1. A method comprising: receiving, at a cloud-based service platform, a request for a device profile from a mobile device, wherein the request is triggered by one or more changes to context of the mobile device as indicated in a schedule or calendar stored in the mobile device, as detected by one or more sensors of the mobile device, or a combination thereof; selecting one of a plurality of device profiles based on the request, wherein each of the plurality of device profiles specifies a template key, a respective configuration of a graphical user interface associated with the mobile device and one or more respective applications associated with the mobile device, wherein the template key corresponds to one of a plurality of templates each of which includes one or more applications specific to the device profile, and the template key is configured to be used across competing mobile operating systems of a plurality of manufacturers; generating a control message specifying the selected device profile for configuring the mobile device; transmitting the control message to the mobile device and forwarding the one template from the cloud-based service platform to the mobile device when the mobile device does not include the one or more applications, wherein the mobile device is configured to deactivate an active device profile and to activate the selected device profile according to the template and the control message.