Introduction
Smartphones and tablets have been standard devices for office-goers for a while. With some UI customization, these devices have now gone beyond office walls to harsh work environments. Rugged devices are resilient to demanding environments of all industries, including manufacturing, warehouses, transportation, oil rigs, and hospitals.
According to Tech Research Asia, rugged device benefits are significant for companies citing up to a 25% reduction in the total cost of ownership, 25% improvement in workplace safety, 15% sales growth, 20% increase in customer satisfaction, and 30% increase in improvement in inventory management.
These devices are generally corporate-owned and shared by multiple employees throughout shift schedules. Since they are used in remote locations, device downtime cannot be an option and should be centrally managed, monitored, and secured with mobile device management (MDM) solutions.
Rugged Device Management Challenges
Organizations responsible for enabling field workers with rugged devices must make data and apps available on the device platform, anytime and anywhere, to improve user productivity and satisfaction. You can integrate Customer Success Management Software with this software.
Manageability
Rugged devices such as zebra mobile devices are deployed in the field, away from IT. Enrollment and configuration of devices must be over-the-air or light touch. After enrolling the devices, management of these devices needs to be automated or remotely controlled. The ability to troubleshoot devices remotely is crucial for increasing uptime and productivity.
Security
The purpose-built devices are called “rugged”, but the rugged part is only applied to their physical aspects. As the number of smart, rugged devices connecting to the internet and enterprise networks increases, they become vulnerable to cybercrime. Furthermore, missing handheld devices is a common and expensive problem across organizations. For example, an employee puts down a device to tend to another activity but forgets where he/she left it, leaving sensitive information in the wrong hands.
Scalability
As a business grows, so does the number of devices in the organization. Scalability becomes an issue when a mobile environment becomes home to many devices, gathering and processing data simultaneously from remote locations. The deployment must be easy to scale and support a diverse fleet of devices. Companies need scalability to support hundreds of devices, irrespective of device type, operating system, and location. As a business grows, so does the number of devices in the organization. Scalability becomes an issue, both in case of Functional and Cross- functional teams.
MDM for Rugged Devices
- Rapid Deployment & Provisioning
An MDM solution enables organizations to onboard devices easily with out-of-the-box enrollment. Device enrollment simplifies and streamlines mobile device setup and helps employees be productive away from the office and outside traditional business hours. Organizations gain immediate visibility into managed devices. IT admins can track and collect critical information such as system diagnostics, internal and external apps, and IT-defined attributes.
- Device Security & Controls
Organizations can protect corporate data on rugged devices by setting granular controls and policies. IT teams can enforce password policies with complexity requirements and device encryption. Another security capability to secure corporate data is geofencing. For example, when workers travel between locations, geofencing can lock down the devices so that any information present is safe and inaccessible. After entering the geofenced work location, workers can access device operation and corporate information.
- App Delivery & User Enablement
Since employees that use rugged devices often work in shifts, organizations can configure a single device to be used by multiple users. An MDM allows IT to customize device configuration based on user authentication. After authentication, specific applications and settings for that user are automatically and dynamically deployed on the device. Additionally, organizations can lock down a device to create a kiosk or only contain a single app required for a single-purpose device and design a brochure for more information.
- Remote Management & Control
Remote workers do not have access to IT teams to fix device-related issues. Remote management capabilities enable IT to remotely manage and troubleshoot business-critical devices that non-desk workers need to do their job. Cloud-based device management solutions can connect to any device from a console using any web browser. A cloud-native device management solution is a software platform that enables businesses to remotely manage and monitor their devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and IoT devices, from a centralized location in the cloud. This solution typically leverages cloud-based infrastructure, microservices architecture, and containerization to provide scalable and flexible device management capabilities.
IT admins can view the device’s screen in real-time and control it as if it were in their hands. With remote management, organizations can silently update applications so that workers can immediately access the latest features. Additionally, IT admins can also use remote management to track employee hours and usage with the help of an employee hours tracker.
Benefits of Rugged Device Management
- Saves time and effort with low-touch and configuration
- Protects corporate data with device controls and policies
- Gives workers access to apps for mission-critical operations
- Assist users in the field with remote troubleshooting and management
- Eliminate distractions by restricting rugged devices to essential apps and functions
- Locate devices in real-time to recover missing devices
Wrapping Up
As rugged devices are increasingly deployed in various scenarios across industries with more employees, ease of integration, customization, and security are critical issues for businesses to address. Device management platforms are a reliable solution for organizations that have deployed rugged devices to support their business operations—regardless of device type, computing platforms, or location.