When college students and their parents sign their tuition checks, they’re not just paying for the education they receive in the classroom or the degrees they earn at the end of four years of instruction. They’re paying, in large part, for the college experience.

But many higher learning institutions are currently operating with a remote learning model. Students at these schools can’t mingle on the quad, hang out in their dorm rooms or even study together in the library. To deliver the value these students are paying for, colleges and universities must find ways to create an online experience that comes as close as possible to replicating the energy and engagement of the on-campus environment.

Increasingly, colleges and universities are turning to student devices to help deliver that experience. Here are some lessons from institutions that are taking a successful approach.

Until the 1990s, organizations typically had only one kind of computing device to offer end users: the desktop computer. In more recent years, as laptops shrank in size and smartphones emerged, there were some who believed that devices might one day converge again into a single, unified form factor.

That hasn’t happened. Instead, more device types are available today than ever, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for organizations looking to equip their employees for optimal productivity. Instead, IT and business leaders must make decisions based on their specific business goals.

Here are some of the most common objectives that come up in our conversations with IT leaders at organizations across a variety of industries — and which devices are most likely to help organizations meet them.

Savvy IT shops have long understood the need for effective device management, first through mobile device management (MDM) solutions and then via unified endpoint management (UEM) platforms.

Today, more organizations are opting for “modern device management,” a Microsoft-coined term that describes device and application management delivered via cloud-enabled services. Here’s why organizations are making the move and why this model is likely to stick around.

With many organizations maintaining some or even all of their operations through remote work, users are relying on their devices more than ever.

Access to cloud resources and virtual private network connections are critical to supporting this arrangement, of course, but it’s just as important that workers have devices that function as true business machines. The 10th Gen Intel Core vPro processor series, released earlier this year and available on nearly 200 different devices, gives remote workers the power, security and reliability they would get at the office — and also simplifies management for IT shops. Here are four reasons that business and IT leaders are turning to machines with Intel Core vPro processors.

Sometimes, I feel like CDW configuration services are the best-kept secret in enterprise IT. The customers who have relied on us for years keep coming back because of how much time and energy we can save them, allowing their internal IT staff to focus more on mission-critical projects than device configuration.

But many business and IT leaders simply don’t know that we’re out here (or what we do). As a result, they tie up their own IT professionals with time-consuming — but necessary — tasks and projects that end up extending the amount of time it takes to get devices into users’ hands.

Here are six ways that configuration services can help your business simplify its operations.

Managing a mobile computing environment was already complex enough at the beginning of this year. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, driving many employees (and their mobile devices) out of the office and into their homes, limiting the visibility and control of IT teams.

Most enterprises were already getting on board with unified endpoint management tools, recognizing the need for a common platform to help them manage their fleets of smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, along with associated mobile apps and content. But for organizations that were dragging their feet with UEM, 2020 has served as a wake-up call about the importance of these tools.

For organizations still looking for the right fit, here are four ways that UEM solutions can help navigate these challenging times.