Work-arounds without MDM

iectechbrian

Does anyone have any things they do for work-arounds of not having an MDM software in place?

My organization has 4 locations spread over nearly 200 miles apart, but still has much of a small-business mindset. They don't want to pay extra for an MDM software onto of what Atera provides. Each location has anywhere from 8-20 tablets. The tablets are mostly Samsung, with a few Surfaces and a fewiPads in the mix at each site.

So, any advice or ideas that I can use at a time where I can't use a second software suite?

mjones

I'm not aware of one that does everything *well*
That is a lot of tablets to configure with MDM after the fact, you're in for a world of work getting it all set up. All of the below ideally require hands on the device and some setup time.
We used Intune for our computers and it's a breeze. We have a handful of Samsung tablets that are not really managed after they are deployed to the field, just not worth the time and monthly expense for a few devices.

For Windows, if you have Office 365, Intune is definitely what you are looking for. Really easy to force and offer installation of apps based on groups of devices or users.
Intune can also manage iOS and Android, but I haven't used it.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/fundamentals/deployment-guide-platform-android
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/fundamentals/deployment-guide-platform-ios-ipados

For iOS devices, I used SimpleMDM ( https://simplemdm.com/ ) in the past and it was stupidly easy to set up and manage. Office 365 has some ability

In my previous experience, android MDM is the least usable, though I haven't used it in a while. The app installs were more of a gentle suggestion instead of "thing is being installed now"
Google has MDM if you are a Worspace org.
https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/admin/endpoint/