What Is an Endpoint? Link to heading
The word “endpoint” is used a lot in tech. In the device management domain, an endpoint is any managed computer or mobile device that is actively used for work. This can mean servers, but it typically means devices that are deployed “1:1”, in end user’s hands. For most modern organizations 1:1 deployed endpoints are the primary portals to collaboration and productivity.
Here is a way to quantify that.
Your “knowledge workers” can’t do their jobs at all without endpoints. But, does your organization have:
- a facilities crew
- a janitorial staff
- a maintenance facility
- a physical network hardware team
- a physical plant team
- a shipping / receiving team
- a warehouse inventory team
- equipment operators
- drivers
- line workers
- machinists
- mechanics
- truckers
- welders
- ???
How many of these people in your organization never touch a computer or mobile device for work? For most organizations, if it’s not already zero, my hunch is that the number is close to zero, or it’s rapidly approaching zero.
This effectively means the endpoint impacts all work.
If endpoints are important, endpoint management is important. Your technology planning and purchasing should include endpoint management as a critically important part of your infrastructure. If not, you’re doing it wrong.
This is my opinion. I am biased. I have worked in the endpoint management space wearing a few different hats for years now. But, the reason I am opinionated on this topic is because of how often I have seen organizations fail to understand the problem.
I once attended an open question and answer session with the CEO of the company where I worked. It was part of the onboarding / orientation process. We were expected to have a question prepared so I put some thought into it. When my turn came, the exchange went like this:
I said,
“A lot of corporate executives seem to see IT departments as a necessary evil or as a cost center.
Since I’ve heard you say in multiple contexts that you believe technology is critically important to your business, what is your view of the relationship between your internal IT teams at this company and the business?”
He said, with a smirk,
“IT teams are a necessary evil and a cost center.”
He followed with some genuine praise. “You guys do a great job!” Blah, blah, blah… He gave the answer I expected.
Why Do Decision Makers Feel This Way? Link to heading
Most likely from chasing solutions that don’t live up to promises:
- “Modernization” projects that take years to complete or stay open forever
- Infighting over top-down architectural or deployment decisions that didn’t consider endpoint management as an important part of the strategy
- Reports of bad end-user experiences on expensive devices paid for with company money
Decision-makers can and should be better served.
The best endpoint management is invisible to end users & to the organization deploying it, but, endpoint teams can only enable work in a way that seems effortless when it is understood that endpoint management isn’t magic. It can and should be strategically, meticulously planned & executed. It requires engineering & it requires the well-articulated solutions for the problems.
Perhaps your security teams would like to deploy many different agents for many different (but similar) products from directly competing technology companies that have conflicting features. Don’t expect your endpoint engineering teams to “solve” this. Include them in the plan from the start & let them provide a solution with tooling that works.
Perhaps your endpoint mangement & help desk teams are saddled with issues that require unscalable, manual “click in the GUI” fixes compounded by arduous change management procedures. Quick action to resolution in this situation may be difficult or impossible. What if you could just declare the state you wanted your endpoints to be in with auditable code instead of all that clicking?
If any of this resonates with your experience, if you are considering alternatives to the endpoint management products you currently use, if you’d like to do something other than let your management and security problems stack up at your endpoints, you should consider giving Fleet a try.
Its API-first, security-minded, multi-platform features, its flexibility, ease of use and its potential for integration with your existing systems and GitOps workflows may make it the right choice for your next endpoint management upgrade.
