How to Improve IT Compliance with Automated Device Management

Every device in your global workforce is a potential doorway to your company's data. Do you know which of those doors are properly locked?

With 4.3% of company-issued smartphones lost or stolen each year, and less than 48% of employees using password protection on their mobile devices, the risks are significant. And manual interventions are costly and time-consuming.

Automated device management helps your organization tackle these challenges head-on, protecting sensitive data and locking down compliance across global teams. Through connected device security, tracking, and lifecycle management, your business can eliminate security gaps and maintain consistent standards worldwide.

We’ll look at how Deel IT's automated approach helps organizations strengthen their security, meet compliance requirements, and manage devices efficiently across distributed teams.

What is IT compliance, and why is it so important?

IT compliance is the practice of adhering to laws, regulations, standards, and internal policies related to information technology. It involves establishing and maintaining controls and procedures to ensure the security, integrity, and availability of IT assets and data. This is crucial for protecting sensitive data, ensuring security, and meeting regulatory standards.

Key aspects of IT compliance include data protection (safeguarding personal and sensitive data from unauthorized access, breaches, and misuse), security (implementing measures to protect IT infrastructure, devices, and data from cyber threats and vulnerabilities) and regulatory standards (adhering to legal requirements and industry-specific regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS).

IT compliance is so important for a number of reasons:

• Trust and reputation: IT compliance supports trust, reputation, and operational continuity. When organizations demonstrate that they handle data securely and adhere to regulations, it enhances their credibility with customers, partners, and stakeholders.
• Operational continuity: Compliance measures help ensure that systems and data remain available and operational, preventing disruptions. Non-compliance can lead to unexpected audits, device downtimes, or revoked access to key systems.
• Legal and financial implications: Failure to comply with IT regulations can result in substantial fines, penalties, and legal liabilities. For example, violations under GDPR or other frameworks can lead to significant financial penalties.
• Risk mitigation: IT compliance helps mitigate the risks of security breaches and data loss. Non-compliance with security protocols increases vulnerability to cyberattacks, resulting in significant financial and reputational damage.
• Meeting standards: Compliance ensures that IT assets adhere to key compliance frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.

IT compliance is vital for maintaining a secure and reliable IT environment, protecting sensitive data, and avoiding significant legal and financial repercussions. Organizations need to prioritize compliance to safeguard their operations, maintain stakeholder trust, and ensure long-term sustainability.

Common compliance challenges in managing IT devices

Organizations, especially those with distributed and hybrid teams, face numerous challenges in maintaining IT compliance in their mobile device management. These challenges can lead to security breaches, fines, and operational inefficiencies. Here are some of the most common issues:

• Outdated devices: Many organizations struggle with keeping their devices up to date with the latest security patches. Outdated devices are vulnerable to security breaches and malware, leading to compliance violations and potential data loss.
• Lack of visibility: A significant challenge is the lack of visibility into where devices are located and how they are being used. Without a clear overview, it becomes difficult to enforce compliance policies and track assets.
• Data security risks: Managing devices through the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, offboarding, and device retirement, presents considerable data security risks. Data breaches can occur during these transitions if not handled properly. For example, during onboarding, devices may not be configured securely, leaving them vulnerable to unauthorized access. And during offboarding, there’s a risk of data loss or leakage if devices aren’t wiped properly or recovered securely.
• Inconsistent security policies: Applying consistent security policies across all devices, especially in a distributed environment, can be difficult. Inconsistent security configurations can create gaps that cybercriminals can exploit.
• Regional regulatory variations: Compliance requirements vary significantly across different regions and countries. Organizations need to navigate these variations, ensuring their IT practices comply with local laws and standards. This is especially challenging for companies with a global presence.
• Manual processes: Relying on manual processes for device management is time-consuming and error-prone. Manual processes increase the risk of missed steps and human error, making it harder to maintain compliance.
• Device downtime: Malfunctioning devices can disrupt operations, and ensuring timely repairs is a major challenge. Delays in repairs and replacements impact employee productivity and can lead to operational disruptions.
• Cost management: Managing IT assets across borders can be expensive due to high shipping costs and the need to stockpile devices in multiple regions. This can strain budgets.

