Drive Security, Compliance, and Productivity with Hexnode’s Cloud-Hosted Unified Endpoint Management System

TL; DR: Hexnode, a division of Mitsogo Inc., has worked to craft its innovative unified endpoint management system (UEM) since 2013. Organizations in more than 100 countries now trust the company’s cloud-hosted suite of app, content, identity, and threat management tools. The technology, built for the future, aims to provide businesses with simple, ever-evolving endpoint management solutions.

The Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) movement refers to the increasing number of employees bringing computing devices to the workplace to replace or supplement company-issued technology.

The trend started at Intel in 2009 and quickly went mainstream. The recent increase in pandemic-related remote work has only accelerated the movement: In a 2020 Microsoft survey, 67% of respondents reported that they use personal devices in the workplace.

While BYOD policies are great for employees — who wouldn’t prefer to use a familiar device? — they can also throw a wrench into network security processes. Only 53% of respondents in Microsoft’s research said their company has a policy in place to permit such actions, indicating that many companies have room to grow in mobile endpoint security.

In addition to BYOD programs, many companies issue company-owned tablets, smartphones, and laptop solutions to employees in the field. These companies also need robust mobile endpoint security with the ability to lock down nonessential apps, push apps and documents to devices, track device locations, and remotely wipe device data.

That’s where Hexnode comes in. The company, a division of Mitsogo Inc., helps businesses close the gap between mobile endpoints and corporate networks through intuitive security and management tools. Hexnode MDM’s BYOD Management, for example, empowers employees to use their personal devices to securely access the corporate network and resources in it.

But as a unified endpoint management system (UEM), the technology goes even further than that — providing the tools necessary to deliver detailed coverage of nearly every aspect of user and endpoint security. The cutting-edge security and controls are delivered via one console that includes app, content, identity, and threat management tools.

“Our features are highly enterprise-oriented, and they are meant to ease up the overall management process,” said Hexnode’s Andrea Jones. “There are multiple different solutions available in our UEM. We have a carefully structured pricing plan that enables the customers to pay only for the features that they need. They don’t have to purchase the whole thing when they require only a few set of features.”

This type of flexibility makes Hexnode an obvious choice for enterprises of all sizes to safeguard all endpoints, whether IT teams manage them under a BYOD policy or issue them through the company.

Founder and CEO Apu Pavithran launched both Mitsogo Inc. and Hexnode in July 2013 in the San Francisco Bay area. At the time, a number of Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions were already available in the market.

“Getting into the field with the competition was indeed challenging — but exciting, too, in the context that we had a fairly strong product in hand that we believed could put up a tough fight against the existing titans,” Andrea said. “Back then, MDM was not very popular as it is now. Also, the existing solutions were very complicated from a use-case perspective.”

With Hexnode, Mitsogo aimed to simplify device management with cloud-hosted tools. The company’s growing customer base serves as a testimony to that mission. And while Hexnode started as purely an MDM solution, the company has always focused on keeping up with changing user demands.

“The MDM market has evolved at a fast pace,” Andrea told us. “Now we’re looking at fully fledged UEM solutions that are capable of managing users, identity, and everything digital. Hexnode was also able to adapt to these changes fairly quickly — otherwise, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Despite the rapid change, Hexnode has maintained its focus on providing a streamlined customer experience hosted in the cloud. “Today, we integrate with major technology vendors and offer standard functionalities with extensive support to all major operating systems,” she said.

Hexnode aims to provide everything businesses need to remain secure. As one customer told Andrea, Hexnode is the mama bear of UEM solutions, going to extreme lengths to protect its users. And, by working closely with customers, the company will ensure it delivers the solutions are the right fit for their businesses.

The company’s award-winning UEM currently provides organizations in more than 100 countries with a centralized platform for company-wide management solutions. The ultimate goal is to fuel a seamless ecosystem of tools, connecting each piece of software to achieve greater visibility through unified management.

Andrea told us that the top benefits Hexnode delivers to businesses include cost-effectiveness, improved productivity through automation, and an intuitive feature set. “These benefits directly translate to high ROI.”

But customers don’t have to take Hexnode’s word for it — a wide range of testimonials on the company’s website exemplify the platform’s value.

Take Millennium Hotels and Resorts, for example. When the global hospitality management and real estate group needed a way to secure and monitor company-issued smartphones running Android and iOS, it deployed Hexnode MDM across 13 U.S. hotels. Hexnode MDM’s Kiosk mode allowed Millennium to lock down the devices by whitelisting a few necessary apps, resulting in improved employee productivity and enhanced endpoint security.

Other companies use Hexnode’s wide-ranging UEM technology to broadcast text messages to devices, push apps and documents to team member devices, track the locations of devices using GPS, and wipe data remotely. The solutions can also be used to automatically configure WiFi, email, and virtual private networks, among other actions.

When it comes to internal development, Andrea said Hexnode’s rich feature set is a product of Hexnode’s attention to customer needs.

“Our focus has always been to deliver what is in demand,” she said. “We provide everything that is logically and practically constructible, and abides by the respective platform specifications they belong to. Every feature developed is case-oriented and aims to simplify the purpose of implementation. We evaluate every technological advancement introduced in the market by its significance to the Hexnode user base.”

In December 2020, Hexnode hosted HexCon20, the first Hexnode user conference of its kind. The virtual event attracted an overwhelming number of Hexnode customers and partners who could network with peers and gain a better understanding of Hexnode’s functionalities from the mouths of product experts. So many attendees showed up that the event nearly brought down the company’s streaming servers.

HexCon20 included panel discussions, off-stage networking, feature announcements, multiple certification workshops, and unlimited product demonstrations. Attendees even had the opportunity to receive Hexnode swag through the mail.

“The huge response we received from attendees motivated us to come back this year,” Andrea said. “We are in the process of unveiling the schedule for HexCon21.”

The company also has plans for a Hexnode Partner Summit in the works, with a tentative date in the second quarter of 2021.

“The summit is open for all partners, users, and non-users,” Andrea said. “These groups can join us to learn more about the marketing and sales aspect of the company while sharing their perspectives and experiences in associating with Hexnode. We also have some exciting product updates to be revealed that will be available to customers by the start of the second quarter of 2021.”