Before rolling out Venn to your organization, it’s important to identify whether employees and contractors will install Venn on managed or unmanaged devices. While Venn can be used on both managed and unmanaged devices, there may be a need to adjust security policies, firewall rules, or installation permissions before installing Venn on managed devices.

What is a Managed Device?

Managed devices are company-controlled devices that typically have enforced security policies, restricted user permissions, centrally managed software updates, antivirus, and/or Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM). 

Managed devices can be controlled by your company or its representatives, such as internal IT, outsourced IT, or a contracted Managed Service Provider (MSP), or they can be managed by a third party, such as a Business Process Outsourcer (BPO), staffing agency, or consulting firm.

Indicators that a Device Is Managed

If you are unsure whether or not a device is considered managed, consider the following questions. If the answer is “yes” to one or more questions below, the device is likely managed.

• Is the device connected to an Active Directory (AD) domain? Devices joined to a corporate Active Directory (on-premises or Azure AD) are often subject to centrally enforced policies and access controls.
• Is the device managed through MDM or RMM software? If the device is enrolled in Mobile Device Management (MDM) or Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools such as Microsoft Intune, JAMF, or Kaseya, it is under active control by IT or a third-party administrator.
• Is the device running VPN or proxy software with full-tunnel configuration? Devices that connect to the internet through a corporate VPN or proxy that routes all traffic through a central network are typically monitored and protected by enterprise security policies.
• Is the device running DNS filtering software? Solutions like Cisco Umbrella, Cloudflare Gateway, or NextDNS that monitor or restrict DNS queries are a sign of centralized control.
• Does the device have locked-down firewall configurations? Managed devices often prevent end users from disabling or modifying firewall configurations through policy restrictions or enforced profiles.
• Does the device have a centrally managed corporate antivirus? The presence of enterprise endpoint protection that is monitored and maintained by IT—such as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, CrowdStrike, or Symantec Endpoint Protection—indicates that the device is under centralized management and subject to corporate security policies.
• Is the device located in a corporate network environment with traffic-inspecting firewalls? Devices operating behind enterprise-grade firewall appliances (e.g., Palo Alto, Fortinet, Sophos) that block or interfere with VPN or ICMP traffic are likely part of a managed, secured network environment.