The short version
Device management means every laptop your company owns is visible, encrypted, and controllable from one place. If someone loses one, you wipe it within minutes. When someone joins, their laptop configures itself. No manual setup. No guesswork about what is on each machine.
We are Apple MDM agnostic. We deploy IRU (Kandji), Jamf, or Intune, depending on your fleet. We do not support legacy or consumer-focused platforms such as Meraki Systems Manager, SimpleMDM, or Hexnode, as these do not offer the level of compliance, automation, or observability required for business environments. We handle the setup and ongoing management so your IT team, or lack of one, does not have to. You get a dashboard showing every device, its compliance state, and the ability to act on any of them remotely.
MDM starts making sense at around 20 people. At 50, it is hard to justify not having it. Above that, it is a requirement. We will honestly tell you whether you need a platform yet or if a checklist and basic configuration will get you through the next stage.
This is for you if
Someone lost a laptop last year, and you had no way to wipe it remotely
New hires wait days for a configured laptop because IT sets each one up by hand
You are not sure which devices have encryption enabled and which do not
An auditor asked for device compliance evidence, and you did not have it
Your team installs whatever software they want with no oversight.
You are on Microsoft 365 Business Premium, but have not set up Intune
Where most companies are
You do not need to start at stage four. Most of our clients begin at stage two or three. The best starting point depends on your device count, how many sites you have, and whether you have compliance requirements. We will guide you to the right approach for your situation.
Security checklist
Any size
Enable FileVault or BitLocker manually. Set up a password manager. Use Find My Mac. This covers the basics but you have no visibility, no enforcement, and no audit trail.
MDM makes sense here
Starting out
At this point, manual setup stops scaling. An MDM platform gives you zero-touch deployment, automatic encryption enforcement, and remote wipe. We recommend connecting it to your identity provider from day one. Device compliance then feeds directly into access control.
MDM is needed
Growing teams
Department-based app deployment, automated patching, compliance dashboards, and no local admin access by default. Different teams get different apps automatically. Your security baseline is enforced, not hoped for.
Full fleet automation with identity
Scaling operations
Device lifecycle from procurement to retirement. Identity integration drives everything: a non-compliant device cannot access company apps. Conditional access policies control what each department sees. Compliance evidence is generated automatically for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and Cyber Essentials.
What it actually costs you
A lost laptop does not just cost the price of the hardware. It costs you breach investigation, regulatory exposure, downtime, and whatever was on the drive. The industry average is around £35,000 per incident. The device itself is the cheapest part.
Every new hire who waits for a configured laptop is burning money. Someone in IT spends two to three days per machine: installing apps, configuring email, applying security settings, and testing. At £300 a day fully loaded, that is £600-900 per hire before they do anything useful. Multiply that by everyone you onboard this year.
Security updates happen when users feel like it, or not at all. In most cases, we have seen machines several years out of date, despite updates taking only 20 minutes. You cannot know which ones without physically checking each device. At 20 people, this is annoying. At 50, it is a liability. At 100, it is an audit failure waiting to happen.
Cyber Essentials, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 require evidence that every device is encrypted and patched. Without device management, you cannot provide that evidence at scale. You end up asking employees to send screenshots of their settings, which is neither reliable nor auditable.
45% of data breaches involve endpoint devices, not servers or cloud infrastructure. Laptops sitting in coffee shops and home offices have no centralised oversight. Unmanaged laptops are the single largest attack surface for companies of your size.
What you probably already have
Apple Business Manager is not an MDM. It does not manage your devices. What it does is register ownership. When a Mac is purchased through the right channel and linked to your ABM account, it knows it belongs to your company before anyone opens the box. That is what makes zero-touch deployment possible. Without ABM, you are manually enrolling every device.
Where you buy your Macs matters. We strongly recommend purchasing through the Apple Business Channel. Devices bought this way are automatically registered in your ABM account. Buy from Amazon or a random retailer, and you get a consumer device with no hardware identity. You will spend hours manually enrolling each one. For Windows, buying through the business channel means devices arrive pre-registered for Autopilot, which is the Windows equivalent.
If you are on Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Intune is included. You are already paying for device management on the Windows side, but have not turned it on.
FileVault and BitLocker are built into macOS and Windows. Encryption is free. The problem is not having it but enforcing it across every device and proving it to an auditor. That is what MDM does. With MDM, compliance data is collected automatically across the fleet, generating audit-ready reports that show encryption status, patch levels, device compliance, and policy enforcement in real time. This makes it easy to provide the evidence needed for SOC 2, ISO 27001, or Cyber Essentials without manual screenshots or data chasing.
Figure out what you already have before recommending anything new. If your existing stack covers your needs, we will tell you.
What changes
Every device is visible, encrypted, and remotely wipeable from a single dashboard
New hires get a laptop that configures itself on first login, with the right apps for their department installed automatically. No local admin access by default. Standard user accounts across the fleet. Elevated access is granted temporarily and logged when needed.
Security updates deploy automatically on a schedule you approve
Lost devices are wiped in minutes, not days of password changes
For the technical detail on how we deploy this, see our device management service page.
Did you know?
We can connect your device management to your identity provider. That means a laptop that is not encrypted or not patched cannot access company apps. Device state and identity work together. If you are already thinking about access control, the two projects complement each other.
Everything is documented and production-ready
Every security baseline, app deployment rule, and compliance check is documented and version-controlled. Your team can reference configurations, onboard new IT staff, and pass audits without digging through admin consoles.
Zero-touch means your IT team never touches the laptop
The device ships from the supplier to the employee's home. They open it, connect to Wi-Fi, and sign in. Everything else happens automatically: apps install, policies apply, encryption is enabled, and the device registers in your dashboard. If you are hiring five people a month across three countries, this is the difference between two days of IT work and fifteen minutes.
How a device rollout actually works
Week 1
Fleet audit
We document every device: OS version, encryption status, ownership, compliance state. You get a clear baseline of where you stand.
Week 2-3
Platform setup
We deploy IRU (Kandji), Jamf, or Intune, configure security baselines, and enrol a pilot group. No devices are wiped. Existing machines are enrolled over the air.
Week 3-5
Incremental rollout
Remaining devices are enrolled in batches. Each batch is tested and validated before moving to the next. We communicate changes to your staff before they happen.
Ongoing
Managed operations
Patches deploy automatically. Compliance drift triggers alerts. Lost devices are wiped remotely. New hires get zero-touch provisioning from day one.
IRU vs Jamf vs Intune
We are Mac-first and Apple MDM agnostic. IRU (Kandji) and Jamf are both excellent. We deploy both regularly and have strong opinions on when each fits. Intune handles Windows and mixed fleets, especially if you are already on Microsoft 365.
The right choice depends on your fleet, your team, and your existing stack. We do not push one platform over the other. Read our Jamf vs IRU comparison →
Not sure how secure your devices are?
Our free IT audit checks your device management posture in under 10 minutes.
Take the free audit →Laptop Management FAQ
Do we need to wipe everyone's laptop to set this up?
Does this work for remote teams?
What about personal devices?
Which platform do you recommend?
How long does the rollout take?
Can this integrate with our identity provider?
We only have 20 devices. Is this worth it?
How much does this actually cost?
Ready to get started?
Book a free 20-minute call. We will scope your fleet and tell you exactly what you need.