Thankfully, there’s a smarter approach to managing these complex issues.

How automated device management addresses IT compliance challenges

Automated device management is a smart, unified solution to the numerous IT compliance challenges that organizations face — especially those with distributed and hybrid teams. If they automate key processes, companies can streamline their operations, enhance security, and reduce risks.

Automated device management involves using software and tools to manage and monitor IT devices throughout their lifecycle. This includes tasks such as device deployment, configuration, tracking, security updates, and device retirement. The goal is to reduce manual intervention, ensure consistency, and improve compliance.

Its main features include:

Zero-touch deployment

This feature ensures secure and consistent device configuration during onboarding.

Instead of going through manual setup, devices are pre-configured with all necessary security settings and applications. This approach eliminates inconsistencies and reduces the risk of misconfigurations that could lead to compliance issues.

Real-time tracking

Automated systems provide real-time visibility into device usage and location: essential for supporting compliance audits.

This feature helps organizations keep track of all their IT assets, ensuring that devices are used according to company policy and that no devices are unaccounted for. This helps to address a lack of visibility, and also helps with asset recovery.

Certified data erasure

During offboarding or device decommissioning, automated device management takes care of secure data deletion. This is critical for preventing data breaches and complying with data protection regulations.

With certified erasure protocols, organizations can prove that all sensitive data has been completely removed from devices, generating auditable certificates of destruction that satisfy regulatory requirements. This is useful when devices are being redeployed to new employees or resold.

SLA-backed repairs

Automated device management provides guaranteed repair timeframes and temporary replacement devices to keep your workforce operational.

Malfunctioning devices can lead to operational disruptions and compliance issues, but ADM minimizes risks associated with device downtime. Service Level Agreement (SLA)-backed repairs mean that devices are quickly fixed and returned to use.

Standardized security

Automated systems allow organizations to** enforce consistent security policies across all devices**, regardless of their location. This approach helps ensure that every device is protected with the latest security measures, addressing the challenge of inconsistent policies.

Without standardised security, organizations risk creating weak points in their defense — like outdated software versions or misconfigured security settings — that cybercriminals can exploit to gain access to the entire network.

Mobile device management (MDM)

MDM capabilities enable organizations to remotely manage, secure, and enforce policies on mobile devices across their network. This includes the ability to configure security settings, deploy applications, track device health, and if necessary, remotely wipe sensitive data.

MDM is a fundamental tool for maintaining compliance in a mobile-first workplace, especially when managing bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies and protecting corporate data on personal devices.

Key benefits of automated device management for IT compliance

The benefits of automating these critical functions and processes can’t be understated.

Organizations can reduce their risks, improve their cybersecurity, and keep costs under control while managing regulatory requirements. Some key benefits of automated device management are:

• Stronger security: ADM keeps all devices compliant with the latest security standards. Automating configurations, security updates, and access controls, organizations can minimize vulnerabilities and reduce the risk of cyberattacks.
• Streamlined processes: Automation significantly reduces the manual effort required for IT teams to manage device compliance. Tasks like device deployment, tracking, and data erasure are handled automatically, ensuring consistent compliance across all devices.
• Cost savings: By avoiding fines and reducing operational inefficiencies, automated device management can lead to significant cost savings. The ability to track devices, automate device refresh cycles, and recondition and reuse hardware can all reduce unnecessary spending. (And preventing security breaches and data loss can save organizations from potential financial penalties).
• Scalability: Automated solutions scale easily, making it simpler to apply compliance policies across large and distributed teams. This is key for companies experiencing rapid growth or expanding into new regions, so they can maintain compliance as their IT infrastructure evolves.
• Improved employee experience: ADM contributes to a smooth onboarding process for new hires by providing them with pre-configured devices ready for use from day one. This minimizes delays and allows them to be productive immediately. With automated technical support and timely repairs, employee downtime is also minimized.
• Reduced risk: Features like certified data erasure, real-time tracking, and secure device recovery help to mitigate the risks associated with device management, which we’ll explore below.

