Complete Your Mobile Estate Audit in 5 Simple Steps
- Corey Waters
- Nov 24
- 2 min read
Many organisations assume their mobile estate is healthy because their MDM dashboard looks quiet. But dashboards only show what’s managed — not what’s missing, inconsistent or deteriorating. In practice, an estate can appear orderly while major risks sit unnoticed in the background.
The purpose of a mobile audit isn’t to catch people out — it’s to shine a light on system drift, configuration inconsistencies and early signs of operational breakdown. A structured audit helps organisations regain visibility, reduce risk and prevent downtime long before it impacts teams.
Here’s the precise five-step audit process we use with our clients.
Step 1: Establish an accurate inventory
Everything begins with knowing what devices you actually have. Over time, inventory lists drift as new joiners, leavers, loan devices, lost equipment and ad-hoc purchases accumulate.
An effective audit checks:
Devices that haven’t checked in for 30–60 days
Outdated or missing serial numbers
Duplicate entries
Devices still assigned to departed employees
Unmanaged devices accessing corporate apps
An inaccurate inventory is a silent risk — and one of the biggest causes of compliance failure.
Step 2: Review compliance against your baseline
Compliance is only meaningful when compared to a defined baseline. Many organisations believe they enforce a consistent standard, only to discover that exceptions, legacy groups and unaligned profiles have weakened their posture.
During an audit, assess:
OS and patch levels
Encryption requirements
Password/PIN policies
Jailbreak/root detection
Data protection policies
Device-specific exceptions
Most compliance gaps are easy to fix but dangerous to ignore because attackers consistently exploit outdated or misconfigured devices.
Step 3: Evaluate app health and version consistency
Mobile productivity depends on applications working correctly. When versions drift, permissions differ, or deployment fails, users experience the symptoms, such as slow performance, sync issues, and missing features while IT absorbs the support tickets.
A robust audit checks:
App version compliance
Deployment failures or pending installs
Unmanaged copies of managed apps
Outdated or unused licences
Conflicting personal apps in BYOD setups
App governance is one of the most underestimated pillars of mobile resilience.
Step 4: Audit policy configuration and group assignments
MDM policies accumulate like sediment. Over time, they become layered, duplicated or misaligned with your organisational structure.
An audit should identify:
Obsolete or duplicated policies
Conflicting settings across groups
Baseline drift caused by manual adjustments
Missing scope assignments for new departments or roles
Cleaning up policies is one of the quickest ways to improve performance, security and support efficiency.
Step 5: Assess lifecycle health and future readiness
Even well-managed devices deteriorate. Batteries degrade, storage fills, and older hardware struggles with modern applications. Lifecycle misalignment directly increases ticket volume.
During this final audit stage, check:
Devices approaching lifecycle end
Recurring support incidents by device model
Battery health on older devices
Warranty status and replacement projections
Stock levels for replacements
Lifecycle readiness is essential for predictable budgets and stable operations.
Conclusion
A mobile estate audit is less about “fixing problems” and more about creating clarity. With a structured, repeatable process, organisations move from reactive support to proactive device governance.
If you’d like a full audit template or an outsourced audit for your device estate, MWS can provide a structured, evidence-led process tailored to your organisation.
