essential part of any security strategy for the modern workplace.

Master Data Management is going to evolve its features and capabilities

There are a bunch of new trends that will begin to become prominent in 2022. You will see better predictive analytics, biometrics, automation, remote monitoring, the ability to control multiple devices at once, integration with other systems, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and many other things. MDM is evolving its features and capabilities to offer a better user experience to its users and improved security and more detailed reporting.

It is all about the customers

Here is the thing: in 2022, data management will be all about the customer. MDM solutions are increasingly shifting their focus to providing a better customer experience.

Every day, companies are collecting more and more data from their customers. According to a report by Seed Scientific², by 2025, the amount of data generated each day is expected to reach 463 exabytes globally. As customer-centricity becomes an increasingly important driver for businesses across all industries, it’s clear that MDM solutions are going to play a key role in helping organizations use this information to better understand and serve their customers.

Businesses are going to be more proactive with their MDM policies

This mindset was in place when the "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) movement first started. It made sense then, and it still makes sense now: preventative measures are better than fixing problems. Proactive policies are more efficient, effective, and have better employee morale.

Many companies have been trying to become more proactive with their MDM strategies in the last couple of years, but they've had a lot of roadblocks to overcome. With new technologies available this year, they'll finally be able to do it effectively—and at scale.

MDM will focus on security

Security will be a key focus in the Master Data Management space in 2022. The area of security that gets the most attention is securing data on mobile devices, but it’s important to remember that there are other ways a company can reduce its risk of losing sensitive information. As such, we anticipate that MDM vendors will expand to secure the entire mobile device lifecycle and focus on securing not just data and applications but also the operating system (OS) and user.

In addition to new features from independent software vendors (ISVs), we expect MDM vendors will turn their attention to improving data security at different points in the lifecycle of a mobile device. For example, some ISVs have started offering expanded capabilities for hardening an OS before it's even released into production — for many companies, this is one of the most critical steps for protecting against vulnerabilities introduced by negligent manufacturers or supply chain attacks. We believe that more companies will embrace these offerings as they realize how crucial proactive measures are when it comes to reducing risk.

Along with securing all phases of a device's life cycle, we see a trend toward securing both users and their devices' OSs. To do this effectively, Master Data Management tools need access to behavior analytics engines so they can use machine learning techniques to closely monitor what users are doing across all connected endpoints in real-time — and then take appropriate actions based on anomalies discovered during these monitoring sessions (e.g., quarantining an endpoint after detecting suspicious activity).

MDM is becoming a must-have for businesses of all sizes

More and more, businesses are turning to MDM to gain control of the mobile devices used on their networks. The unprecedented adoption of mobile devices by employees has created a need for technology that can manage, secure, and secure these devices across all platforms.

MDM is both a critical component for ensuring mobile device security as well as an essential tool for managing them efficiently. With an MDM platform, businesses can ensure that their devices remain secure and up-to-date at all times. This is accomplished by managing user profiles, which provide access to corporate information or applications based on the type of device they have been assigned to.

The need for a Unified Mobile Device Management strategy is vital to the growth of mobile technology, with an open approach that enables users to access corporate data and applications from any device. The supply of MDM software platforms is increasing, and so are the options for integrating MDM solutions.

Conclusion

The future possibilities of MDM are endless, especially if you consider that the underlying security model is just a platform to build on. The trends we identified break down some of the most common applications we'll see develop shortly. For those who understand MDM, small details like these can make all the difference.