Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) started out as meager recognition that some employees were using their own mobile devices at work. I was among that group of early productivity hounds who realized I could skirt my company’s IT slowness by leveraging my own equipment from home.

But as mobile devices have gotten increasingly prevalent, the BYOD trend has gone from a sliver segment of the workforce to the majority of workers, according to some estimates. And the trend is not expected to abate any time soon.

Dealing with this development, many organizations have turned to mobile device management (MDM) as a way to ensure that if employees are using their own mobile devices, corporate IT at least can keep those documents secure and effectively manage the new tech landscape.

Implementing a successful MDM program is not just about choosing the right vendor, however. The majority of the real work comes from laying the foundation by knowing what the company needs and how best to make it happen.

There are seven best practices that businesses should follow when implementing an MDM program.

First, it is important to have a firm understanding of the company’s vision of what MDM will bring. An MDM must align with the company’s overall business strategy. This means outlining clearly the “what” and the “why” of the program, noting important business goals that must take priority.

Second, it is important to outline a strategy. Once the vision is outlined, it is important to make the vision concrete for the MDM process by having a written strategy that considers available resources and goals of the program, among others.

The third best practice is having solid metrics. The team implementing the MDM program needs to know what metrics are important and how they tie into the specific business outcomes that are important for the business.

A fourth best practice when it comes to implementing an MDM program is building a governance hierarchy to make the MDM program a reality. This means developing a well-defined hierarchy for the program, and having the program headed by a sponsor who has enough overall cross-department authority within the company to make the program a success.

Another best practice is maintaining a good grip on order within the MDM program. Data quality is one of the most important aspects in the world of master data, so companies should have a data steward to ensure that data quality is maintained within the program.

A sixth best practice is understanding and navigating the master data life cycle. The MDM life cycle is a way of thinking about which processes are affected by the changes being made with master data. The key is breaking down the workflow and knowing what specific application systems are used by each business process within the company. Then it is important to adjust the master data plan to include how the business processes are currently supported and how the MDM program will improve them over time.

Finally, it is of course important to have a solid infrastructure. It is vital that the right infrastructure is in place, so choosing the right MDM vendor and implementation style is critical.

But, if the preceding best practices have been put into practice, choosing the right vendor for appropriate infrastructure should be far easier than it would be otherwise.