MDM automation and device governance: what teams still need to control

TL;DR: MDM tools can automate device enrolment, app deployment, network configuration, OS updates, and compliance reporting, according to Zluri’s January 2025 guide on device management tasks. The governance issue is not whether automation is useful, but which device actions should remain human-controlled when security, accountability, and change accuracy matter most.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Zluri: Lifecycle Management How MDM Tools Help Automate Device Management Tasks?

By the numbers:

• Only 5.7% of organisations have full visibility into their service accounts.
• 71% of NHIs are not rotated within recommended time frames, increasing the risk of compromise over time.
• 96% of organisations store secrets outside of secrets managers in vulnerable locations including code, config files, and CI/CD tools.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should security teams decide which device management tasks to automate?

A: Automate tasks that are repetitive, frequent, and low ambiguity, such as enrolment, app deployment, patching, and compliance reporting.

Q: Why does MDM automation still need governance controls?

A: Because automation changes the scale of the mistake, not the nature of the control.

Q: What breaks when device offboarding is not tied to identity revocation?

A: Residual access persists.

Practitioner guidance

• Separate repeatable device tasks from high-risk exceptions Classify enrolment, app push, patching, and compliance checks as candidates for automation, but keep exception handling, lost-device actions, and offboarding approvals under explicit human governance.
• Tie directory changes to device-state reconciliation Validate that user and device additions in Active Directory or another source of truth are reflected quickly in the MDM console, and investigate any delay that could leave stale access in place.
• Link compliance findings to enforcement workflows Do not stop at reports.

What's in the full article

Zluri's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• Step-by-step explanations of each MDM automation pattern, including zero-touch enrolment, app deployment, and OS update scheduling.
• Practical examples of how device policies are configured in a live MDM workflow and how those policies change device behaviour.
• Detailed Jamf and Zluri integration steps, including API role setup and client secret creation for implementation teams.
• Workflow-specific administration details for device lockout, user deletion, and script execution that implementation teams need after the strategy stage.

👉 Read Zluri's guide to automating MDM device management tasks →

MDM automation and device governance: what teams still need to control?

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