The risks of non-compliance in IT

Non-compliance with IT standards and regulations can lead to significant risks for organizations. It can affect their financial stability, security, reputation, and overall operations (particularly those with distributed or hybrid teams).

Potential consequences of non-compliance are:

Fines and penalties

Organizations that fail to comply with IT regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS, can face substantial financial penalties — sometimes into the millions of dollars.

In 2020, for example, the UK’s Information Commissioner's Office fined British Airways £20m for failing to protect the personal and financial details of more than 400,000 of its customers.

Security breaches

Failure to maintain up-to-date security patches or keep consistent security measures across all devices can create openings for hackers to exploit, potentially leading to costly data breaches and significant financial losses.

In 2021, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack disrupted the administration of a major fuel pipeline in the southeastern United States. The operators, the Colonial Pipeline Company, paid the ransom amount of 4.4m USD to the hacker group in exchange for a tool to restore the systems. The attack is suggested to have originated by a breached employee password being found on the dark web.

Reputational damage

Data breaches and compliance violations can severely damage brand reputation and erode trust with customers and stakeholders. A loss of trust can make it difficult to attract new customers and retain existing ones. It can also impact the company’s ability to gain new partnerships or investment opportunities.

In 2017, Equifax's data breach affecting 147 million people led to their brand reputation score plummeting from 0 to -33 in just 10 days, after attackers exploited a known system vulnerability to harvest terabytes of sensitive data. Reputational damage like this can take a long time to recover from.

Operational disruptions

Non-compliance can result in unexpected audits, device downtimes, or revoked access to key systems, disrupting daily operations. That means decreased productivity, missed deadlines, and loss of revenue.

The previously mentioned Colonial Pipeline attack didn’t just cost a ransom fee to fix – billing systems were frozen, and the entire oil pipeline was shut down for six days while the incident was dealt with. This caused local fuel prices to spike to their highest levels in years.

For businesses of any size, a single systemic issue can cause ripple effects with much bigger consequences.

Legal liabilities

Organizations that fail to meet regulatory requirements may face lawsuits or regulatory sanctions. Legal battles can be expensive and time-consuming. For example, a company might face a class-action lawsuit from employees whose personal information was exposed due to improperly secured work devices in their bring-your-own-device programme.

Loss of sensitive data

Non-compliance with data protection laws can result in the loss of sensitive information, including customer data, IP, and other confidential information. These can lead to a loss of trust, legal action, and potential penalties.

Reduced employee morale

When employees see that the organization does not prioritize security and compliance, it can damage morale, reduce trust in the management, and cause turnover, especially with remote workers. One widely-cited study by Carbonite said that 24% of data-breached companies said employee morale suffered after an incident.

How Deel IT supports automated device management for compliance

Automate your device management with Deel IT.

Deel IT makes it simple to manage assets, security and compliance for global and distributed teams across 150+ countries:

• Global device procurement and security: Purchase and ship devices with pre-configured security settings ready for immediate use
• Real-time device tracking: Monitor your entire device fleet through a centralized dashboard
• Certified data protection: Ensure compliance with secure data erasure and a 96% global device recovery rate
• Automated lifecycle management: Streamline equipment refresh cycles with options to clear and resell old devices
• Regional compliance support: Meet local regulations during onboarding, usage and decommissioning with standardised global IT processes
• Seamless integrations: Connect with 60+ HRIS platforms to automate provisioning and access management

Schedule a demo to see how Deel IT can transform your device management, strengthen compliance, and empower your global workforce from day one.